Akhila Rajan | AUG 2016 |
Associate professor
During my undergrad thesis, at NCBS/TIFR in India, with Mike Bate and K. VijayRaghavan, I did a simple genetic screen in fruit-flies on how coordinated movement is genetically specified and assembled in embryos. Since then I have been hooked by the power of the Drosophila system to uncover fundamental principles in biology. During my graduate work with Hugo Bellen at the Baylor College of Medicine, I studied how cell-fate decisions are regulated by cell biological processes. For my post-doctoral training, I joined Norbert Perrimon’s lab at the Harvard Medical School to investigate signaling pathways in fat-brain communication. There, I identified how fly fat communicates with neural circuits to release insulin in response to nutrient state. Strikingly, I found that the fat-brain communication circuit is surprisingly similar in humans and fruit-flies, as human Leptin can substitute for its counterpart in flies.
At the Hutch, from August 2016, my lab is focused on uncovering how adipokines control physiology in healthy and dysfunctional states. Our work is poised to reveal novel insights on the regulation of cognition, immunity and behavior by fat.
Away from the bench, my favorite activity is playing table games and cooking with my 5-year old.
Kevin KELLY |
Sept 2020 |
NSF POST-DOC Fellow.
My research interests are the interaction of circadian rhythms (24-hour oscillations of biological processes in response to the earth’s daily cycle) on metabolism. I did my graduate student work at Carl Johnson’s lab in Vanderbilt University. My studies revealed that, in both mice and humans, time of meal consumption regulates metabolism by altering carbohydrate/lipid oxidation rates. This has become an exciting new realm of research in circadian biology with many questions still to be answered. In particular interest to me, it is still unknown which metabolic regulators are responsible for time-dependent feeding changes seen and how the circadian clock influences them.
In the Rajan lab, I plan to investigate an unexpected and novel role for Atg8/LC3 and Upd2/Leptin in gene regulation, and the subsequent effects of this on lipid metabolism and feeding motivation. Then, determine if a similar mechanism is present in mammalian systems. I am excited to bridge the gap between fly and mammal energy homeostasis and believe this will shed light on the mechanisms behind my previous research on timing of feeding.
Outside of the lab, I enjoy cooking new dishes, watching movies, and exploring the great outdoors with my fiancé and corgi.
Shannon Marschall I OCt 2023 | Post-BACC FELLOW
I received my MS in Biochemical and Molecular Nutrition with a specialization in Cognitive Neuroscience from Tufts University. During my graduate studies, I worked as a student research assistant for the Neuroscience and Aging lab at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging. I completed my graduate work with Tong Zheng, investigating the effects of a low Vitamin K diet on cognition in an aged mouse model. We investigated how the deficient diet affected hippocampal neurogenesis. My research interests lie in the intersection of nutrition and neuroscience, and I am excited to broaden my skill set and explore how different dietary patterns affect the circuitry of the nervous system and influence behavior. Hence, I am excited to work on a new collaborative project between the Rajan and Subramaniam labs, to identify non-canonical translational events. Specifically, using RiboSeq, I investigate whether diets alter micro peptides in fat and brain tissues in flies (see example). Our goal is to examine whether non-canonical translational events in the fat and brain affect systemic processes such as food seeking behaviors. Food and eating are integral parts of the human experience, and I find the complexity and systemic effects of what we choose to eat fascinating. Outside of work, I love to travel, go to the beach, go skiing, cook, and go to concerts. I just relocated from Boston and am excited to explore the West Coast!
Jordan Wong | Jan 2023 | Research Tech
I am a graduate with a Microbiology major at the University of Washington. My research career began with the Tait Wojno immunology lab at UW. In my freshman and sophomore years, I volunteered by aiding in research about the CRTH2-PDG 2 pathway responses during helminth induced Type 2 Inflammation in mice. My hope in the coming years with the Rajan Lab is to build my science skills and experience in research to explore a career in lab management. I have the benefit of my role consistently asking me to learn new ideas and techniques – which I appreciate very much. If I wasn’t studying science, I would be working in the media/entertainment industry as I am really intrigued by the production of theme parks, movies and anime. I have a corgi named Finn and he is my best friend. Other than that, I played basketball for 10+ years so I enjoy playing from time to time at my local courts. Something to know about me is that I’m always down for an adventure!
Sunidhi Ranganathan | MaR 2022 | Research Tech
I majored in Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology at the University of Washington. I started as an undergraduate lab aide at the Rajan Lab. Having gained valuable experience with molecular projects and fly work, and having assisted the lab with their research on the mechanisms of fat physiology, I am deeply interested in fat-brain communication mechanisms and running my project on new signals. I hope to learn more about the areas of research I’d like to investigate the future, as well as build a foundation for grad school. Outside of work and school, you can find me frequenting coffee shops in Seattle, baking, or reading a good book.
