People
CURRENT MEMBERS OF THE WEAKE LAB
Sarah Stanhope
Sarah McGovern
Gaoya (Grace) Meng
Gaoya (Grace) Meng received a Bachelor of Science in Horticulture from Zhejiang University in 2020. Grace joined Purdue’s biochemistry PhD program in 2021 and has been working in the Weake lab since March 2022. Grace’s research focuses on understanding how changes in histone methylation affect the expression of circadian clock genes in the Drosophila eye.
Seth Lammert
Makayla Marlin
Makayla Marlin received a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry from Purdue University in 2023. She joined the Weake lab as an undergraduate student in 2021 and is obtaining her Master’s in Biochemistry while continuing her previous work studying epigenetic changes, specifically in histones, within the eyes of aging flies. Makayla’s publications are available through ORCID.
Doris Kemler
Doris Kemler grew up in Switzerland and moved to the United States because of herhusband’s work, joining the Purdue family 20 years ago. She recently joined the group of Dr. Vikki Weake in August 2023, after having worked in different labs at Purdue before. Doris brings expertise in Drosophila work to the lab and provides assistance with large-scale Drosophila genomic experiments. In her free time, Doris loves to make concrete jewelry and acrylic fluid art.
Claudia Kotanko
Claudia Kotanko received a bachelor's degree in agro-industrial civil engineering at the Adventist University of Chile in 2011. Her research focused on the microbiological development and evaluation of antimicrobial films for Food products. She also worked for the Regional Ministerial Health Secretary in Chillan, Chile. She spent several years processing olives as a quality control supervisor. In 2014, Claudia completed her master’s degree in international management from the Private University of Tacna, in association with Montesquieu Bordeaux IV University in France. She is currently working as a research assistant with Professor Vikki Weake in Purdue’s Biochemistry Department.
Undergraduate Researchers
Dr. Vikki Weake
Dr. Vikki Weake received a Bachelor of Science with first class honors in Biochemistry and Plant Biology in 2002 and Ph.D. in Genetics from Massey University, New Zealand in 2006. After a postdoc with Dr. Jerry Workman at the Stowers Institute for Medical Research in Kansas City, Missouri, she joined the Biochemistry department in 2012. Dr. Weake is a member of the Purdue University Center for Cancer Research and the Purdue Institute for Integrative Neuroscience. Dr. Weake's publications are available through Google Scholar
Anik Paul
In memory of Anik Paul who was a member of our group from 2021 - 2023. Anik received a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in 2014 and Master of Science in 2015 in same major from University of Dhaka, Bangladesh. After 6 months working as a research officer in International Center for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b) he joined as lecturer in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Dhaka in 2016. Then he moved to Purdue University in the fall of 2021 for a Ph.D. in Biochemistry and joined Dr. Weake's lab in March 2022. Anik’s research focused on understanding the role of the Chiffon protein in Drosophila embryogenesis. Anik's publications are available through Google Scholar and ORCID.