Embedded Files
Yvette Wong, PhD (Principal Investigator)
Assistant Professor of Neurology
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
Yvette received her BA in Biology & Mathematics (Double Major) Cum Laude with Distinction from Cornell University, and subsequently obtained her PhD in Neuroscience at the University of Pennsylvania with Dr. Erika Holzbaur, studying the role of autophagy in neurodegeneration. During her PhD, Yvette identified huntingtin as a regulator of autophagosome axonal transport disrupted in Huntington’s disease, optineurin as a mitophagy receptor disrupted in ALS, and a new role of actin cycling around mitochondrial subpopulations to regulate mitochondrial dyanmics, for which she received the Saul Winegrad Outstanding Neuroscience PhD Thesis Award.
Yvette conducted her postdoctoral fellowship with Dr. Dimitri Krainc at Northwestern University, where she has made important contributions to both neurodegeneration and cell biology. She identified a new pathway for crosstalk between mitochondria and lysosomes at mitochondria-lysosome contact sites, which allow for the regulation of mitochondrial network dynamics (Nature 2018). She has additionally shown that mitochondria-lysosome contact sites are disrupted in neurodegenerative diseases such as the peripheral neuropathy Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (Dev Cell 2019), further highlighting important roles for this pathway in human diseases, and has also contributed to multiple papers on Parkinson’s disease research (See Full List of Publications).
Yvette started her own research lab in 2020 as a tenure-track Assistant Professor in the Department of Neurology at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine (Chicago, IL, USA) (See Our Discoveries). Her research focuses on using Super-Resolution live microscopy to discover new pathway including inter-organelle contact sites such as mitochondria-lysosome contacts, and elucidating their roles in the pathogenesis of human diseases such as neurodegenerative disorders including Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, ALS, Frontotemporal Dementia, and Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (See Ongoing Research Projects). Yvette enjoys discovering new cellular events using live cell microscopy, unraveling molecular pathways in neurodegeneration, mentoring her trainees, improvising on the piano, and exploring new places.
Yvette has received awards from the Society of Neuroscience (SfN), the American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB), and the American Neurological Association (ANA), and has been the recipient of the Warren Alpert Foundation Distinguished Scholars Fellowship Award in Neuroscience, the NIH K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award, and the NIH Director’s DP2 New Innovator Award.
Hannah Ball
Hannah Ball is a PhD student in the Northwestern University Driskill Graduate Program in Life Sciences. She received her B.S. from the University of Arizona in Molecular and Cellular Biology & Biochemistry. She is excited to learn about neurodegenerative diseases and the cell to cell dynamics of TDP-43 in ALS. She loves spending time at the lake, baking and finding places to explore in Chicago.
Kevin Shen
Kevin Shen is a PhD student in the Northwestern University Interdepartmental Neuroscience (NUIN) Program. He received his B.A. from Amherst College, majoring in Neuroscience. He is excited about studying how organelle dynamics may be affected by neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s Disease. Outside of the lab, he can be found riding his bike, reading fantasy and science fiction novels, playing video games with friends, or keeping his cat, Mali, out of trouble.
Miriam Goras
Miriam Goras is a PhD student in the Northwestern University Interdepartmental Neuroscience (NUIN) Program. She received her B.S. in Neuroscience from Arizona State University – Tempe. She is enthusiastic about studying mitochondria and organelle dynamics and inter-organelle contact sites in Parkinson’s disease. She enjoys exploring new neighborhoods in the city and trying out new recipes.
Danyu Luo
Danyu Luo is a PhD student in the Northwestern University Interdepartmental Neuroscience (NUIN) Program. She earned her B.S. in Biology & Mathematics from McGill University. She is passionate about studying Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD) using state-of-the-art imaging techniques and computational modeling. Outside the lab, she enjoys thrifting, taking pictures, and exploring new spots around Chicago.
MA Ly
MA Ly is a PhD student in the Northwestern University Interdepartmental Neuroscience (NUIN) Program. She graduated from Bennington College with a B.A. in Biology. She is interested in studying the basic molecular and cellular patho-mechanisms in neurodegenerative diseases, especially the organelle dynamics in FTLD-ALS. Outside of the lab, she enjoys watching theater plays, exploring arts and interesting food, and traveling to new places.
Anika Gurbani
Anika Gurbani is a research technologist who received her B.S. In Molecular and Cellular Biology with a minor in Psychology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She is excited to explore new mechanisms behind neurodegenerative diseases like the peripheral neuropathy Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease in the context of inter-organelle contact sites. In her free time, she likes to bake, go on runs, play tennis, try new cafes, read, and just be outside in the sun with her cat.
Jasmine Cisneros
Lab Alumni
Jasmine Cisneros was a research technologist who received her B.S. from UC Berkeley in Chemistry with a minor in Bioengineering.
Subsequent Position
PhD student at University of Southern California’s PhD program in Molecular Biology
Tayler Belton
Lab Alumni
Tayler Belton was a research technologist who received her B.S from Johns Hopkins University in Molecular and Cellular Biology.
Subsequent Position
PhD student at Yale University’s School of Medicine PhD program in Neuroscience.
Eric Leisten
Lab Alumni
Eric Leisten was a research technologist who received his B.S. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in Biochemistry.
Subsequent Position
PhD student at University of Chicago’s PhD Program in Cancer Biology.
Abby Woods
Lab Alumni
Abby Woods was a research technologist who received her B.S. from the College of William & Mary in Neuroscience with a minor in History.
Subsequent Position
PhD student at Northwestern University’s Driskill Graduate Program in Biomedical Life Sciences.
George Shum
Lab Alumni
George Shum was a research technologist who received his B.A. in Neuroscience from Northwestern University, who also previously conducted his Undergraduate Honors research in the lab.
Subsequent Position
Medical student at Ohio State University's MD Program.
Catherine Molakal
Lab Alumni
Catherine Molakal was an undergraduate research and a research technologist who graduated from Baylor University with a B.S. in Neuroscience.
Subsequent Position
Medical student at Alice L. Walton School of Medicine's MD program.
Google Sites
Report abuse