GROUP MEMBERS

 

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)

CURRICULUM VITAE.pdf

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...