URMC / Labs / O'Connell Lab / Lab Members Lab Members Principal InvestigatorMitchell O'Connell, Ph.D.MCPhone: (585) 276-3191Email MitchellResearch Interest: Biochemical mechanisms of RNA-mediated gene regulation; RNA-targeting CRISPR tool developmentFacultyBogdan Polevoda, Ph.D.Research Assistant ProfessorMCPhone: (585) 276-4107Email BogdanResearch Interest: The two cotranslational processes, cleavage of N-terminal methionine and N-terminal acetylation (N- acetylation).Graduate StudentsBrandon Davis, PhDResearch Interest: Picking up the Pieces: The Fragmented Process of Cas13 Mediated RNA Cleavage in Human CellsSeth JonesBSCB - Biophysics, Structural & Computational Biology Ph.D. ProgramResearch Interest: Structural Studies of Cas13b Accessory Protein Csx27Mert KokaBMB - Biochemistry & Molecular Biology Ph.D. ProgramResearch Interest: Pulling the plug on bacteriophage infection: investigating the molecular mechanism of activation of CRISPR-Csx28Julia Nicosia, MSBMB - Biochemistry & Molecular Biology Ph.D. ProgramResearch Interest: The role of the Type VI CRISPR-Cas accessory protein Csx27 in CRISPR-Cas13 mediated anti-viral immunityBrandon ParkGenetics - Biomedical Genetics and Genomics Ph.D. ProgramResearch Interest: Nucleic Acid Biology, Epigenetics, and Development. My project is focused on the role of H2A.Z in epigenetic inheritance.James ShaulGenetics - Biomedical Genetics and Genomics Ph.D. ProgramResearch Interest: Type VI CRISPR and associated bacterial anti-phage defense systems