Welcome to the Zoncu lab

Roberto Zoncu (PI)

rzoncu@berkeley.edu

Roberto studied molecular biology at the University of Pisa, Italy, where he completed his undergraduate thesis on the mechanisms of asymmetric stem cell division during brain development

He then moved to Yale School of Medicine to pursue a PhD in Cell Biology. At Yale, Roberto combined advanced microscopy and chemical genetic techniques to interrogate how a class of signalling lipids known as phosphoinositides control endocytic vesicle traffic and maturation.

In 2008, Roberto moved to the Whitehead Institute/MIT as a postdoctoral fellow. There, he combined biochemical and microscopy-based assays to understand how lysosomes govern the signaling activity of the master growth regulator, mTORC1 kinase, and how these organelles generally function as a metabolic signaling centers.

In early 2014, Roberto became an Assistant Professor in the Biochemistry, Biophysics and Structural Biology division of the Molecular and Cell Biology Department at UC Berkeley, and was promoted to Associate Professor (with tenure) in July 2019 and to Full Professor in 2023. He is co-director of the Molecular Therapeutics Initiative, which aims to increase the translational potential of research conducted at Berkeley (https://moleculartherapeutics.org/)

Roberto’s accomplishments have been recognized, among others, by the NIH Director’s New Innovator Award, the Pew-Stewart Scholarship for Cancer Research the Damon Runyon-Rachleff Innovation Award, the Pew Innovation Award and the Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative ‘Metabolism across scales’ award.

Claire Goul (Graduate Student)

csgoul@berkeley.edu

Claire grew up in southern California and moved to the east coast to attend MIT, where she majored in Biology and Computer Science. She returned to do graduate school in the Berkeley MCB program. Outside of lab, she enjoys running and going exploring on hikes, playing intramural sports, and creating new recipes. Claire is interested in how organelles coordinately sense and communicate metabolic state.

Anna Shlimak

anna_shlimak@berkeley.edu

Anna grew up in Harvard, MA and completed her undergraduate studies at Brown University with a B.S. in Biochemistry, where she studied a Drosophila model of ALS pathogenesis in Kristi Wharton’s lab. She then moved to Berkeley to pursue a PhD in Chemical Biology. Anna is interested in studying how inter-organelle communication shapes metabolism and its dysregulation in disease. Outside of the lab, Anna enjoys hiking, cycling, and kitesurfing in the Bay. 

Serim Yang (Graduate Student, Shurl and Kay Curci fellow)

sryang@berkeley.edu

Serim was born and raised in Seoul, South Korea. She completed her undergraduate studies at Seoul National University where she majored in Chemistry and Biology. Inspired by her exchange semester in Rochester, Serim moved to the United States for graduate school and is now in MCB program at Berkeley. She is interested in studying how cells sense, integrate and respond to nutrient availabilities and how lysosomes are involved in the process. Outside of lab, Serim likes to take advantage of Berkeley weather by learning how to play tennis and exploring the nature in Bay area.

Alex Maya-Romero (Graduate Student and NSF fellow)

alex_maya-romero@berkeley.edu

Alex is originally from Puerto Rico, but grew up in South Jersey. He attended King's College in Wilkes-Barre, PA and majored in Biology. After undergrad, Alex spent time at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine studying mitochondrial protein targeting in yeast. He then decided to come across the country to Berkeley where he is interested in understanding the role of lipids in the lysosomal signaling of neurons and glia, both in health and in the context of neurodegeneration. When not on campus, he enjoys hanging out at home or exploring the ins and out of San Francisco.

Martina Spacci (Graduate student, jointly with Alessandro Carrer’s lab, VIMM)

martinaspacci@berkeley.edu

Clement Maghe (postdoctoral fellow)

cmaghe@berkeley.edu

Clement was born in Nantes, France, where he completed his Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Cancer Biology. He then obtained his PhD at Nantes University under the supervision of Julie Gavard, studying the vulnerability of glioblastoma stem-like cells to lysosomal dysfunctions. Clement in now a postdoc in the Zoncu lab and is interested in how cells sense and transmit nutrient availability to the mTORC1 pathway, and its implication in neurodegenerative diseases. Outside the lab, Clement enjoys playing basketball, cooking, and exploring the Bay area.

Roberta Peruzzo (postdoctoral fellow)

rperuzzo@berkeley.edu

Roberta was born and grew up in Italy, where she completed her Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Molecular Biology. She received her PhD at University of Padua, studying the mechanism of action of mitochondria-affecting compounds in both cancer and mitochondrial diseases. Roberta joined the Zoncu lab to investigate the integrated role of lysosomes and mitochondria in regulating cancer cell metabolism. In her spare time, she loves hiking, baking, gardening, and painting..

Aakriti Jain (Postdoctoral Fellow)

aakriti.jain@berkeley.edu

Aakriti was born in India but lived in the UK and in the Bay Area while growing up and went to UC Berkeley for undergrad. She received her PhD from the Francis Crick Institute in London, UK in Dimitrios Anastasiou’s lab, where she studied the role of dysregulated mitochondrial ammonium metabolism in liver cancer. Aakriti joined the Zoncu lab to investigate mechanisms through which mitochondrial dysfunction is relayed to the whole cell, in particular the lysosome. Outside of the lab, Aakriti enjoys cooking, annoying her cat, live music, and being bourgeoisie about craft beers.

