Current Lab Members

Nicole F. Liachko, Ph.D.

Science should be fun!  I have been involved in NIH and VA funded research for more than 20 years, and I wouldn't want to do anything else.  As I regularly tell my kiddos, "Use your brain!"


Heather Currey

Heather has been with the Liachko lab since 2016 and is the general lab manager. She is a proficient worm wrangler and lover of plants. 

Joshua Hincks

Stellar Lab Technician who also does all the science!

Photo of Jade Stair in the lab

 Jade Stair

Jade joined the lab as a technician in April 2020. 

  Vaishnavi (Navi) Jadhav, PhD

Navi is a Postdoctoral scholar studying TDP-43 and tau proteinopathies. In their free time you'll find them cooking, painting, hooking their crochet hooks and explore the beauty of Pacific northwest. 

  Sarah Waldherr, PhD

"I have a passion for studying the brain, particularly neurodegenerative diseases. Overall, I am interested in studying disrupted protein homeostasis and selective neuronal vulnerability to aberrant proteins in neurodegenerative diseases with the goal of developing new treatments. My scientific career over the past 12 years ranges from small-scale rodent phenotyping to large-scale human genotyping researching diseases such as SCA7, Parkinson’s disease, and tauopathies. As a post-doctoral researcher in the Liachko lab since the summer of 2021, I am now focusing on TDP-43 proteinopathies."

  Laura Garcia Toscano, Ph.D.

"I am a neuroscientist with nine years of experience researching the brain and neurodegenerative diseases. One of my current research goals is to improve the knowledge of AD through the use of different experimental models, including the tiny and multifaceted C. elegans models. When I’m not doing science, I love to be active in skiing and hiking, but I also enjoy cooking and knitting on rainy days."

  Aaron Long, Ph.D. Candidate

"I'm a grad student in the UW Molecular & Cellular Biology program. Some of my interests include: neurodegeneration, neuroscience, mitochondria, and metabolism. I run trails on my free time."

Past Lab Members

Gone but not forgotten

Verona Yue

Fantastic student volunteer

Max Hoofnagle

Max volunteered with us during the summer of 2020. 

Amanda Cohen

Amanda joined the lab at the end of 2022 as a tech. She is interested in neurodegenerative diseases, especially Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. In her free time, Amanda enjoys running, reading, and spending time with friends and family!