People - Nolan Lab

Staff

Scientists, Postdocs, & Associates

Graduate Students

Garry P. Nolan, Ph.D.
Rachford and Carlota A. Harris Professor
Department of Microbiology and Immunology
Baxter Laboratory for Stem Cell Biology
Director, NHLBI Proteomics Center for Systems Immunology
gnolan@.stanford.edu

Education:
Undergraduate: B.S., Biology, Cornell University
Graduate: Ph.D., Genetics, Stanford University
Postdoctoral: MIT/Rockefeller University
Specialties: Signaling biology, immunology, cancer biology, retroviral design, bioinformatics, genetics, and carnivorous plants.

 

Angelica Trejo, B.S.
Life Science Technician
angtrejo@stanford.edu

Education: B.S., Biology, Stanford University
Specialties: FACS phosphoprotein analysis, website administration, Phospho-Flow 101 Course

 

Astraea Jager, B.S.
Technician/Research Assistant
ajager@stanford.edu

Education: B.S., Biological Sciences, San Jose State
Astraea has been a technician/Research Assistant for about 4 years in the Nolan lab doing various immunology and molecular biology techniques. She has many years of experience in flow cytometry, working with the LSRII as well as one year of experience working with the CYTOF, including maintenance and operation. She also conjugates and titrates many of the metal-labeled antibodies used for CYTOF analysis

 

Rachel Finck, B.S.
Data Analyst
rfinck@stanford.edu

Education: B.S., Physics, B.S., Mathematics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology 
Specialties: Methods for quality control and analysis of mass cytometry data 
Field: Data Analysis 
Project(s): Mass cytometry data normalization, computational deconvolution of barcoded data, high-throughput dose response analysis

 

Cynthia Lorang, B.S.
Research Technician
clorang@stanford.edu

Education: B.S., Cellular, Molecular, and Developmental Biology, University of Washington
Specialties: Molecular Biology Techniques, Mass Spectrometry, Flow Cytometry, Proteomics 
Field: Immunology, Systems Biology, and Proteomics
Project: Developing a whole blood assay for clinical use to monitor the affect of cancer drug treatment by CYTOF analysis of immune cell signaling networks

 

Howard Guss
Executive Assistant
howardg@stanford.edu

 

Wendy Fantl, Ph.D.
Senior Research Scientist
wjfantl@stanford.edu

Education: B.A., University of York; Ph.D., Rockefeller University; Postdoctoral Fellow/Faculty, UCSF
Specialties: Signal transduction at the single cell level and personalized medicine. Matching each patient to the most beneficial drug based on a holistic understanding of their disease at the single cell level.
Field: Cancer Biology, Microbiology, and Immunology

 

Peter Krutzik, Ph.D.
Research Associate
pkrutzik@stanford.edu

Education: PhD, Biomedical Informatics, Stanford University; B.S., Chemistry, University of California, Irvine
Specialties: FACS phosphoprotein analysis, B cell immunology, organic chemistry, antibody conjugation 
Field: Immunology
Project(s): B cell development and cell signaling, multiparameter FACS drug screening

 

Matt Hale, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow
mhale@stanford.edu

Education: B.A., Biology, Yale University
Specialties: FACS phosphoprotein analysis, dendritic cell immunology
Field: Immunology
Project(s): Novel dendritic cell subset biology and dendritic cell signaling

 

Eli Zunder, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow
ezunder@stanford.edu

Education: B.A., Biochemistry, Cellular, and Molecular Biology,Dartmouth College; Ph.D., Biophysics, UCSF
Specialties: FACS phosphoprotein analysis, kinase inhibition 
Field:Immunology, Cancer Biology
Project(s): Multiparameter FACS drug screening

 

Faye Hsu, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow
fayehsu@stanford.edu

Education: Ph.D, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology,University of Southern California
Specialties: Regulatory gene activity in lymphoma cells
Field: Immunology and Cancer Biology 
Project(s): Signalling mechanisms of tumor infiltrating T cells

 

Karen Sachs, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow
karens1@stanford.edu

