Wagers Lab

Amy Wagers seeks to change the way we repair our tissues after an injury. Her research focuses on defining the factors and mechanisms that regulate the migration, expansion, and regenerative potential of adult blood-forming and muscle-forming stem cells.

Nema is the Core Facility Director for the department’s Flow Cytometry Core Facility. He carries out fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) and analysis for scientists using the facility, and is the contact for Core training and scheduling.

Michael’s research interests center on genetic engineering, aging, and the development of gene therapies.

Heidi Kletzien is a Biomedical Engineer interested in understanding the molecular underpinnings and dynamics of age-related head and neck tissue dysfunction and head and neck cancer (HNC) initiation. Heidi is a NIH Postdoctoral fellow and her research harnesses novel multi-omics and, in vivo, CRISPR-mediated genome engineering approaches.

Ozge is interested in understanding the molecular mechanism of hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) function. She did her Ph.D. at EMBL (Italy) and Heidelberg University on the mechanism of how first HSCs in the mouse embryo emerge. Afterward, she worked on human HSCs and patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells to understand the underlying mechanism of hematological diseases. Currently, in Wagers lab, her postdoctoral project is on the regulation of HSC expansion, self-renewal, and differentiation in the adult mouse.

David Anderson graduated with a B.A. in Biology from Kenyon College in 2019. David uses gene therapy to study how blood disorders affect regeneration across a variety of organs in the context of aging.

Medha graduated in 2021 with a degree in Biological Sciences from University at Buffalo (SUNY) and has been working as a RA since September 2021. Medha’s research focuses on engineering whole-body gene therapy for rare genetic disorders like Wolfram syndrome II.

Kathleen joined the Wagers Lab from Genzyme Sanofi. She obtained her Bachelor of Science degree in biochemistry from Northeastern University.

Bryan received an A.B. in Human Developmental and Regenerative Biology at Harvard in 2018. He was an Amgen Scholar at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and a Peer Study Leader in the Harvard Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology. Bryan’s research focuses on genome editing, viral-mediated gene therapy, and Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

Maddie is an undergraduate studying Human Developmental and Regenerative Biology with a secondary in Psychology. She hopes to combine these two interests to be a translational psychiatrist.

Rebekah Kim graduated with a B.S. in Biochemistry and Math from UCLA in 2018. She’s interested in investigating hematopoietic stem cell biology and genetic engineering for gene therapy against blood disorders.

After completing her postdoc in the Wagers lab, Alessandra took on a position as senior scientific researcher at Genentech.

After completing his Masters thesis in the Wagers Lab, Eric worked as a research intern at the University of Zurich, then enrolled in the Ph.D. program at Life Science Zurich Graduate School.

Kobe is an Undergraduate concentrating in Human Developmental and Regenerative Biology with a secondary concentration in Economics.

Brice is an undergraduate studying Molecular & Cellular Biology and Statistics.

Christopher obtained his degree in Human Developmental and Regenerative Biology in 2020. As a research assistant in the Wagers Lab, he has been working to develop therapeutic avenues for treating genetic muscular disorders, such as Duchenne muscular dystrophy, through gene therapy and gene editing modalities.

Sahar obtained her Ph.D. in Molecular and Developmental Biology from the National University of Singapore in Paul Matsudaira’s lab. Since 2015, Sahar has been working jointly as a postdoc in the Wagers Lab and the Zon Lab. She is interested in increasing the engraftment efficiency of transplanted muscle cells in the recipients. Outside of the lab, Sahar enjoys painting, swimming, and eating foods from around the world!