CURRENT LAB MEMBERS

Bess Frost, Ph.D.

Dr. Bess Frost is the Salame-Feraud Director of the Center for Alzheimer's Disease Research, a joint initiative between the Robert J. and Nancy D. Carney Institute for Brain Science and the Division of Biology and Medicine at Brown University. She was awarded the 2020 O'Donnell Award in Medicine from The Academy of Medicine, Engineering and Science of Texas, a 2021 Standout Achievement Award from CurePSP, was a gold recipient of the Oskar Fischer Prize in 2022, and was awarded the 2025 Rainwater Prize for Innovative Early-Career Scientist.

bess_frost@brown.edu

Postdoctoral Fellows and Staff

Alyssa Cavalier, Ph.D.

Dr. Aly Cavalier is an NIA T32-funded postdoctoral fellow in the Frost lab who is investigating tau-induced dsRNAs as a driver of innate immune activation.

alyssa_cavalier@brown.edu

Yutaka Yamamoto, M.D/Ph.D.

Dr. Yutaka Yamamoto is a senior research associate who is working to establishing an experimental system to monitor tau seeding and propagation in Drosophila.

yutaka_yamamoto@brown.edu

Graduate Students

Zachary Uttke, M.D./Ph.D. Student

Zach is an NIA F30-funded M.D./Ph.D. student in the Cell Biology, Molecular Biology and Biochemistry Graduate Program at Brown University who is investigating novel mechanisms of retrotransposon activation in the aging Drosophila brain.

zachary_uttke@brown.edu

Morgan Lambert, Ph.D. Candidate

Morgan Lambert is a Ph.D. student in the Neuroscience Graduate Program at Brown University who is investigating circular forms of DNA in the context of Alzheimer's disease and related tauopathies. Morgan has received previous support from the University of Texas Health San Antonio Neuroscience T32.

morgan_lambert@brown.edu

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Lulu Schulz, Ph.D. Candidate

Lulu Schulz is a Ph.D. student in the Molecular Biology, Cell Biology, and Biochemistry Graduate Program at Brown University who is investigating mechanisms of copia-induced toxicity in Drosophila models of tauopathy. Lulu performed her masters thesis in the Frost lab, where she was the 2022 recipient of the Armand J. Guarino Award for Academic Excellence in Master’s Studies.

cynthia_schulz@brown.edu

Erich Sohn, Ph.D. Candidate

Erich Sohn is an NIH F31-funded Ph.D. student in the Integrated BioMedical Sciences program at the University of Texas Health San Antonio who is investigating how the phase separation of RNA binding proteins regulate DNA repair and transcription. Erich is co-mentored by Dr. David Libich and Dr. Frost.

erich_sohn@brown.edu

Shira Strongin, Ph.D. Student

Shira Strongin is a NIGMS T32-funded Ph.D. student in the Therapeutic Sciences Graduate Program at Brown University whose research focuses on developing new therapeutic approaches to targeting retrotransposon activation in tauopathies.

shira_strongin@brown.edu

Undergraduates

Satvik Paduri

Neuroscience

Joanna Sohn

Computational Biology

PREVIOUS LAB MEMBERS

Postdoctoral Fellows

Farzaneh Atrian, Ph.D.

As a University of Texas Health San Antonio NIH Biology of Aging T32-funded postdoctoral fellow in the Frost lab (2020-2024), Dr. Farzaneh Atrian discovered that pathological forms of tau drive formation of circular RNAs, and that such a process is mediated by RNA methylation.

Meghna Chinchankar, Ph.D.

As a University of Texas Health San Antonio postdoctoral fellow in the Frost lab, Dr. Meghna Chinchankar (2022-2024) worked to develop new assays for quantifying tau aggregation in the Drosophila brain.

Wenyan Sun, Ph.D.

As a BrightFocus Foundation-funded postdoctoral fellow in the Frost lab (2018-2022), Dr. Wenyan Sun discovered that pathological forms of tau cause a toxic activation of transposable elements. Dr. Sun was the was the postdoctoral recipient of the Joe H. Ward, Jr. and Bettie B. Ward Award for Excellence in the Study of the Biology of Aging in 2018.

Rebekah Mahoney, Ph.D.

As a University of Texas Health San Antonio NIGMS SABER-IRACDA-funded postdoctoral fellow in the Frost lab (2016-2019), Dr. Rebekah Mahoney discovered that pathological forms of tau cause a toxic depletion of nuclear calcium in the Drosophila brain and served as the President of the UT Health Postdoctoral Association.

Garrett Cornelison, Ph.D.

As a University of Texas Health San Antonio NIA Biology of Aging T32-funded postdoctoral fellow in the Frost lab (2017), Dr. Garrett Cornelison discovered that pathological forms of tau negatively affect RNA export.

Graduate Students

Claira Sohn, Ph.D.

Dr. Claira Sohn was an NIH F31-funded Ph.D. student in the Biology of Aging discipline of the Integrated BioMedical Sciences program at the University of Texas Health San Antonio 2021-2026). She investigated mechanosensing properties of neuronal nuclei in physiological settings and in the context of tauopathy. Dr. Sohn received previous support from the University of Texas Health San Antonio Biology of Aging T32.

Morgan Thomas, Ph.D.

As a Ph.D. student in the Neuroscience Graduate Program at Brown University (2022-2026), Dr. Morgan Thomas developed a novel split-luciferase based Drosophila model of huntingtin aggregation. She received previous support from the University of Texas Health San Antonio Neuroscience T32.

Paulino Ramirez, Ph.D.

As a University of Texas Health San Antonio Ph.D. student in the Frost laboratory (2019-2024), Dr. Paul Ramirez focused on bioinformatic analyses of transposable element activation in tauopathy.

Elizabeth Ochoa, Ph.D.

As a University of Texas Health San Antonio NIGMS R25-supported Ph.D. student in the Frost lab (2018-2022), Dr. Elizabeth Ochoa discovered that tau-induced activation of retrotransposons causes formation of neuroinflammatory double stranded RNAs. Elizabeth was the 2022 winner of the Ward Award in the Biology of Aging.

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Gabrielle Zuniga, M.D./Ph.D.

As a University of Texas Health San Antonio NIH Biology of Aging T32, TST-TL1, and Neuroscience T32-funded student in the South Texas MSTP program, Dr. Gabbe Zuniga discovered that pathogenic forms of tau disrupt RNA surveillance pathways and elevate overall levels of translation.

Simon Levy, Ph.D.

As a University of Texas Health San Antonio Ph.D. student in the Frost lab (2017-2022), Dr. Simon Levy developed a Drosophila system for in vivo detection of tau-tau interaction and served as the President of the UTHSA Graduate Student Association.

Adrian Beckmann, Ph.D.

As a University of Texas Health San Antonio NIA Biology of Aging T32 and NINDS F31-funded Ph.D. student in the Frost lab (2017-2021), Dr. Adrian Beckmann discovered that pathogenic forms of tau disrupt the cellular program that maintains terminal neuronal differentiation. Adrian was the recipient of the Joe H. Ward, Jr. and Bettie B. Ward Award for Excellence in the Study of the Biology of Aging in 2018.