Andrea Brand PhD FRS FMedSci, Laura and Isaac Perlmutter Professor of Cell Biology
Chair, Department of Cell Biology at NYU Grossman School of Medicine
Royal Society Darwin Trust Research Professor
Europe PMC | Pubmed
Follow on Twitter @andreabrandlab
Lab Members
LokYeeJocelyn.Tang@nyulangone.org
Jocelyn obtained a Bachelors in Biological Science at University College London (UCL). During her undergraduate degree she did research projects at the Institute of Healthy Ageing with Dr. Nazif Alic and with Dr. Yamamoto Yoshiyuki, studying the evolutionary development of Mexican cavefish (Astyanax mexicanus). Developing a keen interest in research and developmental biology, she started on the Wellcome Trust 4-year Mechanisms of Development Programme in 2016 in the Brand Lab studying the regulation of neural stem cell quiescence. She graduated in 2022 and continues her work on neural stem cells.
Alex carried out his undergraduate studies in neuroscience at King's College London, during which time he worked on placode formation in Xenopus Laevis under the supervision of Dr. Esther Bell. He then stayed at King’s to pursue a PhD in the lab of Prof. Albert Basson, studying the epigenetic control of murine cerebral cortex growth and patterning by chromatin remodelling. Alex joined the Brand lab in 2020 to investigate the regulation of neural stem cell quiescence and reactivation.
Anna graduated with a BSc in Biomedical Science from the University of Sheffield in 2019. During her undergraduate studies, she did summer projects in Professor Stephen Renshaw’s lab investigating the role of the PI3K pathway during bacterial infection, followed by a thesis on the development of dopaminergic neurons in zebrafish with Dr Jon Wood at Sheffield Institute for Translational Neuroscience. She then enrolled in the Wellcome Trust Developmental Mechanisms 4-year PhD programme at University of Cambridge, rotating in different labs before joining the Brand lab to work on chromatin states in neural stem cells.
Bernardo graduated with a B.Sc in Biotechnology from the Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering (D-BSSE), ETH Zurich in 2016. He then joined the Lab of Prof. Papassotiropoulos and Prof. Dominique de Quervain in the Biozentrum of Basel to investigate human genotype variants and their link to emotional memory and PTSD. In 2018, Bernardo completed an MPhil in Bioscience Enterprise at the University of Cambridge before joining the investment team of a Swiss-based venture capital company. Bernardo joined the Brand Lab in 2020 to work on transcriptional control of neurons and neurodegeneration.
n.zilinskaite@gurdon.cam.ac.uk
Nemira graduated from the University of Nottingham with a Bsc. Hons. in Biotechnology in 2020. During her degree, she was part of iGEM Nottingham team winning Gold in 2018. In the summer of 2019, she joined the lab of Dr Sebastian Eves-van den Akker at the University of Cambridge, where she investigated the spatio-temporal dynamics of parasitic nematodes. She went on to conduct her Bachelors dissertation in Prof Rupert Fray’s group, focusing on the epigenetic regulation of polyadenylnation. Nemira joined the Brand Lab in 2020 as a Gates Cambridge Scholar and will be investigating quiescence and reactivation in neural stem cells.
Cían studied Biological Sciences at the University of Oxford, graduating in 2020. While at Oxford, he completed a summer research project on homeobox gene evolution in Professor Alison Woollard’s lab, as well as a summer internship at a biotech VC fund in San Francisco. Cían is an MPhil in Developmental Biology student, and joined the Brand lab in 2021 to study single-cell data analysis techniques, applying these to understand quiescence, reactivation and differentiation of neural stem cells.
Laura studied Biochemistry at Imperial College London, earning a BSc in 2021. As an undergraduate, she was involved in a number of research projects including a summer studentship at the University of Oxford investigating astrocytic gap junction activity during sleep, as well as a final year project at Imperial exploring craniofacial morphogenesis in avian embryos. Laura joined the Brand lab in 2021 as a PhD student to explore neural stem cell quiescence and reactivation using Drosophila flies and brain organoids as model systems.
