231 S. 34th St, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6323
Phone: (215) 573-7539 Fax: (215) 898-6242
Tobias Baumgart
baumgart at sas.upenn.edu
Assistant Professor
Physical & Biological Chemistry
Diploma from the University of Clausthal, Germany, 1998
PhD from the Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz, 2001
Postdoctoral associate at Cornell University (2001 - 2005)
THE BOSS
Cinzia Esposito
cinzia at sas.upenn.edu
Hometown: Atripalda (AV), Italy
Graduated From: University of Salerno
Major: Pharmaceutical Sciences
Joined Lab: January 2007
Research: Interaction between “membrane-active” peptides and membrane models.
Interests: Cinzia loves her family and, in particular, her newborn niece Lucia. She likes going to the Italian Amalfitan Coast by Vespa motocycle and cooking Italian dishes.
POST DOCS
GRADUATE STUDENTS
Aiwei Tian
aiwei at seas.upenn.edu
Year: 4th
Hometown: Jilin, China
Graduated From: Tsinghua University
Major: Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
Joined Lab: January 2006
Research: Material properties of tubular polymer and lipid membrane assemblies.
Interests: Aiwei likes to study traditional Chinese medicine, herbology and nutrition in her spare time. She enjoys yoga, leisurely walks and music.
Chih-Jung Hsu
chihjung at sas.upenn.edu
Year: 3rd
Hometown: Taipei, Taiwan
Graduated From:
Major: Biochemistry
Joined Lab: May 2007
Research: The dynamics of T-cell signaling microdomains on patterned surface
Interests: CJ enjoys playing softball and basketball, and is a big baseball fan.
Michael Heinrich
heinric at sas.upenn.edu
Year: 3rd
Hometown: Scotch Plains, NJ
Graduated From: Bucknell University
Major: Chemistry
Joined Lab: May 2007
Research: Optical trapping applications to membranes vesicles and investigation of line tension sources
Interests: Mike is a fan of backpacking, canoeing, sailing, and otherwise exploring, preferably with a camera in hand. He also loves lasers, which ironically keeps him in windowless rooms.
Serenity Wang
wmichell at sas.upenn.edu
Year: 3rd
Graduated From: UC Berkeley
Major: Psychology
Joined Lab: November 2007
Research: Phase behavior of multicomponent membranes.
Interests: Serenity enjoys reading, writing, cooking, eating, and listening to audio books while jogging. She loves having a cold lager after working out and spends her spare time learning Austrian economics and political philosophy.
Ben Capraro
capraro at sas.upenn.edu
Year: 2nd
Hometown: Geneva, NY
Graduated From: University of Chicago
Major: Chemistry and Bio Chem
Joined Lab: May 2008
Research: Mechanical measurement of interactions between membranes and proteins associated with vesicle formation.
Interests: Ben enjoys reading and music.
Wan-Ting Hsieh
hsiehw at sas.upenn.edu
Year: 2nd
Hometown: Tainan, Taiwan
Graduated From: National Taiwan University
Major: Chemistry
Joined Lab: May 2008
Research: Studying physical properties of lipid monolayers.
Interests: Wan-Ting enjoys playing volleyball, table tennis, singing karaoke, and watching Japanese TV series. Wan-Ting is also a big toy claw machine fan...she especially likes claw machine at night markets in Taiwan.
UNDERGRADUATES
Michelle Go
go at sas.upenn.edu
Year: 2009
Hometown: Bellevue, WA or Streamwood, IL
Major: Biochemistry (Vagelos Scholar) with a minor in Modern Middle East Studies
Joined Lab: Fall 2005
Research: Phase partitioning of proteins in giant plasma membrane vesicles
Interests: Aside from spending quality time with prokaryotes and fluorescent vesicles, Michelle enjoys playing volleyball and tennis, pretending to speak other languages, playing the guitar, and dancing Latin and ballroom. She loves chocolate, cheese, and ice cream (though not in combination).
Ben Stinson
benjamms at sas.upenn.edu
Year: 2009
Hometown: Dublin, OH
Major: Biochemistry, and I plan on Chemistry submatriculation (Vagelos)
Joined Lab: January 2007
Research: Phase segregation of membrane-associated proteins
Interests: I am a proud member of and the 2007-2008 Vice President of the Penn Glee Club. I am a big college football fan (go Buckeyes!...err...Quakers...), and I maintain that if you've never dined at Chipotle, you haven't really lived.
Marcela Carmona
carmona at sas.upenn.edu
Year: 2010
Hometown: Millville, NJ
Major: Molecular Biology
Joined Lab: June 2007
Research: Studies membrane associated proteins and their effect on membrane phase separation; maintains biological cell lines
Interests: Besides reading The Cell in her spare time, Marcela enjoys going on adventures to Chinatown, playing volleyball (and trying to talk the lab into going with her), drinking coffee, and making ridiculously nerdy (but funny) science jokes.
Matt Lopes
lopesmb at sas.upenn.edu
Year: 2010
Hometown: Providence, RI
Major: Biochemistry
Joined Lab: July 2007
Research: Protein overexpression and purification
Interests: Aside from chemistry, Matthew also has a strong interest in foreign languages (particularly Japanese and Portuguese). Once outside of the lab, he enjoys playing Go online, watching movies, and practicing bass guitar. He also likes to play soccer and tennis when the weather is warm enough.
Sarah Johnson
johnsa at sas.upenn.edu
Year: 2010
Hometown: Elkins Park, PA
Major: Chemistry
Joined Lab: May 2008
Research: Phase partitioning of membrane-associated proteins in giant plasma membrane vesicles
Interests: Sarah plans to attend graduate school and become a physical chemistry researcher. When not spending time in the laboratory, Sarah can be found practicing violin, as she is principal violinist of the Penn Symphony Orchestra. She also edits for PennScience: A Journal of Undergraduate Research and enjoys dining at fine restaurants in Philadelphia.
Abraham Waldman
abrahamw at sas.upenn.edu
Year: 2012
Hometown: Belmar, NJ
Major: Biochemistry
Joined Lab: January 2009
Research: Currently in process of learning molecular cloning techniques utilized in laboratory.
Interests: Other than biochemistry of course, Abraham enjoys cooking, eating, reading, watching the Discovery Channel, House MD, and 30 Rock, going to the beach in the summer (he lives to two blocks away), caddying at his golf course, and everything Apple - his iPhone the most. He plans to attend graduate school, become a biochemistry researcher, and eventually a professor.
Chen Zhu
chenzhu at sas.upenn.edu
Year:1st
Hometown: Anhui, China
Graduated From: University of Science and Technology of China
Major: Chemical Physics
Joined Lab: January 2009
Research: Currently consulting with research advisor
Interests: Chen enjoys painting, calligraphy, reading novels and surfing on the internet...
