Principal Investigator
Kara Bernstein
Lab Head
B.A. Bryn Mawr College, 2000
Ph.D. Yale University, 2006 (Advisor Susan Baserga)
Post-doctorate Fellow, Columbia University, 2006-2011 (Advisor Rodney Rothstein)
Lab Head
B.A. Bryn Mawr College, 2000
Ph.D. Yale University, 2006 (Advisor Susan Baserga)
Post-doctorate Fellow, Columbia University, 2006-2011 (Advisor Rodney Rothstein)
Post-doctorate
Anna Palovcak, Ph.D.
Post-Doctorate Fellow
July 10, 2023 - current
B.S. West Chester University of Pennsylvania, 2014
Ph.D. University of Florida, 2023 (Advisor Yanbin Zhang)
Post-Doctorate Fellow
July 10, 2023 - current
B.S. West Chester University of Pennsylvania, 2014
Ph.D. University of Florida, 2023 (Advisor Yanbin Zhang)
Kristie Darrah, Ph.D.
Post-Doctorate Fellow
September 20 2021- current
B.S. Bloomsburg University, 2014
Ph.D. University of Pittsburgh, 2021 (Advisor Alex Deiters)
Lab Publications:
Prakash, R.#.*, Rawal, Y.#, Sullivan, M.R.#, Grundy, M.K., Bret, H., Mihalevic, M.J., Rein, H.L., Baird, J.M., Darrah, K., Zhang, F., Wang, R., Traina, T.A., Radke, M.R., Kaufmann, S.H., Swisher, E.M., Guerois, R., Modesti, M., Sung, P., Jasin, M.*, Bernstein, K.A.* (2022) Homologous recombination-deficient mutation cluster in tumor suppressor RAD51C identified by comprehensive analysis of cancer variants. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. In press #Equal contribution, *Co-corresponding
Post-Doctorate Fellow
September 20 2021- current
B.S. Bloomsburg University, 2014
Ph.D. University of Pittsburgh, 2021 (Advisor Alex Deiters)
Lab Publications:
Prakash, R.#.*, Rawal, Y.#, Sullivan, M.R.#, Grundy, M.K., Bret, H., Mihalevic, M.J., Rein, H.L., Baird, J.M., Darrah, K., Zhang, F., Wang, R., Traina, T.A., Radke, M.R., Kaufmann, S.H., Swisher, E.M., Guerois, R., Modesti, M., Sung, P., Jasin, M.*, Bernstein, K.A.* (2022) Homologous recombination-deficient mutation cluster in tumor suppressor RAD51C identified by comprehensive analysis of cancer variants. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. In press #Equal contribution, *Co-corresponding
Ph.D. Students
Hayley Rein
Graduate Student
March 25, 2019 - current
B.S. University of South Florida, 2018
Funding: 2022 F31 NIH Predoctoral Research Fellowship (CA264889)
Lab Publications:
Prakash, R.#.*, Rawal, Y.#, Sullivan, M.R.#, Grundy, M.K., Bret, H., Mihalevic, M.J., Rein, H.L., Baird, J.M., Darrah, K., Zhang, F., Wang, R., Traina, T.A., Radke, M.R., Kaufmann, S.H., Swisher, E.M., Guerois, R., Modesti, M., Sung, P., Jasin, M.*, Bernstein, K.A.* (2022) Homologous recombination-deficient mutation cluster in tumor suppressor RAD51C identified by comprehensive analysis of cancer variants. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. In press #Equal contribution, *Co-corresponding
Rein, H.L., Bernstein, K.A., Baldock, R. (2021) RAD51 paralog function in replicative DNA damage and tolerance, Current Opinions in Genes & Development. 71: 86-91.