Education: B.Sc., Biology, Technion, Israeli Institute of Technology; Ph.D., Bioengineering, MIT
Specialties: Probabilistic models of biological pathways 
Field: Computational models of signaling pathways in Immunology
Project(s): Models of B-cell signaling, Investigating differences in signaling across distinct samples and disease states

 

Nikesh Kotecha, Ph.D.
Research Engineer
nikesh@stanford.edu

Education: B.S., Biomedical Engineering, Boston University; PhD, Biomedical Informatics, Stanford University
Specialties:Signaling in leukemia, informatics, flow cytometry software, trans 
Field: Biomedical informatics, leukemia, software engineering
Project(s):Cell signaling in leukemia. Analysis and visualization methods for flow cytometry data, management and analysis infrastructure for translational research projects

 

Kara L. Davis, D.O.
Fellow, Pediatric Hematology/Oncology
kardavis@stanford.edu

Education: B.A., Pennsylvania State University; D.O., Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine
Specialties: Pediatric Hematology/Oncology
Project(s):Signaling in high risk childhood ALL; Neuroblastom

 

Sean Bendall, Ph.D
Postdoctoral Fellow
bendall@stanford.edu

Education: B.Sc., Biochemistry & Microbiology, Univ. of Victoria, Canada; Ph.D., Biochemistry, Univ. of Western Ontario, Canada 
Specialties: Protein Biochemistry, Mass Spectrometry, Stem Cell Biology, ICP-MS based flow cytometry (CyToF) 
Field: Method Development, Phospho Flow Cytometry, Stem Cell and Cancer Biology 
Project(s): Interfacing phospho-flow protocols with high content ICP-MS based flow cytometry (CyToF). Using single cell phospho-flow to characterize regulatory signaling network status in rare cancer and stem cell populations and correlate it with cellular function.

 

Yury Goltsev, Ph.D.
Research Scientist 
gbehbeha@stanford.edu

Education: M.Sc., Biophysics, Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology; Ph.D., Molecular Immunology, Weizmann Institute of Science 
Specialties: Signaling to programmed cell death from TNF/NGF receptor family. Evolution of Transcriptional Regulatory Networks 
Field: Immunology/Oncology 
Project(s): Transcriptonal regulation of cell differentiation in normal and oncogenic hematopoiesis

 

Greg Behbehani, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow
gbehbeha@stanford.edu

Education: B.S., Biology, 1996, University of Cincinnati; M.D., 2005, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine; Ph.D., Molecular Genetics, Biochemistry and Microbiology, 2007, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine
Specialties: Hematology and Oncology 
Field: Hematology and Oncology translational research 
Project(s): Single cell flow cytometry methods to analyze chemotherapy response in leukemia cell lines in order to predict therapy response and determine the optimal chemotherapy regimen.

 

Veronica Gonzalez Muñoz, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow
verogon@stanford.edu

Education: M.Sc., Molecular Biology, Stockholm University; Ph.D., Experimental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet; Postdoctoral Fellow Virology/Immunology, NIDDK/NIH 
Specialties: T and NK cell biology, Viral host-pathogen interactions, HIV-1, HCV 
Field: Immunology 
Project(s): Immune phenotyping and characterization of HIV-1 Elite controllers

 

Matt Clutter, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow
mclutter@stanford.edu

Education: B.S., Biochemistry, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Specialties: FACS phosphoprotein analysis, T cell biology, allergy
Field: Immunology
Project(s): Allergy/asthma profiling, primary mast cell signaling

 

Erin Simonds, Ph.D.
Ph.D. Candidate
esimonds@stanford.edu

Education: B.S., Molecular & Cell Biology, University of Connecticut
Specialties: Mass cytometry methods development, functional genomics, host defense, bioinformatics 
Field: Microbiology and Immunology
Project(s): Heterogeneous signaling subpopulations in childhood leukemias: Characterizing altered pathway biology, drug sensitivity and treatment escape mechanisms

 

Shih-Yu Chen, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow
siychen@stanford.edu

Education: M.D., National Taiwan University; Ph.D., Neuroscience, University of California, Davis 
Specialties: Cell Signaling
Field: Translational research and Immunology
Project(s): Biomarker development in autoimmune disorders

 

Brice Gaudillière, Ph.D., M.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow
bgaudilliere@gmail.com

Education: B.S., Engineering, Ecole Polytechnique; Ph.D., Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School; M.D., Harvard-MIT division of Health Sciences and Technology
Specialties: Anesthesiology
Field: Anesthesiology, Perioperative Immunity
Project(s): using single cell mass cytometry to answer two questions: (1) how a patient's preoperative immune profile correlates with surgical recovery, and (2) how common anesthetic drugs (such as narcotics, sedatives or local anesthetics) modulate the immune response to surgical trauma.

