Our Team



frank

Frank Pugh, PhD


Principal Investigator

We aim to discover molecular mechanisms of gene regulation. The lab studies how the transcription machinery assembles at promoters and the pivotal role that enhancers play in accelerating this assembly.

location: 465 Biotechnology Building
email: fp265@cornell.edu
CV:

Anne Gardner, PhD

Lab Manager

anne

Anne Gardner joined the Pugh lab in 2021 as Lab Manager. She is excited to be back at Cornell where she completed her undergraduate in Biology. She earned her PhD in Immunology at Duke University on immunoglobulin intracellular transport during B cell differentiation and did a postdoctoral fellowship at National Jewish Immunology focusing on MAP kinase signal transduction pathways.


location: 467 Biotechnology Building
email: amg246@cornell.edu
CV:
 
Joshua Wendall

Lab Technician

josh

Josh received his BS in Biology with the Neuroscience option from Penn State, shortly thereafter joining the Pugh Lab in December of 2022. As a technician, he has been exploring the use of mammalian tissue as a substrate for ChIP-exo.


location: 467 Biotechnology Building
email: jcw345@cornell.edu
CV:
 
Matthew McDermott

Lab Technician

matt

Matthew received his bachelor’s degree in Viticulture and Enology from Cornell University. He is interested in the yeast and bacteria that are responsible for producing beer and wine. Since the production of beer and wine is stressful to yeast, Matthew has been studying where transcription factors are bound to DNA in yeast as a response to different stress factors using ChIP-exo.


location: 467 Biotechnology Building
email: mjm763@cornell.edu
 
Ruihao Li, PhD

Post Doctoral Scholar

ruihao

Ruihao completed his Bachelor’s degree in Life Sciences at Huazhong University of Science and Technology in 2017. Following this, he pursued his PhD in Quantitative and Systems Biology at the University of California, Merced, graduating in 2023. Shortly after, he joined Pugh’s lab as a postdoctoral fellow. He is committed to constructing mathematical models and developing computational tools to elucidate the intricate networking between transcription factors and genes.


location: 467 Biotechnology Building
email: rl884@cornell.edu
CV:
 
Jordan Krebs

Graduate Student (MSTP-Penn State)

jordan

Jordan is a MD/PhD student at Penn State University / Penn State College of Medicine. He is focused on the optimization of ChIP-exo for mammalian cells and tissues in hopes of identifying differential transcription factor binding sites across many tissues and diseases. His work should be instrumental to the inclusion of epigenomics in the field of precision medicine and pathology.


location: 460 Biotechnology Building
email: jek369@cornell.edu
CV:
website:
 
Haining Chen

Graduate Student (BMCB)

haining

Haining Chen is a doctoral candidate in the Graduate Field of Biochemistry, Molecular, and Cell Biology (BMCB) Graduate Program at Cornell University. She received her Bachelor's degree in microbiology from Shandong University. In 2019, Haining joined the Pugh lab, and her current research focuses on unraveling the intricate molecular architectures of proteins implicated in transcription initiation and studying how transcription factors regulate gene expression in a cell-type-specific manner.


location: 460 Biotechnology Building
email: hc2228@cornell.edu
CV:
website:
 
Olivia Lang

Graduate Student (CB)

olivia

Olivia received her bachelor’s degree in Interdisciplinary Computational Biology from Colby College and then went on to work for The Saccharomyces Genome Database for two years before starting her PhD in Cornell’s Computational Biology program. As a member of the Pugh lab, she works on tool development for the data generated from sequencing based assays.


location: 404 Biotechnology Building
email: owl8@cornell.edu
CV:
website:
 
Justin Cha

Graduate Student (CB)

justin

Justin Cha is a PhD student in the Computational Biology Program. He received his bachelor's degree in Biomedical Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology before working as an Associate Computational Biologist in the Getz Lab at the Broad Institute. For the Pugh lab, he works on software development and high-throughput computing (HTC) for the analysis of sequencing data.


location: 460A Biotechnology Building
email: jsc333@cornell.edu
CV:
website:
 
Fred Fazan

Graduate Student (PBSB)

fred

Fred got his BS in Biomedical Sciences from the University of São Paulo and Master’s in Pharmacology from the Federal University of São Paulo. He worked as a Research Fellow at the University of Iowa for two years before joining Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences PhD program in Physiology, Biophysics and Systems Biology. In the Pugh Lab, he works on the technical development of single cell ChIP-exo.


location: 460 Biotechnology Building
email: ff259@cornell.edu
CV:
 
Rebecca Soloway

Graduate Student (GGD)

rebecca

Rebecca received a BS in Biology from Cornell University, and has been working in science communication and conservation biology since graduation. As a graduate student in the Pugh Lab, she is interested in gene regulatory networks in yeast.


location: 460 Biotechnology Building
email: res336@cornell.edu
CV:
 
