CORNELL INSTITUTE OF BIOTECHNOLOGY - Key Persons


Adrian McNairn

Job Titles:
  • Senior Research Associate
read more aboutAdrian McNairn Adrian received his PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in 2004 from SUNY Upstate Medical University. He held research positions at SUNY Upstate, Stowers Institute for Medical Research, Cincinnati Children's Hospital and Medical Center, and most recently at Cornell University in John Schimenti's lab in the Department of Biomedical Sciences. In addition to research, Adrian held teaching appointments at LeMoyne College, Ithaca College, and Cornell. With a wealth of experience in genetics, developmental biology, biochemistry, molecular biology, and a variety of model organisms from yeast to mouse, Adrian brings considerable expertise in experimental design and bench work to the Genomics Innovation Hub.

Adriano Manocchia

Job Titles:
  • Analyst
  • Programmer
read more aboutAdriano Manocchia Adriano studied Animal Science at Cornell University and started working in the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine department of Clinical Sciences, in collaboration with the Baker Institute for Animal Health. He spent several years engaged in practical and analytical research work on canine hip dysplasia before accepting a position in the Biotechnology Resource Center. After a year working on DNA sequencing, Adriano transitioned to the Bioinformatics Facility as the primary developer of the Laboratory Information Management System, which was built from the ground up and is used by each facility today.

Amanda Ferguson

Job Titles:
  • Flow Cytometry Technician
read more aboutAmanda Ferguson Amanda has a Bachelor of Agriculture in Plant Pathology and a Masters of Landscape Architecture both from The Ohio State University. Before joining the Flow Facility, she worked in research and laboratory support at local companies ST Genetics and Transonic Systems, Inc. As a facility technician, she assists users with training and instrumentation operation.

Amy Lyndaker

Job Titles:
  • Lab Manager
read more aboutAmy Lyndaker Amy received a Ph.D. in Biochemistry, Molecular and Cell Biology from Cornell University in 2009 studying mechanisms of DNA repair and recombination. She then pursued postdoctoral research in the fields of mammalian genome instability, cancer genetics, and infertility in the Dept. of Biomedical Sciences at the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine. Most recently Amy was a tenured Associate Professor of Biology at Elmira College, primarily teaching undergraduate coursework in genetics, biochemistry, and the biology of cancer as well as running a student-centered research program. She joined the BRC Epigenomics Core Facility as Lab Manager in the fall of 2022.

Ann Tate

Job Titles:
  • Project Manager
read more aboutAnn Tate Ann Tate received her Bachelor's degree from St. John Fisher College, double majoring in Biology and Adolescent Education, and her Master's degree from Cornell in Plant Breeding and Genetics. Starting in 2011, she worked for several years in the BRC Genomics Facility, specializing in Illumina sequencing and Oxford Nanopore support. In early 2019 she accepted the position of Project Manager for TREx, where she handles experimental design, input requirements, status updates, and future planning, as well as utilizing her expertise in Illumina sequencing to provide guidance on technology, BRC offerings, and Novogene services.

Audrey Sackey

Job Titles:
  • Undergraduate Student Researcher
read more aboutAudrey Sackey Audrey is a sophmore at Cornell with an interest in software engineering and User Interface UX/UI design. She has prior experience with C programming, MATLAB, python programming, and HTML. For our Epigenomics Core, she is developing her software engineering skills, mentoring with our senior researcher. She will be writing XML and python programs for our Core's bioinformatic workflows and learning Best Practices for writing software as a part of a team with Git and other software development tools.

Autumn Taylor

Job Titles:
  • Technician
Autumn has a Bachelor of Science in nutritional sciences from the Rochester Institute of Technology, and she's currently pursuing a master's degree in health systems management also at RIT. She has several years of experience working with Illumina instrumentation in a fast-paced high-volume genomics lab at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard and she brings a wealth of lab, customer service, and administrative skills to the Genomics Facility.