Prakash, R., Sandoval, T., Morati, F., Zagelbaum, J.A., Lim, P.X., Taylor, B., Wang, R., Desclos, E.C.B., Sullivan, M.R., Rein, H.L., Bernstein, K.A., Krawczyk, P.M., Gautier, J., Modesti, M., Vanoli, F., Jasin, M. (2021) Distinct pathways homologous recombination controlled by the SWS1-SWSAP1-SPIDR complex, Nature Communications. 12(1): 4255.
Rein, H.L. and Bernstein, K.A. (2023) Finding significance: New perspectives in variant classification of the RAD51 regulators, BRCA2 and beyond. DNA Repair. 130: 103563.
Graduate Student
March 25, 2019 - current
B.S. University of South Florida, 2018
Funding: 2022 F31 NIH Predoctoral Research Fellowship (CA264889)
Lab Publications:
Prakash, R.#.*, Rawal, Y.#, Sullivan, M.R.#, Grundy, M.K., Bret, H., Mihalevic, M.J., Rein, H.L., Baird, J.M., Darrah, K., Zhang, F., Wang, R., Traina, T.A., Radke, M.R., Kaufmann, S.H., Swisher, E.M., Guerois, R., Modesti, M., Sung, P., Jasin, M.*, Bernstein, K.A.* (2022) Homologous recombination-deficient mutation cluster in tumor suppressor RAD51C identified by comprehensive analysis of cancer variants. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. In press #Equal contribution, *Co-corresponding
Rein, H.L., Bernstein, K.A., Baldock, R. (2021) RAD51 paralog function in replicative DNA damage and tolerance, Current Opinions in Genes & Development. 71: 86-91.
Prakash, R., Sandoval, T., Morati, F., Zagelbaum, J.A., Lim, P.X., Taylor, B., Wang, R., Desclos, E.C.B., Sullivan, M.R., Rein, H.L., Bernstein, K.A., Krawczyk, P.M., Gautier, J., Modesti, M., Vanoli, F., Jasin, M. (2021) Distinct pathways homologous recombination controlled by the SWS1-SWSAP1-SPIDR complex, Nature Communications. 12(1): 4255.
Rein, H.L. and Bernstein, K.A. (2023) Finding significance: New perspectives in variant classification of the RAD51 regulators, BRCA2 and beyond. DNA Repair. 130: 103563.
Mohd Azrin Jamalruddin
Graduate Student
July 1, 2019 - current
B.S. Michigan State University
Lab Publications:
Bai, S., Taylor, S.E., Jamalruddin, M.A., McGonigal, S., Grimley, E., Yang, D., Bernstein, K.A., Buchanovich, R.J. (2022) Targeting therapeutic resistance and multinucleate giant cells in CCNE1-amplified HR-proficient ovarian cancer. Molecular Cancer Therapy. 21(9): 1743-1484.
Brunette, G.J., Jamalruddin, M.A., Baldock, R.A., Clark, N.L., Bernstein, K.A. (2019) Evolution-based screening enables genome-wide prioritization and discovery of DNA repair genes, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 116(39): 19593-19599.
Graduate Student
July 1, 2019 - current
B.S. Michigan State University
Lab Publications:
Bai, S., Taylor, S.E., Jamalruddin, M.A., McGonigal, S., Grimley, E., Yang, D., Bernstein, K.A., Buchanovich, R.J. (2022) Targeting therapeutic resistance and multinucleate giant cells in CCNE1-amplified HR-proficient ovarian cancer. Molecular Cancer Therapy. 21(9): 1743-1484.
Brunette, G.J., Jamalruddin, M.A., Baldock, R.A., Clark, N.L., Bernstein, K.A. (2019) Evolution-based screening enables genome-wide prioritization and discovery of DNA repair genes, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 116(39): 19593-19599.
