Lab Members

James C. Bardwell, Ph.D.

Rowena G. Matthews Collegiate Professor, MCDB HHMI Investigator

jbardwel@umich.edu

Awards and Fellowships

2013 AAAS Fellow
2009 Rowena G. Matthews Collegiate Professorship
2005 HHMI Investigator
1999 Literature, Science and Arts Excellence in Research Award
1997-2001 Pew Scholar
1993-1995 Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship
1989-1993 Helen Hay Whitney Fellowship
1981-1985 NSERC Postgraduate Scholarship

Xiexiong Deng

Postdoctoral Fellow

dengx@umich.edu

Xiexiong attained his PhD at Michigan State University in 2018, where he studied the mitotic function of histone H3 in budding yeast. Afterwards, he joined Bardwell lab and studies amyloidogenic protein folding using budding yeast. Outside the lab, he loves watching soccer and playing badminton.

Ee Lin Wong

Postdoctoral Fellow

eelinw@umich.edu

A normal girl who enjoys travelling and playing ukulele, picking up new languages, and is a solid K-pop fan.

Bikash Sahoo

Postdoctoral Fellow

bsahoo@umich.edu

Bikash received his Ph.D. in Chemistry from Osaka University, Japan, and then joined University of Michigan Biophysics program as a postdoc. Currently, in Bardwell’s lab, he works as a research specialist and his research focuses on the structural biophysics of G-quadruplex binding proteins that regulate genome function and many critical biological processes at high-resolution. Outside the lab, Bikash enjoys designing websites, 3D illustrations, and browsing international affairs.

Mark Dulchavsky

Graduate Student

Mark graduated from the University of Michigan majoring in Biophysics and minoring in music. His previous research includes work in linguistics analysis and neurodegenerative disease. He joined the U of M MD PhD program in 2017 and then the Bardwell lab in 2019. Currently, he works on protein engineering of biotherapeutic enzymes. Outside of lab, Mark enjoys hobbyist electronics and music performance.

Rishav Mitra

Graduate Student

Rishav received his master’s degree in biotechnology from St. Xavier’s College (Autonomous) Kolkata affiliated to the University of Calcutta, India. He joined the Bardwell Lab in 2018. Currently, he is focussing on finding a biophysically amenable chaperone-substrate pair to understand mechanisms of chaperone- assisted protein folding. Outside of lab, Rishav enjoys listening to classical music and watching movies.

Hannah Navarrete

Graduate Student

hnava@umich.edu

Hannah graduated from the University of California, Riverside (UCR) in 2019 with a B.S. in Biochemistry. While at UCR, she looked at HNF4 stability in the presence of oxylipins, which are formed in the liver from unsaturated fatty acids. After graduating, Hannah spend a year as a PREP scholar at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, where she screened for sex biased gene expression in a population of “support cells” in the gonads. She came to Michigan as a PIBS student in MCDB and joined the Bardwell lab in 2021. Outside of lab, she enjoys knitting and spending time outdoors.

Nathan Clark

Undergraduate

Nathan joined the lab in Winter 2022. He is majoring in Biophysics and minoring in Physics. He currently works with Postdoctoral Fellow Bikash Sahoo to better understand the function of a SERF protein. Nathan is from Hudsonville, Michigan and enjoys hiking, kayaking, reading, and watching movies.

Matt Crotteau

Undergraduate

Matt joined the lab as a senior in Fall 2022.  He is majoring in Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology.  He plans to attend graduate school for either Molecular Biology or Bioinformatics after graduation. Matt is from Rice Lake, Wisconsin and enjoys outdoor activities, cooking, and going to the gym. He currently works with graduate student Rishav Mitra on exploring the mechanism of complex coacervation of an intrinsically disordered protein SERF and its interacting RNA along with the mechanistic details of these interactions at a structural level.

Katarina Goralka

Undergraduate

Kat is a junior studying Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology. She joined the lab in January 2022. Currently, she works with Hannah to study the functions of the protein SERF in C. elegans. Kat grew up in Colorado and enjoys running, hiking, and spending time outdoors.

Madison Wolkov

Undergraduate

Madison joined the lab as a junior in Fall 2021. She is majoring in Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology and minoring in Spanish. She plans to attend medical school after graduation. Madison is from Cleveland, Ohio and enjoys pilates, hiking, and traveling. She currently works with Graduate student Rishav Mitra on finding the structural and functional characterization of a highly dynamic protein.

Harry Yang

Undergraduate

Harry joined the lab in Summer 2021, working with Dr. Xiexiong Deng to understand the physiological function of SERF. He is majoring in Biochemistry and minoring in Computer Science. Outside of lab, he enjoys playing the flute, taking walks, and performing with Revolution Chinese Yoyo.

Traci Banjanin

Lab Manager & Research Technician II
banjanin@umich.edu

Traci earned a BS in biochemistry from MSU and a M.Ed. in educational leadership from WSU. After a 30 year career as a chemistry teacher, Traci retired and joined the Bardwell lab in February 2021. She is enjoying supporting the research and administrative needs of all in both the Bardwell and Jakob lab. Outside of work, Traci likes to kayak and boat, bike, read, and cook.

Ken Wan

Senior Laboratory Technician
kewan@umich.edu

Ken has worked as a lab technician at U-M for nearly ten years. He joined the Bardwell lab from an HHMI lab in June 2013. Ken’s work is mainly on protein expression and purification. His work consists of making all kinds of constructs for E. coli, Baculovirus insect cell and yeast systems as well as purifying proteins with or without tags using the AKTA system. He enjoys screening and optimizing the protein crystals as well. Ken likes traveling, swimming and fishing.

Publications

Wan B, Yin J, Horvath K, Sarkar J, Chen Y, Wu J, Wan K, Lu J, Gu P, Yu EY, Lue NF, Chang S, Liu Y, Lei M. (September 2013) SLX4 assembles a telomere maintenance toolkit by bridging multiple endonucleases with telomeres. Cell Rep. 4(5):861-9. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2013.08.017. Epub 2013 Sep 5. PMID: 24012755.

Huang J, Gurung B, Wan B, Matkar S, Veniaminova NA, Wan K, Merchant JL, Hua X, Lei M. (February 2012) The same pocket in menin binds both MLL and JUND but has opposite effects on transcription. Nature. 482(7386):542-6. doi: 10.1038/nature10806. PMID: 22327296.

Sun J, Yang Y, Wan K, Mao N, Yu TY, Lin YC, DeZwaan DC, Freeman BC, Lin JJ, Lue NF, Lei M. (February 2011) Structural bases of dimerization of yeast telomere protein Cdc13 and its interaction with the catalytic subunit of DNA polymerase α. Cell Res. 21(2):258-74. doi: 10.1038/cr.2010.138. Epub 2010 Sep 28. PMID: 20877309.

Sun J, Yu EY, Yang Y, Confer LA, Sun SH, Wan K, Lue NF, Lei M. (December 2009) Stn1-Ten1 is an Rpa2-Rpa3-like complex at telomeres. Genes Dev.23(24):2900-14. doi: 10.1101/gad.1851909. PMID: 20008938

Sylvia Widjaja

Laboratory Technician

Sylvia earned her bachelor’s degree of chemical engineering from the University of Melbourne, Australia. She joined the Bardwell-Jakob lab recently as a lab technician to support the research team. She loves spending time with family, traveling and doing outdoor activities


Previous Lab Members