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MARKUS A. SEELIGER Professor with tenure, Department of Pharmacological Sciences, Stony Brook University School of Medicine Hometown: Hannover, Germany Office: Basic Science Tower, 7th floor, Room 120 Favorites: Jessica Seeliger, Hannover 96, Diving Markus received his Diploma in Biochemistry from Hannover University, Germany. He performed his graduate research at Cambridge University with Laura Itzhaki and Alan Fersht in Protein Folding and Protein Engineering. In 2003 he joined John Kuriyan’s group in Berkeley to work on structure and function of protein kinases. He joined the faculty in Stony Brook 2009 to start his independent career. |
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EMMA GEBAUER Graduate Student in Biochemistry and Structural Biology Hometown: Guilford, CT Favorites: Competitive jigsaw puzzles, telling people about how she is training for a half marathon, and film photography Emma graduated from Bucknell University in 2020 with a bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry & Cell Biology and a minor in Physics, where she performed analytical chemistry research with Professor Douglas Collins. She then did a two-year post-bac in the lab of Dr. Joseph Marcotrigiano at the NIH/NIAID, using structural biology to study small molecule inhibitors of viral RNA sensor RIG-I and to determine its role in severe COVID-19. Emma joined the Seeliger lab in May 2023 to work on structure-driven drug design and biochemical characterization of cyclophilins. |
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VANIE SEECHARAN Graduate Student in Biochemistry and Structural Biology Hometown: Queens, NY Favorites: Films, books and baking Vanie graduated from Adelphi University in 2023 with a BS in Biochemistry. She completed undergraduate research on an organic synthesis project focused on Cu(I) mediated alkylation of nitriles. She studies the mechanisms of resistance mutations to inhibitors in human kinases. |
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ISABELLE (MING SUET) KWAN Graduate Student, MSTP Fellow. Co-mentored with Dr. Ivet Bahar Hometown: Sciencetown, USA Favorites: My current Lab. Going to Nap and Bed. Doing random things, that is p < 0.05 in gaussian distribution. Before joining Stony Brook, Isabelle majored in Biochemistry at UCLA, conducting clinical research on with the Yang Lab at UCLA Neurosurgery. She then joined NCI to investigate microbiome changes in healthy and diseased states while altering genetic and environmental conditions. To enhance precision and equity in medicine, she embarks on her Ph.D. training with dual explorations in computational and structural biology, accelerating drug discovery and translating laboratory data into personalized medicine. |
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BRIAN FARRELL Graduate student in Pharmacology Hometown: St. James, New York Favorites: Baking, building custom speakers. Brian Farrell is a 2019 graduate of Drexel University. His scientific career began to take shape during his post-baccalaureate work at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, where he worked under Dr. Johannes Yeh to establish a small-format peptide and organic chemistry lab. There, he developed novel macrocyclic ligands targeting KLHL20, validated KLHL20 as an actionable E3 ligase substrate adaptor, and co-invented a peptide-mimetic chemical library platform—efforts that led to a first-author publication and patent inventorship. This experience solidified his passion for translational drug discovery and working at the interface of chemistry and biology. Now pursuing a PhD in pharmaceutical sciences at Stony Brook University, Brian is focused on expanding his expertise in protein crystallography, structure-based drug design, assay development, and AI-driven lead generation. |
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ETHAN KIM Undergraduate student in Biochemistry and Psychology Hometown: Jericho, NY Favorites: All things music-related, photography, films, and volleyball.
Ethan is an undergraduate student on the pre-medical track at Stony Brook University. He previously did research on Stony Brook’s 2024 iGEM team where he helped design a dual-regulation system leveraging LacI and L7Ae alongside Ago2 protein to create an adaptable biosensor that fluoresces in response to miRNA-326, a biomarker of B-cell lymphoma. Ethan joined the Seeliger lab in July 2025 to understand the mechanisms and kinetics of receptor tyrosine kinase resistance mutations to drug inhibitors and their application to cancer.
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CRYSTALLOGROWBEAR Lab Mascot Hometown: Berkeley, California Favorites: PEG3350, Cal Bears, Churrascaria Crystallogrowbear moved from Berkeley with Markus to Stony Brook in 2009. He is currently working on all aspects relating to lab morale and discipline. |
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