Meet the Principal Investigator
Dan Kober, Ph.D.
Dan joined the faculty in the Department of Biochemistry at UTSW in the fall of 2022.
Before coming to Biochemistry, Dan earned his B.S. from Evangel University in Springfield, MO in 2012. He received his Ph.D. from Washington University in St. Louis in 2017. There, he trained under Tom Brett and studied the biophysical basis for disease-linked mutations in the neuroimmune receptor, TREM2. As a postdoctoral fellow, Dan trained at UTSW with Dan Rosenbaum and Arun Radhakrishnan, where he began his journey into lipid metabolism through the cholesterol-regulating Scap-SREBP pathway. Dan’s independent lab continues this interest in understanding the interplay between protein homeostasis and lipid metabolism.
Dan has received several awards for his research. As a graduate student, he received two fellowships from the American Heart Association. As a postdoc, he received a fellowship from the American Heart Association as well as a K99/R00 NIH Pathway to Independence Award. As in incoming Assistant Professor, he received a UT Systems Rising STARs Award and joined the Department of Biochemistry as an Endowed Scholar.
Fun Fact: Dan spent more time making this website than you would think.
Current lab members
Vincent Dartigue
Graduate student & HHMI Gilliam Fellow
Vincent obtained both his B.S. in biochemistry and his M.S. in animal and nutritional sciences from West Virginia University in Morgantown, WV. After graduating, he worked as faculty adjunct teaching human nutrition class to undergrads; he then worked in a lab at Brigham Hospital, MA studying the effects of lipids in liver disease. He is interested in using biochemistry in order to have a better understanding of the mechanism of diseases in metabolic disorders. Vincent is a graduate student in the Biological Chemistry program.
Fun Fact: For his Masters work, Vincent worked with chickens that he raised from day old chicks!
Sebastian Sanchez
Graduate Student
Sebastian Sanchez graduated with a B.S. in Biology at UT El Paso at the end of 2021. His research interests include molecular mechanisms of disease and novel regulatory pathways. He is quite the whiz when it comes to purification and enzymatic assays. In his free time he enjoys cooking, dancing, and meeting friends at the arcade. Sebastian is a student in the Biological Chemistry Program.
Fun Fact: A dual threat, Sebastian can dance you off the floor and teach you the science of protein purifications on his YouTube channel. But Dan didn't know how to link that here so you'll have to find it yourself.
Ashley Bullington
Lacy Graduate Student
Ashley completed her B.S. at Notre Dame where she was received the Outstanding Biochemist Award! Ashley began her research career developing assays to measure protein folding. She joined the lab in the summer of 2024 through the UTSW PB2PHD postbac program.
When she joined the graduate program, Ashley was selected as one of two inaugural Lacy Graduate Students. This endowed award is given to outstanding incoming graduate students.
Fun Facts: Ashley is the resident Notre Dame superfan and expert on all things related to collegiate sports. She is also an aspiring choreographer who hopes to recruit the lab to perform complicated routines at dept events.
Ciara Payne
Technician
Ciara joined the lab aftering graduating with a B.S. in Molecular and Cell Biology from Texas A&M University. As an undergrad, she studied a gene expressed in the fat body of Drosophila melanogaster and its role in sleep behavior. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with my cat and playing board games.
Fun fact: She's traveled much of the United States, but has only ever been out of the country once. It's on her bucket list to make it to all 50 states and visit more of the world.
Lab Alumni
Pankaj Kumar, Ph.D. (Postdoc) 2023-2025
Bilkish Bajaj. (Research Scientist) 2022-2025
Shrankhla Bawaria, Ph.D. (Postdoc) 2023-2024
Antonio Dimafelix. (STARS high school intern) Summer 2023. Current: Returning for summer 2024!
Hailee Hall. (Conrad Leadership program) Summer 2023. Current: Undergrad @ Vanderbilt.
Ysidro Motta. (PostBac) Summer 2023. Current: Postbac @ Wetzal lab