Stowers Institute Principal Investigators and Postdoctoral Researchers hold competitive awards and honors from highly regarded organizations in biomedical science. To view a listing, click here. Laboratories Robert Krumlauf, Ph.D., Scientific Director and Investigator, joined the Stowers Institute in 2000 from England's National Institute for Medical Research, The Ridgeway, Mill Hill, London, where he was head of the Division of Developmental Neurobiology. Dr. Krumlauf received a Ph.D. in developmental biology from Ohio State University. Research Focus: Analysis of molecular pathways that regulate how the mammalian head, brain and nervous system are built, using a variety of vertebrate model systems Academic Appointments: Professor, Department of Anatomy & Cell Biology, The University of Kansas Medical Center; Professor, The University of Kansas Neurosciences Graduate Program; Professor, Department of Oral Biology, University of Missouri at Kansas City Dental School Susan Abmayr, Ph.D., Associate Investigator, joined the Stowers Institute in 2003 from the Pennsylvania State University where she served as Associate Professor of Molecular Genetics. She earned a Ph.D. in biochemistry and molecular biology from the Rockefeller University and completed postdoctoral training in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Harvard University under the direction of Professor Tom Maniatis. Research Focus: Molecular genetics of cell fate specification and differentiation in Drosophila, using the embryonic development of the musculature as a model system Academic Appointment: Associate Professor, Department of Anatomy & Cell Biology, The University of Kansas Medical Center Peter Baumann, Ph.D., Associate Investigator and Howard Hughes Medical Institute Early Career Investigator, joined the Stowers Institute in 2002 after completing a Howard Hughes Medical Institute postdoctoral fellowship in the laboratory of Dr. Thomas R. Cech at the University of Colorado-Boulder. Dr. Baumann received a Ph.D. in biochemistry from the Imperial Cancer Research Fund and University College, London. Research Focus: Functional analysis of telomeres and their roles in cellular immortality and cancer Academic Appointment: Associate Professor, Department of Molecular & Integrative Physiology, The University of Kansas Medical Center Marco Blanchette, Ph.D., Assistant Investigator, joined the Stowers Institute in 2006 from a postdoctoral position with Dr. Donald C. Rio at the University of California-Berkeley where he was recipient of a Human Frontier Long-Term Fellowship. Dr. Blanchette received a Ph.D. degree in microbiology from the Université de Sherbrooke, Canada. Research Focus: Functional genomic analysis of the mechanisms controlling alternative pre-mRNA splicing Academic Appointment: Assistant Professor, Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, The University of Kansas Medical Center Joan Conaway, Ph.D., Investigator, joined the Stowers Institute in 2001 from the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation where she was an Associate Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and interim head of the program in Molecular and Cell Biology. Dr. Conaway received her doctorate in cell biology from Stanford University School of Medicine. Research Focus: Analysis of the molecular mechanism and regulation of gene transcription Academic Appointment: Professor, Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, The University of Kansas Medical Center Ronald Conaway, Ph.D., Investigator, joined the Stowers Institute in 2001 from the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation where he was holder of the Chapman Chair in Medical Research. Dr. Conaway received his Ph.D. in biochemistry from Stanford University School of Medicine. Research Focus: Analysis of the molecular mechanism and regulation of gene transcription Academic Appointment: Professor, Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, The University of Kansas Medical Center Jennifer Gerton, Ph.D., Associate Investigator, joined the Stowers Institute in 2002 from a postdoctoral fellowship in the laboratory of Dr. Joseph DeRisi in the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics at the University of California-San Francisco. Dr. Gerton received a Ph.D. in microbiology and immunology from Stanford University. Research Focus: Genomic and genetic analysis of chromosome segregation and chromosome dynamics Academic Appointment: Associate Professor, Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, The University of Kansas Medical Center Matthew Gibson, Ph.D., Assistant Investigator, joined the Stowers Institute in 2006 from a Jane Coffin Childs Memorial Fund postdoctoral fellowship with Dr. Norbert Perrimon at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Gibson received a Ph.D. in zoology from the University of Washington. Research Focus: Genetic analysis of mechanisms controlling signal transduction, cell proliferation and epithelial morphogenesis during Drosophila development