Catherine Smugereski

Job Titles:
  • Technician
Catherine graduated from Elmira College with a Bachelor of Science in molecular biology. She worked in several research labs in the Natural Sciences department at Elmira, most recently working on her research project involving subcloning a human gene into a plasmid in preparation for screening a human cDNA library via yeast two-hybrid.

Cheng Zou

Job Titles:
  • Research Associate
read more aboutCheng Zou Cheng Zou received her PhD in plant molecular biology in Peking University, China. She did her postdoctoral studies at Michigan State University (MSU) with professor Shinhan Shiu, working on the evolution of gene regulation. During her time at MSU, Cheng also completed a masters' degree in Statistics. She joined the Bioinformatics Facility in January 2018 and began working as a research associate with Qi Sun on bioinformatics analysis assisting molecular breeding.

Chester Sears

Job Titles:
  • Technician
read more aboutChester Sears Chester received his Bachelor's degree from Montana State University, majoring in Biotechnology with a concentration in Plant Sciences, and minoring in Genetics. Chester is specifically working in the Sanger lab under the direction of Linda Cote, and is responsible for tracking and processing samples, preparing buffers and reagents, setting up PCR reactions, analyzing results, keeping track of inventory, providing billing information and general customer support, and performing general lab maintenance.

Danying Shao

Job Titles:
  • Collaborative Senior Researcher
Danying holds a Ph.D. in Biophysics from the University of California, San Diego, and a B.S. in Physics from Peking University. She specializes in computational biology, data science, and web applications. She has worked on a wide range of projects, including cell signaling, cell motility, next-generation sequencing pipelines, labor management, and institutional research.

Elizabeth Anderson

Job Titles:
  • Technician
read more aboutElizabeth Anderson Beth has been at Cornell Proteomic facility since 2014 working in sample preparation and helping to facilitate customer's sample analysis. Beth received her B.S. from SUNY ESF in Environmental Science and has been employed in a several laboratories performing a wide range of duties. Before coming to Cornell, Beth was employed at Wyeth Pharmaceuticals working in the Protein Chemistry department.

Emily Sampson

Job Titles:
  • Internal Programs and Human Resources Manager
read more aboutEmily Sampson Emily graduated from Elmira College with a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology. In 2008 she accepted an administrative assistant position in the Cornell Institute of Biotechnology and assumed responsibility for the Institute's Biotechnology Resource Center (BRC) core facility service billings. Since 2013 she has additionally provided human resources support for the Institute with a particular focus on recruitment and staff professional development and engagement. In 2017 she became a Society for Human Resource Management Certified Professional (SHRM-CP).

Faraz Ahmed

Job Titles:
  • Bioinformatics Analyst
read more aboutFaraz Ahmed Faraz received his Bachelor's degree in Biomolecular Science and his Master's degree in Bioinformatics from the NYU Tandon School of Engineering. As the Bioinformatics Analyst for TREx, he is actively developing and maintaining open-source workflows for RNA-seq, sRNA-seq and ATAC-seq services. Apart from this he provides consultation and collaboration on research grants and Genomics Innovation Hub projects for adaptability of new tools and data analytics approaches for scRNA-seq and scATAC-seq experiments. His hobbies include drone cinematography, UX design, golfing, riding electric skateboards and making R-shiny apps.

George Day

Job Titles:
  • Technician
read more aboutGeorge Day George received his Bachelor's degree in biology from UCLA and a Master's degree in forensic science with a concentration in DNA analysis from UC Davis. He started at Cornell in 2020 where he initially worked as a technician in the Buckler Lab for 2 years. Since joining the BRC Genomics Facility, his responsibilities include extractions, quantification, and quality control of nucleic acids. He also prepares sequencing libraries for different applications such as whole genome, rAmpseq, and 3'RNA-Seq.

