Group Photo Above: Top row from L to R: Dr. Tanmay Chatterjee, Dr. Shankar Mandal, Dr. Katelyn Green, Dr. Aaron Blanchaerd, Karen Montoya, Dr. Li Zi, Dr. Adrien Chauvier, Saffron Little, Dr. Robb Welty, Dr. Andreas Schmidt, Dr. Surajit Chatterjee, Kunal Khanna, Liuhan Dai, Two family guests
Bottom Row from L to R: Four family guests, Mason Myers, Guoming Gao, Emily Ellinger, Rosa Romero, Laura Penabad-Peña, Dr. Elizabeth Duran, Dr. Catie Scull, Dr. Nils Walter
Absent: Damon Hoff, Martina Jerant, Several undergrads
Principal Investigator
Prof. Nils Walter, Ph.D.
Principal Investigator
nwalter@umich.eduHi, I'm Nils Walter, lucky to be the mentor and coach of a young, dynamic, and interactive group, where my main job is to help everyone excel in their research. Over the years we have developed and applied many leading-edge single molecule microscopy tools to understand the mechanisms of RNA biology, from RNA enzymes and riboswitches to the spliceosome and RNA silencing machinery. We also work on CRISPR and DNA nanotechnology, and have developed a molecular diagnostics tools that can reliably detect single biomarkers of disease (leading to foundation of a biotech company!). Students and postdocs in my group get both a broad and a deep education with skills that translate into the real world, from academia to industry. I have an "open-door" policy, so please stop by if you have a question, or seek us out on Twitter!
Curriculum Vitae
Office: 734-615-2060
Assistant Research Scientist
Alexander Johnson-Buck
Assistant Research Scientist
alebuck@umich.eduAlex Johnson-Buck received his B.A. in Chemistry from Northern Michigan University, Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Michigan. He also has experience as a postdoctoral fellow at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute (Harvard Medical School/Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering) and Chief Scientific Officer in a startup company spun out of the University of Michigan. His research interests lie in analytical and biophysical methods development at the interface of single-molecule detection and molecular engineering, with a focus on controlling and exploiting precision kinetic processes.
Lab Managers
Dr. Tanmay Chatterjee
tanmayc@umich.eduTanmay received his M.Sc. from University of Burdwan and Ph.D. from Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Kolkata (IISER KOLKATA). He joined the Walter lab as a postdoc in May, 2017. His current research focus is on ultra sensitive protein detection by Single- Molecule Recognition through Equilibrium Poisson Sampling (SiMREPS) method. (Member since 2017)
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Dr. Adrien Chauvier
Lab Manager-Biology
achauvie@umich.eduAdrien obtained his B.Sc and M.Sc. in Microbiology Agrobioscience from the University Paul Sabatier in Toulouse, France. During his PhD, he worked on riboswitch regulation with Daniel Lafontaine at the University of Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada. In the Walter lab, Adrien is applying biochemical and single molecule techniques to understand how Non-coding RNAs modulate the dynamic of the transcription machinery. (Member Since 2017)
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Postdoctoral Fellows
Laxmikanta Khamari
Postdoctoral Fellow
khamaril@umich.eduLaxmikanta obtained his B.Sc (2014) in chemistry from Vidyasagar University, West Bengal, India, and his M.Sc (2016) from the Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati (IIT-Guwahati), Assam, India. Thereafter, he received his Ph.D. degree from the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Bhopal (IISER Bhopal), India. In his doctoral research, he mainly focused on the investigations of protein-drug and nucleic acid-small-molecule interactions in the ensemble-average and single-molecule domains. He joined the Walter lab as a postdoc in March 2023. In Walter lab, his current research focuses on using single-molecule microscopy to investigate protein-RNA complexes including those involved neurodegenerative disease.
Namra Siddiqui
Postdoctoral Fellow
namsid@umich.eduI obtained my M.Sc. degree from Jawaharlal Nehru University in 2018 and Ph.D. from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi in 2023. My doctoral research focused on the regulation of gene expression by small noncoding RNAs, specifically investigating how they modulate physiological circuits at the post-transcriptional level. In my current role, I am using single-molecule fluorescence microscopy to explore RNA silencing pathways.