Jiayi Hu

Graduate Student (GGD)

jiayi

Jiayi Hu is a PhD student in the Genetics, Genomics, and Development Program at Cornell University. She received her bachelor's degree in Integrated Science at Peking University in China. She joined Pugh lab in 2024, focusing on understanding the dynamics of epigenomic architecture by chromatin reconstitution.


location: 460 Biotechnology Building
email: jh2792@cornell.edu
CV:
Kritika Grover

Graduate Student (CB)

kritika

Kritika Grover is a PhD student in the Computational Biology Program at Cornell University. She received her bachelor's degree from the University of Waterloo in Biochemistry and minored in computing.


location: 460A Biotechnology Building
email: kg573@cornell.edu
CV:
 

Undergraduate Students



Benjamin Beer'28
Alima Dean'27
Tanya Gupta'26
Hanqing Li'25
Olivia Li'26
Pedro Vera Perez'25
Alex Veldran'26
Grace Wang'27
Dean Zhang'25
 


CourtneyLeSonUndergraduate2022-2024+
MihirRanjanUndergraduate2022-2024+
Paula MarieBrownUndergraduate2022-2023
RebeccaKalikUndergraduate2023-2023
StevenWangStaff, Lab Technician2022-2023
Ben TerhaarUndergraduate2022-2023
WilliamTsaiHigh School Student2022-2022
DominicMatrasUndergraduate2022-2022
AlisaLeeGrad StudentGGD2020-2022
AliNematbakhshStaff, Computer Scientist2019-2022
AnnBastingStaff, Lab Technician2019-2020
DanielaJamesLab Manager2018-2020
RandyBlandaStaff, Lab Technician2018-2020
DanielleJames (Asquino)Staff, Lab Technician2018-2020
JoshuaMairoseStaff, Lab Technician2018-2020
SarahDweikatStaff, Lab Technician2018-2019
HuiMaoStaff, Lab Technician2018-2019
JuliaCipparuloUndergraduate2018-2019
KyleNilsonPostdoctoral fellow2017-2022
PrashantKuntalaStaff, Computer Scientist2017-2019
OliviaScruton_MulyUndergraduate2017-2019
SaritaGreerStaff, Admin. Asst.2017-2018
AbeerAlmutairyStaff, Computer Scientist2017-2018
DaveRoccoStaff, Lab Technician2017-2018
KyleMcIlroyUndergraduate2017-2018
JordanJohnUndergraduate2016-2019
KylieBocklundLab Manager2016-2018
KatelynMistrellaStaff, Lab Technician2016-2018
GuanjueXiangGrad Student2016-2017
EmilyPerkinsonStaff, Lab Technician2016-2017
AgusteyMongiaUndergraduate2016-2016
LindaNguyenUndergraduate2016-2016
NitikaBadjatiaPostdoctoral fellow2015-2020
DanyingShaoStaff, Computer Scientist2015-2017
MatthewDribanUndergraduate2015-2017
LeoAnteloStaff, Lab Technician2015-2016
GeoffreyBillyUndergraduate2015-2016
IngridRitchieUndergraduate2015-2016
GrettaArmstrongStaff, IT Project Manager2014-2021
ChitvanMittalPostdoctoral fellow2014-2020
NinaFarrellLab Manager2014-2017
HanZhangGrad StudentBiochemistry & Molecular Biology2014-2015
KellyPandolphoStaff, Lab Technician2014-2015
JacobSmithUndergraduate2014-2015
JohnMcGrawStaff, Lab Technician2014-2014
VineshVinayachandranPostdoctoral fellow; Assistant Professor2013-2018
AlainBattailePostdoctoral fellow2013-2017
WilliamLaiAssistant Professor2012-2024+
MatthewRossiPostdoctoral fellow; Assistant Professor2012-2020
RohitRejaGrad StudentIBIOS: Genomics and Bioinformatics2012-2016
BongsooParkStaff, Computer Scientist2012-2015
OlaSodeindeAssistant Professor2012-2014
JustinAllshouseLab Manager2012-2014
RyanDonaghyStaff, Lab Technician2012-2013
BrianPerryStaff, Lab Technician2012-2013
KatiePetersonStaff, Lab Technician2012-2013
YunfeiLiStaff, Lab Technician2011-2015
Kang-(Sol)HanLab Manager2011-2014
MikeCousarStaff, Lab Technician2011-2012
FashliAzizUndergraduate2011-2011
KuangyuYenPostdoctoral fellow2010-2016
CelineHanGrad StudentIBIOS: Genomics and Bioinformatics2010-2014
ZhenhaiZhangGrad StudentIBIOS: Genomics and Bioinformatics2010-2014
AnnaChanStaff, Lab Technician2010-2013
John (JP)DowlingStaff, Lab Technician2010-2011
