LAb Members

Michael Gage, PhD | Lab Manager

I am currently in charge of lab safety and organization. I also help people with various projects, such as cell culture, cloning, and assay development. I also do small mechanical and electronics repairs for the lab on various instruments. I also handle ordering and plasmid or antibody requests for the lab.

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Wil Ratzen, phd | Research Associate

Prior to joining the Kirschner Lab, Wil trained under Laurinda Jaffe at the University of Connecticut, Marko Horb at the National Xenopus Resource, and Susy Kohout at Montana State University. Wil is a developmental biologist currently using Xenopus oocytes and embryos to investigate cellular proteostasis and differentiation during early development.

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Cora Anderson | Research Technician

Bio Coming Soon

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Postdocs

Bai Luan, PhD

As a biochemist and structural biologist, I possess a deep understanding and extensive experience in the field of ubiquitin-proteasome mediated protein degradation. Currently, my research focuses on elucidating the regulatory mechanisms of essential proteins in the Wnt signaling pathway. In addition, I employ an integrative approach involving systems biology (multi-omics techniques, etc.) to identify novel downstream target genes of the Wnt signaling pathway. Furthermore, by combining protein biochemistry and classical structural biology methods (crystallography and cryo-EM) plus the cutting-edge AI tools in predicting 3D-protein structure, my teammates and I aim to unravel the molecular mechanisms underlying these novel genes. Some of these genes could be targeted for therapeutic intervention in diseases where Wnt signaling is dysregulated, like the colorectal cancer.