Ramon Rodriguez

Ramon Rodriguez

Visiting Research Fellow
(March 2005– 2009)

Kai Wang

Research Scholar
(September 2006 – 2009)

Dr Wang is currently a fellow in the Laboratory ofDevelopmental Epigenetics & Reproductive Biology directed by Dr Jason Knott at Michigan State University.

Amy Iager

Graduate Research Assistant
(September 2003 - February 2008)                                                                                       

Amy is currently a Clinical Research Associate with Gema Diagnostics, Inc., a start-up molecular diagnostic company targeting assisted reproductive technologies.

Arif Murat Kocabas

Research Assistant Professor
(June 2003 – 2009)

Myung-Sik Yoo

Research Scholar
(Jan 2004 – September 2007)

Akiko Yabuuchi

Research Associate

Ying Chen

Research Scholar
(January 2007 – 2009)

Dr Chen is currently in the Laboratory of Dr Richard Leach in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology at Michigan State University.

Naoki Tsunekawa, PhD

Research Scholar
(August 2003 - May 2005)

Ki-Young Lee, PhD

Visiting Assistant Professor 

Dr. Ki-Young Lee was a Visiting Assistant Professor from Kunsan National University, South Korea. 

Vanesa Heyd, MD, PhD

Visiting Scientist
(June 2003 - December 2003)

Vanesa Heyd is presently a researcher in the Developmental Cell Biology Laboratory in FLENI, Argentina.

Angela Busta, MS

Research Technician
(May 2006 - May 2008)

Angela is now a Research Technician and runs the fish facility in the Feldman laboratory at the University of Michigan, Department of Neurology.

Theresa Doerr

Administrative Assistant/Office Manager
(January 2003 - January 2008)

Theresa is now at the College of Natural Science Dean's Office in the Office of Research Services. 

Kerrianne Cunniff

Research Technologist
(April 2004 – June 2007)

Kerrianne (KC) Cunniff is currently a Research Technician in the laboratory of Dr. George Daley at HHMI/Children's Hospital Boston/Harvard Medical School.

Pablo Ross

Research Assistant Professor
(January 2008 - December 2009)

Graduate Research Assistant
(January 2003 - December 2007)

Pablo is now an Assistant Professor in the Department of Animal Science at University of California-Davis.

Kannika (Nok) Siripattarapravat, DVM, PhD

PhD, May 2010

Email: siripatt@msu.edu

Kannika Siripattarapravat, aka Nok, is a faculty in the Department of Pathology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at Kasetsart University, Thailand. Nok is a Ph.D. candidate in Comparative Medicine and Integrative Biology program here at Michigan State University. Nok joined the CRL team after receiving prestigious scholarship from the Thai government. Dr. Siripattarapravat is interested in stem cell research, its rapidly evolving techniques, and its intended promises. Her dissertation will focus on the cellular reprogramming in Zebrafish.

Nok received her degree in D.V.M. in 2002 from Kasetsart University were she also obtained her M.S. degree in Veterinary Pathology. Her thesis and research experiences were on the recombinant protein expression and its use as a diagnostic tool. Following graduation she worked as an instructor in the Department of Pathology at Kasetsart University. In addition to her was responsibilities in teaching and research, she worked on developing special diagnostic services. She dedicates and strives to be a good veterinarian and teacher, and to excel in research. In the future, she would like to be a resource person for practicing veterinarians and also a mentor to educate veterinary students, hoping they too share her excitement about their field of study. Nok is working towards being an able diagnostician to benefit the animals in Thailand as Thailand needs individuals who are creative in research, who can generate projects to be applied to their needs at home. She would like to serve the country needs and accomplish her goals as well.

Neli Ragina, PhD (2010)

Assistant Professor of Research, Department of Surgery, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California

E-mail: Neli.Ragina@med.usc.edu

PhD work in the CRL:
Neli first entered the Genetics Program at the Michigan State University in the fall of 2003 and was officially accepted as a PhD candidate in the Cellular Reprogramming Laboratory in December 2003. Her project focused on expanding differentiation potential of Cyno-1 cells. Cyno-1 cells are parthenogenetic embryonic stem cells derived from a non-fertilized Cynomolgus macaque egg. The aims of her project were:

1. Downregulate the expression of H19 in Cyno-1 cells

2. Determine the extent of in vivo differentiation in H19 downregulated Cyno-1 cells.

Masters' degree:

Neli acquired her Master's degree in Molecular Biology with an emphasis of Clinical Chemistry from the Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski", Bulgaria in 2002. During that time, Neli worked at the Laboratory of Molecular Biology and Genetics at the Medical University of Sofia, Bulgaria, where she further developed her interest in gene expression and regulation.