Dr. Pavel Banerjee
Postdoctoral Fellow
pavjee@umich.eduPavel received his B.Sc (2013) and M.Sc. (2015) in Chemistry (Physical Chemistry Specialization) from Visva Bharati University and Ph.D. from Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur (IIT Kharagpur) in 2021. During his PhD, he unveiled the self-assembling behaviors of biological building block molecules and their membrane activity through fluorescence microscopy and spectroscopy. Then he moved to University of Copenhagen, Denmark for one-year postdoctoral research on single molecule studies of Na K ATPase transporter. He joined the Walter lab as a postdoc in April 2022. His current research focus is on simultaneous ultra-sensitive detection of different biomolecules in complex bio-environment by Single- Molecule Recognition through Equilibrium Poisson Sampling (SiMREPS) method. (Member since 2022)
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Graduate Students
Graduate Student
wjarret@umich.eduJarrett graduated with a B.S. from The Ohio State University, where he focused on tRNA maturation. He completed a Postbaccalaureate Research Program at the University of Chicago and is now a Ph.D. student in the Biological Chemistry Department at the University of Michigan, rotating in the Walter Lab.
Ying Zhu
Graduate Student
yingzhuu@umich.eduI received my B.S. in Biological Science in 2024 from Sun Yat-sen University, China. And Now I'm a master student in Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics at the University of Michigan.
Bisal Halder
Graduate Student
bisal@umich.eduI did my bachelor's majoring in Chemistry from the University of Calcutta, followed by a master's degree from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur. My undergrad project was primarily focused on measuring the solvation dynamics of protein in the crowded milieu using TCSPC and trying to correlate the associated water structure with the stability and activity of protein. On a side project, I also used Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy (FCS) to track the aggregation of proteins at the nanomolar concentration range.
Benjamin “Ben” Healy
Graduate Student
benhealy@umich.eduBen is a student in the MS in Chemical Sciences Program to graduate in 2025. He received his B.S. in Chemistry from UNC-Wilmington where he worked on antibiotic drug design in Dr. Antje Almeida's laboratory.
Liuhan Dai
Graduate Student
liuhand@umich.eduLiuhan received his B.S. in Chemical Biology from Nankai University, China and becomes a Ph.D. student in Chemistry/Chemical Biology in University of Michigan. During his undergraduate studies, he explored both methodology development of fluorine chemistry in Pingping Tang's lab and detection by single molecule kinetic fingerprinting (SMKF) in Nils Walter's lab as a visiting researcher. Currently, he is developing a detection method for epigenetic biomarkers of cancer with SMKF. Multidisciplinary convergence is always a fun nature in his research. (Member since 2017)
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Emily Ellinger
Graduate Student
eellinge@umich.eduEmily received her B.S. in Biochemistry from the University of Indiana in 2019. She is currently obtaining her Ph.D. at the University of Michigan in the Department of Biological Chemistry. Her current research in Nils Walter's lab focuses on using biochemical techniques to study riboswitches and transcription machinery. (Member since 2020)
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Guoming Gao
Graduate Student
gmgao@umich.eduGuoming received his B.S. in Biology from Wuhan University, Wuhan, China. He stepped into the Single Molecule Biophysics field by studying chaperone-assisted R-loop formation in Xinghua Zhang's lab at Wuhan University. Further exploration in biophysics, including MD simulation in Niu Huang's Lab at NIBS, Beijing, and X-Ray Crystallography in Xuewu Zhang's Lab at UTSW Medical Center, Dallas, led to his decision on joining the Biophysics Ph.D. program through PIBS in 2018. Currently, his research focuses on probing the role of RNAs in membraneless organelles with live-cell single molecule RNA tracking. (Member since 2018)
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Yichen Liu
Graduate Student
twinsliu@umich.eduYichen received her B.S. degree from Hong Kong Baptist University. Her work in Aaron Frank's lab focused on studying riboswitch unbinding and pose prediction using selectively scaled molecular dynamics simulations. Currently, her research in Nils Walter's lab focuses on using molecular dynamics flexible fitting to study riboswitches.(member since 2022)
Rosa Romero
Graduate Student
roromero@umich.eduRosa received a Bachelor's in Biochemistry from California State University of San Marcos, then joined the Ph.D. program in Biological Chemistry at the University of Michigan. During undergrad, she worked in Dr. Kambiz Hammadani laboratory where she worked on developing a method to enhance fluorescence quantum yield determination using Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy (FCS). Her current research involves understanding how riboswitches control gene expression using single-molecule approaches. (Member Since: 2019) Learn more..
