Lab Members
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Alexia Barcus
Research Associate IAlexia graduated from Worcester Polytechnic Institute with a B.S in Biology & Biotechnology and a minor in Biochemistry. She joined the Thyme Lab after graduating in May 2023 and is excited to gain experience in neurobiological research and work with zebrafish. Outside of the lab, Alexia spends her time reading, listening to music, and trying new coffee shops around the area.
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Mary Shay Capps
Graduate StudentMary Shay Capps is a graduate of the UAB Genetics and Genomic Sciences BS program. Following her undergraduate degree, she joined the MS Program in Multidisciplinary Biomedical Science (MBS), working in the Thyme lab, and graduated in December 2021. She then joined the Thyme lab as a Researcher III and is now a graduate student in the lab as part of the GSBS program.
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Jack Yuanwei Cheng
Graduate StudentJack graduated from Brandeis University with B.S. in Biology and a minor in Journalism. During his time at Brandeis, Jack studied endosomal trafficking at the Drosophila neuromuscular junction. Currently, Jack is exploring the role of mitochondria dynamics in early zebrafish brain development. Outside of work, Jack enjoys photography and cooking. -
Jessica Chrabasz
Research Associate IIJessica Chrabasz graduated from Central Connecticut State University in May 2021 with a B.S. in Biomolecular Sciences. During her time at CCSU, she worked as an independent researcher in Dr. Daniel Chase’s laboratory studying the cellular and molecular mechanisms of dopamine signaling. Jessica started at UMass Chan in September 2021 as a Research Associate in Dr. Peter Pryciak’s laboratory studying the molecular mechanisms of signal transduction and cell cycle progression for three years before joining Dr. Summer Thyme’s laboratory in August 2024 as Research Associate II. In her free time, Jessica enjoys spending time with her cat, Jasper, and being outside in nature.
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Camden Cummings
Bioinformatician ICam graduated from Worcester Polytechnic Institute in 2024 with a B.S. in Robotics Engineering. Their prior research in computer vision and swarm behaviors informs their work at the Thyme lab. Currently, they're developing a tracking software to evaluate zebrafish working memory. When not in the lab, they enjoy hiking, going to concerts, and trying to stay on top of their always growing list of books to read.
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Ari Ginsparg
Graduate StudentGraduate Student; GBS Genetics, Genomics, and Bioinformatics Theme
B.S.: Missouri University of Science and Technology; Chemistry and Bioinformatics Minors
I joined the Thyme Lab in March, 2020. For my thesis project, I have developed a drug discovery algorithm to the Rosetta protein modeling suite and am working to validate the predictive accuracy of the algorithm. I have a mixed background in prior work, ranging from detecting environmental DNA from Missouri streams, writing algorithms to detect structural variants, and care and husbandry for dozens of arthropod species.
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Graham Latino
Research Associate IGraham attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where he graduated with a B.S. in Biochemistry & Molecular Biology. He has since joined the Thyme lab in the Spring of 2024 where he is exploring his interests in structural and developmental biology. Outside the lab, he enjoys hiking, cooking and playing the piano.
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Jaqueline Martinez
Graduate StudentJaqueline graduated in December 2022 with a B.S. in Neuroscience from UAB. Jaqueline is currently a graduate student in the lab as part of the GSBS program. She is interested in neurology and invertebrates and hopes to combine them in the future. She enjoys reading and going to spin classes and spends most of her time hanging with her two cats.
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Anna Moyer
PostdocPh.D.: The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Roger Reeves’ lab
B.S., M.S.: The University of Alabama
Anna Moyer graduated from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in September 2021. She is interested in gene-dosage effects in aneuploidy with a focus on how overexpression of chromosome 21 genes contributes to abnormal neurodevelopment in people with Down syndrome. She joined the Thyme lab in February 2022 and is currently exploring how misexpression of chromatin regulators affects Sonic hedgehog signaling. Her research interests are inspired by her brother Sam, who has Down syndrome, and she also maintains a website of visual recipes to teach basic cooking skills to people with intellectual disabilities. In her free time, you can find Anna knitting, drinking tea, and watching the Food Network with her cats, Matilda and Pierogi.