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DON AYER, PhD Lab Head This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Don received his bachelor of science degree in cellular and molecular biology from the University of Michigan in 1983. He then moved west and, under the mentorship of Dr. Bill Dynan, received his PhD in biochemistry in 1989 from the University of Colorado, Boulder. Still moving west, he joined the lab of Dr. Bob Eisenman at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle. There he identified the first member of the Mad family of transcriptional repressors and identified mSin3A as a Mad-dependent transcriptional corepressor. Don moved back east in 1995, then was recruited to the University of Utah as one of the first members of Huntsman Cancer Institute. His lab is funded by grants from the National Institutes of Health and the American Cancer Society. He has been a Scholar of both the American Cancer Society and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. |
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KEVIN BREEN Lab Technician This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Kevin received three bachelor’s degrees from the University of Idaho in microbiology, molecular biology/biochemistry and philosophy in 2003. He joined the Ayer Lab in 2003. Kevin’s research in the lab focuses on the role of MondoA in many diverse cellular processes. Currently, he is studying a protective role for MondoA in UV-induced apoptosis. |
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MOHAN KAADIGE, PhD Postdoctoral Fellow International Man of Mystery This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Mohan received a master’s degree in biotechnology in 1997 from Madurai Kamaraj University, India. He then worked as a junior research fellow at National Center for Biological Sciences before joining the PhD program at Wayne State University in 1998. Mohan received his PhD in molecular genetics 2003 and joined the Ayer Lab as a postdoctoral fellow. Mohan is part of the SIN3 group and he is interested in identifying transcriptional targets that are coregulated by the mSin3A and TLE1 corepressor complexes. His long-term goal is to unravel how the cooperation between these two abundant corepressors is regulated. |
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CHRIS PETERSON Graduate Student This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Chris received his bachelor’s degree in environmental science and engineering from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2002 and entered the Molecular Biology Program at the University of Utah the same year. His work centers on the use of RNA interference to understand the structure and function of the mSin3A corepressor complex. |
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CARRIE STOLTZMAN, PhD Senior Research Specialist This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Carrie received her bachelor’s degree in biology from Gustavus Adolphus College (St. Peter, Minn.) in 1990, and her PhD in biological sciences from the University of Iowa in 1998. She received a Fellowship in Oncology from the Serono Foundation to conduct postdoctoral research in the lab of Dr. Eli Adashi at the University of Utah. She joined the Ayer Lab in 2002 and has been involved in various projects associated with the lab's investigation of the MondoA protein. |
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PANKAJ PANDEV Postdoctoral Fellow This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Pankaj received his master’s degree in 1996 and PhD in 2003 from Banaras Hindu University, India, in biochemistry. He worked as a postdoc at Vanderbilt University before joining the Ayer Lab as a postdoctoral fellow. He is studying the properties of conserved regions of MondoA and their role in regulating its activity of the protein. |
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ELIZABETH SLOAN Graduate Student This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Elizabeth graduated from Pacific Lutheran University in 2007 with a bachelor of science degree in biology and chemistry. She entered the Molecular Biology Program in the fall of the same year and joined the Ayer Lab in May of 2008. Her research focuses on the role of MondoA in regulating glucose homeostasis. When not in lab she enjoys hiking and skiing in the mountains outside Salt Lake. |
| SADHAASIVAM KAMALANAADHAN Graduate Research Assistant This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Kamal graduated with a bachelor’s degree in industrial biotechnology at Anna University, India, in 2007. He is currently pursuing his master’s degree in biotechnology at the University of Utah. Kamal joined the Ayer Lab in 2007 as a research assistant and helps with all the activities related to the day-to-day functioning of the lab. He is currently researching the induction and repression of MondoA activity by various molecules in different cell lines. |
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| KYOUNG SIM HAN Graduate Student This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Kyoung-Sim Han received a bachelor’s and master’s degree in biotechnology from Yonsei University, Korea, in 2002 and 2004. After working as a researcher in a bio-venture company in Korea for three years, she entered the Molecular Biology Program at the University of Utah in 2007. Her research focuses on the MondoA function regulated by Myc and the regulation of TXNIP through AMPK-mTOR pathway. |
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MICHAEL SIGHINOLFI Lab Technician This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Michael graduated from Bowdoin College in 2007 with a BA in economics and chemistry. He joined the Ayer Lab in September of the same year. His research in the lab is focused on MondoA’s function in vivo using a mouse model. He is attempting to create a conditional knockout system to study MondoA’s function in both developing and adult mice. In his spare time, Michael enjoys skiing, hiking, and swimming. |
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MARC ELGORT Graduate Student This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Sign: Taurus Turn-ons: Understanding how mondoA is involved in reprogramming cellular metabolism and nutrient utilization during cell growth through its transcriptional regulation of txnip; long walks on the beach; Molly Ringwald movies Turn-offs: Writing blurbs, mean people, the color yellow Education: BA in biochemistry and cell biology from UCSD, 1987 Joined Ayer Lab: Summer 2007 |
