Principal Investigator
Brian obtained a B.S. and M.S. in the lab of John Pojman at the University of Southern Mississippi working at the interface of physical chemistry and polymer science. Upon completion of his degrees, he decided to focus on more biological problems and joined the Tri-Institutional Program in Chemical Biology at Cornell University. He obtained a PhD in chemistry, focusing on biophysical methods to study circadian clock photoreceptors under the tutelage of Brian Crane. Here he published the first structure of a Eukaryotic Circadian clock photoreceptor (VVD) in Science. His studies of LOV domain structure and function has been well cited and has pioneered efforts in tuning photoreceptor chemical mechanisms. He later solved the first structure of Drosophila Cryptochrome (published in Nature, 2011). Following his PhD, he conducted postdoctoral research in the lab of Kevin Gardner at UT Southwestern Medical Center, where he focused on using NMR methods to analyze protein structure and function in bacterial photoreceptors and the PAS domain protein, Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor (AhR). He joined the SMU chemistry department in 2011 and continues to conduct cutting edge research on circadain clock function. Basically, he is pretty awesome. If you haven't met him yet, you should.
Julia Goncalves joined the Zoltowski lab as a graduate student in the fall of 2020. She received a bachelor's degree in biology and mathematics with a minor in chemistry, while also participating in undergraduate research. She was born and raised in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. On her free time, Julia enjoys playing volleyball and watching movies.
Nischal has been a graduate student in our lab since August 2017. He is from Nepal, and received a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry from the University of Southern Mississippi. He is the lab guru, he is skilled in computer programming, plant biology, and protein biochemistry. He is currently driving our efforts into understanding how plants adapt to different lighting environments through the use of LOV-domain photoreceptors. In his free time, he cooks, plays video games...who am I kidding, he doesn't have any free time.
Julia Lara joined the lab as a graduate student in the fall of 2018 and is a recently trained biochemist. She received a bachelor's degree in chemistry at Texas State University where she studied organometallic chemistry with a focus on polyhedral boranes. After graduating, she ventured out into industry and worked as an analytical chemist at a pharmaceutical company for two years before entering the PhD program at SMU. She is currently studying mammalian circadian clock and optogenetic gene expression systems. On her free time, Julia enjoys doing small DIY projects and loves to be outside.
Jessica is a junior, who is pursuing degrees in biology, chemistry, and health and society, and later hopes to study medicine. Before joining the lab to work on Optogenetics projects, he spent time researching Alzheimer's Disease at the University of Kansas. He is also a Resident Advisor on campus, serves as Vice President of Programming for Program Council, and produces the 24-Hour Musical Project. His research interests include novel modes of genetic regulation, and the intersection between science and performance art.
Hey! My name is Thomas and I’m a sophomore studying biology and business administration with the goal of attending graduate or medical school. Before I joined Dr. Zoltowski’s lab in January 2019, I was a part of SMU’s Anxiety and Depression Research Center where I learned how mental disorders can affect us on a physical level. Currently, I work with photosensitive proteins and mutations that affect their behavior to learn more about the circadian clock of plants. Outside of that, I plan events as the Treasurer for the Vietnamese Student Association, help others as an Honors Mentor, and play ping pong and pool with my friends.
Abby is a senior majoring in chemistry with a minor in mathematics and hopes to pursue a career in medicine. She is involved across campus as Historian of Alpha Epsilon Delta, Resident Assistant in McElvaney Residential Commons, and in student organizations including Pre-Dental Society, Student Foundation, and SMU Hillel. Her research utilizes data analysis to better understand biological processes, combining her interests in chemistry, biology, and physics.
Alec is a senior chemistry major who joined the lab in 2016. His research encompasses the effects of blue light on pathogenic fungi. He plans to attend medical school.
Ronen is a senior biochemistry major, with minors in Spanish and business administration. He joined the lab in the spring of 2017. He is also a member of the SMU Swimming team. He also is treasurer of Psi Chi, a psychology honor society, and a member of AED, the pre health honor society. His research interests include the neural network models that give rise to memory and learning phenomena.
Graduated: October 2016
Graduated: February 2018
Jameela is currently a postdoc at the Moffitt Cancer Center
Graduated: June 2018
Aditi is currently a professor at Collin Community College