Mellone lab, summer 2021. Back (from left): Luoxuan, Tyler, Barbara, Bryce. Front (from left): Priscilla, Michelle, Prachi, Asna. Not pictured: Venkata.
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Barbara Mellone, Ph.D. | She/Her
I am a Professor in the Genetics and Genomics Program of the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology. Before UConn, I was a postdoctoral fellow with Gary Karpen at the LBNL and UC Berkeley. I did my PhD at the Medical Research Council, Human Genetics Unit in Edinburgh, Scotland, in the laboratory of Robin Allshire. I developed a passion for chromosomes when I was an undergraduate at the University of Milan, Italy. Barbara.Mellone [at] uconn.edu |
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Bryce Santinello
Ph.D. student Bryce received his BS from the University of New Haven. He joined the lab and in 2018 and is investigating the function of centromeric retroelements transcription in vivo. Bryce.Santinello [at] uconn.edu |
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Prachi Tandale
Ph.D. student Prachi received her Bachelor and Master's degrees in Biotechnology from D. Y. Patil University in Navi, Mumbai, India. She joined the lab in January 2019 and is interested in centromere genomics and editing. Prachi.Tandale [at] uconn.edu |
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Tyler McDermott
PhD student Tyler received his B.S. in Biochemistry from Pace University and his M.S. in Biomedical Forensic Sciences from Boston University. He joined the lab in 2020 and is investigating the functional relationship between retroelements and centromeric proteins. Tyler.McDermott [at] uconn.edu |
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Asna Amjad
PhD student Asna received her BS in Bioinformatics from the Government College University Faisalabad, Pakistan and her MS in Bioinformatics and Computational Biology at University of Texas at Dallas. She joined the lab in 2021 and her project uses chromatin profiling and and PRO-seq data to study de novo centromere formation and centromeric transcripts. Asna.Amjad [at] uconn.edu |
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Ruiyi Sun
PhD student Ruiyi received her BS in Biology from the University of Michigan and a MS in Biology from NYU. Her interest in centromere biology sparked while studying S. pombe centromeres in Fei Li's lab at NYU. She joined the lab in 2022 and is interested in centromere specification and centromere drive. Ruiyi.Sun [at] uconn.edu |
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Venkata Patchigolla
Undergraduate Assistant (Beckman Scholar) Venkata is a senior in molecular and cell biology. He joined the lab in the fall of 2019 and is establishing a new system to test the inheritance of de novo centromeres during fly development. He is also using computational approaches to determine if non-B DNA is enriched at centromeres. Venkata.Patchigolla [at] uconn.edu |
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Hayden Yuan
Undergraduate Assistant Hayden is a sophomore in molecular and cell biology. He joined the lab in the fall of 2021 and is carrying out site directed mutagenesis of centromeric proteins to pinpoint adaptively evolving residues. Hayden.Yuan [at] uconn.edu |
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Laura Leo
Visiting Scholar Laura is a PhD student at the Universita' La Sapienza in Rome, Italy in the laboratory of Dr. Laura Fanti. She is spending the summer in the lab. Her project investigates the relationship between centromere integrity and centromere transcription. Laura.Leo [at] uconn.edu |
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Sarah Bolarinwa
