Meet the Team
Gunther Hollopeter did his undergraduate studies at the University of Washington in Seattle, and began his research career there, studying the neuronal basis of appetite control in mice. For his graduate work, he entered the neuroscience program at the University of California, San Francisco, where he isolated the target of the clot-busting drug Plavix. For his postdoctoral training, Gunther moved to the University of Utah and later to the Stowers Institute, where he initiated projects to study basic cell biology in vivo. In September 2015, Gunther joined the Molecular Medicine faculty in the College of Veterinary Medicine as an Assistant Professor.
Erika Beyrent is a graduate student in the Biochemistry, Molecular and Cell Biology Program. She is from Scranton, Pennsylvania, where she completed her undergraduate degree at The University of Scranton. Her undergraduate research focused on the effect of oxidative stress on the subcellular localization of the microtubule associated protein tau in neurons. As an undergraduate, she received the President's Fellowship for Summer Research and The University of Scranton, and completed an internship at Ohio Wesleyan University in Delaware, Ohio. In her free time, she enjoys playing the violin, baking, and swimming.
Derek Wei is a graduate student in the Biochemistry, Molecular and Cell Biology Program. He grew up in Westerville, Ohio where he received his B.S. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Otterbein University. His undergraduate research focused on understanding the role of a PAT family protein in lipid storage and associated diseases. He also completed a summer research internship in the Plant Genomics Program at Michigan State University in Lansing, Michigan. Derek was was awarded a Presidential Life Science Fellowship his first year at Cornell. In his free time, he enjoys reading, hiking, watching movies, and spending time with his family and friends.
Kayleigh Morrison is a graduate student in the Biomedical and Biological Sciences (BBS) program. She grew up in Lawrenceville, New Jersey, and received her B.S. in Biology from The College of William and Mary. Her undergraduate research focused on the transcriptional regulation of spermatogenesis in C. elegans. She also completed an REU fellowship at Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory, where she studied P granules and germ cell pluripotency. As an undergraduate she was awarded the James Monroe Scholarship from William and Mary, and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. During her first year at Cornell, she was awarded an NSF GRFP fellowship. In her free time, she enjoys playing with her cat, going to local concerts, crocheting, and hiking around Ithaca.
Maria Henriquez is an undergraduate student in the College of Arts and Sciences majoring in Biological Sciences with a concentration in General Biology while also pursuing a minor in Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. She was born and raised in New York City to immigrant parents from the Dominican Republic. During her free time, Maria enjoys spending time with friends, trying out new restaurants, playing basketball, and traveling.
Lab Alumni
Grad students
Gwen Beacham 2015-2022, currently Jane Coffin Childs postdoc with Elliott Hagedorn at Boston University.
Ed Partlow 2015-2022, currently postdoc with Tijana Ivanovic at the NIH.
Undergrads
Aarooran Durairaj 2016-2019, currently Research Assistant/Lab Manager with Xinnan Wang at Stanford University.
Katie Gingrich 2018-2019, currently DVM student at Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine.
Eric Shen 2017-2020, currently Material Sciences PhD student with Simon Billinge at Columbia University.
Jimmy Mo 2019 exchange student from Hong Kong University and Science and Technology (HKUST), currently Molecular Cell Biology PhD student at Washington University in St. Louis.
Mari Camacho 2019-2022, currently MD student at University of Hawaii's John A. Burns Medical School.
Jian Zheng 2020-2022, currently Weill Cornell BMCB PhD student with Xiaolan Zhao at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.