James VanEe

Job Titles:
  • Associate Director
  • Associate Director of the Biotechnology Resource Center
  • Associate Director, Biotechnology Resource Center Director, Biotechnology Development Program
  • Director of the Biotechnology Development Program
James has been the associate director of the Biotechnology Resource Center (BRC) since 2017. James is also the director of the Biotechnology Development Program. To read more about James's professional experience, see the leadership page. James has been with the Cornell Institute of Biotechnology for over 20 years, starting as a laboratory technician in the DNA Sequencing and Oligonucleotide Synthesis Facilities soon after receiving his B.S. from Cornell University. Fascinated by the challenges of data and workflow management in a service facility, James naturally moved to the Computer Facility and assembled a team of IT support assistants and programmers. He introduced the automation of the lab's ordering, workflow, and billing at a time when Laboratory Information Management Systems were not common. From 2002 to 2006, James served as interim director of the BRC, before becoming director of the Bio-IT facility. In 2017, James assumed the role of Associate Director, and strives to support the Institute's leadership and mission by developing opportunities for new and innovative science, technology, and funding through a network of researchers, vendors and advisors.

Jeff Glaubitz

Job Titles:
  • Senior Research Associate
read more aboutJeff Glaubitz Jeff has a Ph.D. in Forest Molecular Genetics from University of Berkeley California and developed his programming expertise during postdoctoral works at the CSIRO and Purdue University. From 2005 to 2016, Jeff was Project Manager of Panzea, a NSF-funded Plant Genome Research Project. Since 2016, he has been a bioinformatician and web developer in the Bioinformatics and Genomics Facilities. He uses his combined experience in molecular biology and programming to assist researchers with their bioinformatics analyses.

Jeff Mattison

Job Titles:
  • Technician
read more aboutJeff Mattison Jeff received his bachelor's degree in Biochemistry from Elmira College. He started at Cornell in 2006 where he initially worked on protein characterization, and became a lab manager in the department of Biomedical Engineering. Since joining the Genomics Core Facility, Jeff is responsible for several critical steps of quality control and sample processing for next-generation sequencing.

Jen Grenier

Job Titles:
  • Director, Genomics Innovation Hub
  • Director, Genomics Innovation Hub and TREx
read more aboutJen Grenier In 2019, Jen launched the Genomics Innovation Hub, a collaborative lab that aims to make open-platform genomics methods and resources available to the Cornell research community. To read more about Jen's expertise and experience, see the leadership page. Jen received her Ph.D. in Genetics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the field of evolution and development. She worked at small biotechnology companies in Madison before joining the RNA interference Platform at the Broad Institute in Cambridge, MA. Jen came to Cornell in 2009 and first worked with Andrew Clark, professor in the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, on Drosophila evolutionary genomics projects before launching the Transcriptional Regulation and Expression (TREx) Facility in 2014. TREx offers end-to-end RNAseq, small RNA sequencing, and ATACseq services. In 2019, Jen launched the Genomics Innovation Hub, a novel collaborative genomics technology development lab with the goal to make open-platform genomics methods and resources available to the Cornell research community.

Jerri Lee

Job Titles:
  • IT Support Associate
read more aboutJerri Lee A twenty year IT veteran, Jerri joined the Institute of Biotechnology in 2014. She started her IT career with two successive system administration positions at Claritas (now Nielsen Market Research). Led by her interest in customer service and face-to-face interactions, Jerri then moved to a desktop support job at Tetra Tech Architects and Engineers (formerly The Thomas Group). Jerri specializes in maintenance and management of software and OS for customers and instruments.

Jing Wu

Job Titles:
  • Lab Manager
read more aboutJing Wu Jing obtained a bachelor's degree in organic chemistry at Peking University and a master's degree in physical chemistry at Free University of Berlin. Jing started her research career in a surface science lab jointly run by the Chinese Academy of Science (China) and Max-Planck Institute (Germany). She worked on biomembranes in the Feigenson lab at Cornell for eight years, and on membrane biophysics at University of Michigan for three years. Jing came back to Cornell in 2014 and joined the Genomics Facility where she enjoys working on cutting-edge techniques surrounded by very smart and diverse people in a pleasant environment.

