Rob Last Lab Members
Postdoctoral Researchers |
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Imad Ajjawi received his PhD in Biochemistry from University of Nevada, Reno in 2006 and has been working as a post-doctoral researcher on the Chloroplast 2010 since early 2007. He is interested in lipid metabolism and fatty acid biosynthesis, and checks each plant screen for interesting mutants, such as those that possess altered fatty acid profiles; and does further screening and analysis on those plants to characterize them and determine gene function. Outside the lab, Imad can often be found playing soccer, or mountain biking. |
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Liping Gu received her PhD from MSU in 2005 and has been working as a post-doctoral researcher in the Last Lab since the completion of her degree. Liping is investigating Arabidopsis thaliana seed amino acid mutants by mass spectrometry-based metabolite profiling. |
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Yan Lu received her PhD from University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2005, and she has been working in Last Lab since the fall of that year. Yan is interested in understanding how complex metabolic networks operate in plants. Specifically, she wants to study how amino acid biosynthesis and catabolism interact with photosynthesis, starch synthesis and degradation, chloroplast division, lipid and fatty acid biosynthesis, and allocation of carbon and nitrogen. She takes advantage of the phenotypic data of several thousand homozygous Arabidopsis T-DNA lines of nuclear-encoded chloroplast-targeted genes that are being assayed by the Chloroplast 2010 Project. To study the interaction between different metabolic pathways, Yan uses SQL statements to query the databases containing data from a broad range of assays, merges data from metabolic profiling, morphological analysis and chlorophyll fluorescence, and analyzes with a series of statistical tools. Yan plans to combine this data with existing gene expression data, protein-protein interaction data, and ‘guilty by physical proximity’ in bacteria from external resources. Yan also has a lovely baby girl with whom she spends her free time. She loves being part of the Biochemistry and Molecular Biology community because ‘it has people from all over the world working on diverse research fields’. |
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Tony Schilmiller received his PhD from MSU in 2005, and is working as a post-doctoral researcher on the Trichome project. Plants make a diverse array of natural products that can play a role in response to biotic and abiotic interactions and many have significant value as pharmaceuticals, fragrances, and food additives. The aerial surface of many plants contain multicellular epidermal protuberances called trichomes that have the capacity to produce and either store or secrete copious amounts of the specialized metabolites. We are working towards elucidating the biochemical pathways operating in Solanum trichomes using a combination of genomic, genetic, and biochemical approaches. |
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Linda Savage is the Chloroplast 2010 project manager, the coordinator of Plant Genomics at MSU, and the Lab Manager for Last Lab. She received her BS in Botany and Plant Pathology from MSU in 1990. |
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Jeongwoon Kim received her undergraduate degree from Seoul National University in 2006. Her graduate work is focused on screening tomato EMS mutant and introgression lines to find interesting variants and novel chemical compounds, and mapping those features to the tomato genome. |
Research Lab Technicians |
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Amanda Charbonneau received her BA in Biochemistry and Criminal Justice from Olivet College in 2005. She is a lab technician working with Tony to characterize the secretory and glandular trichomes of several Solanum species; and is also working on the Chloroplast 2010 functional genomics project. In her spare time, Amanda does educational presentations on various topics for science events, and she volunteers as an educator at Potter Park Zoo. |
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Kathleen Imre earned a BS in Microbiology and Medical Technology from Colorado State University in 1979, and has been working as a research lab technician since March of 2006. As part of the Chloroplast 2010 functional genomics project, she performs many assays including Chlorophyll Fluorescence, Leaf and Seed Amino Acid Analysis, Seed Starch, Chloroplast Morphology, Seed Morphology, and Plant Morphology. Outside of work Kathleen enjoys hiking, XC skiing, kayaking, birding, and gardening. |
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Valerie Reisen |
Undergraduate Lab Aides |
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Allison Cutter is a student assistant working with Liping, she is studying Cyanobacteria as well as working on an Arabidopsis project. Allison is a junior pursuing a double major in Human Biology, and Microbiology & Molecular Genetics. |
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Amanda Ellsworth received her associate’s degree in Molecular Biotechnology from Lansing Community College in 2007, and has been working in Last Lab since early 2008. As part of the Chloroplast 2010 project, Amanda performs high-throughput genotyping of the projects T-DNA insertion mutant population. Amanda began her science career because her mother and grandmother had cancer; and someday she would like to find the cure for it. In August of 2008, Amanda will be transferring to Arizona State University to attain a bachelor's degree in cellular and developmental biology with a minor in genetics. She then plans to attend graduate school in the same field. “I have always loved science and now I have a reason to pursue this fascinating and ever changing field.” |
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David Hall is a junior studying Biochemistry & Molecular Biology. He is working with Yan to determine the amino acid profiles of the Chloroplast 2010 T-DNA insertion mutant population, and to follow up on interesting variants. After graduation, David plans to continue working in a research lab, but hopefully without so much peak integration. |
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Kayla Kerr |
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Dennis Miner |
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Claire Moore is a student assistant working on a degree in Environmental Biology and Plant Biology. She is primarily involved in the Chloroplast 2010 project as the plant caretaker, but also assists with assays and other lab projects. |
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Jesica Reemmer's background in physics, chemistry, billiards and math led her to begin working in plant biology in the fall of 2006. She is a student assistant working on a double degree in Plant Biology and Lyman Briggs Biochemistry/Biotechnology at MSU, and has worked on several projects within the lab. Currently she is working with Tony to map a pigment gene from the L. pennellii introgression lines, and helping to map other traits. |
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Andrew Sawin |
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