Principal Investigator

Thomas R. Cech

Thomas R. Cech

Distinguished Professor of Biochemistry • Director, Interdisciplinary Quantitative Biology PhD Program • Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute • Member, Department of Biochemistry and BioFrontiers Institute
Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 1989; National Medal of Science, 1995

Administrative Assistant

Laura Konyha

Laura Konyha

(303) 492-5067
Joined 2011

Staff Scientists

Anne Gooding

Anne Gooding

Staff Scientist (HHMI Research Specialist) • Lab Member since 1990
Research Interests: Polycomb Repressive Complex 2
Butterfly on yellow flower

Karen Goodrich

Staff Scientist (HHMI Lab Manager) • Lab Member since 1996 • B.S.: Medical Technology, University of Scranton, 1986
Research Interests: Nucleic acid-protein interactions
Proteins

Arthur Zaug

Staff Scientist (HHMI Senior Scientist) • Lab Member since 1978 • B.S.: Biochemistry, State University of New York at Stony Brook, 1975 • Honorary Doctorate in Science, University of Colorado, 1992
Research Interests: Telomerase and telomere replication

Visiting Scholars

Paul Rothman

Paul Rothman

Paul B. Rothman-  Lab member since 2022 • M.D. from Yale in 1984 • B.S. in Biology from MIT 1980
Research interests- Control of chromatin structure by DNA methylation
Olke Uhlenbeck

Olke Uhlenbeck

Professor Emeritus

Postdoctoral Fellows

Wayne Hemphill

Wayne Hemphill

NIH NIGMS Postdoctoral Fellow • Lab Member since 2021 • B.S.:  Biology (Chemistry), University of Louisiana at Monroe, 2017 • PhD:  Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Wake Forest School of Medicine, 2021
Research Interests: Dynamics of Polycomb Repressive Complex 2 - nucleic acid interactions
Eliza Lee headshot

Eliza Lee

HHMI Postdoctoral Associate • MBiochem (Undergraduate degree) Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry, University of Oxford, United Kingdom (2011) • PhD Biochemistry, University of Toronto, Canada (2021)
Research Interests: Regulation of DNMT1 subcellular localization
jiarui.song

Jiarui Song

HHMI/Jane Coffin Childs Fellow • Lab Member since 2021 • B.S.: Biotechnology, Shandong University (2015) • PhD: Biochemistry, Texas A&M University (2021)
Research Interests: Cryo-EM of RNA binding to Polycomb Repressive Complex 2
Guanhui Wu portrait

Guanhui Wu

HHMI Postdoctoral Associate • Lab member since 2023 • B.S. Molecular and Cellular Biology, University of Arizona (2013) • Ph.D. Medicinal Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Purdue University (2020)
Research Interest: G-quadruplex - protein interactions in the regulation of human telomere and gene transcription

Graduate Students

Liyi Cheng

Liyi Cheng

Lab Member since 2022 • Biochemistry Department • Co-mentored by Roy Parker • B.S: Life Science (with Specialization in Molecular Cell Biology), National University of Singapore (2020) 
Research interest: RNA G-quadruplexes in RNP assemblies
Mingfeng Liu portrait

Mingfeng Liu

Lab Member since 2023 • MCDB Department • Co-mentored by John Rinn • B.A. Biological Sciences, Sichuan University (2017)
Research Interests: Structure of functional lncRNPs
Jessica Song

Jessica Song

Lab Member since 2022 • Biochemistry Department • Co-mentored by Vignesh Kasinath • B.A. Biochemistry, Colorado College (2019)
Research Interests: Nucleosome/protein interactions involved in DNA methylation.
Ella Tomer headshot

Ella Tommer

Lab member since 2023 • Biochemistry Department • Co-mentored by Roy Parker • B.S. Neuroscience from Indiana University with minors in Chemistry and Psychology (2020)
Research interest: RNA binding proteins and functional relevance of RNA secondary structures

Undergraduate Students

Faith Christen

Faith Christen

Undergraduate summer research intern, Bridges to Baccalaureate Research Training Program
Program dates May 20th – July 26th, 2024
Jackson Kominsky headshot

Jackson Kominsky

Undergraduate Research Assistant • Lab Member since 2022
Major: MCDB
Sarah Middleton

Sarah Middleton

Undergraduate Research Assistant • Lab Member since 2024
Major: MCDB and Biochemistry
Kate Morrow portrait

Kate Morrow

Undergraduate Assistant • Lab Member since 2023
Major: BCHM