 

Robert Bruggner, B.S.
Ph.D. Candidate in Biomedical Informatics 
bruggner@stanford.edu

Education: B.S., Computer Engineering, M.S., Biology, University of Notre Dame 
Specialties: Informatics, genomics, web infrastructure technologies 
Field: Biomedical Informatics 
Project(s): Analysis and infrastructure of high-dimensional flow cytometery data. Network analysis

 

Gabi Fragiadakis, B.A.
Ph.D. Candidate, Microbiology and Immunology
gabif@stanford.edu

Education: B.A., Molecular and Cellular Biology, University of California, Berkeley
Gabi is interested in combining computational and experimental approaches to study biology. Specifically, she would like to bring together high dimensional flow cytometry and methods of data visualization, statistical analysis, and algorithm development to map out the healthy human immune system. This includes profiling both phenotypic surface expression and signaling networks. Gabi hopes to develop a framework for the healthy immune system to use as a reference for altered immunity and disease.

 

Harris Fienberg, B.S.
Ph.D. Candidate in Microbiology and Immunology 
hgfien@stanford.edu

Education: B.S., Biological Sciences, B.A., English, Stanford University; M.Sc., Zoology, University of Basel 
Specialties: FACS phosphoprotein analysis, high throughput screening, new technique development 
Field: Microbiology and Immunology 
Project(s): Leukemia primary cell profiling, mast cell signaling

 

Matt Spitzer, B.S.
Ph.D. Candidate, IDP - Immunology
spitzerm@stanford.edu

Matt Spitzer grew up in Manhattan Beach, CA and did his undergraduate work at Georgetown University, where he earned his bachelors degree in Biology with a minor in Economics. He performed his thesis research as a member of the Hoe lab, studying novel small-molecule therapeutics for Alzheimer's disease in a mouse model. He was also a member of the men's water polo team. Matt is the self-proclaimed mouse enthusiast of the Nolan Lab, and his thesis work focuses on using mass cytometry as a tool to unravel the mechanistic basis of tumor immunotherapy.

 

Tyler Burns, B.S. 
Ph.D. Candidate, IDP - Cancer Biology
tjburns@stanford.edu

Education: B.A., Human Biology, Stanford University
Specialties: Murine models of cancer and brain development
Field: Cell signaling and non-coding RNA within the context of cancer.

 

Erica Savig, B.S., M. Arch. 
Ph.D. Candidate, IDP - Cancer Biology
esavig@stanford.edu

Education: M. Arch. (Architecture), University of Pennsylvania
B.S., Management Science & Engineering, Stanford University
Specialties: Data Visualization
Field: Cancer Biology, Design Computation
Project: Applying architectural design computation methods to visualization and geometrically-driven analysis of flow cytometry data, while investigating local-tumor immune interactions in serous ovarian cancer.

 

Zach Bjornson-Hooper, S.B. 
Ph.D. Candidate, Microbiology and Immunology
bjornson@stanford.edu

Education: S.B., Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Specialties: Virology, Genomics, Informatics
Field: Microbiology & Immunology
Project(s): Long-term sequelae and immune response to Ebolavirus infection and analysis of high-dimensional flow cytometry data

Zach Bjornson, S.B. is a Ph.D. student in the Microbiology and Immunology Department studying the long-term effects on the immune system that result from surviving viral hemorrhagic fever as well as immune signaling events that occur during Ebola hemorrhagic fever. He is a developer of SPADE, an analysis algorithm commonly used to analyze CyTOF data. Zach graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with an S.B. in biology in 2010. Previously, he studied viral genomics and metagenomics.