Mayssa Mokalled, Ph.D.
Staff
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Matthew Kent, Ph.D.
Staff Scientist [email protected] | Google Scholar Matthew earned his PhD from Vanderbilt University studying retina regeneration using zebrafish. He then spent four years as a postdoc at Nationwide Children’s Hospital using zebrafish to study rhabdomyosarcoma. He has now joined the Mokalled Lab to develop new genetic models in zebrafish to investigate the roles of certain genes in spinal cord regeneration. In addition to his work, he enjoys playing board games and other tabletop games, such as Dungeons and Dragons, with his friends. |
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Giana
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Amulya Saini
Bioinformatics Research Analyst [email protected] | Github Amulya holds a PharmD from India and a Master's in Bioinformatics from Indiana University, where she conducted research in Dr. Sarath Janga's lab. Her previous work spans a range of bioinformatics analyses, including bulk, single-cell, and direct RNAseq, in the context of human diseases and viral genomes. She has also extensively studied viral RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) and their interactions with host RNA. Currently, at the Mokalled Lab, she focuses on the computational analysis of zebrafish data, helping the team interpret complex datasets and contribute to ongoing research. Outside of work, Amulya enjoys painting, kayaking, and cooking. |
Amruta Tendolkar, Ph.D.
Scientific Writer [email protected] | Google Scholar After earning her Ph.D. studying gene regulation in butterfly wing patterns, Amruta now supports the Mokalled lab by developing manuscripts, presentations, and posters to effectively communicate our research. Her goal is to make complex science clear and accessible to a variety of audiences. She has a cat and a dog and enjoys taking them both to Forest Park on weekends. |
Post-Doctoral Researchers
Dana Klatt Shaw, Ph.D.
[email protected] | Google Scholar Dana earned her Ph.D. in the lab of David Grunwald at the University of Utah studying zebrafish development and genetics. Her research interests focus on exploring how immune cells drive spinal cord regeneration in zebrafish, with an emphasis on microglia. She enjoys optimizing new protocols to ask complex questions about regenerative immune functions and making new zebrafish mutant, transgenic, and knock-in lines. In her free time, Dana loves taking care of her vast collection of houseplants, watching sports with her husband Cody, and obsessing over her dogs Louie and Hank. |
Vishnu Muraleedharan Saraswathy, Ph.D.
[email protected] | Google Scholar | LinkedIn | X Vishnu’s research focuses on understanding the development, regeneration, and diseases of the central nervous system. During his PhD in cellular and molecular biology, he studied tissue morphogenesis in zebrafish, leading to postdoctoral research on spinal cord regeneration. He pioneered single-cell analysis using R/Python and contributed to key research on mechanisms of spinal cord regeneration in zebrafish and mice. Moving forward, he aims to apply his expertise in cellular, molecular, and bioinformatic methods to study spinal cord regeneration and neurodegenerative diseases like ALS and Alzheimer's. He is also passionate about teaching and sports. |
Seunghyun Jung, Ph.D.
[email protected] Seunghyun earned his Ph.D. from University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, where his doctoral research focused on developing nanoparticle-based artificial extracellular matrices as growth substrates for neural stem cells to create novel therapeutic strategies for neurodevelopmental disorders. Seunghyun then joined Dr. Jamy Peng’s lab at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital to investigate the epigenetic mechanisms underlying embryonic stem cell differentiation in neurodevelopmental disorders using cortical organoid models. In the Mokalled Lab, his research focuses on understanding how pro-regenerative cell identities and mechanisms in zebrafish model can promote neural repair in mammals after spinal cord injuries via iPSC-derived neurons/astrocytes. When not in the lab, Seunghyun can be found at either the tennis court or Forest Park walking with his wife and Frenchie, Cashew. |
Graduate Students
Chase Weinholtz
Ph.D. student [email protected] Chase is currently a PhD student in the DBBS Neurosciences program. He studies the role of injury-induced transcription factors in spinal cord regeneration in adult zebrafish. Previously, he was a research associate at UC San Diego and a postbac scholar at the NIH. In his spare time he enjoys making elaborate meals and perfecting his AeroPress coffee recipe. |
Yuxiao Xu
M.D./Ph.D. Student [email protected] Yuxiao is an MD/PhD student from Chengdu, China. She is studying the pro-regenerative roles of extracellular matrix on progenitor cells during spinal cord repair in zebrafish and is interested in the molecular mechanisms during development and regeneration. Before joining the Mokalled lab, Yuxiao worked in Dr. Richard Harland’s lab studying neurodevelopment using Xenopus at UC Berkeley during her undergraduate and, as a researcher, studied autism risk genes in Dr. Matthew State’s lab at UCSF. During her free time, she likes to travel, bike, pet sit for her school friends, and enjoy exploring new hobbies. |
Miguel Domínguez
Ph.D. student [email protected] | Research gate | ORCID Miguel earned his bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry from Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile in 2022, where he studied the changes in mitochondrial state and cell metabolism in the Xenopus laevis spinal cord during regeneration. In the Mokalled lab, Miguel focuses on elucidating how ependymal and glial cells respond to spinal cord injury in adult zebrafish to uncover the molecular mechanisms by which these cells support regeneration. Outside the lab, he enjoys painting and climbing with friends. |
Micklaus Garcia
Ph.D. student [email protected] Mick finished his BA degree at the University of Colorado at Boulder where he studied the regulation of astrocyte inflammation states using human fetal astrocytes in vitro in the Link lab. Then, as a postbac at Mayo Clinic in Rochester he developed combinatorial cell and gene expression therapies to enhance rat spinal cord injury recovery. Since starting in the Mokalled Lab in 2023, Mick has been studying a really interesting oligodendrocyte/pericyte-like cell population as well as how aging affects the robust zebrafish regenerative injury response. Outside of lab, he spends his time reading comic books, lifting weights, and playing video games (usually Pokémon and Dragon Quest nowadays). |
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