Iswar Hariharan

I obtained my degree in Medicine (MBBS) from the University of Sydney and my Ph.D. degree from the University of Melbourne where I worked with Jerry Adams and Suzanne Cory. My post-doctoral training was with Gerry Rubin at the University of California, Berkeley. I joined the faculty of the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center and Harvard Medical School in 1992. In 2004 my lab moved to the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology at U. C. Berkeley where I am a Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology. I have no hobbies and have forgotten how to relax.

ikh@berkeley.edu

Abigail Gerhold

I graduated from Cornell University in 2002 with a degree in English and Africana Studies, made my way west and have been living in the Bay Area ever since. After a couple years of being overworked and underpaid, I decided to become a graduate student and joined the Hariharan lab in 2006. I am interested in studying tissue regeneration and the regulation and evolution of organ size. Most of my hobbies involve being outdoors – I enjoy climbing, hiking, running and playing soccer.

abby_gerhold@berkeley.edu

Yassi Hafezi

I have been a graduate student in the lab since May 2005. I recieved a very formal undergraduate education from UC San Diego. I love studying for quals, I get lots of good grades, and I wish everyday was Monday.

yhafezi@berkeley.edu

Adrian Halme

I've been slowly making the transition from my undergraduate and graduate work in yeast, to a model system that has more than one cell to rub together... not to mention body parts. Outside of the lab, I've been trying to get outside as much as possible and enjoy the bay area by cycling, hiking and eating great food. I have also been working hard towards looking less maniacal in photographs... I still have a ways to go.

ajhalme@berkeley.edu

Tânia Reis

After graduating from the University of Porto, Portugal, I joined the Gulbenkian PhD Program. After a year of classes there I began my graduate research in Bruce Edgar's Lab at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle. I investigated cell cycle regulation in Drosophila wing discs, and learned to love flies so much that I decided to stick with them. In Iswar's lab I am exploring physiological mechanisms of feeding behavior and energy homeostasis -- fat bodies are my new obsession. As hobbies I knit, play soccer, rock climb and love to explore the outdoors.

Sarah Siegrist

I recently moved to Berkeley from Eugene, where I completed my Ph.D. in Chris Doe's lab at the University of Oregon studying the mechanisms of asymmetric cell division. My hobbies are confocaling and making new fly lines (mostly for experiments I will never do). My real job is taking care of my 1 year-old son. I am having difficulty writing a hypothesis driven proposal to get funded for this. Suggestions are appreciated. But seriously I am interested in understanding mechanisms that regulate brain size and growth.

ssiegris@berkeley.edu

Rachel Smith-Bolton

I received my undergraduate degree from Harvard University where I worked in Richard Losick's lab on asymmetric cell division in Bacillus subtilis. I then received my Ph.D, from Stanford University where I conducted my thesis research in Mike Simon's lab on Receptor Tyrosine Kinase signaling during Drosophila development. My current postdoctoral work in the Hariharan lab is focused on the genetic regulation of growth and proliferation, particularly during the regeneration of damaged tissues. When not conducting experiments on regenerative growth in lab, I enjoy experimenting with new recipes in my kitchen and encouraging new growth among the dahlias and roses in my garden.

rksb@berkeley.edu

Melanie Worley

I graduated from MIT in 2006 with a degree in biology and a minor in
chemistry. As an undergraduate I worked in Bob Horvitz’s lab and decided that genetics was the way to go. For graduate school I felt a strong pull for a westward migration, which helps support my bird watching addiction. I enjoy hiking and bike riding as long as I can carry binoculars, seriously. Somewhere I lost the ability to make jokes that aren’t true.

mworley@berkeley.edu

Leslie Chen

This is my first time working with Drosophila, and I'm usually extremely grossed out by larvae/wormlike creatures, but these maggots just seemed to grow on me. They're rather cute. Did I really just say that? Anyway, I'm going onto my 3rd year, majoring in Molecular Cell Biology with an emphasis in Cellular and Developmental Biology. I'm from the sunny Orange County, and sorry I don't watch that show. In my spare time when I'm not studying, I enjoy spending time with my lovely roommates, friends, and my sisters in Kappa Gamma Delta, the pre-medical sorority. I also enjoy working out, swimming, and baking.

Michelle Cheng

I am an undergraduate going into my 3rd year as an MCB major. I am also Adrian's lab rat. I like to read magazines backwards, take naps, and bake cheesecakes.

Alexander Nguyen

I am currently studying Cell and Developmental Biology as a Molecular & Cell Biology undergraduate. One reason I enjoy coming to lab is that the appearance and smell of fly food remind me of peanut butter. I possess many hobbies ranging from racing triathlons to working with computers.

Brannon Weeks

For the (very) few that care to read this far down, you should know that I am completing this bio under threat from Iswar, and that man scares me. That said, I am an undergrad and (like everyone else) in MCB, concentrating in Genetics. Outside the lab, I like to eat, which requires my other interests: cooking--to make it taste good--and running--to make it go away. My work with Tânia in creating a magic pill that will dissolve all body fat ties into these interests quite well.