Current Lab Members

Anna Bryant

Anna graduated with a B.S. in chemistry from Appalachian State University. She is working with Shuwen and Aixia to gain more insights into the determinants for ProQ binding along with the physiological role of this RNA binding protein. Anna is excited to be applying to graduate programs.

NIH, Building 49, Room 1A-35
49 Convent Drive
Bethesda, MD 20892-4417
Email: anna.bryant@nih.gov

Rajat (Raj) Dhyani

Rajat conducted graduate work with Prof. Naveen Kumar Navani at the Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, where he developed biosensors for the early diagnosis of cancer and amino-acid-related metabolic disorders and investigated the possibility of using peptide-coated nanoparticles as an antibacterial agent. He has turned his attention to testing computational predictions of small protein-coding ORFs and their functions.

NIH, Building 49, Room 1A-35
49 Convent Drive
Bethesda, MD 20892-4417
Email: rajat.dhyani@nih.gov

Chelsey Fontenot

Chelsey joined the group after receiving a Ph.D. in biochemistry from Louisiana State University. Geaux Tigers! As a graduate student with Prof. Huangen Ding, she discovered that the Fur transcription repressor binds a [2Fe-2S] instead of iron as initially thought. She is examining the physiological roles of three oxidative stress-induced small RNAs and characterizing a small protein induced under anaerobic conditions. 

NIH, Building 49, Room 1C-20
49 Convent Drive
Bethesda, MD 20892-4417
Email: chelsey.fontenot@nih.gov

Maciej Basczok

Maciej conducted graduate work with Prof. Mikolaj Olejniczak at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan, Poland, where he characterized the RNA recognition determinants for the Neisseria meningitidis ProQ protein. Maciej is now focusing on elucidating the functions of small proteins, particularly those encoded by uORFs that regulate translation of the downstream gene.

NIH, Building 49, Room 1A-35
49 Convent Drive
Bethesda, MD 20892-4417
Email: maciej.basczok@nih.gov

Shuwen Shan

Shuwen has a unique background in that she obtained her Ph.D. in molecular diagnosis in veterinary medicine at the University of Göttingen, working together with Prof. Bertram Brenig. She is excited to learn more about bacterial small RNAs. Shuwen is working on noncanonical small RNAs for which we have some information about Hfq and ProQ binding but still do not know the physiological roles.

NIH, Building 49, Room 1A-35
49 Convent Drive
Bethesda, MD 20892-4417
Email:  shuwen.shan@nih.gov

Narumon Thongdee

Narumon obtained her Ph.D. in applied biological sciences from the Chulabhorn Graduate Institute in Bangkok, Thailand. During her thesis work with Prof. Mayuree Fuangthong, Narumon studied the role of the TrmB methyltransferase in regulating catalase levels as part of the oxidative stress response. Narumon is applying her expertise in the regulation of translation elongation to studying the consequences of small RNA base pairing within coding sequences.

NIH, Building 49, Room 1A-35
49 Convent Drive
Bethesda, MD 20892-4417
Email: narumon.thongdee@nih.gov

Rilee Zeinert

After completing an undergraduate research project in the lab of former Storz lab alum Prof. Laurie Waters, Rilee conducted Ph.D. work with Prof. Peter Chien at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. The Tn-seq screens he conducted and followed up have led into new insights into physiological consequences of proteolysis. Rilee’s project to learn more about the impact of small proteins by proteolysis will capitalize on this expertise.

NIH, Building 49, Room 1A-35
49 Convent Drive
Bethesda, MD 20892-4417
Email: rilee.zeinert@nih.gov

Aixia Zhang

Aixia has worked on nearly every aspect of small RNA identification and characterization, assisting many projects in the Storz lab as well as in other labs. Over the years, she has conducted much of the seminal work on the Hfq RNA chaperone protein. Contact Aixia for any questions about protocols and reagents!

NIH, Building 49, Room 1A-35
49 Convent Drive
Bethesda, MD 20892-4417
Email: zhanga@mail.nih.gov

Aoshu Zhong

As a graduate student with Prof. Hung-wen Liu at the University of Texas at Austin, Aoshu studied the biosynthesis of oxetanocin A, a nucleoside antiviral agent produced by Bacillus megaterium. Aoshu’s expertise in enzymology and protein purification is a big asset in his characterization of proteins encoded by overlapping genes, particularly a novel toxin-antitoxin system. Aoshu is planning to continue this exciting work in his own lab and is a great colleague; a hint to search committees!

NIH, Building 49, Room 1C-20
49 Convent Drive
Bethesda, MD 20892-4417
Email: aoshu.zhong@nih.gov

Dennis Zhu

Dennis conducted his graduate work on Mycobacterium tuberculosis with Prof. Christina Stallings at Washingtion University in St. Louis. He characterized the essential and extremely interesting transcription factor CarD, a non-specific DNA binding protein, which regulates transcription initiation by binding RNA polymerase. Dennis continues to be interested in pathogenic bacteria and is now focused on studying how small RNAs evolve across clinical isolates of E. coli.

NIH, Building 49, Room 1C-20
49 Convent Drive
Bethesda, MD 20892-4417
Email: dennis.zhu@nih.gov

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