Adeola Fagunloye
Graduate Student
June 1, 2021 - current
B.S. Igbinedion University, Okada, 2015
M.S. University of the District of Columbia, 2020
Lab Publications:
Bonilla, B., Brown, A.J., Hengel, S.R., Rapchak, K.S., Mitchell, D., Pressimone, C.A., Fagunloye, A.A., Luong, T.T., Russell, R.A., Vyas, R.K., Mertz, T.M., Zaher, H.S., Mosammaparast, N., Malc, E.P., Mieczkowski, P.A., Roberts, S.A.*, and Bernstein, K.A.* (2021) The Shu complex prevents mutagenesis and cytotoxicity of single-strand specific alkylation lesions. eLife. 10:e68080. *Co-corresponding
Graduate Student
June 1, 2021 - current
B.S. Igbinedion University, Okada, 2015
M.S. University of the District of Columbia, 2020
Lab Publications:
Bonilla, B., Brown, A.J., Hengel, S.R., Rapchak, K.S., Mitchell, D., Pressimone, C.A., Fagunloye, A.A., Luong, T.T., Russell, R.A., Vyas, R.K., Mertz, T.M., Zaher, H.S., Mosammaparast, N., Malc, E.P., Mieczkowski, P.A., Roberts, S.A.*, and Bernstein, K.A.* (2021) The Shu complex prevents mutagenesis and cytotoxicity of single-strand specific alkylation lesions. eLife. 10:e68080. *Co-corresponding
Technicians
Phoebe Parker
Research Technician
July 1, 2022 - current
B.S. University of Pittsburgh, 2022
Lab Publications:
Luong, T.T., Li, Z., Priedigkeit, N., Parker, P.S., Böhm, S., Rapchak, K., Lee, A.V., Bernstein, K.A. (2022) Hrq1/RECQL4 regulation is critical for preventing aberrant recombination during DNA intrastrand crosslink repair and is upregulated in breast cancer. PLoS Genetics, 18(9): e1010122.
Research Technician
July 1, 2022 - current
B.S. University of Pittsburgh, 2022
Lab Publications:
Luong, T.T., Li, Z., Priedigkeit, N., Parker, P.S., Böhm, S., Rapchak, K., Lee, A.V., Bernstein, K.A. (2022) Hrq1/RECQL4 regulation is critical for preventing aberrant recombination during DNA intrastrand crosslink repair and is upregulated in breast cancer. PLoS Genetics, 18(9): e1010122.
Gayatri Ganesan
Research Technician
August 14, 2023 - current
B.A. Princeton University, 2023
Research Technician
August 14, 2023 - current
B.A. Princeton University, 2023
Undergraduate Researchers
Isabela Contreras
Undergraduate Researcher
October 3, 2023 - current
University of Pennsylvania
Funding/Fellowships: 2023 Environmental Mutagenesis and Genomics Society Undergraduate Scholarship
2023 Basser Summer Scholars Program
Undergraduate Researcher
October 3, 2023 - current
University of Pennsylvania
Funding/Fellowships: 2023 Environmental Mutagenesis and Genomics Society Undergraduate Scholarship
2023 Basser Summer Scholars Program
We are always looking for highly motivated undergraduates, rotation students, and post-doctorate fellows!
