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Research Catalyst
LAB MEMBERS
Our lives are not our own. We are bound to others, past and present, and by each crime and every kindness, we birth our future. David Mitchell
Angelo D'Alessandro, PhD
Principal Investigator
Angelo D’Alessandro is a tenured Full Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics. He is the founder and Director of the Metabolomics Core of CU Anschutz School of Medicine and the director of the Mass Spectrometry Shared Resource for the University of Colorado Cancer Center. Age 39, he has published over 500 papers, research sponsored by NHLBI, NIDDK and NIGMS. He is the founder and CSO of Omix Technologies Inc, Altis Biosciences, and serves as an advisory board member for Hemanext Inc, and Macopharma. He is a Boettcher Investigator, AABB Hall of Fame, Jean Julliard (ISBT) and RISE (AABB) awardee. He is also an affiliate investigator to the Vitalant Research Institute, the Linda Crnic Institute for Down syndrome, the Gates Grubstake Center for Regenerative Medicine.
Julie A. Reisz Haines, PhD
Associate Director of Metabolomics; Assistant Research Professor
Julie is a native of Pittsburgh and has a B.S. in Chemistry from Allegheny College and Ph.D. in Chemistry from Wake Forest University. Her Ph.D. work focused on the reactivity of nitrogen oxides with synthetic organophosphines and thiol- and heme-containing enzymes. Her postdoctoral projects at Wake Forest School of Medicine (Section on Molecular Medicine) studied redox modifications of protein cysteines, particularly in the peroxiredoxin family, using MS-based proteomics. After a short stint teaching undergraduate organic chemistry, she joined the D’Alessandro lab in 2015 where she contributes to RBC metabolism projects and manages the CU SOM Metabolomics Core. Her specific research interests include metabolic responses along the spectrum from hypoxia to oxidative stress and in particular, RBC protein oxidation. Outside of science, Julie is a parent of 3 young kiddos and an avid runner.
Travis Nemkov, PhD
Associate Research Professor
Travis specializes in studying blood's pivotal role in maintaining the body's balance and its transportation functions for nutrients, waste, cells, and signaling molecules. Using cutting-edge mass spectrometry-based methods, we explore diverse blood samples to identify unique signatures distinguishing healthy and diseased states. These findings play a critical role in refining blood transfusion treatments, supporting cancer patients experiencing anemia, fatigue, or cachexia, and optimizing endurance training. Alongside this, Travis is developing a high-throughput screening platform that has already examined over 20,000 compound-cell line interactions, shedding light on their metabolic impacts. These integrated platforms enable us to study large human cohorts, deciphering biological phenomena and linking signatures to drug-metabolome interactions. Over the last decade, they've driven numerous publications and patents, fueling our excitement for future breakthroughs.
Monika Dzieciatkowska, PhD
Director of Mass Spectrometry operations
Monika is our local mass spec expert, in that she can disassemble and reassemble any of our "toys" in the lab. Her expertise and analytical skills are essential to the routine operations of the Hansen and D'Alessandro Labs, as well as of the Cores they direct.
Aaron Issaian, PhD
Research Associate
Aaron graduated in Structural Biology and Biochemistry in the Hansen Lab. During his PhD he developed techniques to perform protein-protein interaction studies through chemical cross-linkers in multiple samples through TMT approaches. He also developed thermal proteome profiling and PISA assays to probe protein-protein or metabolite-protein interactions. His main current project is on the role of band 3 in RBC biology.
Shaun Bever is an honest-goodness Colorado Native who grew up in the Denver Metro area and received his B.S. in Chemistry from Colorado School of Mines. After a successful stint as the Facility Manager of the Biophysics Core at the University of Colorado Anschutz, Shaun returned to Colorado School of Mines to earn a Ph.D. in Geochemisty. His graduate work focused on the application of Atomic Mass Spectrometry to study the degradation of anthropogenic nanomaterials in the environment. After graduate school, Shaun returned to the University of Colorado Anshutz Medical Campus where he joined the D’Alessandro lab where he applies his broad knowledge base in analytical chemistry, biomolecular structure and mass spectrometry to core and research projects.
Daniel Stephenson, PhD
Senior Research Associate
Daniel recently joined the lab as a senior staff member in the metabolomics core. As part of his PhD work and training he specialized on lipidomics analyses via mass spectrometry, though his solid analytical chemistry skills were readily transferable to metabolomics and ICP-MS applications.
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Colin Anderson, PhD, MSFS
Research Associate
Colin grew up in Dallas, TX (Go Cowboys) and received his B.S. in biology from Southwestern University near Austin, TX. He then went on to pursue a career in forensics, earning his master's in forensic science from Sam Houston State University near Houston, TX and working over four years as a forensic chemist at the Maricopa County (Phoenix, AZ) Office of the Medical Examiner. He then migrated to Denver to earn his Ph.D. in toxicology at the School of Pharmacy under Dr. James Roede, his thesis project involving molecular mechanisms of toxicity of the pesticide maneb in neuronal cell culture as a toxicant model of Parkinson's disease. Of note, Colin collaborated with core lab during his thesis, publishing several papers on nutrient flux metabolomics with the group. After graduating, Colin travelled out west for a short post-doc at the Buck Institute for Aging under Dr. Martin Brand, followed by a short industry post at BioMarin Pharmaceuticals. Colin and his family are excited to be back in Colorado and encourage you to come out and see his band (Uncle Beef's Band) of fellow scientists around town!
