Current Lab Members
Dr. Kathleen Killian (Research Advisor)
Mollie Sorrell (PhD. Candidate) is from Morning View, Kentucky and is a graduate student working on her Ph.D in Biology. Her doctoral research involves examining the adult neurogenic niche, which includes studying junctional communication and the role of Fragile X within the niche. Upon graduating, she plans to pursue a post-doc with the long term goal of becoming a neuroscience professor and running her own research lab.
Kathryn Chipchase (PhD. Candidate) is from Cedarville, Ohio and is a fourth year graduate student in the Biology program and is working on the gut permeability project. Upon graduating, she plans to become a teacher at a small liberal arts college.
Austin Schafer (Undergraduate) is from Cincinnati, Ohio and is a biology premed co-major and Spanish minor student. He started working in the lab in the spring of 2016 and has studied the role of fragile X in the maintenance of the adult neurogenic niche. He plans to go to medical school when he graduates in the spring of 2019.
Clark Chris (Undergraduate) is from West Chester, Ohio and is currently a biology student at Miami. She has worked with Dr. Killian since the fall of 2016 on the phenoloxidase project and plans to graduate in the spring of 2019 and go to graduate school for occupational therapy.
Elizabeth Jacobs (Undergraduate) is from Dayton, Ohio and is currently a biology/pre-med/ neuroscience student who just began in the lab in spring of 2017. She works with Kathryn on the gut permeability project and hopes to attend medical school after she graduates in the spring of 2019.
Kelsy Schultz (Undergraduate) is from West Bloomfield, Michigan and is a creative writing and pre-medical studies co-major. She worked in the lab since the Fall of 2015 exempt for her amazing study abroad trip in Luxembourg, Europe. She works with Kathryn and has examined fighting and mating behavior for the leaky gut project. She plans to go to medical school and hopes to one day be a neurologist.
Ross Rybakowicz (Undergraduate) is from Milwaukee, Wisconsin and is currently a biology/pre-med student athlete who enjoys swimming and biking. He has worked with Mollie since the spring of 2016 on the stem cell niche junctional proteins project and plans to graduate in the spring of 2018 and go to medical school.
Previous Students
Heather Charles: graduated from our lab with her PhD and is currently employed at Mt. St. Joseph’s University, where she enjoys teaching.
Allie Unger is from Cleveland, Ohio and was a biology/pre-med co major. She worked on the bacterial escape project from the spring of 2014-spring2017. She graduated May 2017 and is pursuing dental school.
Kit Carney is from Cincinnati, Ohio and was a biology student who worked in our lab from the spring of 2014-spring 2017. She worked on the phenoloxidase project. Kit graduated in Spring of 2017 and is attending medical school at the University of Cincinnati.
Kendall Smith is from Denver, Colorado and majored in Chemistry and minored in Spanish. She was also a pre-med co-major. She was in the lab from the spring of 2015-spring 2017 and examined the role of junctional communication in the neurogenic niche. She graduated in the spring of 2017 and is pursuing medical school.
Cassandra Worner is from Eagan, Minnesota and was a microbiology/neuroscience major. She worked 8 semesters since the fall of 2013 when she began as a freshman. She worked on immune projects, behavioral projects and the fragile X project with Mollie and Dr. Killian. She graduate in the spring of 2017 went to graduate school to obtain her master’s in public health.