Johanna Dela Cruz

Job Titles:
  • Microscopy and Intravital Imaging Manager
read more aboutJohanna Dela Cruz Johanna earned her doctorate in Chemistry from Michigan State University, specializing in coherent laser control of physico-chemical processes. She worked as a postdoctoral researcher under the supervision of professor Warren Zipfel at Cornell on applications of optical microscopy in biomedical research. In 2010, Johanna joined the Imaging Facility where she trains customers on the instruments and supports them on their image acquisition, processing, and analysis needs.

John Flaherty

Job Titles:
  • Desktop & Network Support Manager
read more aboutJohn Flaherty John is a career IT solution provider who came to Cornell in 2005. He manages desktop and network support for all the Biotechnology Resource Center's core facilities and several other client groups around campus. He also maintains and supports the BRC software subscription program, which provides affordable research software access to over 140 PI's laboratories at Cornell.

Kapil Khanal

Job Titles:
  • Graduate Student Intern
read more aboutKapil Khanal Kapil Khanal is interested in Complex Systems. He is currently pursuing his Master's degree in Energy Systems Optimization at Cornell. His research focuses on making electrical grids more resilient using machine learning methods. In the future, he hopes to design, optimize and engineer several utility systems. Kapil spends his spare time either hiking, cooking, or visualizing data. He follows soccer and occasionally dabbles in sports analytics for fun.

Lianna Pawloski

Job Titles:
  • Financial Specialist
read more aboutLianna Pawloski Lianna has a bachelor's degree in business administration and sports management. She is currently enrolled in the Johnson MPS in Management - Accounting Specialization program through the Employee Degree Program. Lianna is responsible for providing financial management, analysis, budgeting, reporting, accounting, and is Biotech's subject matter expert for financial questions and processes.

Linda Cote

Job Titles:
  • Lab Manager
read more aboutLinda Cote Linda received her bachelor's degree in Biology from SUNY Cortland. Since joining the Genomic facility in 2007, Linda's position has evolved from junior technician responsibilities to her current role as laboratory manager for the Sanger Sequencing lab. In addition to overseeing all Sanger workflow and billing, Linda works directly with researchers to coordinate special research projects. Linda takes part in the Vitisgen grape project based in Geneva, processing marker assisted selection samples from around the country and world, and working directly with the researchers involved in this project.

Lindsay Schaffner

Job Titles:
  • Administration Assistant
  • Executive
read more aboutLindsay Schaffner Lindsay received her Bachelor of Science in Wildlife Ecology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and her Master of Science in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Cornell University. She recently shifted her focus to administrative support where she uses the skills developed while managing a research laboratory to provide support for the Institute's staff and customers.

Lydia Tesfa

Job Titles:
  • Director of the Flow Cytometry Facility
  • Director, Flow Cytometry Facility
  • Flow Cytometry Facility Director
read more aboutLydia Tesfa Lydia became the director of the Flow Cytometry Facility in 2019, the year the facility was created. To read more about Lydia's expertise and experience, see the leadership page. Lydia received her Ph.D. in Immunology from Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany. She moved to Albert Einstein College of Medicine where she pursued a postdoctoral fellowship before becoming Assistant Director of the flow cytometry facility, and Research Associate Professor of microbiology and immunology working on T-cells in mycobacterial infections. In 2019, Lydia brought her extensive expertise in flow cytometry and infectious diseases to Cornell, and took the position as director of the Flow Cytometry Facility. Lydia strikes the perfect balance between scientific excellence and customer service, considering consultation and teaching as integral components of her mission. She enjoys interacting with graduate students, postdocs, and principal investigators to offer experimental design, data interpretations, and manuscript revision advice. Lydia is currently an associate research professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology in the College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell University.