CoralMartinez-CorreaStaff, Lab Technician2010-2011
CharlesMeadeStaff, Lab Technician2010-2011
DaveCantorUndergraduate2010-2011
MeghaWalGrad StudentBiochemistry & Molecular Biology2009-2014
Gue-SuChangGrad Student; Postdoctoral fellowIBIOS: Genomics and Bioinformatics2009-2014
GoffmanDaveStaff, Lab Technician2009-2010
DavidGoffmanStaff, Lab Technician2009-2010
BradyMackenzieStaff, Lab Technician2009-2010
AnkitPatelUndergraduate2009-2009
SujanaGhoshGrad StudentBiochemistry & Molecular Biology2008-2013
BryanVentersGrad Student; Postdoctoral fellowBiochemistry & Molecular Biology2008-2013
KiranBattaPostdoctoral fellow2008-2011
MattSchanerStaff, Lab Technician2008-2011
ElissaWardStaff, Lab Technician2008-2010
VanessaBoccaccioStaff, Lab Technician2008-2009
MichaelDevineStaff, Lab Technician2008-2009
Ho-SungRheeGrad StudentBiochemistry & Molecular Biology2007-2012
LiyeZhangGrad StudentIBIOS: Cell & Developmental Biology2007-2012
MelissaLongGrad StudentIBIOS: Cell & Developmental Biology2007-2010
ShinWachiPostdoctoral fellow2007-2010
AndrewSinnamonUndergraduate2007-2009
CizjhongJiangPostdoctoral fellow2007-2008
BarbAndersenStaff, Lab Technician2007-2008
PriyankaJainStaff, Lab Technician2007-2008
PeonyJenaStaff, Lab Technician2007-2008
BoraKimUndergraduate2007-2008
NoahRolleriUndergraduate2007-2008
ChristineWalsh (Hemeryck)Lab Manager2006-2012
RamaharithaPusarlaPostdoctoral fellow2006-2009
EricSamorodnistkyGrad StudentIBIOS: Genomics and Bioinformatics2005-2010
ThomasKoerberGrad StudentBiochemistry & Molecular Biology2005-2008
TravisMavrichStaff, Lab Technician2004-2008
StephenMartin-TumaszUndergraduate2004-2007
MauerBiscottiUndergraduate2004-2006
CatherineStefaniukUndergraduate2004-2006
BrandonChicaleseStaff, Lab Technician2004-2005
KivancBirsoyUndergraduate2004-2004
MelissaCunningham (Durant)Grad StudentBiochemistry & Molecular Biology2002-2006
SaraZantonLab Manager2002-2006
PaulGramlichUndergraduate2002-2004
SolShockmanUndergraduate2002-2004
SandyTohUndergraduate2002-2004
LauraClarkeUndergraduate2002-2003
KathrynHuisingaGrad StudentBiochemistry & Molecular Biology2001-2006
JordanIrvinGrad StudentBiochemistry & Molecular Biology2001-2005
AndrewBasehoarGrad StudentStatistics2000-2004
LarryBenjaminGrad StudentBiochemistry & Molecular Biology2000-2004
DianeAlexanderUndergraduate2000-2003
DrewLowryUndergraduate2000-2002
SummerSikesStaff, Lab Technician2000-2001
SmitaMitraGrad StudentIBIOS: Genomics and Bioinformatics1999-2004
JohnRobinsonLab Manager1999-2002
KevinHalbeUndergraduate1999-2000
ChrisWolfUndergraduate1999-2000
RebeccaMaag (Holby)Undergraduate1998-2000
Robert (Bob)CarterPostdoctoral Fellow1998-1999
ShivaKazerounianUndergraduate1997-1997
Carmelata (Lata)ChitikilaGrad StudentBiochemistry & Molecular Biology1996-2001
HaipingKouGrad StudentBiochemistry & Molecular Biology1996-2001
LumelleSchneiweis (Schmiedekamp)Undergraduate1996-1999
SandeepBurmaPostdoctoral Fellow1996-1998
AaronDixonUndergraduate1995-1997
MatthewPortnoyUndergraduate1995-1997
jasonBurakUndergraduate1995-1996
RobertColemanGrad StudentBiochemistry & Molecular Biology1994-1999
DavidKaczorowskiUndergraduate1994-1997
LeighPanek (Briley)Grad StudentBiochemistry & Molecular Biology1994-1996
BruceBoothUndergraduate1994-1996
ChristopherFanaleUndergraduate1994-1996
PaulKwitkinUndergraduate1994-1996
RobertNetterUndergraduate1994-1996
HeatherWiegandUndergraduate1994-1996
JohnChiccaGrad StudentMolecular & Cell Biology1993-1998
AmyJackson-FisherGrad StudentMolecular & Cell Biology1993-1998
ChristianWeidemanUndergraduate1993-1997
JeffreyGerardUndergraduate1993-1995
JohnMacAllisterUndergraduate1993-1995
TimFisherLab Manager1992-1998
AndrewTaggartGrad StudentMicrobiology1992-1996