Former Trainees
Graduate Students
2012-2015 |
Stephen Godin |
Current Position: |
Senior Scientist I at Tango |
2014-2020 |
Meghan Sullivan |
Current Position: |
Review Analyst-Variant Scientist at GeneDx |
2016-2020 |
Braulio Bonilla |
Current Position: |
Post-doctoral Research Fellow with Dr. Sarah Hainer, University of Pittsburgh |
2017-2022 |
Thong Luong |
Current Position: |
Post-doctoral Research Fellow with NCI |
Post-doctorate
2012-2013 |
Cheryl (Clauson) Kozina |
Current Position: |
Associate Professor (with tenure) at St. Leo University, FL |
2012-2015 |
Stefanie Bohm |
Current Position: |
Works at the Max Planck Institute of Biophysics |
2015-2018 |
Julieta Martino |
Current Position: |
Variant Scientist, GeneDx |
2016-2018 |
Robert Baldock |
Current Position: |
Senior Lecturer of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences at the University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth, England |
2017-2023 |
Sarah Hengel |
Current Position: |
Assistant Professor (Tenure-track) at Tufts University, Boston, MA |
Medical Students
2012-2015 |
Yoav Karpenshif |
Current Position: |
Advanced Fellow in Critical Care, University of Pennsylvania |
2013-2015 |
Zhuying Zhang (Rebecca) |
Current Position: |
M.D. |
2015-2017 |
Anton Khodakov |
Current Position: |
Corporate Strategy Consultant, Humana |
Undergraduate Students
2011-2013 |
Dominique Bratton-Palmer |
Current Position: |
Business Analyst Myers-Holum |
2011-2013 |
Christina Hornack |
Current Position: |
Board Certified Emergency Medicine Physician at HCA Fawcett Memorial Hospital, Port Charlotte, FL |
2011-2015 |
Faiz Kabbinavar |
Current Position: |
M.D. Family Medicine, Southampton, NY |
2012 |
Cynthia Thomas |
Current Position: |
Laboratory Technician at the Citizen Science Lab, Pittsburgh, PA |
2012-2013 |
Robert Caro |
Current Position: |
Associate Dentist at Kaye Dentistry, NY, NY |
2013-2014 |
Morgan (Casal) Butrovich |
Current Position: |
PhD candidate Clinical Pharmaceutical Sciences |
2013-2014 |
Shahm Raslan |
Current Position: |
Medical Student at Florida International University |
2013-2014 |
Alison Lee |
Current Position: |
Ph.D. Student at University of Texas Austin |
2014-2015 |
Jared Baird |
Current Position: |
Anesthesiology Resident at Wake Forest |
2015-2018 |
Catherine Pressimone |
Current Position: |
Medical Student at University of Pittsburgh |
2016 |
Gannon Rooney |
Current Position: |
Medical Student at University of Pittsburgh |
2017-2020 |
Chelsea Smith |
Current Position: |
Graduate Student University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill |
2019-2021 |
Ella Roberts |
Current Position: |
Patient Care Technician at Children's Hospital |
2020-2022 |
Katherine Oppenheimer |
Current Position: |
Ph.D. Student at Harvard University |
2021-2022 |
Reagan Russel |
Current Position: |
Undergraduate Researcher for Dr. Andrea Berman, University of Pittsburgh |
2021-2022 |
Phoebe Parker |
Current Position: |
Laboratory Technician at the University of Pennsylvania |
2022 |
Megan Pauly |
Current Position: |
Clinical Research Associate at Labcorp |
Technicians
2011-2018 |
Michael Mihalevic |
Current Position: |
R.N. |
2015-2017 |
Benjamin Herken |
Current Position: |
Ph.D. Student at University California San Francisco TETRAD Program |
2016-2019 |
Gregory Brunette |
Current Position: |
Ph.D. Student at Harvard University in Bioinformatics |
2018-2020 |
McKenzie Grundy |
Current Position: |
Ph.D. Student at UNC Chapel Hill |
High School Students
2012 |
Leah Furman |
Current Position: |
Ph.D. Student at Wiezmann Institute of Science, Jerusalem, Israel |
2013 |
Kyle Yoshida |
Current Position: |
Ph.D. Student in Mechanical Engineering at Stanford University |
2014, 2016 |
Yael Colton |
Current Position: |
FSO Assurance Staff at EY, New York, NY |
2016 |
Brian Kang |
Current Position: |
Director at Make Ventures Princeton, Atlanta, GA |
2016-2017 |
Ashani Shah |
Current Position: |
Undergraduate Student- B.Sc/M.D. Program at Rutgers University, NJ |
2017 |
Zehra Mehdi |
Current Position: |
N.A. |
2019 |
Charles Burton |
Current Position: |
Undergraduate Student at University of Virginia |