lab members
Annika F. Barber, Ph.D.
Assistant professor
Annika has always wondered how life works! She started working in a microbiology lab at age 12, and got hooked on lab life. Annika got her Bachelor of Science at Bryn Athyn College, where she worked in labs at Fox Chase Cancer Center and Thomas Jefferson University investigating mechanisms of DNA double-strand break repair. She did her doctoral work at Thomas Jefferson University with Manuel Covarrubias, mapping binding sites for inhaled anesthetics in voltage gated ion channels and developing Markov models of how anesthetics impair channel gating. Annika moved from single cell patch clamp electrophysiology to Drosophila behavior when she started her Postdoctoral Fellowship with Amita Sehgal at the University of Pennsylvania. In her postdoc, Annika investigated how a circadian output region regulates sleep, feeding and metabolic function. This piqued her interest in understanding the complex interplay of neuropeptides in Drosophila behavioral circuitry.
Michael Fetchko, Ph.D.
Laboratory Manager, senior researcher
Mike received his doctorate in Molecular Biology and Biochemistry at Pennsylvania State University working with Zhi-Chun Lai to identify key signaling genes involved in Drosophila eye development. He subsequently became a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Zurich with Igor Stagliar, where he developed new tools in yeast to investigate membrane protein interactions. Mike remained in Switzerland as a junior group leader with Walter Schaffner, returning to fruit flies where he led a group investigating the maintenance of heavy metal homeostasis in Drosophila and identified a male-specific role for a copper transporter in testis development. After working in other industries and becoming a beekeeper, we are happy to welcome Mike back into the fruit fly fold as a senior researcher in the Barber Lab!
Stephen Ratner
UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCHER
Stephen is a Molecular Biology and Biochemistry Major at Rutgers University with a double minor in English and Chemistry. He is an avid hiker, kayaker, and aspiring physician. His enjoyment of chemistry and biology stems from his love of cooking and baking. Stephen is primarily working on the Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) project along with Mike using a Closed Cortical Crusher to compress fly heads. Stephen works to administer primary head injury and to explore the downstream molecular pathways of secondary injury in flies.
NAUREEN HAMEED
DOCTORAL STUDENT
Naureen received her BS degree in Biotechnology from Rutgers. Before joining the Barber Lab, Naureen worked for a year at the FDA designing, expressing, and purifying a coagulation protein for therapeutic purposes and later worked at the Child Health Institute at Rutgers investigating diabetes onset in the context of insulin and other hormonal/peptide sensing in the pancreas-innervating nodose ganglia neurons. Currently, Naureen is investigating neuromodulation of insulin producing cells in Drosophila. Naureen values spontaneity and is always up to going on trips to see the sunrise with anybody who will go with her.
Khushbakht Butt
Undergraduate researcher
Khushbakht Butt is completing her bachelor's degree in Molecular Biology and Biochemistry. Outside of school and lab work, she also works as a pharmacy technician to learn more about drugs and their effects on the body.
Chenyue zhao
Undergraduate researcher
Chenyue is continuing his Bachelor’s degree in biochemistry protein structure. His original enthusiasm in science is from discovery channel. He used to work in a pharmaceutical company in China to do the data analysis. Outside the lab, he loves watching soccer game, and is a super fan for Manchester City in EPL!
Akanksha Mathivanan
Undergraduate Researcher
Akanksha is completing her Bachelor’s degree in Cell Biology and Neuroscience at Rutgers University. Her passion for studying neuroscience, especially Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), stems from having a TBI herself in 2019 that she continues to deal with and a desire to dive deep into understanding how life and humans work. Outside of the lab, she loves to cook and eat food, workout and play any sport, vibe to all kinds of music, and is eager to meet new people and keep learning new things everyday!
Seanna Kelly
Doctoral Student
Seanna received BS degree in Biochemistry at Rutgers where she worked in a zebrafish toxicology lab investigating the effects of various microplastics on zebrafish embryonic development. Her research interests include genetics, neurodegenerative diseases, and developmental biology. Outside of lab, Seanna likes hiking, water polo, cooking, and random trips to new museums or exhibits.
Evan Cirone
Undergraduate researcher
Evan is completing his Bachelor’s degree in Cell Biology and Neuroscience at Rutgers University. His academic interests include oncology, neuroscience, and chemistry. Outside of the lab, he loves snowboarding, playing with his dogs, and baseball.
Sergio Crespo-Flores
doctoral student
Sergio is from Mexico and New Jersey and he loves to cook Mexican food like chilaquiles, tacos, and tostadas. He graduated with a degree in Chemistry from the Honors Program at New Jersey City University. After graduation, Sergio did the Post-baccalaureate Research Education program (PREP) at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, prior to starting graduate school in the Molecular Biosciences program at Rutgers. Sergio is a former Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipient and he is a proud first-gen immigrant in Science. His research interests are circadian rhythms and learning and memory. Outside of lab, Sergio enjoys running, playing Mario Kart, and dancing! You can find Sergio on twitter @SergioLCrespo.
Maryem abdelgelil
Undergraduate researcher
Maryem Abdelgelil is completing her bachelor's degree in Biochemistry at Rutgers University. Her academic interests include behavioral neuroscience, neurodegeneration, and toxicology. Outside of school, she enjoys cooking, horseback riding, and binge watching.
Keisuke Fukumura
PostDoctoral Fellow
Keisuke was born and raised in Japan. He received his PhD from the University of Tokyo, where he studied endocrine regulations of feeding behavior and lipid metabolism using two-spotted crickets at Shinji Nagata’s lab. After that, he moved to Hiroshima University, Japan and continued to investigate the function of neuropeptide using mice working with Kazuyoshi Ukena. He is excited about the next chapter of his career researching how animals integrate multiple cues (time of the day, internal nutritional states, etc.) to optimize behavioral output using Drosophila melanogaster. outside of the lab, he enjoys Japanese comics and sake and loves playing tennis and golf!
Vinithra Kathirvel
Undergraduate Researcher
Vinithra is completing her Bachelors degree in Cell Biology and Neuroscience at Rutgers University with a minor in Korean. Her academic interests include ophthalmology, molecular neuroscience, and chronobiology. Her passion for science stems from her parents gifting her a microscope for her 9th birthday. Outside of the lab, Vinithra is the Piccolo Section Leader in the Rutgers Marching Scarlet Knights and she enjoys quilting!
You???
Undergraduate Research Assistant
Currently recruiting undergraduate research assistants with a strong background in computer science and coding. Please contact Dr. Barber with a CV, unofficial transcript, and a description of your coding experience.
Former Lab Members
Jordan Comer
High School Researcher
Jordan is a rising senior from East Brunswick Highschool who is volunteering at Dr. Barber's lab. He is an aspiring medical student who looks forwards to the long journey ahead of him. He doesn't have one particular reason as to why he's so dead set on devoting his life to the sciences, just that it "feels right". He loves Pokemon, Monster Hunter, gardening, reading, architecture, and is a massive Nintendo fan.