Assistant Investigator Siva Sankari, Ph.D.

Sankari, a plant biologist and biochemist, joined the Institute from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as an Assistant Investigator in May 2023. Her lab investigates symbiosis, a mutually beneficial arrangement between bacteria and their host organisms. More specifically, Sankari studies the biochemical mechanisms for how plants harness microbes to perform essential functions. Plants produce peptides, tiny proteins built from amino acids, that in turn influence host-microbe interactions. Understanding the mechanisms governing the relatively simple symbiotic system between plants and microbes may provide key insights into host-bacteria relationships in more complex systems like humans.

Assistant Investigator Neşet Özel, Ph.D.

From New York University, Özel, a neurobiologist, joined the Stowers Institute as an Assistant Investigator in January 2024. His research focuses on uncovering brain development by integrating developmental neurobiology, systems biology, and gene regulation studies. This multidisciplinary approach investigates the formation of complex neuronal circuitry in the brains of the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, expanding the current understanding of brain cell identity and yielding insights into our ability to predictively alter neuronal identity and connectivity, ultimately leading to improved neuronal cell replacement therapy applications.

Assistant Investigator Ameya Mashruwala, Ph.D.

Also in January 2024, Mashruwala, a bacterial biologist and geneticist, joined the Stowers Institute as an Assistant Investigator. Arriving from Princeton University, the Mashruwala Lab studies bacterial communities, including those responsible for causing cholera disease. In these communities, bacteria exhibit complex social behaviors, including a process called regulated cell death, which unfolds in precise spatial and temporal patterns. While regulated cell death in multicellular organisms is a well understood process for development and regeneration, it remains a mystery in bacteria. Understanding why some bacteria die, while others survive, in a bacterial community may reveal biological principles that inform studies in humans, and also guide the design of new classes of antibiotics to combat cholera and other infectious diseases.

Assistant Investigator Kamena Kostova, Ph.D.

Kostova, a cellular and molecular biologist joined the Institute in June 2024, as its newest Assistant Investigator. Previously serving as an Independent Fellow at the Carnegie Institution for Science, she brings with her an established lab and track record for success. Her lab focuses on uncovering how complex conditions like cancer first start by studying damage and defects in ribosome structure and function. Using cutting-edge technologies, the lab maps the molecular mechanisms that maintain functional ribosomes and aims to unlock fundamental biological principles governing these critical machines to contribute to the understanding of human health and disease.