Academic Appointment: Assistant Professor, Department of Anatomy & Cell Biology, The University of Kansas Medical Center R. Scott Hawley, Ph.D., Investigator, joined the Stowers Institute in 2001 from the University of California-Davis where he was a professor of genetics in the Molecular and Cellular Biology section. Dr. Hawley earned a Ph.D. in genetics from the University of Washington and completed postdoctoral training as a Helen Hay Whitney Fellow at the Institute for Cancer Research in Philadelphia. Research Focus: Investigation of mechanisms that influence how chromosomes pair and segregate during meiosis using Drosophila as an experimental system Academic Appointments: Professor, Department of Molecular & Integrative Physiology, The University of Kansas Medical Center; Adjunct Professor of Biological Sciences at the University of Missouri Kansas City; Adjunct Professor of Undergraduate Program in Biology, The University of Kansas Sue Jaspersen, Ph.D., Assistant Investigator, joined the Stowers Institute in 2005 from the laboratory of Dr. Mark Winey at the University of Colorado-Boulder where she was a Keck Foundation Fellow, a Helen Hay Whitney Fellow, and the recipient of a Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Career Development Award. Dr. Jaspersen holds a Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of California-San Francisco. Research Focus: Inner nuclear membrane protein localization and role in chromosome positioning and segregation Academic Appointment: Assistant Professor, Department of Molecular & Integrative Physiology, The University of Kansas Medical Center Linheng Li, Ph.D., Investigator, joined the Stowers Institute in 2000 from the University of Washington Medical Center where he held a faculty appointment after completing postdoctoral training in the laboratory directed by Dr. Leroy Hood. Dr. Li earned his Ph.D. in molecular and cellular biology from New York University Medical School under the mentoring of Dr. Edward Ziff. Research Focus: Investigation of molecular and genetic pathways controlling adult stem cell development in the hematopoietic and intestinal systems using transgenic and gene targeting animal model approaches Academic Appointment: Professor, Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, The University of Kansas Medical Center Rong Li, Ph.D., Investigator, joined the Stowers Institute in 2005 from the Department of Cell Biology at Harvard Medical School where she served as an Associate Professor. She earned a Ph.D. in cell biology at the University of California-San Francisco with Dr. Andrew Murray and held a Damon Runyon-Walter Winchell Cancer Research Fellowship as a postdoctoral associate with Dr. David Drubin at the University of California-Berkeley. Research Focus: Mechanism of cell polarization and cell motility, biochemical basis of dynamics in the actin cytoskeleton, and how eukaryotic cells divide Academic Appointment: Professor, Department of Molecular & Integrative Physiology, The University of Kansas Medical Center Ho Yi Mak, Ph.D., Assistant Investigator, joined the Stowers Institute in 2006 from a Human Frontier Science Program postdoctoral fellowship in the laboratory of Dr. Gary Ruvkun at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Mak received a Ph.D. in molecular pathology from the Imperial Cancer Research Fund and University College, London. Research Focus: Genetic and molecular analysis on endocrine control of fat storage Academic Appointment: Assistant Professor, Department of Molecular & Integrative Physiology, The University of Kansas Medical Center Ali Shilatifard, Ph.D., Investigator, joined the Stowers Institute in 2007 from the Saint Louis University School of Medicine where he was a Professor of Biochemistry and Associate Director for Basic Sciences at the Saint Louis University Cancer Center. Dr. Shilatifard earned a Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of Georgia and the University of Oklahoma School of Medicine and completed postdoctoral training as a Jane Coffin Childs Fellow at the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation. Research Focus: Molecular pathway of leukemogenesis Kausik Si, Ph.D., Assistant Investigator, joined the Stowers Institute in 2005 from the laboratory of Dr. Eric Kandel at Columbia University Center for Neurobiology and Behavior where he was a Jane Coffin Childs Fellow and a Francis Goelet Fellow in Neuroscience. Dr. Si earned a Ph.D. in molecular biology from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Research Focus: Role of synaptic protein synthesis in information acquisition and memory storage Academic Appointment: Assistant Professor, Department of Molecular & Integrative Physiology, The University of Kansas Medical Center Paul Trainor, Ph.D., Associate Investigator, joined the Stowers Institute in 2001 from a research position at the National Institute for Medical Research at Mill Hill, London, where he completed postdoctoral training. Dr. Trainor has a Ph.D. in developmental biology from Children's