Elizabeth Pollina
Assistant Professor
pollina[at]wustl.edu
Liz obtained her PhD in the fields of epigenetics and aging and did her postdoctoral work in molecular neurobiology. Liz is fascinated by how the environment impinges on the genome to modulate neuronal development and aging. Outside of lab, Liz enjoys reading, long distance running, and spending time with her young family .
Shilpa Padmanaban
Postdoctoral Fellow
p.shilpa[at]wustl.edu
Shilpa received her PhD from the University of Michigan, where she studied how telomeres protect the ends of chromosomes. Currently, she is broadly interested in understanding if DNA repair mechanisms are different in young and aged brains. In her free time, she enjoys painting, listening to music, and traveling.
Taylor Lambert
Research Assistant
lambert[at]wustl.edu
Taylor received her B.S. in Biological Chemistry and hopes to continue her education by attending medical school. Her research interests include investigating how sleep patterns influence neuronal development and longevity. Outside of the lab, she enjoys weightlifting, reading, and listening to music.
Zahra Bardaghi
Research Assistant
zahrabardaghi[at]gmail.com
Zahra received her bachelor’s degree from Ferdowsi University of Mashhad and her master’s degree from Mashhad University. She is focused on understanding the long-term effects of neuroinflammation on behavior and memory in mice. Her interests extend to exploring the role of chromatin/DNA repair in these processes. When she’s not working in the lab, Zahra enjoys painting, aerial exercises, reading books, and camping.
Ena Haseljic
Graduate Student
e.haseljic[at]wustl.edu
Ena is a Ph.D. student in the Molecular Genetics and Genomics program. She obtained her B.S. in Molecular Genetics from the University of Rochester, where she explored longevity in bowhead whales. Her research interests include exploring DNA repair in neurons and investigating how sleep deprivation affects transcriptomics and epigenetics in neurons. In her free time, Ena enjoys playing volleyball, reading books, working out, and taking long walks.
Xilin Hou
Rotation Student
h.xilin[at]wustl.edu
Xilin is a first year student in the Molecular Cell Biology program. Xilin received her B.S. in Bioscience from Huazhong University of Science and Technology in June 2023. After a brief experience studying novel histone modifications in Drosophila melanogaster, she worked on centromeric chromatin regulation at the Institute of Biophysics, CAS. She is broadly interested in epigenetics and chromatin regulation in the context of development, neuroscience and human diseases. Outside of lab Xilin enjoys taking walks in parks, listening to music, and eating/cooking spicy food.
Joowon Um
Rotation Student
j.um[at]wustl.edu
Joowon is a Ph.D. student in the Developmental Biology program. He obtained his B.S. in Molecular Biology from the University of California, Los Angeles where he experimented on changing methylation levels in Arabidopsis thaliana via fusion proteins containing a methyltransferase domain. His undergraduate research has extended beyond to culture his present interest in the role of epitranscriptomics in aging. In his free time, he enjoys making Youtube videos and making Korean food!
Former Lab Members
In the Pollina Lab, we are honored to have the privilege to train the next generation of scientists and are committed foremost to the success of our members. We are thinkers, dreamers, doers, talkers, and friends. We believe the best science emerges from diverse viewpoints and training paths. We are committed to generating an environment where each person’s passion and individual character synergize to strengthen our team. Our core values are curiosity, generosity, resilience, integrity, and humor, and we celebrate the process of scientific discovery as much as the discoveries themselves. We are eager to recruit individuals to help shape this culture of inclusion and support.
Come join us! We are looking for talented post-docs, students, and bioinformaticians. Please send your cv and three reference letters to pollina[at]wustl.edu.