Luis Batista
Principal Investigator
lbatista@wustl.edu
Luis received his PhD from the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil (under the supervision of Dr. Carlos Menck), working in close collaboration with Dr. Bernd Kaina at the University of Mainz, Germany. After his postdoctoral training with Steve Artandi at Stanford, Luis joined Washington University in St. Louis as an Assistant Professor in 2014.
When not in lab Luis enjoys playing tennis, cooking, watching soccer and spending time with his daughter!
Barbara Soares
Postdoctoral Fellow
soares@wustl.edu
Barbara joined the lab in 2021, immediately after completing her PhD at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ). During her PhD, Barbara focused on DNA damage and repair pathways, using yeast as a primary model system. Barbara is interested in understanding the impact of telomere shortening on DNA instability and its consequences during cellular replication.
Outside the lab, Barbara enjoys paddling, dancing and drinking with friends.
Ho-Chang Jeong
Postdoctoral Fellow
hochang.jeong@wustl.edu
Hochang received his B.S.in the Department of Oriental Medicine Biotechnology at Kyung Hee University in 201. He then moved to the Department of Life Science at Sogang University (under the supervision of Dr. Hyuk-Jin Cha) where he received hi PhD in 2017in 2017. Hochang joined the Batista Lab in 2018, where he interested in deciphering the role of telomerase and telomeres during hematopoietic and hepatic development.
Outside the lab, Hochang enjoys riding his bike and watching a movie with beer.
Darby Agovino
Research Technician
a.darby@wustl.edu
Darby graduated from North Park University in Chicago in May 2021, with a B.S. in Biomedical Science and a Minor in Chemistry. She joined the lab in August 2021 as a Research Technician, where she works on discovering novel genes that lead to rare diseases in undiagnosed patients. Darby aims to apply to a major PhD program in the near future and from her enthusiasm we are sure she will make enormous contributions to biomedical research!
Outside of lab Darby likes to hike, read and kayak!
Ethan Cordes
Undergraduate Trainee
ethancordes@wustl.edu
Ethan is a current undergraduate at Washington University in St. Louis, but is originally from Colorado. His work focuses on identifying therapies for diseases caused by telomerase dysfunction, such as dyskeratosis congenita. Ethan is working to identify gene targets that when modulated can increase in vivo levels of TERC. Ethan’s goal is to eventually obtain a PhD and he is specifically interested in telomerase/telomeres, epigenetics/chromatin structure, transposable elements, and cancer.
For fun Ethan enjoys to read, cook, watch TV, and spend time in the mountains hiking, mountain biking, and skiing.
PAST MEMBERS
Kimberly Hwang
Michael Munroe
Vincent Gillespie
Alexandre Vessoni
Kirsten Brenner
Wilson Fok
Ed Zhu
Jason Colasanti
Evandro Niero
Leonardo Cruz
Marquet Minor
Gabriela (Gabby) Perez-Garcia