Medical Research Institute at the University of Sydney, Australia. Research Focus: Investigation of the interactions between distinct tissues in the body and their regulation during normal development to reveal pathways that regulate normal cranial and facial development Academic Appointment: Assistant Professor, Department of Anatomy & Cell Biology, The University of Kansas Medical Center Jerry Workman, Ph.D., Investigator, joined the Stowers Institute in 2003 from the Pennsylvania State University where he held the Paul Berg Professorship of Biochemistry and was an Associate Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Dr. Workman earned a Ph.D. in cell and molecular biology from the University of Michigan and completed postdoctoral training at the Rockefeller University with Dr. Bob Roeder. Research Focus: Study of the protein complexes that modify chromatin Ting Xie, Ph.D., Investigator, joined the Stowers Institute in 2000 after completing a Howard Hughes Medical Institute postdoctoral fellowship in the laboratory of Dr. Allan C. Spradling at the Carnegie Institution of Washington. Dr. Xie received his Ph.D. from the Joint Graduate Program in Molecular Biology and Biochemistry of Rutgers University and the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. Research Focus: Genetic and molecular analysis of stem cells and germ cell development in Drosophila and mouse Academic Appointment: Professor, Department of Anatomy & Cell Biology, The University of Kansas Medical Center C. Ron Yu, Ph.D., Assistant Investigator, joined the Stowers Institute in 2005 from the laboratory of Dr. Richard Axel at Columbia University Center for Neurobiology and Behavior where he held a National Institutes of Health Mentored Research Scientist Award from the National Institute of Mental Health. Dr. Yu earned his Ph.D. in molecular, cellular, and biophysical studies at Columbia University. Research Focus: How olfactory sensory information is detected, integrated, and processed in the brain to influence specific innate behaviors Academic Appointment: Assistant Professor, Department of Anatomy & Cell Biology, The University of Kansas Medical Center Julia Zeitlinger, Ph.D., Assistant Investigator, joined the Stowers Institute in 2007 from the lab of Dr. Richard Young at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research at Massachusetts Institute of Technology where she was the recipient of a long-term postdoctoral fellowship from the Human Frontier Science Program. Dr. Zeitlinger earned a Ph.D. in molecular biology from the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Heidelberg, Germany. Research Focus: Analysis of the gene regulatory networks underlying cellular differentiation Academic Appointment: Assistant Professor, Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, The University of Kansas Medical Center Technology Centers Paul Kulesa, Ph.D., Director of Imaging Center, joined the Stowers Institute in 2002 after completing a Burroughs Wellcome Fund postdoctoral fellowship in the laboratory of Dr. Scott E. Fraser at the California Institute of Technology. Dr. Kulesa received a Ph.D. in applied mathematics under Dr. J.D. Murray at the University of Washington. Research Focus: Cell migration in development and cancer Academic Appointment: Associate Professor, Department of Anatomy & Cell Biology, The University of Kansas Medical Center Arcady Mushegian, Ph.D., Director of Bioinformatics Center, joined the Stowers Institute in 2001 from Akkadix Corporation in San Diego where he led the bioinformatics program. Dr. Mushegian earned a doctorate in molecular biology at Moscow State University and received training at the University of Kentucky, University of Washington, and with Dr. Eugene Koonin at the National Center for Biotechnology Information at the U.S. National Institutes of Health. Research Focus: Computational analysis of genes and proteins Academic Appointment: Professor, Department of Microbiology, Molecular Genetics & Immunology, The University of Kansas Medical Center Michael Washburn, Ph.D., Director of Proteomics Center, joined the Stowers Institute in 2003 from the Torrey Mesa Research Institute in San Diego where he was a Senior Staff Scientist in Proteomics. He earned a Ph.D. in biochemistry and environmental toxicology from Michigan State University before completing a postdoctoral fellowship with Professor John Yates, III in the Department of Molecular Biotechnology at the University of Washington. Research Focus: Quantitative proteomics and protein complex dynamics Academic Appointment: Associate Professor, Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, The University of Kansas Medical Center Additional Academic Appointments William Neaves, Ph.D., President Emeritus Academic Appointment: Professor of Medical Science, The University of Missouri at Kansas City School of Medicine Leanne Wiedemann, Ph.D., Staff Scientist Academic Appointment: Professor, Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, The University of Kansas Medical Center