Principal Investigator
Allon Klein
Professor of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School
Throughout Dr. Allon Klein’s career, he has been interested in how cells make decisions. This is a multi-scale problem, with explanations spanning from identifying ‘molecular instabilities’ that drive regulatory networks to one of several stable states, to defining interactions across tissues and even organisms. Understanding cellular decision-making also requires determining how cells and tissues maintain discrete phenotypes over many years of life. These problems cannot be solved using any single discipline. Dr. Klein worked on these problems first as a statistical physicist in his PhD with Dr. Ben Simons (Cambridge), before transitioning into experimental biology and computational genomics during a postdoc with Dr. Marc Kirschner. To address these general questions, the Klein lab develops new assays, technologies and theoretical methods.
Email: allon_klein AT hms.harvard.edu
Current Members
Postdoctoral researchers
Charlotte Strandkvist
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
As a postdoc, Charlotte is working with the Klein lab and the Paulsson lab to understand cellular decision making, particularly how transcriptional heterogeneity relates to cell fate. Before embarking on experiments, Charlotte was a theorist working on applying methods from statistical physics, stochastic processes and probability theory to problems in biology. She loves to collaborate and talk science over a cup of coffee.
Email: charlotte_strandkvist AT hms.harvard.edu
Laura Bagamery
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Laura received her PhD in molecular and cellular biology from Harvard University, where she studied glucose metabolism and mitochondrial network topology in budding yeast. She’s interested in non-genetic cell heterogeneity, the evolutionary pressures that shape tissue-specific gene expression, and cats.
Email: bagamery AT fas.harvard.edu
Sean McGeary
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Sean received his PhD under Dr. David Bartel at MIT, where he developed high-throughput biochemical assays to better understand the quantitative effects of miRNAs on their target mRNAs in cells. Sean studies molecular mechanisms by which regulated gene expression mediates cellular processes, with an interest in developing novel experimental and analytical approaches. Outside of the lab, Sean enjoys music and film.
Email: sean_mcgeary AT hms.harvard.edu
JAMES Taggart
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Email: james_taggart AT hms.harvard.edu
Graduate students
Qiu Wu
PhD student
Qiu studied Cell Biology and Biochemistry in college. She is interested in extracellular signaling regulation in the context of cell fate decisions. On weekends she likes to go hiking and play with her cat named Australopithecus or Lucy for short.
Email: q_wu AT g.harvard.edu
Tal Deborah Scully
PhD student
Tal went to MIT for undergrad, where she studied physics and theater. She is studying the evolution of red blood cells, for which she works with Ciona robusta, a bizarre animal which she has grown quite fond of. Outside the lab, Tal enjoys flute, Dungeons & Dragons, and bioethics.
Email: talscully AT fas.harvard.edu
Nicolas Gort Freitas
PhD student
Nico studied biology and data science at Minerva, a traveling university that allowed him to live in six countries throughout his undergrad studies. In the Klein lab, he studies variability in human hematopoiesis. In his free time, Nico sings at the Longwood Chorus and plays soccer. He also enjoys dancing, doing anything outdoors, and making high-quality memes.
Email: ngortfreitas AT g.harvard.edu
IGNAS MAZELIS
PhD student Fascinated by droplets and trained as a biochemist with Microfluidics and Synthetic biology background, Ignas is mostly focused on expanding the single-cell analysis toolkit. While not encapsulating things, He enjoys rock climbing, running, and hiking.
Email: ignas_mazelis AT g.harvard.edu
Yuyang chen
PhD student
Yuyang went to Peking University for undergrad, where obtained a Bachelor's degree in Basic Medical Sciences and Physics. In the lab, he tracks single cells to study cell differentiation. Outside the lab, Yuyang enjoys playing sports and watching Arsenal games.
Email: yuyang_chen AT fas.harvard.edu
Research staff
Mandovi Chatterjee
Single Cell Technology Manager,
Director, Single Cell Core at Harvard Medical School
Mandovi received her PhD in Cell Biology from University of Virginia, where she worked on nucleocytoplasmic transport of protein. In the Klein lab she is interested in developing new and existing technology in the field of single cell biology. When not in lab, she likes to travel, learn about nature and history, and spend time with her family.
Email: mandovi_chatterjee AT hms.harvard.edu
Willa wei
Research Associate
Willa graduated from the University of Toronto in Chemical Engineering before earning her Master's in Biomedical Engineering from Cornell. She is interested in understanding bacterial adaptation using microfluidics platforms and discovering gene expression changes driving bacterial resilience. In her free time, she enjoys playing the piano and cooking her signature Chinese fried rice.
Email: willa_wei AT hms.harvard.edu
Jonathan Busquets
Research Associate
Johnny studied Biochemistry and Cell Biology at Rice University before earning his Master's degree in Nutritional Sciences from the University of Texas. He hopes to eventually get his PhD in a biological science. Outside of the lab, he enjoys music, spending time outdoors, and visiting coffee shops.
Email: jonathan_busquets AT hms.harvard.edu
Theresa torre
Research Associate
Theresa went to Franklin & Marshall College, where she studied Biology and English. She worked at the Single Cell Core (SCC) at Harvard Medical School before transitioning to the Klein lab. In her free time, she enjoys traveling, reading, and spinning/color guard (her favorite pieces of equipment are flag and sabre).
Email: theresa_torre AT hms.harvard.edu
Daisy Alice Correia
Executive Coordinator
Email: daisy_correia AT hms.harvard.edu
Taylor rebbe
Lab Manager
Growing up in the Midwest, Taylor earned her undergraduate degree in Evolutionary Biology at Kansas University, while also working at the Kansas City Aquarium. She relocated to New England in 2019, where she gained valuable experience as a fisheries observer with NOAA, and eventually joined Harvard Medical School to work in their cavefish lab. Outside of her professional pursuits, Taylor does circus, specializing in aerial fabrics, and spends her free time working on developing her own video game.
Email: taylor_rebbe AT hms.harvard.edu
Former lab members
(Latest to earliest)
PhD students
Kalki Kukreja
Postdoctoral researcher, University of Chicago
Hailey Cambra
Vertex Fellow, Vertex Pharmaceuticals
Samuel Wolock
Senior scientist, Dyno Therapeutics
Naren Tallapragada
Technology Resident, X, the Moonshot Factory
Founder, Tessel Biosciences
Caleb Weinreb
Postdoctoral researcher, Harvard Medical School
James Briggs
Schmidt Science Fellow, Broad Institute
Other graduate students
Rapolas Zilionis
Former visiting Master’s student (Vilnius University)
Chief Scientific Officer, Droplet Genomics
Postdoctoral researchers
Shou-Wen Wang
Assistant professor, Westlake University
Daniel Montoro
Co-founder, stealth-state biotech company
Nikit Patel
Research scientist, K2 Biotech
Yuheng Lu
Katie McCauley
Principal investigator, Novartis
Dan Wagner
Assistant professor, UCSF
Kyogo Kawaguchi
Assistant professor, RIKEN Japan
Research staff
William Ye
Former lab manager
Lab Facilities Manager at the Population Council
Lexie OBrien
Former research technician
Ian Brenckle
Former research technician
Senior research associate, Dyno Therapeutics