Matthew DeLisa

Job Titles:
  • Director
  • Director, Center for Life Science Enterprise
read more aboutMatthew DeLisa Matt has been the Director of the Cornell Institute of Biotechnology since 2019. To read more about Matt's expertise and experience, see the leadership page. Matt received a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Maryland in 2001. He joined Cornell University in 2003 where he is currently the William L. Lewis Professor of Engineering in the Robert F. Smith School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. His research(link is external) focuses on understanding and controlling protein biogenesis in the complex environment of a living cell. His contributions to science and engineering include seminal discoveries in the areas of glycobiology, immunoengineering, and protein hemeostasis mechanisms. Several of the technologies that Matt invented have been translated into successful commercial applications that facilitate the discovery, design and manufacturing of human therapeutics and vaccines. Matt has received over a dozen honorific distinctions and prestigious awards for his accomplishments in research, Including a NYSTAR Watson Young Investigator award (2004), a NSF CAREER award (2005), a Beckman Foundation Young Investigator award (2005), an Office of Naval Research Young Investigator award (2006), a NYSTAR Distinguished Faculty Award (2007), a Cornell Provost's Award for Distinguished Scholarship (2009). Matt was elected as a fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering in 2014, a fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology in 2019, and a fellow of American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2019. In parallel to his scientific and entrepreneurial career, Matt is an avid bike racer. When he is not at work, he enjoys hiking the Adirondack high peaks with his wife, two sons, and their dog.

Melissa Hubisz

Job Titles:
  • Analyst
  • Programmer
read more aboutMelissa Hubisz Melissa has been studying population genetics and molecular evolution since 2002, both as a graduate student and a programmer/analyst. She completed her PhD at Cornell University developing methods for inferring population histories, and applying them to human and ancient hominin data. She has developed and contributed to several major software tools for analyzing genetic data, including PHAST, ARGweaver, STRUCTURE, and SweepFinder.

Michael Sledziona

Job Titles:
  • Flow Cytometry Technician
Mike studied Applied Physics at Cornell. Before joining the Flow Facility, Mike worked as a technician and lab manager for Dr. Cheetham's lab at the vet school assisting with research into regeneration mechanisms associated with peripheral nerve injury.

Paul Munn

Job Titles:
  • Research Associate
read more aboutPaul Munn After working as a consultant in the IT industry, Paul joined Cornell University to get his master's degree in computer science, and a Ph.D. in computational biology. Paul is fascinated by genomics and the application of machine learning to the study of gene interactions and complex diseases. He joined the Genomics Innovation Hub in 2020, where he mostly focuses on identifying genomics markers associated with myalgic encephalomyelitis (chronic fatigue syndrome).

Peter Schweitzer

Job Titles:
  • Director of the Genomics Facility
  • Director, Genomics Facility
  • Genomics Facility Director
read more aboutPeter Schweitzer Peter has been the director of the Genomics Facility at Cornell University for 14 years. To read more about Peter's expertise and experience, see the leadership page. Peter received his Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania and did his postdoctoral studies at the Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor, ME, and at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD. Peter has been leading and managing genotyping and sequencing laboratories for 20 years. Initially working at the Jackson Laboratory and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Peter has been the director of the Genomics Facility at Cornell University for 14 years. Peter is also responsible for evaluating new technologies and instrumentation to support genomic DNA sequencing, RNA sequencing, metagenomics, and a variety of other types of projects, including de novo genome assembly, single-cell RNA-seq, and developing methods for large-scale genotyping projects.

Qin Fu

Job Titles:
  • Proteomics Research Associate
read more aboutQin Fu Qin got her PhD from China Agricultural University specializing in pharmacology and toxicology. As a postdoctoral researcher in Florida State University, she studied the proteomics of stem cell  senescence, and acquired expertise in LC-MS/MS and bioinformatics analysis of proteomics data sets. In the Cornell Institute of Biotechnology, Qin applies top-down and bottom-up proteomics methods to elucidate the  pathophysiology  mechanism of various biological samples.

