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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Current Lab Members | |
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WEIBING ZHANG Research Support Specialist Hometown: New York Favorites: Gardening, Chinese Opera, Cookies Weibing received her Medical degree from Anhui Medical University, China. Since 1996, she has worked as a research technician/support specialist at Stony Brook University. In 2012, she joined the Seeliger lab to work on protein purification, molecular biology, and provide support for various studies and activities. |
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IAN OUTHWAITE Graduate Student in Biochemistry and Structural Biology, MSTP Fellow Hometown: Brooklyn, NY Favorites: Honey, high jumping, and hiking Ian graduated from Williams College with a BA in Biology in 2017. He worked in Stephen Long’s group at MSKCC before entering the Stony Brook MSTP in 2019, and joined the Seeliger Lab in 2021. He studies how to achieve selective inhibition of kinase targets despite structural similarities between kinases. |
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EMMA GEBAUER Graduate Student in Biochemistry and Structural Biology Hometown: Guilford, CT Favorites: Competitive jigsaw puzzles, getting her steps in, 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 studied the composition of E-cigarette liquids under 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 2022 to work on structure-driven drug design and biochemical characterization of cyclophilins. |
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KATHLEEN DREHER Graduate Student in Chemistry Hometown: Concord, MA Favorites: Music improvisation, her pet rabbit (Bunny), and photography Kathleen graduated from University of Massachusetts Amherst in 2020 with a BS in Chemistry. An extended internship with EMD Serono studying PROTACs sparked her interest in biochemistry and pursuing graduate studies. |
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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 PARK Undergraduate Researcher, Stony Brook Hometown: Clifton Park, New York Favorites: Origami, Skiing, and Reading Brian is an undergraduate student at Stony Brook currently pursuing a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry. He joined the Seeliger lab in 2024 to gain experience in handling and understanding proteins. |
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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. |