Lab Members
Francesca Cole, Ph.D.
Principal Investigator
Associate Professor
FCole@MDAnderson.org
B.A., Biological Sciences, Hunter College of the City University of New York
Ph.D., Biomedical Sciences, Mount Sinai School of Medicine of New York University
Research Interests: Homologous recombination and germ line mutagenesis
Other Interests: Snorkeling
Favorite PCR machine: Medusa
Dennia Maria Castro
Research Assistant I
DMCastro@MDAnderson.org
B.S in Biology, University of Houston-Downtown
Research Interests: Meiosis & Homologous Recombination
Other Interests: Hiking, baking and floating the rivers.
Laura Denton
Senior Administrative Assistant
Grants Contact
LMDenton@MDAnderson.org
Laboratory Focus: Grant and fellowship submission and compliance
Other Interests: Dancing
Favorite PCR machine: Venus
Melissa Frasca
Graduate Student, MD Anderson Cancer Center UTHealth Houston Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences
MNFrasca1@MDAnderson.org
B.S., Biology, Saginaw Valley State University, University Center, Michigan
Research Interests: Homologous recombination and homolog pairing
Other Interests: Music and attending concerts
Favorite PCR Machine: Athena
Emely Larios
Graduate Student, MD Anderson Cancer Center UTHealth Houston Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences
ESLarios@MDAnderson.org
B.A., East Asian Languages and Culture, Wellesley College, Massachusetts
Research Interest: Crossover homeostasis
Other Interests: Reading
Julie Beltran
Research Assistant II
JAOntiveros@MDAnderson.org
B.S., Biology, University of Houston, Downtown
Research Interests: Homologous recombination
Other Interests: Baking and sports
Favorite PCR Machine: Mercury
Lakshmi Paniker, Ph.D.
Research Investigator
LPaniker@MDAnderson.org
B.S. and M.S., Zoology, University of Kerala, India
M.S., Biology, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, Florida
Ph.D., Aquatic Biology and Fisheries, University of Kerala, India
Research Interests: Double-strand break repair and meiotic hot spot characterization
Other Interests: Gardening
Favorite PCR machine: Mojo
Lisa M. Shriver, C.A.P.
Senior Administrative Assistant
Administrative Contact
LMShriver@MDAnderson.org
Laboratory Focus: Educational Appointments, Summer Program in Cancer Research
Other Interests: Cooking, baking and crafting
Former Members
Joanna Baird
Research Assistant I
Suhani Bhakta
Summer Undergraduate Fellow
Graduate of Texas A&M
Malthilde Biot
M.S. Student
Graduate of Ph.D. Program, University of Montpellier, France
Parijat Chakraborty, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow
Andrew Gage Chance
Summer High School Fellow
Currently premed student at UT Austin
Sierra Cole
Summer Undergraduate Fellow
Currently Ph.D. student at University of North Carolina
Honorine Destain
Summer Undergraduate Fellow
Currently Ph.D. student at University of Chicago
Melissa Frasca
Summer Undergraduate Fellow
Current graduate student in the Cole Laboratory
Rueben Flores
Summer High School Fellow
Went on to Flatonia State College
Isabella Ferranti
Research Assistant I
Currently graduate student in Mechanical Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University
Mikalah Gribbell
Summer Undergraduate Fellow
Graduate of Michigan State College of Human Medicine M.D. Program
Holly Hamilton, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow
Currently working at Agendia, Inc.
Ericka S. Humphrey, M.S.
Research Assistant I
Currently graduate student at MD Anderson Cancer Center UTHealth Houston Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences
Jiaying "Nebula" Han
Summer Undergraduate Fellow
Graduate of Rice University
Graduate of Ph.D. program at UCLA
Currently a consultant for ClearView Healthcare Partners, San Francisco
Rhea Kang, Ph.D.
Graduate Student and Postdoctoral Fellow
Currently working at Luminex in Austin
Vindhay Kilaru
Summer Undergraduate Fellow
Undergraduate at University of California, Berkeley
Summer undergraduate student Nebula Han presents her research project
Lorie Leyva
Summer Undergraduate Fellow
Graduate of Texas A&M, Corpus Christi
Keshav Naick
Summer Undergraduate Intern
Graduate of UT Austin
Currently a Research Assistant I at MD Anderson Cancer Center
Linda Odenthal-Hesse
Odyssey Postdoctoral Fellow
Went on as a Postdoctoral Fellow with Prof. Diethard Tautz at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology, Plön, Germany
Iyineoluwa Okulate
Summer Undergraduate Fellow
Currently a senior at University of Maryland Eastern Shore
Aastha Pandey, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow
Currently a postdoctoral associate at Baylor College of Medicine
Tolkappiyan Premkumar
MD Anderson Cancer Center UTHealth Houston Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences Student
Currently a postdoctoral fellow with Sara H Zanders, Ph.D.
Stowers Institute for Medical Research, Kansas City, MO
Lindsey Ran
Summer Undergraduate Fellow
Currently a student at Rice University
Maria Sandoval
Senior Research Assistant
Currently working in industry, managing a department that tests for microbiological contaminants
Jihan Schepmann
Summer Undergraduate Fellow
Currently a senior at Southwestern University
April Weiss
Laboratory Technician III
Maciej (Maciek) Zelazowski, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow
Currently works at Baylor College of Medicine