Araç Laboratory at UChicago

Jingxian grew up in China and got her PhD in biology from Tsinghua University in 2015. She joined the Araç Lab as a postdoctoral scholar and is currently continuing her work focusing on the interaction between Latrophilin and its ligand Teneurin.

Sumit completed his undergraduate degree at the University of Michigan-Dearborn where he majored in Biochemistry with a minor in Physics. He completed his Ph.D. in Medicinal Chemistry at the University of Michigan in 2019 in the laboratory of John Tesmer (now at Purdue University). Sumit’s graduate work centered around structural biology of the RhoGEF Trio, a Gq/11 effector implicated in uveal melanoma. He joined the Araç Lab in 2020 as a postdoctoral scholar.

Szymon grew up in Poland, where he received his master’s degree in Pharmaceutical Biotechnology at the Wrocław University of Science and Technology. After finishing his studies he moved to the US in 2015, where he worked in the Bob Keenan laboratory at University of Chicago, studying membrane protein co- and post-translational targeting and insertion pathways. Szymon joined the lab in 2019 through the Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics Graduate Program.

Jorge was born in Peru and grew up in Miami, FL. He completed his undergrad at Amherst College in MA, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in Neuroscience and Russian in 2012, and decided to pursue a career in research. Previous work includes CSPα and Tau in SNARE-complex assembly at the Dr. Thomas Südhof lab, and OCRL in intraocular pressure and primary cilia in the dLGN and superior colliculus at the Dr. Yang Sun lab at Stanford University. He is now completing his PhD in Neurobiology at UChicago and joined the Arac lab in 2019. Hobbies include swimming, video editing, and salsa (the dancing kind).

Hagerah is from NY and obtained her Bachelor’s degree in Liberal Arts from Sarah Lawrence College in 2018. During undergrad, she studied post-translational modifications of CIITA and its interaction with the scaffolding protein 14-3-3B. She then worked at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mt. Sinai in NYC studying the role of purinergic signaling in HIV infection before moving to Chicago in 2019 to begin her studies in UChicago’s Medical Scientist Training Program. She joined the lab in September 2020 to pursue her PhD in neurobiology. Her hobbies include reading, trying new recipes, decorating cakes, taking walks by the lake, drawing, and spending time with her cats.

Indya Weathers graduated with her Bachelors of Science in the department of Chemistry & Biochemistry from the University of California, Los Angeles in 2019. Before attending UCLA, she was funded as a Bridges to Baccalaureate Research Scholar to study the role of the C1q protein in neurogenesis and aging at the University of California, Irvine at the Dr. Aileen Anderson Lab. In her undergraduate research training, she was an IMSD Scholar in the Undergraduate Research Center Sciences studying eukaryotic gene regulation and the role that the spliceosome components play in alternative splicing events at the Dr. Guillaume Chanfreau lab. She is now completing her PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics at the University of Chicago and joined the Araç and Ozkan Labs in September of 2021. 

Brock graduated with honors from the University of California San Diego in 2018 with a Bachelors of Science in Chemistry/Biochemistry. While attending UCSD, Brock began developing novel strains of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii for use in future food applications at Triton Algae Innovations. He was pivotal in creating microalgae that overproduce heme pathway compounds—ingredients that give an authentic taste and appearance to alternative meat. Brock is now working to complete their PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics at the University of Chicago, and joined the Araç Lab in September of 2021. Brock’s hobbies include playing tabletop games, cycling, rock climbing, and film.

Ethan was born in Los Angeles, California and later moved to Austin, Texas before attending UChicago as an undergrad in 2019. He joined the Araç Lab early 2020 and is working towards a degree in molecular biology and mathematics. In Ethan’s free time he likes to read, walk and study music.

Eliza grew up in Allentown, PA before coming to UChicago as a neuroscience and biology undergraduate student in 2021. They joined the Araç Lab in early 2022. In Eliza’s free time, they enjoy taking and teaching ballet classes, sewing, and cooking.