Kivanc Birsoy

Kıvanç received his undergraduate degree in Molecular Genetics from Bilkent University in 2004 and his Ph.D. from Rockefeller University in 2009,. In 2015, he joined Rockefeller as faculty. He is a recipient of the Searle Scholar Award, Pew-Stewart Scholar Award, NIH Director’s New Innovator Award, Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise, Discovery Award from Society for Redox Biology and Medicine Discovery Award, Mark Foundation Emerging Leader Award, the Pershing Square Sohn Prize, and the Vehbi Koç Prize.

Joseph L. Goldstein Professor

Beste Uygur

Beste earned her B.S. in Molecular Biology and Genetics at Gebze Technical University and M.S. at Bilkent University studying purinergic signaling in colorectal cancer. She joined the Birsoy Lab in 2021 as lab manager

Lab Manager
Administrative Assistant

Michelle Wilson

Michelle is an English major with a background in cultural studies. She specializes in organizational systems and enjoys warm weather, ocean swims, movies with family, travel, yoga, and holistic wellness.


Grants Administrator

Emilie Wang

Gokhan Unlu

Gökhan received degrees from METU and Vanderbilt University, where he studied protein trafficking and genetic disease models in zebrafish. He joined in 2019 and investigates tumor metabolic limitations using organelle metabolomics and CRISPR.

Damon Runyon / NCI K99 Fellow

Brandon Chen

Brandon studies how cellular lipids are sensed in organelles.

NCI K00 Postdoctoral Fellow
Jane Coffin Childs Postdoctoral Fellow/Schmidt Fellow

Chris Giuliano

Chris studies how infection impacts cellular metabolism.

Jane Coffin Childs Postdoctoral Fellow

Toshi Nakamura

Toshi investigates mechanisms of mitochondrial and metabolic signaling, focusing on redox control and transporter biology using advanced proteomic and biochemical tools.

Daisuke Inoue

Daisuke studies how liver environment impacts metastasis of cancer cells.

Clinical Scholar

Frederick Yen

Fred studies the role of lysosomal transporters and metals on physiology.

MD PhD Student
Graduate Student

Nicole DelGaudio

Nicole studies the role of mitochondria glutathione transport in physiology and cancer.

Graduate Student (Jointly with Rich Hite)

Mark Gad

Mark solves the structures of transporters identified in our lab.

Michelle Yaochai

Michelle studies how nucleotide metabolism is controlled in our cells.

Graduate Student

Ruijie Xiang

Ruin studies how mitochondria regulates its size using mitochondrial transporters.

Graduate Student

Ayaka Inoki

MD PhD Student
Graduate Student

Joshua Lopez Scarim

Josh studies how sphingolipid metabolism is regulated in cancer cells.

Mike Xiao

Kai scans the horizon for emerging waves, ensuring we ride the crest, not the wake.

MD-PhD student (jointly with Mike Kharas)

Alex Terry

Alex studies how radiation impacts metabolism.

Clinical Fellow
Research Assistant

Ijeoma Obi

Ijeoma studies the role of ER redox homeostasis.

ALUMNI

Postdocs:

Timothy Kenny
Postdoc (2020–2025)
NIH/NIDDK K99 Fellow, NIH/NIDDK F32 Fellow, Merck Fellow
Assistant Professor, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Gokhan Unlu
Postdoc (2019–2026)
Damon Runyon Postdoctoral Fellow, Merck Fellow, NCI K99 Fellow

Assistant Member, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

Javier Garcia-Bermudez
Postdoc (2016–2022)
Anderson Postdoctoral Fellow, EMBO Postdoctoral Fellow, Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Fellow, K99/R00 Awardee
Assistant Professor, Children’s Research Institute, UT Southwestern

Shanshan Liu
Postdoc (2021–2026)
Human Frontier Science Program Fellow

Assistant Professor, Yale University

Maria Liberti
Postdoc (2018–2020)
NCI F99/K00 Predoctoral-to-Postdoctoral Transition Fellow
Early Clinical Scientist, Merck & Co.

Erol Can Bayraktar
Postdoc (2016–2020)
Pathology Fellow, Cleveland Clinic

Clinical Fellows:

Ying Wang
Clinical Fellow (2018–2021)
Instructor in Clinical Investigation
Senior Scientist, Wildtype

Maximilian Stahl
Clinical Fellow (2019–2021)
Hematology/Oncology Fellow, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Attending Physician, Adult Leukemia Program, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute; Instructor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School

Clifton Fulmer
Clinical Fellow (2018–2019)
Instructor in Clinical Investigation; Anatomic Pathology Resident, Weill Cornell
Assistant Professor and Gastrointestinal and Hepatobiliary Pathologist, Cleveland Clinic

Marianne E. Dubard-Gault
Clinical Fellow (2017–2018)
Oncology Fellow, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Medical Director, Cancer Genetics Program, Seattle Cancer Care Alliance; Assistant Professor, University of Washington

Graduate Students:

Yuyang Liu
Graduate Fellow (2020–2026)
Rockefeller Graduate Student; NCI K00 Fellow

Sandler Fellow, UCSF (Department of Physiology)

Xiphias Ge Zhu
Graduate Fellow (2016–2021)
Rockefeller Graduate Student
Postdoctoral Fellow, Harvard Medical School, laboratory of Steve Elledge

Konnor La
Graduate Fellow (2016–2020)
Tri-Institutional Computational Biology and Medicine Graduate Fellow
Associate, McKinsey & Company

Robert Williams
Biomedical Fellow (2017–2020)
Tri-Institutional Biomedical Fellow
Resident, Weill Cornell Medical School Physician-Scientist Program; Postdoctoral Fellow, Abdel-Wahab laboratory

Ross Weber
Biomedical Fellow (2016–2020)
Tri-Institutional Biomedical Fellow
Resident, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Radiation Oncology; Postdoctoral Fellow

Mariluz Soula
Graduate Fellow (2018–2023)
Rockefeller Graduate Student; HHMI Gilliam Fellow; David Rockefeller Fellow
Scientist, Lime Pharmaceuticals, New York

Rebecca Timson
Graduate Fellow (2018–2024)
Rockefeller Graduate Student
Scientist, Kojin Therapeutics

Rohiverth (Roy) Guarecuco
Biomedical Fellow (2017–2020)
Tri-Institutional Biomedical Fellow
Resident, Department of Pathology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital/Harvard Medical School