Primus Inter Pares
Ilya Finkelstein
Joined: September 2012
ifinkelstein@cm.utexas.edu | Personal Site | CV | Google Scholar | Twitter | Github
"Science is facts; just as houses are made of stone, so is science made of facts; but a pile of stones is not a house, and a collection of facts is not necessarily science." - Jules Henri Poincaré (1854-1912)

Favorite Austin Activities:
    • Thinking up awesome science projects.
Lab Manager / Research Scientist
Lianne Dubbs
Joined: June 2021
l.z.dubbs@utexas.edu
"Science knows no country, because knowledge belongs to humanity, and is the torch which illuminates the world." - Louis Pasteur

Favorite Austin Activities:
    • Spending time with my family
    • Reading (and re-reading) books that I own
    • Browsing books at Barnes and Noble (pre- and post- COVID)
Postdoctoral Scientists
Hongshan Zhang
Joined: January 2018
hongshan.zhang@utexas.edu
"What we know is a drop; what we don’t know is an ocean." - Isaac Newton

Favorite Austin Activities:
    • Enjoying live music in Live Music Capital of the World
    • Exploring Texas local food and drinks
    • Relaxing outdoors at Zilker Park
Jim Rybarski
Joined: May 2014
jimrybarski@utexas.edu | Personal Site | Google Scholar | Twitter | Github
"...men like you built the hydrogen bomb. Men like you thought it up. You think you’re so creative. You don’t know what it’s like to really create something - to create a life..." - Sarah Connor

Favorite Austin Activities:
    • Eating an entire Texas Donut
    • Making computers do what I mean
    • Naming my hypothetical cats
Andrea Quezada
Joined: June 2022
aquezada@utexas.edu | Twitter | Github
"If you know you are on the right track, if you have this inner knowledge, then nobody can turn you off. . . no matter what they say." - Barbara McClinktock

Favorite Austin Activities:
    • Chasing exotic wildflowers
    • Looking for the best places to dance
    • Maybe not going cliff jumping
Graduate Students
John Cooper
Joined: November 2017
jpcoope@utexas.edu
"Translating a thing into the analytical language is akin to what the alchemist does when he extracts, from some crude ore, a pure spirit. The gross external forms of things are cast off to reveal the underlying spirit. And when this is done we may learn that some things that are superficially different are, in their real nature, the same." - Neal Stephenson

Favorite Austin Activities:
    • Going to shows on Red River
    • Exploring Austin via skateboard
    • Finding new places to absorb sunlight on the Greenbelt
Hung-Che (Jami) Kuo
Joined: February 2018
hckuo@utexas.edu
"The important thing is not to stop questioning; never lose a holy curiosity." - Albert Einstein

Favorite Austin Activities:
    • Playing squash.
    • Trying new beers from local breweries.
    • Trying to make a perfect medium rare steak.
Kuang Hu
Joined: May 2019
kh36969@utexas.edu
"To raise new questions, new possibilities, to regard old problems from a new angle, requires creative imagination and marks real advance in science." - Albert Einstein

Favorite Austin Activities:
    • Playing video games
Chia-Wei (Alvin) Chou
Joined: February 2020
alvinchou@utexas.edu
"There is only one corner of the universe you can be sure of improving and that's your own self." - Aldous Huxley

Favorite Austin Activities:
    • Sunday morning in the Gregory gymnasium
    • Biking around Austin
    • Brisket at any BBQ
Ankur Annapareddy
Joined: June 2021
ankurannapareddy@gmail.com
"Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever." - Mahatma Gandhi

Favorite Austin Activities:
    • Hiking the greenbelt/kayaking on Lady Bird
    • Finding new books at BookPeople
    • Discovering new food trucks and BBQ
Research Scientists
Mary Arnold
Joined: July 2022
mary_arnold@utexas.edu
"The cosmos is within us. We are made of star-stuff. We are a way for the universe to know itself." - Carl Sagan

Favorite Austin Activities:
    • Hiking with my dog
    • Finding new places to watch the sunset
    • Playing board and table-top games with friends
Henry Garcia
Joined: August 2022
henry.garcia@austin.utexas.edu
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." - Arthur C. Clarke

Favorite Austin Activities:
    • Biking around Austin
    • Reading science-fiction novels
    • Cooking
Undergraduates
Caitlin Kuriakose
Joined: March 2022
ckuriakose1018@utexas.edu
"Above all, show sincere love to each other." - 1 Peter 4:8

Favorite Austin Activities:
    • Paddle boarding on Ladybird
    • Trying new Austin Foods
    •
Carlos Arguello
Joined: July 2022
carlos.arg.413@gmail.com
"It is important to expect nothing, to take every experience, including the negative ones, as merely steps on the path, and to proceed." - Ran Dass

Favorite Austin Activities:
    • Playing tabletop games with friends
    • Cooking dishes from other countries
    • Getting gelato and seeing live music at Central Market
Daphne Sahaya
Joined: November 2022
daphnesahaya@utexas.edu
"Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less." - Marie Curie

Favorite Austin Activities:
    • Trying new food
    • Finding cute coffee shops to work in
    • Taking pictures of sunsets
Rotation Students
Zeyi (Joey) Yu
Joined: June 2022
Zeyiyu@utexas.edu)
"The reward of the young scientist is the emotional thrill of being the first person in the history of the world to see something or to understand something. Nothing can compare with that experience." - Cecilia Payne Gaposchkin

Favorite Austin Activities:
    • Reading famous novels
    • Working out regularly
    • Playing board games
Steven Zilko
Joined: September 2022
sjzilko@utexas.edu
"Friendship improves happiness, and abates misery, by doubling our joys, dividinig our grief." - Marcus Tullius Cicero