NSF REU Student Sarah is a rising sophomore in Biology at Howard University. She is working in the lab as part of an NSF REU program with the PNB department at UConn. Sarah will be learning how to make and stain chromatin and DNA fibers from Drosophila and Sciara to unveil the organization of repetitive sequences at the centromere and in rDNA. |
FORMER MELLONE LAB MEMBERS
Graduate students (position after Mellone lab):
Ph.D.:
Jason Palladino
Ph.D. University of Connecticut, 2020. (Postdoctoral fellow at Johns Hopkins University)
Papers: Palladino et. al Dev Cell; 2020 (Cover); Chang*, Chavan*, Palladino* et al, PLoS Biology; Chen et al, Dev Cell, 2015; Palladino and Mellone, Dev Cell 2016 (preview). jpallad4 [at] jhu.edu
Chinchi Chen
Ph.D. University of Connecticut, 2016. (Postdoctoral fellow at Johns Hopkins University)
Papers: Chen and Mellone JCB; 2016 (review); Chen et al, JCB 2014; Chen et al, Dev Cell, 2015; Chen et al, PLoSONE 2012. uschinchi [at] gmail.com
Leah Rosin
Ph.D. University of Connecticut, 2016. (Postdoctoral fellow at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine)
Papers: Rosin and Mellone, Trends in Genetics 2017 (review); Rosin and Mellone, Dev Cell 2016; Chen et al, Dev Cell, 2015; Ross et al, Science 2013. Leah.Rosin [at] nih.gov
M.S.:
Bianca Mocanu
M.S. in Genetics and Genomics/MCB University of Connecticut, 2018. (Biotech in Germany)
Emily Bettini
M.S. in Genetics and Genomics/MCB University of Connecticut, 2014. (Scientist at Boehringer)
Papers: Chen et al, JCB 2014; Chen et al, Dev Cell, 2015;
Elizabeth Greene
PSM University of Connecticut, 2011. (PhD student and scientist at Boehringer)
Papers: Chen et al, PLoSONE 2012.
Ashley Latibeaudiere
M.S. in Genetics and Genomics/MCB University of Connecticut, 2021 (MS student in Psychology at Southern Florida University)
Graduate students (position after Mellone lab):
Ph.D.:
Jason Palladino
Ph.D. University of Connecticut, 2020. (Postdoctoral fellow at Johns Hopkins University)
Papers: Palladino et. al Dev Cell; 2020 (Cover); Chang*, Chavan*, Palladino* et al, PLoS Biology; Chen et al, Dev Cell, 2015; Palladino and Mellone, Dev Cell 2016 (preview). jpallad4 [at] jhu.edu
Chinchi Chen
Ph.D. University of Connecticut, 2016. (Postdoctoral fellow at Johns Hopkins University)
Papers: Chen and Mellone JCB; 2016 (review); Chen et al, JCB 2014; Chen et al, Dev Cell, 2015; Chen et al, PLoSONE 2012. uschinchi [at] gmail.com
Leah Rosin
Ph.D. University of Connecticut, 2016. (Postdoctoral fellow at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine)
Papers: Rosin and Mellone, Trends in Genetics 2017 (review); Rosin and Mellone, Dev Cell 2016; Chen et al, Dev Cell, 2015; Ross et al, Science 2013. Leah.Rosin [at] nih.gov
M.S.:
Bianca Mocanu
M.S. in Genetics and Genomics/MCB University of Connecticut, 2018. (Biotech in Germany)
Emily Bettini
M.S. in Genetics and Genomics/MCB University of Connecticut, 2014. (Scientist at Boehringer)
Papers: Chen et al, JCB 2014; Chen et al, Dev Cell, 2015;
Elizabeth Greene
PSM University of Connecticut, 2011. (PhD student and scientist at Boehringer)
Papers: Chen et al, PLoSONE 2012.
Ashley Latibeaudiere
M.S. in Genetics and Genomics/MCB University of Connecticut, 2021 (MS student in Psychology at Southern Florida University)
Staff & postdocs (position after Mellone lab):
Ankita Chavan
Research Assistant from Dec. 2015-July 2019. (Ph.D. student at ETH in Zurich, Switzerland)
Papers: Chang*, Chavan*, Palladino*, et al., PLoS Biology, 2019. *co-first authors.
Anthony Sposato
Undergraduate and research assistant 2016-2018. (MD student at UCHC)
Papers: Palladino et al. Dev Cell (2020)
Sarion Bowers, PhD
Postdoctoral fellow 2010-2013. (Research policy advisor for the Wellcome Trust at the Sanger Genome Institute, UK)
Papers: Chen et al, Dev Cell, 2015; Mellone et al, PLoS Genetics, 2011; Bowers and Mellone, EMBO J 2011 (preview).
