One of the great pleasures of working in academic research is in following the progress of our pre- and post-doctoral trainees and former staff members after they leave the lab. We are very proud of all that our lab alumni have accomplished and the good work they continue to do. Below are brief bios of our former lab members and some recent news items.
Alumni News
Erin Frey Now Sr. Project Manager at Serepta
Lab Alumna Wins Best Talk Prize
Where are they now?
The list of bios below is not comprehensive (yet!) and if you are a former lab member reading this, please do send us an update!
Kwang Woo Ko
Former Postdoc, Currently: Scientist II at PTC Therapeutics
Dr. Kwang Woo Ko joined the lab in 2015. His work looked at the roles of Sarm1 and inflammation in neurodegeneration, specifically in the context of glaucoma. In 2021, he accepted a position at PTC Therapeutics where he will continue to work on eye diseases.
Dan Summers, PhD
Former Postdoc, Currently: Assistant Professor of Biology at the University of Iowa
Dr. Dan Summers was a shared postdoc in the DiAntonio and Milbrandt labs whose work investigated pathways in sensory neurons that regulate protein degradation of axonal survival factors. He is now an Assistant Professor of Biology at the University of Iowa where his lab continues studying cellular pathways responsible for protein homeostasis in developing and diseased neurons.
Chunlai Wu, PhD
Former Postdoc, Currently: Associate Professor of Cell Biology and Anatomy, and Neuroscience at the Neuroscience Center of Excellence, LSU Health
Dr. Wu was a postdoc in the lab from 2002-2008. His research focused on synaptic development and the role of Highwire. He left the lab to take a faculty position at the LSU Health Sciences Center where his lab continues to work on the molecular pathways that shape and support synaptic connections as well as using Drosophila to identify novel molecules that play a role in neuronal development and degeneration.
Yogesh Wairkar, PhD
Former Postdoc, Currently: Assistant Professor at the Mitchell Center for Neurodegenerative Disorders at UTMB Health
In 2004, Dr. Yogesh Wairkar joined the lab as a postdoc. His research looked at synaptic formation and regulation at the neuromuscular junction in Drosophila. He left the lab to take an Assistant Professor position in the Mitchell Center for Neurodegenerative Disorders at UTMB Health where he continues to study proteins involved in the active zones of the synapse.
Ethan Graf, PhD
Former Postdoc, Currently: Instructor at Mary Institute and Saint Louis Country Day School
Ethan joined the DiAntonio Lab as a postdoc in 2005 and studied the mechanism of synapse development. In 2010, he left to take a position as an Assistant Professor at Amherst College. In 2018, he returned to the St. Louis area and is now teaching at the prestigious Mary Institute and Saint Louis Country Day School.
Elisabetta Babetto, PhD
Former postdoc, Currently: Research Assistant Professor at the Institute of Myelin and Glia Exploration at the University at Buffalo
Dr. Elisabetta Babetto was a postdoc in the lab from 2010 to 2014 before leaving to take a position at the Hunter James Kelly Research Institute (now known as the Institute of Myelin and Glia Exploration) at the University at Buffalo. Her current work focuses on axon-glia communication after injury and in neurodegenerative diseases.
Catherine Collins, PhD
Former Postdoc, Currently: Associate Professor of Molecular, Cellular & Developmental Biology at the University of Michigan
In 2001, Dr. Collins was the first postdoc to join the DiAntonio lab. Her work examined the role of Highwire in synaptic development. During her time in the lab, she conducted a screen that identified wallenda, the fly homolog of DLK, as a suppressor of the highwire mutant phenotype. After her postdoc, she went to the University of Michigan where she is an Associate Professor of Molecular, Cellular & Developmental Biology and her lab studies signaling pathways that regulate synaptic development and the axonal response to injury.