Natalie.Williams3@nyulangone.org
Natalie graduated from the University of California, Berkeley in 2023 with a B.A. in molecular cell biology- genetics genomics, development and a minor in climate science. She completed her undergraduate thesis in Dr. Megan Martik’s lab, studying the role of Noggin in neural crest development using chicken embryos and human embryonic stem cell derived enteric neurons. Natalie is a PhD student in Cell Biology in the Vilcek Institute of Graduate Biomedical Sciences, and joined the Brand lab in 2024 to study neural stem cell quiescence in brain organoids.
Nicholas.Richardson@nyulangone.org
Nick Richardson graduated from IUPUI in 2023 with a BS in Biology and a minor in chemistry. His previous research focused on the role of primary cilia in energy homeostasis and pituitary gland patterning. He joined the lab in 2024 and is continuing research with primary cilia and investigating their role in quiescence and regenerative medicine.
Catherine studied Human Biology at the University of Surrey as an undergraduate. During her career, she has worked in research labs in the Biochemistry Dept., University of Cambridge, the VA Hospital at the University of Pittsburgh, and the Biochemistry Dept. at the Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology, London. She joined Andrea Brand’s Lab as Lab Manager in 1994.
Destinations of former Brand Lab members
Former Post Doctoral Fellows
Oriol Llora-Batlle, PhD (2022)
Team Lead External R&D Alliances, Single Cell Discoveries, Utrecht, The Netherlands
Thomas Genais, PhD (2022)
AFPA Toulouse, France
Neha Agrawal, PhD (2021)
Group Leader, Lecturer in Molecular Genetics, University of Edinburgh, UK
Jelle van den Ameele, PhD (2020)
Group Leader, MRC Mitochondrial Biology Unit, University of Cambridge, UK
Robert Krautz, PhD (2019)
Post Doctoral Research, The Bioinformatics Centre, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
Takumi Suzuki, PhD (2019)
Assistant Professor, Biological Sciences, Ibaraki University, Ibaraki, Japan
Abhijit Das, PhD (2017)
Assistant Professor, School of Bio Science, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, India
Elizabeth Caygill, PhD (2016)
New Zealand Graduate School of Education, Christchurch, New Zealand
Owen Marshall, PhD (2016)
Senior Research Fellow (Group Leader), Menzies Institute for Medical Research, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Australia
Katrina Gold, PhD (2016)
Science Portfolio Adviser, Wellcome Trust, London, UK
Pauline Spéder, PhD (2015)
Group Leader, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France
Josephine Bageritz, PhD (2015)
Post Doctoral Research, University of Heidelberg, Germany
Paul Fox, PhD (2015)
Senior Scientist, Abbvie Biotechnology, Barceloneta, Puerto Rico
Tony Southall, PhD (2014)
Lecturer in Neurogenetics, Imperial College, London, UK
David Doupe, PhD (2013)
HFSP Fellow, Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA
Boris Egger, PhD (2011)
Lecturer, University of Fribourg, Switzerland
Anne Pelissier-Monier, PhD (2010)
Assistant Professor, CBD, Toulouse, France
Karin Edoff, PhD (2009)
Senior Researcher, Karolinska Institute, Sweden
Ugo Mayor, PhD (2008)
Group Leader, CIC BioGUNE, Bizkaia, Spain
David Elliott, PhD (2007)
Group Leader, Cardiac Development, Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, The Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne, Australia
Michael Murray, PhD (2003)
Lab Head, Department of Genetics, University of Melbourne, Australia
Torsten Bossing, PhD (2008)
Senior Research Fellow, Plymouth University Peninsula Schools of Medicine and Dentistry, UK
Ulrik John, PhD (1999)
Statewide Leader, Primary Industries Victorian Agri-Biosciences Centre, Victoria, Australia; Senior Research Scientist, Victorian Department of Primary Industries, Melbourne, Australia
Alicia Hidalgo, PhD (1997)
Reader in Developmental Neurobiology, University of Birmingham, UK
Former Research Staff
Amy Foreman, PhD (2022)
Scientific Programme Manager, EMBL-EBI, Hinxton, UK
Rebecca Yakob, PhD (2022)
Wellcome Sanger Institute, Hinxton, UK
Melanie Cranston (2016)
Research Assistant, Queen’s University Belfast, UK
Former Graduate Students