Robert Bukowski

Job Titles:
  • Senior Research Associate
read more aboutRobert Bukowski Robert started his career in quantum chemistry and obtained a PhD in this field in Warsaw, Poland, in 1996. He moved to the University of Delaware where he worked on quantum mechanical predictions of weak intermolecular interactions, and how they determine properties of gases, liquids, and crystals. Fascinated by the human genome sequencing and the huge amounts of data produced by emerging DNA analysis techniques, he joined the Bioinformatics Facility at Cornell in 2006 where he works on high-performance computing (HPC) infrastructure for biological research and on web programming.

Robert Sherwood

Job Titles:
  • Lab Manager
read more aboutRobert Sherwood Bob received his bachelor's degree in Bioengineering from Columbia University. He worked for five years in an EPA/FDA commercial lab before joining the Biotechnology Program at Cornell as a technician in September, 1986.  Over the years, Bob has worn many hats and filled different roles. Currently, he is a research support specialist and the laboratory manager in the Proteomics and Mass Spectrometry Facility. Bob also serves as the Departmental Safety Representative for the Cornell Institute of Biotechnology.

Sally Han

Job Titles:
  • Undergraduate Student Researcher
read more aboutSally Han Sally is a junior in Cornell's College of Arts and Sciences studying Information Science with a minor in business from Dyson. She is interested in statistical data analysis as well as User Interface UX/UI research and is excited to explore this further for scientifically-focused epigenomics software. Sally has course experience with UX/UI design where she was able to recreate different user interfaces and prototypes for pre-existing apps using Figma. She has experience leading brainstorming sessions and creating different user flows ultimately meant to develop software features for maximizing a user's experience. She will continue this user-centered approach in her work for our Core, compiling feedback and developing lists of potential features and improvements. Her work is informing all of us about the importance of understanding user-centric design and engineering needs, and how they play a significant role in improving our software offerings. In her free time, she enjoys listening and finding new music, taking pictures with her polaroid, and exploring new places alone or with friends, and is looking forward to meeting and working with everyone.

Sheng Zhang

Job Titles:
  • Director of the Proteomics Facility
  • Director, Proteomics & Metabolomics Facility
  • Proteomics and Metabolomics Facility Director
read more aboutSheng Zhang Sheng has been the director of the Proteomics Facility since 2004 and became director of Metabolomics Facility when this facility was formed in 2017. After the two facilities merged, Sheng is now the director of the Proteomics Facility and Metabolomics Facility. To read more about Sheng's expertise and experience, see the leadership page. Sheng received his M.D. from Zhejiang University, graduating among the top five of his class. He deepened his knowledge of biochemistry in graduate school before moving to Cornell in 1992 as a postdoctoral researcher in the Section of Biochemistry, Molecular and Cell Biology. Eager to develop expertise in mass spectrometry-based proteomics, he worked as an Application Development Manager at Advion BioSciences, Inc. for five years. In 2004, Sheng accepted the position of Director of the Proteomics Facility, where he combined his expertise in biochemistry and mass spectrometry, with his experience in managing and executing research projects. Sheng was named Director of the Metabolomics Facility in 2017, expanding his responsibilities to oversee state-of-the-art instrumentation and software tools in support of metabolomics analysis, metabolite profiling, metabolic flux analysis, and small molecule quantitation.

Steven Wang

Job Titles:
  • Technician
read more aboutSteven Wang Steven received his bachelor's degree in Entomology from Cornell University, and has worked in both wet labs and field work involving insects. His research interests include phylogenetic reconstruction, gut microbiomes, and invasive species. He is excited to shift his focus from field-based entomology in order to better understand the genomics and epigenomics research and services offered by the Core. Outside the lab, he enjoys hiking, a variety of music, birding, and macro photography.