Tong Bian (Postdoctoral Fellow)

biantong@berkeley.edu

Tong grew up in central China, receiving his BA in bioengineering from Hubei University of Technology. After that, he moved to Westlake University to pursue his PhD in Yigong Shi’s lab, where he learned about the assembly of the human spliceosome. Tong joined the Zoncu lab to investigate the regulation of the mTORC1 pathway. Outside the lab, Tong enjoys hiking, cooking, and running.

Xiaoyu Zhao (Postdoctoral Fellow)
xiaoyuzhao@berkeley.edu 

Xiaoyu was born and raised in the scenic Sichuan province of China. He earned his Bachelor’s degree from Sun Yat-sen University before pursuing his Ph.D. at the University of Virginia in the lab of Dr. Sarah Ewald. During his doctoral studies, he investigated innate immune responses to intracellular Toxoplasma gondii infection. Now in the Zoncu lab, his research focuses on lysosome homeostasis and innate immunity. Outside the lab, he enjoys biking, swimming, and exploring the local area.

Lab Alumni

JULIAN YANO (GRADUATE STUDENT, JOINT WITH GREG BARTON’S LAB)

Post-ZLab: Postdoctoral Fellow in the Barton lab

ASHLEY SEGURA-ROMAN (GRADUATE STUDENT)

HIJAI REGINA SHIN (POSTDOCTORAL FELLOW)

Post-ZLab: Assistant Professor, Children’s Research Institute at UT Southwestern Medical Center

PETER CATHEY (GRADUATE STUDENT)

Post-ZLab: Flight school

THIJS DEMMERS (MASTER STUDENT, UNIV. OF UTRECHT)

Post-ZLab: Graduate Student, Univ. of Utrecht

Simon rapp (master student, univ. of heidelberg)

Post-ZLab: Consulting internist at McKinsey & Company

Subhrajit banerjee (postdoctoral fellow)

Post-ZLab: postdoctoral fellow in the lab of Dr. Will Prinz at the NIH/NIDDK

Chun-yan lim (postdoctoral fellow)

Post-ZLab: Group Leader, Center for Neuro-Metabolism and Regeneration Research (CNMR) at Bioland Laboratory, Guangzhou, China.

OLIVER DAVIS (GRADUATE STUDENT)

Post-ZLab: Scientist at Denali Therapeutics

JUSTIN ZHANG (graduate student)

Post-ZLab: Life Sciences Consulting

Rosalie lawrence (graduate student)

Post-ZLab:

-postdoctoral scholar in the Peter Walter lab at the University of California San Francisco

-Assistant Professor, Dept. of Biological Chemistry, Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA
https://biolchem.ucla.edu/people/rosalie-lawrence-phd

ashley thelen (graduate student)

Post-ZLab: postdoctoral scholar in the Philip Greenberg lab at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center

OFER moldavski (postdoctoral fellow)

Post-ZLab: postdoctoral scholar in Ethan Weiss’ lab at the University of California San Francisco

Brian castellano (graduate student)

Post-ZLab: postdoctoral scientist at Genentech

EMMA sydir (UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT)

Post-ZLab: Ph.D. student in the Biophysics Program at Harvard Medical School

robin stipp (master Student, UNIVERSITY OF heidelberg)

Post-ZLab: PhD student in the lab of Dr. Jorg Sandfuss, Paul Scherrer Institut, Zurich (CH)

Marie Tofaute (master student, technical university of munich)

Post-ZLab: Ph.D. student at the Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry

Yangxue Fu (master Student, UNIVERSITY OF heidelberg)

Post-ZLab: Ph.D. student in the Ivan Dikic lab, University of Frankfurt

KELVIN CHO (UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT)

Post-ZLab: Ph.D. student in the Alice Ting lab, Stanford University

RONJA RAPPOLD (MASTER'S STUDENT, UNIVERSITY OF HEIDELBERG)

Post-ZLab: Ph.D. student at the Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), Zurich

Marlies ludikhuize (master's student, utrecht university)

Post-ZLab: PhD student in the lab of Dr. Boudewijn Burgering, University of Utrecht

Christian bindesboll (visiting postdoctoral fellow, university of oslo)

Post-ZLab: Medical Lead: Ophthalmology, Neuroscience and Immunology, Roche-University of Oslo

Anna Thrun (master's student, freie university berlin)

Post-ZLab: PhD student in the lab of Dr. Claudio Joazeiro, Heidelberg University

kasper kommeren (master's student, utrecht university)

BOB van EIJKEREN (master's student, utrecht university)

Post-ZLab: PhD student in the lab of Dr. Eric Kalkhoven, University of Utrecht

Reini van der Welle(master's student, utrecht university)

Post-ZLab: PhD student in the lab of Dr. Judith Klumpermann, University of Utrecht

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