Graduate Students

Sarah Tucker

Alumni
Alumni
Alumni

Sarah completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Her undergraduate research in the laboratory of Martin Burke was focused on synthesizing less toxic derivatives of antifungal natural products. She is currently interested in understanding mitochondrial sirtuin activity and substrate specificity in the context of metabolic diseases. Her work is supported by a fellowship from Joslin Diabetes Center.

Favorite alpaca name: Alpacino

Giulia Notarangelo

Alumni
Alumni
Alumni
Alumni Period
Nov 2021

Giulia completed her undergraduate studies at Mount Holyoke College. After graduating, she spent two years at the NIH in the lab of Michael Lenardo, working on understanding the molecular mechanisms that control cellular responses, and how defects in such responses may lead to diseases of the immune system. She is currently interested in characterizing tumor-immune metabolic interactions in the tumor microenvironment.

Jefte Drijvers

Alumni
Alumni
Alumni
Alumni Position
Associate Director, MS Program Lead
Alumni Workplace
Abata Therapeutics
Alumni Period
2015 - 2020

Jefte's work, mentored by Marcia Haigis and Arlene Sharpe, focuses on the metabolic regulation of T cell functionality, particularly in the context of immune responses against cancer. He is supported by a fellowship from the National Institutes of Health.

Has a love-hate relationship with: chocolate (it's complicated).

Jessica Spinelli Ph.D

Alumni
Alumni
Alumni
Alumni Position
Postdoctoral Fellow
Alumni Workplace
MIT - David Sabatini Lab
Alumni Period
2015-19

I am interested in the adaptive reprogramming of cancer cells under the selective pressure imposed by therapeutics that enriches the microenvironment with resistant cells.  Specifically, I am interested in understanding the metabolic requirements that support this transition.  My work is supported by the National Science Foundation Grad

Karina Gonzalez

Alumni
Alumni
Alumni
Alumni Position
Assistant Director of Diversity and Minority Affairs
Alumni Workplace
Division of Medical Sciences at Harvard Medical School
Alumni Period
2011 - 2016

My project focuses on the role of mitochondrial sirtuins on glutamine metabolism. Like Natalie, I am in the Biological and Biomedical Sciences Program at HMS. I enjoy spending time with friends and family. I also like to dance, travel, crochet, learn new languages, and I am open to trying and learning new things. My work is supported by The Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans.

Natalie J. German

Alumni
Alumni
Alumni
Alumni Position
Manager
Alumni Workplace
Clarion Healthcare
Alumni Period
2010 - 2015

I recently completed my PhD in the Haigis lab with a dissertation focused on identifying and exploiting metabolic vulnerabilities in cancer. Now as a post-doc, I am finishing my research on nutrient utilization and metabolic liabilities in acute myeloid leukemia.

Lydia Finley

Phone
212-639-6722
Alumni
Alumni
Alumni
Alumni Position
Assistant Professor
Alumni Workplace
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY
Alumni Period
2007 - 2011

Lydia is interested in understanding how lysine acetylation affects mitochondrial function. To do this, she is using SIRT3 KO mice under a variety of nutritional and metabolic stresses in order to identify mitochondrial proteins and pathways that are regulated by reversible acetylation as well as the pathological implications of dysregulation of mitochondrial acetylation.

Lydia is in the BBS program at HMS and is supported by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship.