People
Nadya Dimitrova
Associate Professor of MCDB and Genetics
B.S. Brown University
Ph.D. The Rockefeller University
Nadya graduated with a B.S. in Biochemistry from Brown University and received a Ph.D. from The Rockefeller University. As a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Dr. Tyler Jacks at MIT, she pioneered the development of genetic mouse models to study long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) in cancer biology. Nadya is the recipient of the HHMI Predoctoral Fellowship, the Harold M. Weintraub Graduate Student Award, the Damon Runyon Postdoctoral Fellowship Award, the Lung Cancer Research Foundation Scientific Merit Award, the Pew-Stewart Award for Cancer Research, the V Scholar Award, the NIH Merit Award, the Lion Heart Award, and the Yale Cancer Center Class of ‘61 Award.
Nadya enjoys working at the bench and interacting closely with members of her lab. Her research is driven by deep curiosity about the fundamental mechanisms, by which lncRNAs regulate gene expression during normal homeostasis, in response to stress, and during tumorigenesis. Her lab develops innovative genetic and epigenetic approaches to uncover lncRNA functions and uses state-of-the-art molecular approaches to dissect their mechanisms of action. Nadya’s goal is to elucidate the contribution of lncRNAs to human health and disease and harness the biology of lncRNAs for therapeutic applications.
Nadya is passionate about teaching and mentoring the next generation. Outside of the lab and classroom, Nadya loves to spend time with her family. Her favorite activities are running, hiking, and gardening.
Lab Manager
Justin Glynn, MSA
Justin makes sure that the lab runs smoothly. He loves to ruck and bake deserts for lab meetings!
Postdoctoral Associates
Yeolhoe Kim
Ph.D. Department of Systems Biology, Yonsei University, South Korea
Yeolhoe loves sports, especially basketball - watching it and playing it. He also likes to go for a jog and, more than anything, spend time with his wife and son.
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Dakarai Esgdaille
Ph.D. University of Rochester, NY
Postgraduate Associates
Deep Patel
B.S. Indian University of Techology Jodhpur, India
M.S. Computational Biology and Biomedical Informatics, Yale Univesity
Deep is a bioinformatics wizard who also wants to become an expert in experimental biology. He loves all noncoding RNAs and hopes to understand their roles in gene regulation. Beside work, he loves to cook food and enjoys playing Badmington with friends.
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Alex Kruzel
B.S. Biochemistry University of Washington, WA
Alex is studying how dysregulation of long noncoding RNAs promotes cancer development and has the superpower to make experiments work from first try. She is planning to go to graduate school. She loves to hike and has recently discovered the joys of running and enjoying freshly baked scones!
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Daniella Shomshonov
B.S. in Integrative Neusocience, SUNY Binghamton University
M.S. in Biology, University of Oregon, OR
Daniella is leading a collaboration between the Jha and Dimitrova labs, which uses AI to decipher the contribution of long noncoding RNAs to gene expression regulation in normal homeostasis and oncogenic states.
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Undergraduate Students
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Alex Vakov, class of 2029
Alex enjoys learning about the intricacies of cellular life, and he particularly loves exploring the roles that long noncoding RNAs play in gene regulation. In his free time, he enjoyes playing oboe with the Yale Symphony Orchestra, being a campus tour guide, and workign as a writing partner at the Poorvu Center.