Laboratory Members

Charles Sagerström, Ph.D.
PROFESSOR
DEPARTMENT OF PEDIATRICS
Postdoctoral Fellow
Whitehead Institute/MIT
1993-1997
Ph.D., Immunology
Stanford University
1993
B.A., Biology
Macalester College
1987
PROFESSOR
DEPARTMENT OF PEDIATRICS
Postdoctoral Fellow
Whitehead Institute/MIT
1993-1997
Ph.D., Immunology
Stanford University
1993
B.A., Biology
Macalester College
1987
My research career started in college with an interest in Immunology that I pursued through graduate school. I was particularly interested in cell fate decisions among immune cells and this led me to carry out postdoctoral research studying embryonic development. I started my own research group at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in 1997, and in 2019 I relocated to the University of Colorado Medical School. My group has a long-standing interest in understanding how embryonic development is programmed at the level of gene expression. We primarily use zebrafish as a model organism and we apply genome-wide approaches to study transcriptional regulation in early embryogenesis.
Yong-ll Kim, Ph.D. instructor Ph.D., Microbiology Wonkwang University School of Medicine 2017 M.S., Biology Chungnam National University 2011 B.S., Biology Chungnam National University 2009 When I was an undergraduate student, I worked with a master’s degree student who was trying to generate a mutant line of zebrafish using insertional mutagenesis. After joining my master’s degree program, I worked on a project to characterize cells that form bone. I generated a bone-specific col10a1:GFP transgenic zebrafish. I joined my Ph.D. program and started working on my project that focused on the role of peroxisome-related genes during zebrafish development. During this time, I generated several alleles of zebrafish mutants and transgenic zebrafish related to peroxisome biology. Currently I work in the Sagerström lab as a postdoctoral research fellow. Here, my research focuses on investigating the role of hindbrain-related genes during zebrafish development. |
Austin Adkins, Ph.D. postdoctoral fellow Ph.D., Biomedical Sciences Research, Neuroscience Eastern Virginia Medical School 2023 M.S., Biomedical Sciences Research, Neuroscience Eastern Virginia Medical School 2020 B.S., Marine Biology Old Dominion University 2017 My early work focused on the mechanisms by which the sleep and neuroimmune systems are linked and integrated under homeostatic and altered physiological states. This work aimed to understand the bidirectional relationship of these systems, and how these interactions may alter brain circuits, and subsequently modulate other systems (e.g., learning and memory, sensorimotor function, etc.), and their relevance for neuropsychiatric diseases and neurodegenerative disorders. It is becoming increasing clear that neurodevelopmental and neuropsychiatric disorders share cellular and molecular patterns suggests that neuropsychiatric disorders originate from early developmental defects. Understanding these interconnected pathways is vital for identifying at-risk populations and promising targets for therapeutic interventions, although they remain poorly understood. I joined the Sagerström lab in the fall of 2023. My current work focuses on mutations in transcription factors and epigenetic regulators which cause developmental defects by disrupting neurogenesis. The resulting misassembled neural circuits and aberrant neural activity may then manifest as neuropsychiatric disorders later in life, thereby explaining links between neurodevelopmental and neuropsychiatric conditions. Additionally, it may shed light on the variations in onset and severity of these disorders. |
Sylvia Nunez Ph.D. CANDIDATE B.S., Integrative Biology University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 2016 During my undergraduate career at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, I had the opportunity to work in Dr. Felipe Soto-Adames's lab studying the molecular evolution of paralogous genes involved in muscle contractions in insects and decapods. I joined the Sagerström lab as a PhD student in Cell Biology, Stem Cells, and Development researching cell fate decisions at the midbrain-hindbrain boundary in zebrafish. |
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Cameron Bennett ph.d. candidate B.S., Genomics and Molecular Genetics Michigan State University 2021 While an undergraduate at Michigan State University, I had the opportunity to work in Dr. Ingo Braasch’s lab. My research focused on the functional analysis of the endothelin gene Edn4 in neural crest cells and their derivatives in zebrafish. I joined the Sagerström lab as a Ph.D. student in the Molecular Biology program in 2022, and my research focuses on investigating the role of Vgll3 in the transcriptional regulation of early embryonic hindbrain cell fate pathways. |
Katie Glowinski professional research assistant B.S., Biology Concordia University St. Paul 2021 In my undergrad at Concordia, I had the opportunity to work under and learn from Dr. Mandy Brosnahan and Dr. Taylor Mach in a study focused on S. aureus screening. After graduation, I began working in a Quality Control lab at Bio-Techne in Minneapolis, where I would perform a variety of assays to ensure product specifications for proteins and antibodies. I recently moved out to Colorado, and joined the Sagerstrom lab in September 2023. I am excited to be on this team and learn more from the great people around me! |
Lab Alumni Heather Reichenbach, B.A. (2023) Clinical Research Coordinator | UCD Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO Ethan Wright, M.Sc. (2023) Research Lab Supervisor | Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School; Boston, MA Jelena Kresoja-Rakic, Ph.D. (2023) Scientist | ArtisanBio; Louisville, CO Jessica Warns, Ph.D. (2022) Adjunct Professor | Northern State University; Aberdeen, SD |
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