Vaishnavi Annamraju | Nov 2025 | Undergrad Researcher
I am an undergraduate student at the University of Washington intending to major in neuroscience. My research journey started with a Biotechnology class I took in high school where I learned basic lab techniques that I was able to apply through a summer biochemistry research internship at WSU. As a part of the Rajan lab, I hope to develop my understanding of the research process and the relationship between brain and body mechanisms to further explore my neuroscience interests. Outside of school and science, I love to read a good book, experiment with new recipes, and sing.
Lab Alumni
Ava Brent / STAFF SCIENTIST /
[Aug 2016- Mar 2021]
Ava was a founding member of the Rajan lab. She trained at Cliff Tabin’s lab for her graduate work at Harvard medical School and at Claude Desplan’s lab in NYU for her post-doctoral training. In the Rajan Lab, she spearheaded a projects on neural control of metabolism. She identified how Upd2/Leptin controls synapse number in target neurons based on body fat levels. These findings were published in Cell Metabolism Sep, 2020. Ava’s contributions are felt many years after she left our lab, as seen by the many co-authorships she has on our lab publication. Ava is now a lecturer at Barnard College in Columbia University, New York.
Aditi Madan /
STAFF Scientist / [Jan 2021- nov 2025]
Aditi was a foundational pillar of the Rajan Lab. Trained as a muscle biologist, she completed her graduate work at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) in Upendra Nongthomba’s lab, where she first discovered the power of Drosophila genetics through studies of skeletal muscle development and function. She continued her deep exploration of muscle biology during her postdoctoral work with Anthony Cammarato at Johns Hopkins University, interrogating cardiac thin filament dynamics and the cascading physiological consequences of point mutations—spanning single-molecule to whole-organism analyses across multiple model systems.
In the Rajan Lab, Aditi played a central role in two major scientific stories: defining the first role for Atg8 in adipokine secretion (Current Biology, 2024) and uncovering a new adipose–glial communication axis (Cell Reports, 2025). She is an exceptionally skilled Drosophila geneticist whose experimental precision, intellectual generosity, and mentoring excellence have shaped the culture and scientific rigor of our group. Her impact extends far beyond her own projects—she has guided, taught, and uplifted numerous junior scientists, and her imprint remains woven into the fabric of our lab.
We are deeply grateful for Aditi’s scientific breadth, creativity, and warmth. We hope our paths cross again in the future.
Michelle poling / research technician/ [Jan 2018-May 2021]
Michelle joined the lab as a research technician after her undergraduate at UC, Davis. Michelle worked on many projects, but was the key driver for work which led to identification of Atg8’s role in Upd2’s nucleocytoplasmic localization [Poling, Sullivan, Brent, Hafer, Rajan, bioRxiv, Feb 2021]. In Fall 2021, Michelle is headed to graduate school in Keck Genomics program in California.
Camille Sullivan / research technician/ [Jul 2018-May 2021]
Camille joined the Rajan lab as a research technician after her undergraduate at Princeton. Camille worked on many projects, but was the key driver for hunger-driven feeding motivation and physiology assays in Rajan lab. This led to identification of critical time-window of loss of nutrient-sensing in adult flies. We are preparing this work for submssion in July 2021. She was also a key driver on many studies from the lab especially mapping the obesogenic diet breaking point in feeding behavior. In Fall 2021, Camille headed to Waltham, Massachusetts for a PhD program in Brandeis University and is currently pursuing her PhD these in the Roshbash lab at Brandeis.
Patrick Bahk / Research Technician / [Aug 2023- JuN 2024]
Patrick joined the Rajan lab in summer of 2023 after graduating from Notre Dame. In a short period, Patrick made important contributions to our studies, published in Current Biology 2024, about how Atg8/LC3 controls nutrient surplus signaling in flies and humans. In Jul 2024, Patrick began his MD program School at University of Washington, Seattle.
Mroj Alassaf / Helen Hay Whitney fellow / [Dec 2020- Sep 2024]
Mroj joined our lab in the thick of the pandemic, and in a short time made numerous contributions. Mroj spear-headed the labs entry into how the brain functions on obesogenic diets- especially in understanding how diets affect glial phagocytic function leading to a well received study in PLoS Biology 2023. She conceptually developed ideas on adipocyte control of glial phagocytic competence that we preprinted Sep 2024. Signficantly, she discovered a non-canonical fat to brain communication axis involving mitochondrial signaling, for which she was awarded the Helen Hay Whitney Fellowship. The lab is working out this novel pathway. Mroj returned back home to the middle east to develop scientific outreach in Saudi Arabia.
LauRA Holderbaum/ LAB MANAGER & TECHNICIAN
[AUGUST 2016- MAY 2019]
ZACH GOLDBERG/ RESEARCH TECHNICIAN [SEPTemBER 2017- MAY 2019]
Currently a graduate student at Michael Perry’s lab in UCSD.