Lab Members

Diaga Diouf

Adjunct Faculty

email • website

Dr. Diouf is an Associate Professor in the Department of Plant Biology at Cheikh Anta Diop University (the University of Dakar) in Senegal. His research interests include the molecular evolution of Vigna by using DNA technology and bioinformatic tools, the construction of linkage map based on molecular markers in cowpea (Vigna unguiculata), and plant genetic transformation.

Sunny Crawley

e-mail • CV •website

I am a graduate student in the lab. I use the matK gene to study evolution of the plant order Caryophyllales. I'm also looking at the matK gene to try and explore the scope of RNA editing it undergoes across land plants. MatK protein work is also key to my project, trying to express it recombinantly for functional assays and do some sub-cellular localiztion within the cell.

Sheena Friend

e-mail • CV

Blacksburg has been home for me since fall of 2000, when I came to Virginia Tech as an undergraduate.  I‘ve been part of Dr. Hilu’s lab since 2003.  After graduating in 2004, I stayed to get my Masters. But, soon after I decided that I would get my Ph.D. instead.

My research is to look at the evolutionary relationships among species from the peanut genus, Arachis, using DNA sequences from nuclear and plastid genomic regions. The other half of my project is to look at changes in an allergen protein across the peanut genus.

Munni Ali

e-mail

I am a senior majoring in Biological Sciences and minoring in Medicine and Society. I help out Sheena with her research on peanut plants by doing basic PCR reactions and amplification. I also help Sheena keep track of all the chemicals in the lab.

Dipan Oza

e-mail

Dipan joined the lab as a freshman Biological Sciences major. He has been contributing to the AToL project with GenBank searches and laboratory work that includes PCR amplification and sequencing.

Nick Tatalovich

e-mail

Nick Tatalovich joined our lab in May 2008 working on the Tree of Life project and evolution of canary grasses.  He is a senior in Biological Sciences with an interest in plant biodiversity.

Larry Alice

website

Larry was a Postdoctoral Associate in the Hilu Lab. He is currently an Associate Professor of Plant Systematics at Western Kentucky University. His general research interests include the systematics of the economically important plant genera Rubus, which includes blackberries and raspberries, and Mentha, including spearmint and peppermint.

Michelle Barthet

Michelle completed much of her graduate research in the Hilu Lab. She is currently a Postdoctoral Associate at the University of Sydney, where she continues her research in mitochondria and oxidative stress, and mitochondria and programmed cell death.

Chelsea Black

Chelsea joined the lab as a volunteer undergraduate research in her junior year to work on matK gene evolution and the angiosperm tree of life project. She worked closely with Michelle Barthett on matK expression and with the AToL team on DNA sequencing. She received th Dept. of Biological Sciences Award for Outstanding Undergrdaute Research in 2006 at the graduation ceremony. She spent the year after graduation working on the AToL project as a lab tech where she made important contriubtions to the project. She is currently a doctoral student at Johns Hopkins in the Program of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, with a focus on cancer research.

Rohit Kumar

Rohit was an undergraduate researcher in the Hilu Lab. His poster on "The Evolution of Canary Grasses" won the Best Botany Poster Award at the 2007 Meeting of the Virginia Academy of Science. He graduated with a B.S. in Biological Sciences in May 2008.

Rachael Moebus

Rachael was an undergraduate researcher in the Hilu Laboratory; she worked with Rohit Kumar on the evolution of canary grasses (Phalaris). She graduated with a B.S. in Biological Sciences in May 2008. She is now working at the Eastern Virginia Medical School in the Otolaryngology Department, where she is conducting research on the "Sub-Classification of Chronic Sinitus".

Susana Neves

website

Daniel Serrano

Daniel was an undergraduate researcher in the Hilu Lab; he assisted Sheena Friend by amplifying the Ara h 2 gene from different species, cloning it and sequencing it. He graduated in May 2008 in Biochemistry and Environmental Sciences. He is currently a graduate student in Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics at the University of Maryland.

Kristi Woods