CHRISTINA BERGEY – PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
Assistant Professor
Department of Genetics
Rutgers University
Office: Nelson Biological Laboratory, Room B416, Busch Campus
Email: christina.bergey@rutgers.edu
Twitter: @bergeycm
AMBER TRUJILLO – Ph.D. STUDENT (co-advisee)
Department of Anthropology, New York University
2018 Predoctoral Ford Fellow
Email: aet359@nyu.edu
Amber is a doctoral student in biological anthropology interested in the coevolution of malaria, mosquitoes, and primates. She is specifically focused on investigating immune response evolution using dual-transcriptomics, as well as using environmental DNA for insecticide resistance tracking and vector surveillance. She is also passionate about scientific outreach and teaching.
BECCA DECAMP – Ph.D. STUDENT
Department of Anthropology, Rutgers University
Email: rmd222@scarletmail.rutgers.edu
Becca is a third-year doctoral student in biological anthropology. They are interested in how sperm competition drives the evolution of sperm proteins in primates with different mating systems. Specifically, Becca is looking at how genes implicated in sperm competition may have convergently involved in strepsirrhines, as well as how these genes may be differentially expressed in ejaculate across primates. Becca is passionate about LGBTQ visibility and outreach in STEM, and they are involved in both the Rutgers Anthropology graduate student-led Equity and Inclusion initiative and in the American Association of Biological Anthropology’s LGBTQ subcommittee, GayABA.
LINDSEY HAUFF – Ph.D. STUDENT
Department of Ecology and Evolution, Rutgers University
Email: lindsey.hauff@rutgers.edu
Lindsey is a second-year doctoral student in the Ecology and Evolution Graduate Program at Rutgers University. She is interested in the application of evolutionary and population genomics to biodiversity conservation. Her research uses molecular and bioinformatic approaches to investigate rapid evolutionary change in endangered Malagasy species.
MORGAN CHANEY – BIOINFORMATICS TECHNICIAN
School of Biomedical Sciences, Kent State University
Morgan is currently finishing his Ph.D. in the School of Biomedical Sciences at Kent State University in northeastern Ohio. His primary research interests comprise the ways in which primates have evolved to tolerate or detoxify xenobiotic compounds or plant secondary metabolites, and he uses bioinformatic methods to address his research aims. Related to his dissertation research, Morgan is especially interested in the natural history of the bamboo lemurs of Madagascar and how they have genetically adapted to consume an extremely specialized diet that contains, depending on the species of lemur, many times the level of cyanide required to kill an animal of the same body size. Aside from research, Morgan has a passion for education and has taught a number of subjects at the secondary, postsecondary, and graduate levels.
ADITYA GIRISH – UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT
Department of Computer Science, Rutgers University
Aditya is an undergraduate student interested in bioinformatics and computational biology. At the lab, he is currently working on analyzing microsatellites in the genomes of the Anopheles gambiae mosquito in order to investigate their genetic population structure. He is excited to explore the field of genetics using computational methods.
THEO MARTIN – UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT
Aresty Research Program, Rutgers University
NIKITA GUELMER – UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT
Aresty Research Program, Rutgers University
ANGELA CASALLAS – UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT
Department of Genetics, Rutgers University
VIBHAVARI MADHAVA – UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT
Department of Genetics, Rutgers University
Lab Alumni:
CORY HENDERSON – POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCHER (2021-2022)
Current position: Currently Un-named Start-up
During his time in the lab, Cory used bioinformatic and molecular approaches to understand the transmission of vector-borne pathogens, with the ultimate goal of developing technology to prevent their spread. His research aims to understand immunity in human disease vectors, primarily in mosquitoes. He is currently spinning off a start-up company with the technology to induce RNA silencing in crop pests and other insects.
KEVIN TILTON – UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT (2020-2022)
Current position: Research technician, Jain Lab, Rutgers Department of Genetics
Kevin worked on a computational analysis of anthropoid (monkey and ape) primate genomes, looking at coding sequence variation to determine how primate evolution has been impacted by malaria.
ALEXANDRA BECK – UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT (2020-2022)
Current position: Research technician, Fischer Lab, Dana Farber Cancer Institute/Harvard Medical School
Alexandra undertook several projects while at the lab, including sex-biased differences in transcription response to O’nyong’nyong Virus (ONNV) infection in Anopheles mosquitoes, as well as how COVID-19 and coronavirus-associated genes and genes linked to iron homeostasis have evolved in primates.
KIARA DIAZ RODRIGUEZ – UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT (2021-2022)
Kiara’s work in the lab focused on how evolutionary methods can be used to understand traits relevant to people’s health. She researched how complex traits, like insecticide resistance, are evolving in populations of the malaria mosquito, Anopheles gambiae.
EMILY ALI – UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT (2019-2020)
Current position: Research technician, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Emily’s work in the lab involved comparing genes linked to language across human populations, correlating linguistic traits of populations to variation at genomic regions known to influence language acquisition.