Lab Members

Research in my lab aims to elucidate the molecular basis of transmembrane signaling through the use of biochemistry, pharmacological studies, and structural biology. We are particularly interested in signaling pathways with connections to human health and disease, including G protein-coupled receptors and other transmembrane receptors. In the long term, we aim to leverage a detailed molecular understanding of these pathways to facilitate the development of new and better therapeutics.

CV

Assaf studied for his PhD at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel, under the supervision of Prof. Deborah Fass. His studies focused on elucidating the catalytic mechanism of the disulfide catalyst Quiescin-Sulfhydryl Oxidase (QSOX) by X-ray crystallography, FRET, and other biophysical methods. After receiving his PhD in 2012, Assaf joined the lab of Dr. Sarel Fleishman, also at the Weizmann, for a short postdoc aimed at switching species preference of antibodies using computational design. Assaf joined the Kruse lab in January 2016. Assaf is married and has two kids, a boy and a girl. In his free time he enjoys reading, cooking, and hiking with his family

Anthony is from Ireland, where he received his Bachelor’s degree in experimental physics at University College Dublin. After moving to Chicago in 2009 he did a Master’s degree in applied physics at DePaul University, then 4 years as a biophysics research assistant at Florida State University. Anthony is married and has two dogs. He has also worked as a painter, in the retail industry, in bars, and done door-to-door sales.  He enjoys sports, music, reading, swimming, baking and playing cards with his wife, at which he is sometimes successful.

Clare graduated from Georgetown University in 2018 with a B.S. in Biochemistry. There, she studied transcriptional regulation by the cAMP Receptor Protein in Dr. Rodrigo Maillard’s lab. She joined the Chemical Biology program in 2019 and is jointly mentored by Dan Kahne. In her free time, she enjoys reading, dancing and spending time with friends.

Josh (B.S., Molecular Biophysics & Biochemistry, Yale, 2015; Ph.D., Molecular & Cell Biology, UC Berkeley, 2021) completed his doctoral work in the labs of Jennifer Doudna and John Kuriyan, where he studied how protein and nucleic acid conformational dynamics enable the function of CRISPR-associated enzymes in bacterial immunity and genome editing applications. In 2022, he began his postdoc in the Kruse lab, where he is using biochemistry and structural biology to probe bacterial membrane protein function. Outside of lab, Josh likes Baroque music, climbing on real and fake rocks, and sleeping in tents.

Morgan received her Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Cell Biology from Dartmouth College under the supervision of Dr. Jason McLellan. Her thesis research centered on determining the molecular mechanisms of the interactions between viral fusion glycoproteins and the host humoral immune system, with a primary focus on respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). She joined the Kruse lab in August 2019.

Edward graduated from Princeton University, where he majored in Chemical and Biological Engineering and received a certificate in Engineering Biology. He then completed his PhD at Harvard University in Professor Loren Walensky's lab, which uses chemical biology tools to interrogate the biochemical mechanisms of cellular apoptotic pathways. In his free time, Edward likes to play volleyball, run, hike, play board games, and is a plant aficionado. He joined the Kruse lab in September 2020, and his research focuses on synthetic antibody and nanobody engineering.

Originally from Oregon, Joe graduated from Northwestern University in 2015, where he studied how methanotrophic bacteria acquire copper and mitigate its cytotoxicity in Dr. Amy Rosenzweig's lab. He then spent a two-year fellowship at the National Institutes of Health studying bacterial outer membrane biogenesis in the lab of Dr. Susan Buchanan, followed by stints in drug discovery at a couple of biotechnology companies in the San Francisco Bay Area. Joe joined the BBS program in 2020 and the Kruse lab in 2021. When he's not in the lab, he likes climbing, skiing, and running in the mountains around New England and playing any kind of music.

Lauren received her B.S. in Biochemistry from the University of Minnesota. Here, in Wendy Gordon's lab, she studied the structure and ssDNA specificity of viral HUH endonucleases for use in single-molecule force spectroscopy and other applications. In 2020, she joined the Chemical Biology program and is jointly mentored by Steve Blacklow. In her free time, she enjoys reading, music, and playing volleyball.

Victor received his B.S. in Microbiology with a minor in Biochemistry from the University in Arizona where he worked under the supervision of Dr. May Khanna in identifying small molecule modulators of TDP43 and Malat1, both implicated in neurodegenerative diseases, using in silico docking and biophysical binding assays. After graduating from the UA, Victor joined the Chemical Biology program in 2020 and joined the Kruse lab in 2021. In his spare time, he enjoys spending time with his partner and dogs, playing chess, and spending time at the beach.

Genevieve grew up in Chicago and went to college in NYC at Barnard College, where she received a B.A. in Chemistry. At Barnard, she wrote her undergraduate thesis in electrochemistry and surface chemistry based on the molecular and physical interactions of biological selenium and gold. After college, she moved to Boston and in January 2021 joined the Kruse Lab, where she looks to gain biochemical experience such as growing cells, electron microscopy, and crystallography. In her free time, Genevieve enjoys biking, reading, camping, making zines, and making dumplings.

James received his Ph.D. in Cellular and Molecular Physiology from Johns Hopkins School of
Medicine under the supervision of Dr. Zhaozhu Qiu. His thesis work focused on structure-
function characterization of a novel proton-activated chloride channel (PAC). James likes to hike
and play soccer in his spare time. He joined the Kruse Lab in November 2021.

Irina graduated from Dartmouth College in 2016, majoring in biophysical chemistry. In college, she worked in the lab of Prof. Jon Kull studying transcriptional regulation of virulence in Y. pestis. She then moved to Bethesda for a two-year fellowship at the NIH to study transporter mechanism and function, jointly supervised by Dr. José Faraldo-Gómez and Dr. Joe Mindell. Following her time at the NIH, she became a graduate student at the Biophysics program at Harvard and joined the Kruse and Loparo groups in 2019 to work on elucidating the mechanism and regulation of cell wall biogenesis with single-molecule imaging. In her spare time, Irina loves climbing, backpacking with friends and reading soulful Russian classics.

Meredith received her Ph.D. in Biological Chemistry from the University of Michigan under the supervision of Dr. Janet Smith. Her studies focused on the biosynthesis of polyketide natural products using X-ray crystallography and a variety of biochemical approaches. She joined the Kruse lab in September 2018.

Jeffrey is from Washington State and attended the University of Washington for undergraduate. There he joined the laboratory of Charles Chavkin, studying how the kappa opioid receptor regulates stress and addiction. He subsequently matriculated in the MD/PhD program at Duke University, studying chemokine receptor signaling and biased agonism under the mentorship of Sudar Rajagopal and Robert Lefkowitz. After completing an intern year in medicine, Jeffrey joined the Harvard Combined Dermatology Residency Program as part of an integrated physician-scientist pathway and where he cares for patients with complex skin diseases. He joined the Kruse Lab in 2022 and is studying noncanonical GPCR signaling pathways.

Katherine graduated from Williams College in 2015 with a B.A. in Chemistry. At Williams, she conducted research on a stress response sigma factor in Streptomyces coelicolor. After graduating, she moved to the Bay Area to work at a biotech company, and then moved back to the east coast to become a student in the Chemical Biology program. She joined the Kruse Lab in 2017 and is jointly mentored by Steve Blacklow.