Gardel Lab Team
Principal Investigator
Margaret Gardel
Horace B. Horton Professor, Physics and Molecular Engineering
Director, James Franck Institute
Institute for Biophysical Dynamics
Email: gardel@uchicago.edu
Bio | CV | PubMed | Google Scholar | Twitter
Research Scientist
Yvonne Beckham
Ph.D. Developmental Biology,
University of Toronto, 2003
Molecular Biology Godsend, Actin Cross-linking Proteins, Gene Expression
email: ybeckham@uchicago.edu
Postdoctoral Fellows
Shailaja Seetharaman
Ph.D., Cell and Developmental Biology, Institut Pasteur and Université de Paris, 2020
Cell and tissue mechanics
email: shailaja@uchicago.edu
Debasmita Mondal
Ph.D., Physics, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India, 2022
Mechanobiology of actin cytoskeleton
email: debasmita@uchicago.edu
Katie Landy
Ph.D., Chemistry, Northwestern University, 2023
Protein condensation, adaptive actin materials
email: klandy@uchicago.edu
Graduate Students
Kash Baboolall
Graduate Program in Biophysical Sciences
B.A. Mathematics and Chemistry Amherst, College, 2021
LIM mechanotransduction
email: kdbaboolall@uchicago.edu
Amanda Johnson
Graduate Program in Development, Regeneration & Stem Cell Biology
B.S., M.S. Cell & Molecular Biology, San Francisco State University, 2019
Mechanical regulation of stem cell fates
email: amandabrooke@uchicago.edu
Margo MacDonald
Graduate Program in Biophysics
B.A., Physics &
Biophysics; M.S., Physics
University of Pennsylvania, 2018
Neutrophil Extracellular Traps and Metastasis
email: margomac@uchicago.edu
Ayanna Matthews
Graduate Program in Physics Department
A.B., Physics, Princeton University, 2020
Cell Mechanics in Epithelial Tissue
email: matthewsa@uchicago.edu
Heather Rizzo
Graduate Program in Cellular and Molecular Biology
B.S., Cellular and Molecular Biology, Trinity University, San Antonio, 2019
Mechanotransduction, Junctional Remodeling, and Cell Signaling
email: hrizzo@uchicago.edu
Sarah Root
Graduate Program in Biophysics (ISTP)
B.S. , Biochemistry, Biophysics, and Physics, University of Pennsylvania, 2021
LIM protein, Machine Learning
email: sroot@uchicago.edu
Andy Zhang
Graduate Program in Physics Department
B.A., Physics and Music, Swarthmore College, 2022
Mechanical Regulation of Epithelial Tissue Homeostasis
email: andyletzhang@uchicago.edu
Undergraduate Students
Catalina Castaneda Fernandez
Undergraduate Program in Physics and Economics
University of Chicago
Formation of Myosin Stacks
email: catalinac@uchicago.edu
Staff
Zena Anderson
Project Assistant III
Administrative Support
email: zenaa@uchicago.edu
Rachel Strom
Operations Coordinator
email: rstrom@uchicago.edu
Brandi Hudson
Financial Administrator
Physical Sciences Division, Local Business Center
email: hudson@uchicago.edu