Tami Magnus

Job Titles:
  • Executive Director
read more aboutTami Magnus Tami has been the executive director of the Cornell Institute of Biotechnology since 2015. To read more about Tami's professional experience, see the leadership page. Tami has lived and worked in New York State's Southern Tier and Central regions for most of her life. Her career encompasses government, not-for-profit and higher education fields, with experience in health care services, workforce and economic development, and financial management. Employed for over ten years by Tioga County in rural upstate New York, Tami served as a case manager for community health services and Director of Employment and Training. She completed her MBA at Binghamton University while serving as Director of Volunteer Services and eventually Director of Finance for Southern Tier AIDS Program. After beginning her Cornell career as a financial analyst in the University Budget office, Tami and her family moved to Ithaca. She was promoted to Director of Finance and Budget for the Cornell University Library in 2005. In 2015, Tami accepted the position of Executive Director for the Cornell Institute of Biotechnology. This role encompasses her interests in biotechnology and health, financial administration, and New York State economic development.

Taylor Bennett

Job Titles:
  • IT Support Associate
read more aboutTaylor Bennett Taylor started his career in IT support at Broome-Tioga Boces. He joined Cornell 13 years ago, providing his IT support expertise to the College of Veterinary Medicine. Taylor accepted a position at the Cornell Institute of Biotechnology in 2019 where his responsibilities cover user desktop support and system administration. He also manages and maintains software and operating systems on the computers that control all the highly technical instruments at the Institute.

Teresa Porri

Job Titles:
  • CT Manager
read more aboutTeresa Porri Teresa manages CT instrumentation and helps researchers to use x-ray based imaging techniques to see inside a wide variety of specimens. She uses her interdisciplinary scientific background to assist researchers from a variety of fields in their work. Teresa has worked in core facilities at Cornell since 2008 and is familiar with many of the shared resources on campus. Ask her where to start with a new project!

Tina Abratte

Job Titles:
  • Imaging Manager
Tina received her Master of Science in Human Nutrition and Food Science from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. She worked in immunology and cancer biology laboratories at the College of Veterinary Medicine prior to Cornell Institute of Biotechnology. Tina joined the Imaging Facility team in 2019 to support researchers performing in vivo imaging.

William Lai

Job Titles:
  • Assistant Research Professor
  • Epigenomics Interim Director
  • Interim Director of the Bioinformatics Facility
  • Interim Director, Epigenomics Facility
read more aboutWilliam Lai Will became the interim director of the Bioinformatics Facility in 2022. To read more about Will's expertise and experience, see the leadership page. William Lai is an Assistant Research Professor in the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics. He works with the Pugh lab and is interested in principles of gene regulation. Dr. Lai's research is directed towards understanding the fundamental mechanisms of gene regulation. DNA sequence, local and distal chromatin (protein), and RNA all play both cooperative and antagonistic roles in the decision of when and how often any particular gene is transcribed. Understanding how these biological networks make decisions is the key bottleneck in understanding how perturbations to these systems result in a disease phenotype. The primary methods used to undertake this is through a combination of classic biochemistry, next-generation sequencing assays, and machine-learning computational approaches to approach the eukaryotic genome in a holistic manner. Due to the high-level of conservation amongst eukaryotic organisms, model organisms of interest include yeast, mouse, and human.

Xiaoyun Wang

Job Titles:
  • Technician
read more aboutXiaoyun Wang Xiaoyun joined the Genomics facility as a technician in 2014. Her responsibilities include extractions, quantification, and quality control of nucleic acids. She also prepares sequencing libraries for different applications such as whole genome, rAmpseq, and 3'RNA-Seq. Xiaoyun takes part in troubleshooting, optimizing, and modifying of library prep protocols for custom projects.

Ying Zhang

Job Titles:
  • Undergraduate Student Researcher
read more aboutYing Zhang Ying Zhang has studied Environmental Design (Interior Design+ Landscape Design) for six years and is pursuing Master of Landscape Architecture at Cornell. My study interest lies in User experience design and Ecological landscape design. Life is about always trying something new :)