Front row from L to R: Martina Jerant, Collin Marshall, Dr. Surajit Chatterjee, Dr. Paul Lund, Dr. Rajeev Yadav, Dr. Sujay Ray, Dr. Nibedita Pal, Dr. Hui Li, Autumn Acklin, Hailey Blinkiewicz. Back row from L to R: Dr. Poorna Roy, Molly McNeely, Dr. Javier Cabello, Kunal Khanna, Shiba Dandpat, Dr. Tanmay Chaterjee, Jieming Li, Dr. Julia Widom, Ameya Jalihal, D. Nils Walter. Absent: Alex Johnson-Buck, Alisha Spoelman, Damon Hoff, Jonathan Kuriakose, Spencer Haupert, Valter Zazubovits, Victoria Rai
Principal Investigator
Prof. Nils Walter, Ph.D.
Principal Investigator
Hi, I'm Nils Walter, the P.I. - which in this case stands for principal investigator. That means that I am coaching our very own bowling team, the RNAces and also the science that all these diligent people above are doing. We have a young, dynamic, and interactive group, which makes it fun to work together. Our lab layout is probably the best in the department, our equipment and the science are first rate (I'm originally from Germany, so the only thing I can complain about is the beer here in the US). I invite you to browse the accompanying information on research and publications and to stop by the lab (room 2020) or my office (room 2405) or email me if you have any further questions.
Curriculum Vitae
Office : 734-615-2060
Research Assistant Professor
Dr. Alexander (Alex) Johnson-Buck
Postdoctoral Fellow
Member since 2016
North Lab phone number: 734-615-4221
Common Room phone number: 734-615-4257
Postdoctoral Fellows
Dr. Paul Lund
Postdoctoral Fellow
Member Since: 2010
North Lab phone number: 734-615-4221
Common room phone number: 734-615-4257
Dr. Julia Widom
Postdoctoral Fellow
Member since 2014
North Lab phone number: 734-615-4221
Common Room phone number: 734-615-4257
Julia R. Widom received her B.A. in chemistry from Northwestern University in 2009. In 2013, she completed her Ph.D. in physical chemistry in the laboratory of Andrew H. Marcus at the University of Oregon, where she used fluorescence-detected two-dimensional electronic spectroscopy to study the structures and excited state dynamics of biomolecules. She is now a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Nils Walter at the University of Michigan, where she is supported by an NIH K99 Pathway to Independence Award. In her current research, she combines single-molecule fluorescence and biochemical techniques to study the molecular mechanisms of RNA transcription and splicing.
Dr. Nibedita Pal
Postdoctoral Fellow
Member since 2016
South Lab phone number: 734-615-4175
Common Room phone number: 734-615-4257
Dr. Surajit Chatterjee
Postdoctoral Fellow
Member since 2016
North Lab phone number: 734-615-4221
Common Room phone number: 734-615-4257
Dr. Sujay Ray
Postdoctoral Fellow
Member since 2016
North Lab phone number: 734-615-4221
Common Room phone number: 734-615-4257
Sujay Ray was born in 1986 in Asansol, India. He received his bachelor’s degree from University of Calcutta in 2007, followed by a master’s degree from Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, in Physics. He earned his Ph.D. from Kent State University, in Kent, Ohio, in 2014 while working on a DNA secondary structure, known as G-Quadruplex and its interaction with various proteins, under the supervision of Dr. Hamza Balci. He worked as a postdoctoral fellow for one year in Dr. Qiong Yang’s lab before joining Dr. Nils Walter’s lab at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He is broadly interested in developing novel single molecule techniques to study and manipulate individual biomolecules and complex biological machinery. Apart from assembling, maintaining a high-resolution prism-TIRF type single molecule microscope, he is working towards unraveling the role of noncoding RNAs in translation initiation.
Dr. Javier Cabello-Villegas
Postdoctoral Fellow
Member since 2016
North Lab phone number: 734-615-4221
Common Room phone number: 734-615-4257
Dr. Rajeev Yadav
Postdoctoral Fellow
Member since 2017
South Lab phone number: 734-615-4175
Common Room phone number: 734-615-4257
Dr. Tanmay Chatterjee
Member since 2017
South Lab phone number: 734-615-4175
Common Room phone number: 734-615-4257
Dr. Poorna Roy
Postdoctoral Fellow
Member since 2017
North Lab phone number: 734-615-4221
Common Room phone number: 734-615-4257
Dr. Adrien Chauvier
Postdoctoral Fellow
Member Since 2017
South Lab phone number: 734-615-4175
Common Room phone number: 734-615-4257
Elizabeth Duran
Postdoctoral Fellow
Member Since: 2018
North Lab phone number: 734-615-4221
Common room phone number: 734-615-4257
SMART Center Staff
Dr. Damon Hoff
SMART Center Postdoctoral Fellow
Member since 2013
SMART center phone: 734-763-5449
Graduate Students
Jieming Li
Chemistry Graduate Student
Member since 2014
South Lab phone number: 734-615-4175
Common Room phone number: 734-615-4257
Shiba Dandpat
Chemistry Graduate Student
Member since 2016
South Lab phone number: 734-615-4175
Common Room phone number: 734-615-4257
Ameya Jalihal
Cellular and Molecular Biology Graduate Student
Member since 2016
South Lab phone number: 734-615-4175
Common Room phone number: 734-615-4257
Kunal Khanna
Chemistry Graduate Student
Member since 2017
North Lab phone number: 734-615-4221
Common Room phone number: 734-615-4257
Masters Students
Brian Hardaway
Masters Student
Member since 2017
North Lab phone number: 734-615-4221
Common room phone number: 734-615-4257
Rotation Students
Gabrielle Kasner
Rotation Student
Member since 2018
South Lab phone number: 734-615-4175
Common Room phone number: 734-615-4257
Research Associate
Undergraduate Students
Alisha Spoelman
Undergraduate Student
Member since 2016
South Lab phone number: 734-615-4175
Common Room phone number: 734-615-4257
Hailey Blinkiewicz
Undergraduate Student
Member since 2017
North Lab phone number: 734-615-4221
Common Room phone number: 734-615-4257
Meike Stoldt
Undergraduate Student
Member since 2017
Michigan Center for Translational Pathology: 734-764-3783
Anna Spoto
Undergraduate Student
Member since 2017
North Lab phone number: 734-615-4221
Common Room phone number: 734-615-4257
Pujan Ajmera
Undergraduate student
Member since 2018
South Lab phone number: 734-615-4175
Common Room phone number: 734-615-4257