Awards:

2002 First award for oral presentation, International Congress of Medical Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria

Publications from CRL:

§  Ragina NP, Schlosser K, Knott JG, Senagore PK, Swiatek PJ, Chang EA, Fakhouri WD, Schutte BG, Kiupel M, Cibelli JB Down-regulation of H19 improves the differentiation potential of mouse parthenogenetic embryonic stem cells. Stem Cells and Development, 21(7), 1134-1144 (2012).

§  Ragina NP, Cibelli JB. Chapter 3   Parthenogenetic embryonic stem cells in non-human primates. Trends in Stem Cell Biology and Technology, Baharvand, Hossein (Ed.) 2009; ISBN: 978-1-60327- 904-8

§  Pablo J. Ross, Ramon M. Rodriguez, Amy E. Iager, Zeki Beyhan, Kai Wang, Neli Ragina, Sook-Young Yoon, Rafael A Fissore, and Jose B.Cibelli  Activation of bovine somatic cell nuclear transfer embryos by PLCZ cRNA injection. Reproduction, 137(3), 427-437 (2009).

§  Pablo J Ross, Neli Ragina, Ramon M Rodriguez, Amy Iager, and Jose B Cibelli  Polycomb gene expression and histone H3 lysine 27 trimethylation changes during bovine preimplantation development. Reproduction. 2008 Dec; 136(6):777-85. Epub 2008 Sep 10.

§  Amy E. Iager, Neli P. Ragina, Pablo J. Ross,  Zeki Beyhan, Kerrianne Cunniff, Ramon M. Rodriguez, and Jose B. Cibelli.   Trichostatin A Improves Histone Acetylation in Bovine Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer Early Embryos. Cloning and Stem Cells, Volume 10, Number 3, 2008

Tak Ko, MS

Graduate Research Assistant/Lab Manager

(March 2003 - present)

Email: kotak@msu.edu

Tak is the Laboratory Manager/Research Assistant of the Cellular Reprogramming Laboratory (CRL). His main project is “Reprogramming of somatic cells to make stem cells”. In addition to running a laboratory Tak takes care of numerous lab maintenance duties as well as most of the molecular biology work including qRT-PCR, RT PCR/PCR, Southern/Northern/Western Hybridization and construction of expression vectors in mammalian system. He also performs other research duties involves animals and human Embryonic Stem Cell culture that are being processed in the CRL and differentiation.

Tak received his Masters of Science degree in Microbiology (in the field of molecular biology and Genetics) from Michigan State University. While at MSU, Tak worked in the area of cloning and characterization of the aod-2 alternative oxidase regulatory gene of Neurospora crassa. Physiological analyses of fungal mitochondrial respiration. Another project involved cloning and nucleotide sequence of the catalytic subunit of DNA polymerase-gamma of Neurospora crassa. (Genebank Accession # AF111068).

His previous research experience was at the University of Michigan where his main research project was the investigation of the bone preosteoblast's requirement for an unidentified bone accessory cell, which allows us to culture purified populations of bone precursor cells in vitro, and microspicules forming on the bones.

Shashanka Murthy

Research Assistant

murthys5@msu.edu

Sebastian Canovas, DVM, PhD

Posdoctoral Fellow

(July 2008 – present)

Email: scber@msu.edu

Sebastian is a postdoctoral fellow from the Program for Cell Therapy and Regenerative Medicine of Andalucia, Foundation "Progreso y Salud", in Seville, Spain. Dr Canovas received his DVM in 2002 from the University of Murcia (Spain), where he worked for six years (2003-2008) in the research group, Physiology of Reproduction. in 2005 he completed his Master's degree in Biotechnology of Reproduction in Mammals, and in 2007 he earned his PhD from University of Murcia (Spain). During his PhD thesis research he studied gamete interaction in human, pig, and cow, and the role of oviduct-specific glycoprotein in polyspermic fertilization. Following completion of his PhD, Sebastian worked in the production of transgenic animals using sperm-mediated gene transfer technique until July 2008, at which time he joined Dr. Cibelli's laboratory. His research is now focused on understanding the mechanisms of nuclear reprogramming and differentiation. To elucidate these mechanisms, Sebastian uses in vitro fertilization in cattle and induced pluripotent (iPS) cells in human as models. Specifically, he studies the role of sperm RNA in cattle development. Also, he is developing methods for enhancing the efficiency in the production of safe iPS cells to use as disease models. Sebastian hopes these studies will help lead to cures of diseases such as diabetes, cystic fibrosis, and other rare disorders, which are specific objectives of the Andalusian Initiative for Advanced Therapies.