People
Who make it all possible with their brilliance, talent, and effort
Current Members of the Darling Research Group
Louise Darling, PhD
Associate Professor of Biological Sciences
Louise (she/her) is in her 12th year at Wellesley College where she enjoys teaching and research at the interfaces of Cell Biology, Biochemistry, Biophysics, and Bioengineering all with a fun dose of fluorescence microscopy!
Link to CV
Alicia Padilla '24
Alicia is a Biochemistry major investigating the effect of PKA phosphorylation on interactions between the cardiac potassium channel proteins hERG and KvLQT1. Outside of the lab, she is involved in the Slater International Student Organization and Alianza, one of the Latin American organizations on campus. You can often find her baking for her friends or hosting a dance party at Acorns House!
Summer Chen '24
Summer is a Biochemistry and Philosophy double major. She is investigating the effect of PKA phosphorylation on hERG and KvLQT1 trafficking and interactions. When she is not in the lab, you can find her in Stone-D dining hall enjoying vegetarian sausage patties (not the type served on Fridays) or walking around town.
Riley Sheldon '24
Riley is a Biochemistry major investigating the effect of PKA phosphorylation on cardiac voltage-gated potassium channel proteins hERG and KvLQT1. Beyond research, Riley enjoys tutoring for the Chemistry Cafe, spending time by the lake, and eating kiwi Hi-Chews.
Mela Nebiyeloul '24
Mela is a Biological Sciences major and Sociology minor. This year she will be working as an assistant to Alicia’s thesis driven research in the Darling lab. During this time she will be learning the techniques to mutagenize the hERG protein and investigate the effects of hERG phosphorylation on hERG-KvLQT1 interactions. She will take the skills she learns from working in the lab to a future career in medicine and medical research. Outside of the lab she is a DJ at Wellesley College’s radio station WZLY. You will likely find her having a laugh with friends or enjoying the egg sandwiches at Stone-Davis Hall during breakfast.
Francis Tapia '25
Francis is a Biochemistry major
Tenzin Yangchen '25
I am Economics Major and Computer Science minor. This semester, I am working as a lab manager/coordinator. I joined Darling's Lab as a first year apprentice and investigated the cytotoxicity of Des1 and Des1-C against bacteria and eukaryotic cells. One fun fact about me is that I love spicy food.
Grace Dodd '25
Grace is a Biological Sciences major
Morgan Wu '26
Mallika John '26
Eva Pawlowska '26
Darling Group Alumnae
Undergraduate Research Students
(thesis students in bold)
Haley Haines, Biological Sciences '23.
Michelle Jung, Biochemistry '23. PhD program at UCLA.
Jacqueline Ngo, Biological Sciences '23.
Caden Rijal, Anthropology '23. Graduate student at Mississippi State University.
Ayato Shigihara, Biological Sciences Dec. '22. Dental school at UCLA.
Cookie (Kaveri) Uberoy, Biochemistry '23.
Sally Weng, Biological Sciences '23. (off campus)
Suchin Yang, Biological Sciences '23. (off campus)
Julie Bocetti, Biochemistry '22. Postbaccalaureate IRTA Fellow at NIH.
Anna Hu, Biochemistry '22 (co-mentored with Don Elmore).
Brianna Perry, Biochemistry '22 (co-mentored with Don Elmore).
Valentina Alvarez, Biochemistry '22 (co-mentored with Don Elmore). PhD program at University of Washington.
Sabrina Koseki, Biochemistry '23. (off campus)
Bethany Costello '23
Vanessa Li, Chemistry and Sociology '22. (off-campus)
Sophia Adelson, Biological Sciences '21. (off-campus). Lingos Prize in Life Sciences. Graduate program at Sanford University.
Kate Dolph, Biochemistry '21. (off-campus) Jerome A. Schiff Fellowship. Gottleib Prize in Biochemistry. PhD program at Berkeley.
Aisha Saldanha, Biological Sciences '21.
Abby Zhong, Biological Sciences '21. (off-campus)
Mali Kaminaga, Biochemistry '20 (co-mentored with Don Elmore).
Danielle Heims-Waldron, Biological Sciences '18. (off-campus), Fowler Prize in Public Speaking. UMass Medical School.
Maura Sticco-Ivins, Biochemistry '18. Research Assistant at University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.
Emily Whitehead, Biochemistry '18. Gottleib Prize in Biochemistry. Univeristy of Florida School of Medicine.
Stephanie Kim, Biological Sciences '18. Fiske Prize in Biology. Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth.
Laurel Kinman, Biological Sciences '18. Lingos Prize in Life Sciences. PhD candidate MIT.
Myfanwy Adams, Biochemistry '17. (co-mentored with John Cameron). PhD candidate Cornell University.
Medeea Popsecu, Biochemistry '17. Gottleib Prize in Biochemistry. PhD from Stanford University.
Heidi Wade, Biochemistry '16.
Cayla Fromm, Physics '16. PhD from Rochester Institute of Technology.
Lisa Truong, Biological Sciences '16.
Priya Patel, Biological Sciences '16.
Teja Reddy, Biological Sciences '15. Off-campus research.
Sunny Lew, Psychology '15. DDS 2019 Tufts University School of Dental Medicine.
Kathy Chung, Biological Sciences '15. Rutgers New Jersey Medical School.
Estelle Kim, Biological Sciences '15. PhD candidate UCSD.
Yeon Lee, Neuroscience '15. Jerome A. Schiff Fellowship. MD 2019 SUNY Downstate.
Amanda Papakyrikos, Anthropology and Biological Sciences, '14. Fiske Prize in Biology. PhD 2020 Stanford University School of Medicine, now working at Lucy Therapeutics in Cambridge, MA.
Postbaccalaureate Research Assistants
2019-2020 Mayla Thompson, BA Biochemistry Wellesley College
2018-2019 Anne K. Buck, BS Chemistry St. Lawrence University
Illustration by Estelle Kim, Biological Sciences '15
