Laura grew up in Nashville, TN and got a B.A. in Biology from Carleton College. She got her PhD in Human Genetics from Tony Capra’s lab at Vanderbilt University, and has been at UPenn since 2020. She is broadly interested in understanding the biological mechanisms underlying evolution, and has worked with machine learning techniques to dissect sequence patterns of enhancers and promoters and to predict gene regulatory patterns in ancient DNA. More recently, she’s been developing methods to detect selection in global human populations, and is excited to start understanding how mutation rate influences human biology. In her spare time, Laura is an enthusiastic fiber artist (spinner/knitter), hiker, and boardgamer.

Yijie is a postdoctoral researcher, a big fan of sports (including electronic sports), and a dedicated husband. He grew up in Hohhot, China, and earned his bachelor's degree in Bioengineering from SWJTU. He later completed a Ph.D. in Biology (Bioinformatics) at China Agricultural University, where his work centered on pan-genome analysis. His research primarily focuses on genetics and genomics in the Gao Lab. In his free time, Yijie enjoys watching Formula 1 Grand Prix races, with Max Verstappen as his favorite driver.

Diljeet is a student in the Cellular & Molecular Biology Graduate Group, under the Genetics and Epigenetics track. Originally from New Jersey, Diljeet completed her Bachelor’s Degree in Molecular Biology and Biochemistry from Rutgers University in 2020.  During her undergraduate research, she utilized molecular biology techniques to study transgenerational epigenetic inheritance in C. elegans, as well as the functions of facultative heterochromatin in S. pombe. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, running, and reading.

Sheel grew up in New Delhi, India and received her Bachelor’s degree in Molecular and Cell Biology from UC Berkeley. She did undergraduate research and senior thesis in Nicole King’s lab, where she investigated choanoflagellate diversity and cellular responses to stress. She then worked as a Research Assistant in Peter Andolfatto’s lab at Columbia University, working on constructing recombination landscapes of Drosophila species. She joined the lab in 2023 summer and works on the impact of epigenetic modifications on the mutation landscape within human genome and across species. In her free time, Sheel enjoys reading, cooking, and watching the Sixers.

Jess is a first year student in the Genetics & Epigenetics graduate program. She grew up just outside of Philly, and graduated from MIT in 2022 with her Bachelor's Degree in Biological Engineering. After graduating, Jess spent two years in the Lindsley lab at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. There, she investigated the effect of individual point mutations in the TERT protein on its ability to extend telomeres. Jess is excited to join the Gao lab for her first rotation and explore the computational side of genetics research. In her free time, Jess enjoys doing gymnastics, singing, acting, reading, and writing.