Current Lab Members
George P. Souroullas, PhD
Principal Investigator
George completed his PhD thesis in the Goodell Lab at Baylor College of Medicine, Houston TX, in the Department of Molecular and Human Genetics. At Baylor, George studied various molecular and genetic pathways involved in regulating hematopoietic stem cell self renewal and differentiation. He then completed postdoctoral work at UNC-Chapel Hill in the lab of Norman (Ned) Sharpless. In the Sharpless Lab, George generated a number of genetically engineered mouse models to explore a broad range of topics in cancer biology, eventually focusing his efforts on studying the role of epigenetic and chromatin regulation in lymphoma and melanoma. George joined the Division of Oncology as an Assistant Professor at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis in July of 2018.In his free time, George enjoys running, the outdoors, the beach and hanging out with his young and growing family!
Sarah Zimmerman, PhD
Postdoctoral Research Associate
Sarah joined the lab in December 2018. She completed her PhD training at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in the lab of Roy Morello where she studied bone development. In our lab, Sarah is working on understanding how an Ezh2-mediated altered epigenetic landscape affects the tumor immune response in melanoma. In her spare time, Sarah enjoys exploring the city, knitting, and spending time with her dog.
Phyo Nay Lin, MD
Postdoctoral Research Associate
Phyo is a physician-scientist from Myanmar (also known as Burma). He completed his medical training at the University of Medicine 1, Yangon and worked as a junior attending physician at the Yangon Children’s Hospital for a couple of years. Phyo completed his MSc in cellular and molecular biomedical science from the University of Maryland, Baltimore in 2020 where he worked with Dr. Michal Zalzman to study the effect of ZSCAN4 expression on telomere chromatin remodeling in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. He is currently working on understanding the pathogenesis of Ezh2-mediated chromatin dynamics in mature B cell lymphomas! In his free time, Phyo loves cooking Burmese foods, watching movies, listening to pop and country songs and running.
Rachel Paolini
Graduate Student, Molecular Genetics and Genomics Program
Rachel was born and raised in Buffalo, NY. She attended Canisius College and received a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology. Her undergraduate research focused on delineating the effects of natural and synthetic estrogens on ovarian cancer progression. She is now a graduate student in the Molecular Genetics and Genomics program and is investigating the role of epigenetic mechanisms and chromatin dynamics in pediatric acute leukemias. In her free time, Rachel enjoys reading, working out, and watching sports.
Pei Yu Chen, MSc
Graduate Student, Cancer Biology Program
Pei Yu was born and raised in Taiwan. She went to National Sun Yat-Sen University and received a Bachelor of Sciences degree in biological sciences. After completing undergrad, Pei Yu attended the National Tsing Hua University and received a Master of Sciences degree for her work on genetic and epigenetic regulation of PD-L1 in stem cell differentiation and lung cancer cell progression. Pei Yu is part of the inaugural class of the Cancer Biology program at WashU. In her free time Pei Yu enjoys watching TV shows, listening to music, and hanging out with friends.
Sofia Smith
Graduate Student, Molecular Genetics and Genomics Program
Sofia is from Maryville, Tennessee. She attended the University of Texas at Austin, where she studied genes that contribute to dysfunction of the nervous system in C. elegans. After completing her B.S. in Biology in 2020, Sofia joined WashU’s graduate program in Molecular Genetics and Genomics. She joined the lab in May of 2021 to study how alterations in chromatin modifiers drive tumor progression. In her free time, Sofia enjoys reading, running, and spending time with friends/family/her cat.
Sadra Marjai
WashU undergraduate student
Sadra was born in Tehran, Iran. He is currently an undergraduate student at WashU studying neuroscience and biology. He plans to pursue further eduction in medical school after completing his undergraduate studies. In his free time, Sadra enjoys playing tennis, photographing nature, and playing the guitar.
Kenta Kato
WashU undergraduate student
Jason Zheng
Opportunities in Genomics Research (OGR) Summer Research Scholar, Cornell University
Erin Suh
Leah Menshouse Springer Summer Research Intern, University of Georgia
Chuck Norris
Super Black Belt Tech
After a long career in the martial arts, Chuck switched his focus to curing cancer. Rumor has it that his tears could cure cancer, but he has never cried. Currently, Chuck is trying to understand how mutations in chromatin modifiers drive tumor growth. However, every time Chuck looks at the cells, they undergo apoptosis. He is trying to understand the underlying mechanism of that behavior…
Administrative Support
Matt Luecke
Molecular Oncology
Grants Specialist, Administrative Support
Incoming DBBS graduate students:
this could be you here!
Lab Alumni
Erin Suh – Undergraduate Summer Research Scholar – University of Georgia
Jason Zheng – Undergraduate Summer Research Scholar – Cornell University
Leela Raj – Undergraduate researcher, WashU
Samantha Nixon – Research Technician,
Position after leaving lab: Statistical Data Analyst, Dept. of Genetics, WUSTL
Aris Alexandrou – Staff Scientist
Jack Zhang – Undergraduate researcher, WashU
Pei Yu Chen – Rotating Graduate Student, DBBS, Cancer Biology Program
Jessica Devenport – Rotating Graduate Student, DBBS, Cancer Biology Program
Sofia Smith – Rotating Graduate Student, DBBS, MGG Program
Chika Fuiji – Rotating Graduate Student, DBBS, MGG Program
Gejae Jeffers – Rotating Graduate Student, DBBS, MGG Program
Rachel Paolini – Rotating Graduate Student, DBBS, MGG Program
Jessica Harrison – Rotating Graduate Student, DBBS, HSG Program
Kent Lin – Rotating Graduate Student, DBBS, MCB Program
Maksim Shoykhet – Undergraduate, Washington University in St. Louis
Laura Fischer – Rotating Graduate Student, DBBS, DRSC Program