Favorite Austin Activities:
    • Searching for the best BBQ in Austin
    • Hiking in the nearby Hill Country
    • Trying local brews
You-Chiun Chang
Joined: September 2022
youchiun@utexas.edu
"I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." - Thomas Edison

Favorite Austin Activities:
    • Enjoying BBQ
    • Learning how to cook a perfect steak
    • Exploring unfamiliar places around Austin
Alumni
Name Position Dates Last Whereabouts
Steve Jones Postdoctoral Scientist Feb 15 - Jul 21 PI at Vilnius University, Lithuania
Michael Soniat Postdoctoral Scientist Jul 16 - Oct 22 Soniat Lab, Thomas Jefferson University
Kaylee Dillard Postdoctoral Scientist Jan 15 - Nov 21 Molecular Templates
Kamyab Javanmardi Graduate Student Jun 18 - Sep 22 California
Jeff Schaub Postdoctoral Scientist May 16 - Aug 21 Abbott Laboratories (Illinois)
Hayley Zorkic Undergraduate Dec 20 - May 21 UT Austin
Giaochau Nguyen Lab Manager / Research Scientist Jun 16 - Jun 21 Graduate student at UT Southwestern
Parastoo Maleki Postdoctoral Scientist Mar 20 - Mar 21 UT Austin
Cynthia Terrace Research Scientist Dec 18 - Jan 21 UT Austin
Alexis Hill Rotation Student Sep 19 - May 21 UT Austin
Carlos Calcines Postdoctoral Scientist Apr 19 - Mar 21 Mascoma (New Hampshire)
Tyler Washburn Lab Assistant Aug 21 - May 22 UT Austin
Matthew Hooper Rotation Student Nov 21 - Apr 22 UT Austin
Arian Veyssi Rotation Student Oct 21 - Apr 22 UT Austin
Hsin-Ru Chan Rotation Student Nov 21 - Apr 22 UT Austin
Charlie Johnson Rotation Student Oct 21 - Dec 21 UT Austin
Grace Hibshman Rotation Student Oct 20 - Dec 20 UT Austin
Josh Lutgens Rotation Student Oct 20 - Dec 20 UT Austin
Qingqing Guo Rotation Student Oct 20 - Dec 20 UT Austin
Yash Shukla Rotation Student Sep 19 - Nov 19 UT Austin
Mason Schechter Rotation Student Sep 19 - Nov 19 UT Austin
Po-Chin (Brandon) Chiou Rotation Student Feb 20 - Apr 20 UT Austin
Henry Trentham Lab Assistant Jul 19 - Mar 20 UT Austin
Jake Kula Undergraduate Dec 18 - Mar 20 UT Austin
Yoori Kim Graduate Student Sep 13 - Dec 18 Postdoctoral fellow at UT Southwestern
Shane McDevitt Postdoctoral Scientist Jun 18 - Feb 19 MIA
John Hawkins Postdoctoral Scientist May 15 - Jan 20 Postdoctoral research fellow at EMBL, Heidelberg University, and the German Cancer Center
Nicole Johnson Lab Manager / Research Scientist Feb 17 - May 19 Graduate student at UT Austin
Kameron Azarm Undergraduate Nov 12 - Jun 14 NYU Medical School
Jacob Bobb Undergraduate Oct 13 - Jun 14 MIA
Maxwell Brown Graduate Student Dec 12 - Feb 18 Indianapolis, IN
Ignacio Gallardo Postdoctoral Scientist Sep 12 - Sep 16 Environmental Scientist in Austin, TX
Jory Goldsmith Rotation Student Nov 17 - Feb 18 UT Austin
Brianna Gonzales Research Scientist Jun 15 - Jan 17 Austin, TX
Greg Hild Lab Manager Aug 12 - Sep 13 MIA
Cheulhee Jung Postdoctoral Scientist Mar 15 - Aug 17 Research Assistant Professor at Korea University, Seoul, South Korea
Grace Kago Rotation Student Jun 16 - Aug 16 UT Austin
Vanessa Landsteiner Graduate Student Dec 12 - Jan 14 MIA
Andrew Leal Undergraduate Oct 14 - Jul 15 Austin, TX
Alfred Lentzsch Rotation Student Aug 14 - Dec 14 UT Austin
Letti Lopez Rotation Student Feb 17 - May 17 UT Austin
Kelly Meng Undergraduate Feb 18 - Jul 18 UT Austin
Nagisa Mikami Graduate Student Dec 15 - Feb 16 Gakushuin University, Tokyo, Japan
Logan Myler Graduate Student Apr 13 - May 18 The Rockefeller University, New York
Aaron Robison Postdoctoral Scientist Sep 13 - May 14 Research Assistant Professor at Vanderbilt University
Wisath Sae-Lee Rotation Student Aug 14 - Dec 14 UT Austin
Fatema Saifuddin Research Scientist Sep 14 - Jul 18 University of California, San Francisco
Çağrı Savran Visiting Professor Aug 14 - Jul 15 UT Austin
Eric Spivey Postdoctoral Scientist Sep 13 - Nov 16 Research Assistant Professor at Vanderbilt University
Isabel Strohkendl Rotation Student Dec 15 - Feb 16 UT Austin
Ashley Susan Lab Manager Sep 16 - Feb 17 TX
Scott Tucker Rotation Student Feb 17 - May 17 UT Austin
Marie Warburton Graduate Student Apr 14 - Aug 14 Paris
Soo-Hyun Yang Postdoctoral Scientist Jan 15 - Jul 16 Freshman Research Initiative (FRI) Research Educator at UT Austin
Jesus de la O Undergraduate Jan 14 - May 16 Austin, TX
Armando de la Torre Lab Manager Sep 13 - Sep 16 Austin, TX