People

Nicholas Conrad, Ph.D., the principal investigator, is a Professor in the Department of Microbiology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.

The students in the lab are affiliated with the UT Southwestern Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences.

We are always looking for new students and postdocs to join the team! UT Southwestern students interested in a lab rotation and postdoc candidates should email Dr. Conrad.

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Meet the Principal Investigator

Nicholas K. Conrad, Ph.D.

Nicholas K. Conrad, Ph.D.

Professor
 

  • B.S., Biochemistry, Penn State University
  • Ph.D., Johns Hopkins University (Mentor: Jeffry Corden, Ph.D.)
  • Postdoctoral Fellow, Yale University (Mentor: Joan Steitz, Ph.D.)
  • Outside of lab: Nick is interested in blues harmonica; see his Microbiology Faculty Spotlight

Email

Current Lab Members

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Amitabh Ranjan, Ph.D.

Research Scientist

Amitabh works on a variety of projects and manages the lab.

  • M.S., Biotechnology, Goa University
  • Ph.D., Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics (Mentor: Ranjan Sen, Ph.D.)
  • Postdoctoral Fellow, Max Plank Institute (Mentors: Wolfgang Wintermeyer, Ph.D., and Marina Rodnina, Ph.D.)
  • Visiting Fellow, NIH National Institutes of Child Health and Human Development NIH (Mentor: Richard Maraia)
  • Outside of the lab: Amitabh enjoys spending time outdoors, exploring new places, and experimenting with cooking.

Email

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Juliana Flaherty

Graduate Student

Juliana works on the mechanisms regulating SAM homeostasis in human cells.

  • B.S., Biochemistry and Genetics, Texas A&M University
  • Outside of lab: Juliana enjoys cooking, dancing, and taking walks outside with her husband.

Email

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Ashwin Govindan, Ph.D.

Research Scientist

Ashwin is determining the mechanisms that regulate intron retention of the O-GlcNAc transferase OGT.

  • B.Sc., Biotechnology, Amrita School of Biotechnology
  • M.S. and Ph.D., Biological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science (Mentor: Umesh Varshney, Ph.D.)
  • Outside of lab: Ashwin loves aquaculture and keeps a variety of African cichlids.

Email

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Kyah Featherston

Research Assistant

Kyah works on a several projects and assists in lab management.

  • B.S., Entomology, Oklahoma State University
  • M.S., Entomology, Kansas State University
  • Outside of the lab: Kyah enjoys reading, playing games, and spending time with her variety of pets.

Email

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Sung-Kyun (Sean) Park, Ph.D.

Visiting Scientist

Sean is determining which KSHV genes are regulated by PNUTS and ORF57.

  • B.S., Genetic Engineering, Kyung Hee University
  • M.S. and Ph.D., Immunology, Kyung Hee University (Mentor: Chang-Joong Kang, Ph.D.)
  • Postdoctoral Fellow, UT Southwestern (Mentor: William Garrard, Ph.D.)
  • Postdoctoral Fellow, UT Southwestern (Mentor: Nicholas Conrad, Ph.D.)
  • Senior Researcher, Infectious Disease Research Center at Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology (KRIBB)
  • Associate Professor, Department of Functional Genomics at University of Science & Technology(UST)
  • Outside of the lab: Sean enjoys watching and playing soccer

Email

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Kiran Hina Satani, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Fellow

Kiran is exploring how the host protein PNUTS affects KSHV latent-to-lytic switch.

  • B.S., Biology & Chemistry, University of Karachi
  • M.S., Biotechnology, University of Karachi
  • M.S. & Ph.D., Molecular Biology, Texas Woman's University (Mentor: Dr. Juliet Spencer) 
  • Outside of the lab: Kiran enjoys reading, collecting candles, and taking long walks.

Email

Lab Alumni

Brooke B. Sahin, Technician 2007-2009

Denish Patel, Technician 2008-2009

Xiangmei Xi, Postdoc 2008-2009

Sarah Stubbs, Ph.D. Student 2009-2013

Emi Sei, Ph.D. Student 2009-2014

Maria Ilcheva, SURF 2009

Stefan Bresson, Ph.D. Student 2010-2014

Aaron Key, STARS 2010

Blake Richardson, SURF and UTD Green Fellow 2011-2012

Patrick Hunt, SURF 2012

Allyson Hunter, Technician 2012-2013

Kathryn Pendleton, Ph.D. Student 2013-2017

Sung-Kyun (Sean) Park, Postdoc 2014-2016

Bryan Cobo Torres, SURF 2016; Technician 2018

Aparna Anantharaman, Postdoc 2016-2018

Gabriela Rosado-González, SURF 2019

Anna Scarborough, Ph.D. Student 2017-2021

Julio Ruiz, Postdoc and Research Scientist 2014-2022

Anne Devlin, Ph.D. Student 2018-2023

John Yin, SURF 2023

Minseon Kim, Postdoc 2021-2024

Olga Hunter, Research Associate 2009-2024