Kate Grive
Research Assistant 2009-2011. (Ph.D. student at Brown University)
Papers: Mellone et al, PLoS Genetics, 2011.
Ankita Chavan
Research Assistant from Dec. 2015-July 2019. (Ph.D. student at ETH in Zurich, Switzerland)
Papers: Chang*, Chavan*, Palladino*, et al., PLoS Biology, 2019. *co-first authors.
Anthony Sposato
Undergraduate and research assistant 2016-2018. (MD student at UCHC)
Papers: Palladino et al. Dev Cell (2020)
Sarion Bowers, PhD
Postdoctoral fellow 2010-2013. (Research policy advisor for the Wellcome Trust at the Sanger Genome Institute, UK)
Papers: Chen et al, Dev Cell, 2015; Mellone et al, PLoS Genetics, 2011; Bowers and Mellone, EMBO J 2011 (preview).
Kate Grive
Research Assistant 2009-2011. (Ph.D. student at Brown University)
Papers: Mellone et al, PLoS Genetics, 2011.
Past undergraduate students (position after Mellone lab):
- Misbah Aziz, CLAS 2020. (Clinical Research Training Program, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai)
- Timothy Mason, CLAS 2020. (MD student at UCHC)
- Megan Boyer, CLAS 2018. Honors: SURF; Claire Berg award. (MD student at the University of Vermont)
- Xuan Liu, CLAS 2017. Honors: SURF. (MD student at McGovern School of medicine)
- Diana Corjuc, CLAS 2015 (Research Assistant, Harvard University)
- Patrick Lenehan, CLAS 2015. Honors: University Scholar; SURF; Goldwater Scholar. (MD/PhD student, Harvard University)
- Ragini Phansalkar, CLAS/ENG 2014. Honors: University Scholar; SURF; Goldwater Scholar. (MD/PhD student, Stanford University); Papers: Phansalkar et al, Chromosome Research, 2012
- Christian Belisario, CLAS 2012 (OD student). Papers: Chen et al, JCB 2014.
- Ryan D'Souza, CLAS 2012 (MD student U. of Colorado Denver). Honors: SURF; Margaret Eartman award. Papers: Bateman et al, G3, 2012.
- Mary Ledoux, CLAS 2011 (MD student, U. of Vermont). Honors: SURF; Margaret Eartman award. Papers: Chen et al, JCB 2014.
Past Mentor Connection, REU, and McNair Students:
Rebecca Marrero (REU), 2019
Gabriela Diaz (REU), 2017
Timothy Mason (McNair), 2017
Nicole Lopez (REU), 2016
Yash Prakash (Mentor Connection), 2015
Ishani Patel (Mentor Connection), 2015
Javier Ruano (McNair), 2014
Ashley Meuser (Mentor Connection), 2013
Kerry Napoleon (Mentor Connection), 2013
Margaret Gavin (Mentor Connection), 2011
Alan Kariuki (Mentor Connection), 2010
Latrice Grant (Mentor Connection), 2010
Molly Blessing (Mentor Connection), 2010
Rebecca Marrero (REU), 2019
Gabriela Diaz (REU), 2017
Timothy Mason (McNair), 2017
Nicole Lopez (REU), 2016
Yash Prakash (Mentor Connection), 2015
Ishani Patel (Mentor Connection), 2015
Javier Ruano (McNair), 2014
Ashley Meuser (Mentor Connection), 2013
Kerry Napoleon (Mentor Connection), 2013
Margaret Gavin (Mentor Connection), 2011
Alan Kariuki (Mentor Connection), 2010
Latrice Grant (Mentor Connection), 2010
Molly Blessing (Mentor Connection), 2010