Postdoctoral Researchers
João Santos – João earned his Ph.D. in Population Genetics at CIRAD in Montpellier. His postdoc work in the Pfeifer Lab focused upon the impact of sample size and population history on mutational spectra. João is currently a postdoc at KAUST.
Lucy A.P. Tran – Lucy earned her Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Michigan as a NSF Predoctoral Fellow advised by Lacey Knowles, and worked as a NSF Postdoctoral Fellow in the Rosenblum Lab at UC Berkeley. Her postdoc work in the Pfeifer Lab focused upon germline mutation rates in Old World monkeys. Lucy is currently a Research Development Associate at the University of Arizona.
Ph.D. Student
Abigail A. Howell – Abby earned her B.Sc. in Biomedical Sciences at Arizona State University funded by the New American University Scholarship President’s Award. In the Pfeifer Lab, Abby’s graduate work focused on the computational genomics of DNA viruses in order to gain novel insights into bacteriophage and human cytomegalovirus evolution. Abby is currently an Assistant Teaching Professor at Arizona State University. pubmed github
Visiting Scholar
Mario A. Apata – Mario earned his B.A. in Anthropology and M.S. in Biological Science at the University of Chile, funded by the national Bicentenario and Conicyt Scholarships, respectively. His thesis work centered on the genetic and cultural diversity of Chilean populations, followed by a research abroad fellowship in the Di Rienzo’s Lab at the University of Chicago. As a Visiting Scholar funded by a Fulbright-Conicyt BIO scholarship, Mario’s work in the Pfeifer Lab investigated the evolutionary and selective forces that shaped the genomes of Andean populations historically exposed to arsenic-contaminated water in the Atacama desert.
Undergraduate Researchers
Sarah Weiss (2020–2023) – Sarah’s honors thesis, funded by a National Merit Scholarship, focused on recombination rate estimation in rhesus macaques. For her academic excellence, Sarah was awarded ASU’s 2023 Dean’s Medal.
Maria Kowal (2022–2023) – Maria’s honors thesis focused on explaining the evolution and genetics of bacteriophages to K12 students.
Ravneet Johal (2020–2022) – Ravneet’s honors thesis focused on the estimation of crossover and non-crossover rates from pedigree data.
Sydney Fikse (2019–2020) (co-advised by Beckett Sterner) – Sydney’s honors thesis focused on anthropogenic factors that have impacted animal evolution. Additional details can be found on her website.
Undergraduate (Research): Makena Sy (2022-2024); Jillian Murray (2022–2023); Jueliet Menolascino (2021–2022); Tiana Hua (2021); Daniel Kelly (2021); Daniel Sackett (2021); Sage Wackett (2021); Aman Garg (2020–2022); Bruno La Rosa (2020–2022); Samantha Sabbara (2020–2021); Minerva So (2020–2023)
Undergraduate (Laboratory Asst.): Akarshi Brar (2023); Gabriella Cerna (2023); Elaine Chaffee (2023); Madison Blanco (2022); Aman Garg (2022); Jackelyn Lobatos (2022); Corinne Mitra (2022); Maria Strasser (2022); Saige Munig (2022); Zeel Patel (2022); Minerva So (2022); Makena Sy (2022); Sarah Weiss (2022); Rithik Mehta (2021); Daniel Sackett (2021); Garett Maag (2020); Angelica Urquidez Negrete (2020); Jade Porche (2020)