Current Lab Members

 

Joshua Bembenek

Principal Investigator

Josh started the lab in 2012 to use the worm to investigate mechanisms of cytokinesis. He did his thesis work in Hongtao Yu’s lab at UT Southwestern working on the regulation of mitotic exit in human cells. He then worked with John White at UW Madison using multiphoton and other microscopy techniques to investigate cytokinesis in C. elegans. After John’s retirement he worked with Yixian Zheng at the Carnegie Institute and then Gyorgyi Csankovszki’s lab at UM.

Josh likes outdoor activities and references to outdated pop culture nobody understands.

Chris Turpin

Postdoc

Chris joined the lab as a technician in 2014, finished his PhD in the lab and is now continuing on as a postdoc. He completed his undergraduate education in Oregon and got started in research working with ants. Currently, he is trying to figure out how separase is regulated during cortical granules exocytosis. He enjoys making in utero movies of C. elegans oocytes and early embryos. He also really enjoys getting results.

Chris spends his free-time thinking about the lab. He also enjoys cycling, bullet journaling and other hipster fads. 

Nouran Yonis

Graduate Student

Nouran has just recently joined the team and is getting started with her research using worms!

Hayden Norris

Technician

Hayden is getting the new lab at Wayne State up and running!

 

Former Lab Members

Postdoctoral Research Associates

Michael Melesse

2016-2019

Postdoc at Oak Ridge

Aude S. Ada-Nguema Peden

2014-2015

Went to Law School

Diana Mitchell

2012-2014

Instructor in University of Idaho

Graduate Students

Chris Turpin

2016-2022

Postdoc in our lab

Xiaofei Bai

2013-2018

Postdoc in Andy Golden's lab at NIH

Ryan Simmons

2014-2015

BCMB Graduate student in Mariano Labrador’s Lab

Technicians

Dillon Sloan

2016-2020

Graduate student at UNC

Chris Turpin

2014-2016

BCMB Graduate Student

Lindsey Uehlein

2012-2014

Parker Hannefin

Undergraduate Research Assistants

Bailey Peters

2018-2021

Ryan Troll

2019-2020

Joseph Benthal

2016-2019

Graduate student at Vanderbilt

Alicia Salamanca

2016-2019

Kylie Schall

2017-2019

Kayla McCracken

2018-2019

Bolorzul Dorjsuren

2016-2018

Jody Toperzer

2016-2017

Paige Parker

2015

Ben Nebenfeuhr

2014-2016

Postbac at NIH, grad student at CU Boulder

Brandon Reagan

2014

Graduate student in Tessa Burch-Smith’s lab

Krishine Gosine

2013-2015

Medical School

Quincey Caylor

2013-2015

Technician in Bill Kelly’s lab at Emory

Amirah Anderson

2013-2014

Keith Arnwine

2013

Marion Laforest

2012-2015

Masters degree

Taylor Winkler

2012

High School Students

Chris Niemenski

2022

Roksha Doddabele

2016-2017

Undergraduate at Duke