Maire Brace, PhD MD (2023) Final year medical Student at University of Cambridge, UK
Leia Judge, PhD (2023) Scientific Editor at Cell Press Multi-Journal Submission, London, UK
Diana Arman, PhD (2023)
Tara Srinivas, MPhil (2021) Fulbright Fellow, Josep Carreras Leukaemia Research Institute, Spain
Benjamin Badger, PhD (2020) Data Scientist Consultant, Guidehouse, North Carolina, USA
Anna Hakes, PhD (2020) Post Doctoral Research, Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California, San Francisco, USA
Stephanie Norwood, PhD (2019)
Public Engagement Officer, Babraham Institute, Cambridge, UK
Mo Zhao, PhD (2019)
6 Dimensions Capital, Shanghai, China
Leo Otsuki, PhD (2018)
Post Doctoral Research, Research Institute of Molecular Pathology, Vienna, Austria
Seth Cheetham, PhD (2017)
Post Doctoral Research, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
Janina Ander, PhD (2017)
Raspberry Pi, Cambridge, UK
Jack Etheredge, PhD (2017)
Post Doctoral Research, Janelia Research Campus, USA
Chloe Shard, PhD (2016)
Post Doctoral Research, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France
Jun Liu, PhD (2014)
Medical Student, Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA
Esteban Contreras, PhD (2014)
Post Doctoral Research, University of Chile, Santiago, Chile
Jorge Buendia Buendia, MPhil (2013)
Associate Computational Biologist, Broad Institute, Harvard University, Boston, USA
Katrina Gold, PhD (2011)
Post Doctoral Research, UCSF, San Francisco, USA; Science Portfolio Adviser, Wellcome Trust, London, UK
Clare Howard, MPhil (2011)
MD/PhD Programme, Columbia University, NY, USA
Alyson Thompson, PhD (2011)
Consultant, Bain and Company, London, UK
Paul Wu, MD PhD (2010)
Resident, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taiwan; Assistant Professor, Mackay Memorial Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan
Jakob von Trotha, PhD (2010)
Post Doctoral Research, CNRS, Gif-sur-Yvette, France; Post Doctoral Research, Technische Universität, Braunschweig, Germany
James Chell, PhD (2008)
Post Doctoral Research, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden
James Dods, PhD (2008)
Global Partnerships Manager, CSIRO, Sydney, Australia
Adrian Carr, PhD (2006)
Post Doctoral Research, University of Cambridge, UK; Bioinformatics Team Leader, Fios Genomics, Edinburgh, UK
John Solly, PhD (2006)
Director, Myrovlytis Trust Medical Research Charity, London, UK
Catherine French, PhD (2006)
Deloitte and Touche, London, UK
Semil Choksi, PhD (2005)
Post Doctoral Research, IMCB, Singapore; Visiting Scientist, UCSF, San Francisco, USA
Michael Hewett, PhD (2005)
Deloitte and Touche, London, UK
Monique Gupta, MPhil MD (2005)
Washington University Medical School, MO, USA
Vaishnavi Krishnan, PhD (2004)
Post Doctoral Research, Chennai, India; Research Scientist, Clonexpress, Washington D.C., USA
Claudia Barros, PhD (2003)
Post Doctoral Research, Scripps Research Institute, CA, USA; Research Fellow in Neurobiology, Bangor University, UK; Lecturer in Neuroscience, Plymouth University Peninsula Schools of Medicine and Dentistry
Peter van Roessel, PhD MD (2002)
Stanford University Medical School, CA, USA; Columbia University Medical School, NY, USA; Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychiatry, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons
Julia Kaltschmidt, PhD (2001)
Post Doctoral Research, Columbia University, NY, USA; Group Leader, Sloan-Kettering Institute and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, NY, USA
Leslie Manace, MPhil MD (2001)
Mount Sinai Medical School, NY, USA
Chris Phelps, PhD (2000)
Principal Scientist, Inpharmatica, London, UK; Director of New Product Development, IMS Health, Bournemouth, UK
Neil Hayward, PhD (2000)
Director, Abcam, Cambridge, USA; Founder, Cambridge Blue Consulting, Biotechnology, Boston, USA
Alison Schuldt, PhD (1998)
Senior Editor, Nature Cell Biology; Chief Editor, Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology; Research Project Manager, Cambridge Institute for Medical Research, Cambridge, UK
Emma Louise Dormand, PhD MD (1997)
Post Doctoral Research, California Institute of Technology, CA, USA; Clinical School, Oxford University, UK; Radiologist, Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge, UK