Emily Sumrall
Graduate Student
esumrall@umich.eduEmily is a first year graduate student in the biophysics program. She received her B.S. in Chemistry from Mississippi State University. During her undergraduate degree, she worked in Dr. Nicholas Fitzkee’s laboratory on a project aimed at understanding the interactions between Staphylococcal Autolysin domains and polystyrene surfaces. (Member since 2021)
Jingxuan Tang
Graduate Student
tjx@umich.eduI received my B.S. in Chemistry from University of Wisconsin-Madison and is starting in the Chemical biology Ph.D. program at U-M. During my undergraduate, I worked in the Dr. John Markley’s lab on solving the structure of human acyl carrier protein with NMR and investigating the interaction of acyl carrier protein with zinc. (Member since 2021) Learn more..
Rotation Students
Kunjian Yuan
Rotation Student
kunjiany@umich.eduCurrently a Ph.D. student in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Michigan, Kunjian holds a B.S. in Bioinformatics from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, obtained in 2024.
Armin Ahnoud
Rotation Student
aahnoud@med.umich.eduI completed my BS in Biotechnology from UC Davis. After graduation, I worked at two Biotech companies in the Bay Area working on antibody discovery, bi-specific antibody engineering, protein engineering using directed evolution, and developing ELISA based Pharmacokinetic and anti-drug antibody detection assays. Currently, I am a PhD student in the Pharmaceutical Sciences program.
Xingchen Liu
Rotation Student
lxcliu@umich.edu Xingchen Liu is graduated from the University of California, Davis, with
a bachelor’s degree. She is currently a PhD student in the Chemistry
Department’s Biochemistry cluster at the University of Michigan, rotating
with the Walter Lab.
Andrew Scheck
Rotation Student
scheck@umich.eduAndrew is a rotation student from the PhD program in Biophysics at the University of Michigan. He received his bachelors in physics and mathematics from the University of Colorado, Boulder in 2023.
Sam Steen
Rotation Student
samsteen@umich.eduSam Steen received B.S. degrees in chemistry and biology from Calvin University (Grand Rapids, MI), with research focused on the mammalian endoplasmic reticulum. He is rotating in the Walter lab to gain experience in new structural biology and biochemistry techniques and to explore an exciting area of science.
Undergraduate Students
Molly Goldwasser
Undergraduate Student
gomolly@umich.eduMolly is an undergraduate student majoring in biochemistry with a minor in computer science. Set to graduate in 2026, she hopes to pursue further education and contribute to health related research.
Seth Shero
sshero@umich.eduSeth is an undergraduate student planning to graduate in 2026 with a B.S. in both Biochemistry and Biophysics. After graduation, he plans to pursue his PhD. in molecular genetics and work in biotech/pharmaceutical research.
Nicole Wrubel
Undergraduate Student
nwrubel@umich.eduNicole is an undergraduate student pursuing her B.S. in Biochemistry set to graduate in 2027. After graduating, Nicole hopes to get a PhD to teach and contribute to future research with a balance of Immunology and Chemistry. (Member since 2024).
Allison Myers
Undergraduate Student
allisom@umich.eduAllison is a second year undergraduate student studying Biochemistry. After
graduating, she hopes to pursue further education in biochemistry and do
research in the Biotechnology Industry.
Christina Huerta-Stylianou
Undergraduate Student
chuersty@umich.eduChristina is an undergraduate student majoring in Molecular, Cellular, and
Developmental Biology and planning on graduating in 2028. She aims to
pursue a PhD and conduct research in molecular genetics
Jonathan Wang
Undergraduate Student
jowacroi@umich.eduJonathan is an undergraduate student planning to graduate in 2028 with a
BS degree in Chemistry. After graduation, he plans to obtain a MS in Chemical
Biology.
Vivien Wang
Undergraduate Student
vivienwa@umich.eduVivien is an undergraduate student majoring in biochemistry and planning
on graduating in 2027. After graduating, Vivien aims to pursue a PhD and
become a researcher in the life sciences.
Staff
Dr. Damon Hoff
SMART Center Manager
hoffj@umich.eduJ. Damon Hoff manages the Center for Single Molecule Analysis in Real-Time (SMART Center), a shared use facility housed in the Dept. of Biophysics at the University of Michigan that offers a suite of single-molecule microscopes and analysis tools. He obtained his B.S.E. in Biomedical and Electrical Engineering from Duke University, and continued his studies at the University of Michigan, obtaining his Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering, developing optical tools for manipulation of biomolecules, including nanoscale ultrafast laser ablation and optical tweezers. He now manages the day-to-day activities at the SMART Center and facilitates user training, experimental planning, and analysis. (Member since 2013, SMART center phone: 734-763-5449)
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