Francesca Cendali
PhD Candidate
Francesca, a Colorado native, uses advanced mass spectrometry to explore how exercise influences proteomic and metabolomic profiles in humans and mice. Her research focuses on how heightened oxidative stress from intense exercise affects metabolic pathways and cardiovascular health, complemented by studies on red blood cell and heart morphologies using hemodynamics and electron microscopy. Focused on conditions like cardiovascular diseases, hemolytic disorders, and cancer, Francesca aims to reveal the broader impact of exercise on metabolic pathways and how oxidative stress can be overcome. Outside of science, she enjoys attending rodeos, volunteering at the National Western Stock Show, and spending time with family and friends.
Alicia Key, MS
PhD Candidate
Alicia's research interests revolve around red blood cells, focusing on the integration of metabolomics and systems biology. She seeks to explore the metabolic pathways within red blood cells to better understand their functionality and potential applications in health and disease. Alicia's work aims to bridge the gap between molecular-level data and system-level behavior, offering insights into the dynamic interactions governing red blood cell biology.
Sotirios Fortis, Ms, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow
Sotirios is a biologist (Integrated Master's from the Department of Biological Applications and Technology, University of Ioannina, Greece) with a Master’s degree and PhD in cancer immunology from National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. His research was oriented, from the beginning, around cancer Immunology and the discovery of novel biomarkers in health and disease. He has conducted postdoctoral research in the field of cancer biomarkers and the role of blood cells in pathophysiology. Applying -omics techniques poses a challenge for him as he seeks to investigate the functional and biochemical changes related to disease at the cellular and organism level.
Molly Boettiger
Professional Research Assistant
Molly Boettiger joined the lab as an Entry-level staff member in the Metabolomics CORE working with samples running Mass Spectrometry and Liquid Chromatography. She is a Colorado native and grew up in Security-Widefield. She graduated from the University of Colorado Colorado Springs with a B.S. in Biology. She was involved in undergraduate research working with the PRIDE study at UCCS, Prenatal Insomnia Depression, looking at how sleep can affect mood during the three trimesters of pregnancy and postpartum. She is interested in Genetics and Genomics, RBC's, Biochemistry, Cancer, and fertility research. Outside of the science world, she is involved in Taekwondo, music, family, and loves spending time in nature!
Anit Tyagi
Professional Research Assistant
Anit is a PRA specializing in UHPLC-MS analyses. He graduated from the University of Denver and has had prior research experiences in cancer biology, Alzheimer's disease, and restoration ecology labs. Outside of the lab, Anit enjoys volunteering for underserved populations. He started and currently manages a “living history” memoir program for veterans at several VA hospitals in Colorado.
Alumni
ALUMNI
Thank you for everything and best of luck for your future long and successful careers
Alexander Barrett, PhD
Alexis Catala, PhD
Benjamin Brown
Changhan Chen, MD
Connie Zheng, DO
Devin P Champagne, PhD
Evan J Morrison
Matthew J Wither, PhD
Ian LaCroix, PhD
Amy Argabright
Sarah Gehrke
David Nerguizian
Keisha Alexander, MSc
Lorenzo Bertolone, PhD
Rebecca Burgoyne
Micaela Kalani Roy
Rachel Culp-Hill, PhD
Davide Stefanoni, PhD
Fabia Gamboni, PhD
Abby Grier
Hansen Lab
Extended Family - the HANSEN Lab
Daily partners and friends. Like in Hebb's postulate, we fire together - wire together
Max McCabe, PhD
Research Associate and ECM Manager
After graduating from Rollins College with a degree in Biochemistry, Max McCabe spent time working as a research associate in the medical field before pursuing his PhD in the Hansen Lab in 2017. Max is using proteomics to characterize the composition and architecture of the Extracellular Matrix across different organs, with the ultimate goal of composing an organ-specific ECM Atlas. Outside of the lab Max enjoys hiking, playing and seeing music, and cooking.
Anthony Saviola, PhD
Research Assistant and Proteomics Core Manager
Anthony received his doctoral degree in the Mackessy Lab in May of 2015 and most recently worked as a research associate in the Yates Lab at The Scripps Research institute before moving back to Colorado at the beginning of 2021. To date, Anthony has largely applied quantitative proteomic techniques to characterize the compositional trends and pharmacological properties of animal venoms.
Kirk C. Hansen, PhD
Associate Professor and Proteomics Core Director
Friend and mentor, Dr. Kirk C. Hansen is a world leading expert in the field of quantitative and extracellular matrix proteomics. Former UCSF and CalTech alumnus, over the past decade Dr. Hansen and his Lab have invested on the development and translational application of analytical strategies for the detection and quantification of proteins in health and disease, with a particular focus on the extracellular matrix component. Kirk has been a great mentor and friend (Angelo has Post-doc'ed in Kikr's Lab). Dr. Hansen also Directs the Proteomics Core of the School of Medicine at the University of Colorado Denver.
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