Lab Members
Scott A. Tomlins M.D., Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Pathology and Associate Professor of Urology
Scott obtained his Ph.D. in the Molecular and Cellular Pathology department at U-M and is also a practicing clinical pathologist. His lab performs translational research on incorporating protein, DNA and RNA based assays into clinical practice. When not editing papers, he enjoys spending time with his wife, daughter and dog, Birkin. In addition to liking seafood, Scott also enjoys cooking and eating Thai food. He is a huge sports fan and you will likely find him at a Michigan football game. Go Blue!
Albert Liu M.S.
Lab Manager
Albert earned his Master's Degree in clinical lab science at Michigan State University. As lab manager, he is involved in all aspects of lab life including sequencing, maintaining and troubleshooting the different machines in lab, organizing the lab's sequencing database and enlightening people with knowledge. He is a coffee connoisseur and in his free time, he enjoys eating tofu, listening to Enya, playing a lot of computer games like Starcraft and cracking jokes.
Graduate Students
Lorena Lazo de la Vega
llazodel@umich.edu
Lorena is originally from Peru but lived in Hartford, CT for most of her life. She did her undergraduate training at Trinity College and received a degree in Biochemistry. Her research interests involve profiling tumor samples to identify possible driving mutations in cancer. In her spare time, she enjoys ballroom dancing and trying different Ann Arbor restaurants. Her favorite ice cream flavor is cookies ‘n cream!
Kelly Kennaley
vandenbk@med.umich.edu
Kelly was born and raised in Michigan, and completed her undergraduate degree in Human Biology from Michigan State University. She is currently working towards her Ph.D. in Molecular and Cellular Pathology in the Tomlins lab. Her work involves identifying novel vulnerabilities in cancer and elucidating their mechanisms. Outside of lab, Kelly is an avid reader, enjoys playing games with friends and family, and loves being in nature. Her favorite ice cream flavor is Ben & Jerry’s The Tonight Dough.
Andi Cani
acani@med.umich.edu
Trained in biochemistry and molecular biology at Wayne State University School of Medicine and the Karmanos Cancer Institute, Andi initially joined the lab as a research specialist in charge of the patient sample sequencing program. He is currently finishing his PhD in the Molecular and Cellular Pathology program at U-M working on biomarker and precision medicine approaches to hormone-dependent cancers, namely prostate and breast cancer. Andi is originally from Albania and in his hobbies are biking, swimming, following European soccer and collecting world currency. He has no favorite ice-cream flavor because he is lactose intolerant.
Kevin Hu
kevhu@umich.edu
Undergraduate Students
Nolan Bick
Nolan is an undergraduate student originally from Rochester, Michigan. He is studying Biology and Environmental Science as a part of the class of 2019. Nolan's research focuses on characterizing the genomic and transcriptomic profiles of different cancer cohorts and their precursor lesions to gain insight into the development of cancer. Outside of lab, he thoroughly enjoys listening to music and enjoying the outdoors. In addition to watching documentaries on Netflix, Nolan's favorite TV shows are The Office and Breaking Bad.
Jeremy Kaplan
jeremybk@umich.edu
Previous Personnel
Komal Plouffe M.S.
Research Specialist
Komal moved from India to Texas for her Master's. Fed up with the hot summers, she jumped at the opportunity to move to Michigan in the peak of the winter. In the lab, you can see her making libraries or prepping the sequencer. She is the go-to person for laboratory safety questions and locating any reagent or equipment in the lab. In her free time, she likes to read, find recipes that are very hard to mess up and explore the parks in Michigan with her husband.
Dan Hovelson Ph.D.
Statistician Staff Specialist
Dan is a recent graduate from the Tomlins Lab and who stayed on as the lab's bioinformatician for a few months. He is originally from Minnesota but is also a former Bostonian. He is always typing at his computer, as his project involves developing tools to increase the accuracy of sequencing data analysis as part of the lab's research pipeline. Dan enjoys spending time with his family and dog, as well as watching television shows when he's kept up by his newborn. His favorite cookie flavor is anything with Macadamia nuts.
Moloy Goswami Ph.D.
Research Specialist
Moloy finished his PhD at Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India. His current research interest is in functional analyses of dysregulated genes identified in patients with prostate cancer. He is an avid reader, a foodie and takes keen interest in languages, nature and science communication.
Lucy Wang M.S.
Research Specialist
Lucy earned her Master's Degree in information systems from Lawrence Technology University and studies the functional role of oncogenes. She enjoys spending time with her family and likes cooking and baking, listening to music and taking nature walks.
Sumin Han Ph.D.
Research Specialist
Sumin finished her Ph.D. at the University of British Columbia, in Vancouver Canada. She generates research tools and builds mouse model for the functional project in the lab. She also works at sequencing projects. In her spare time, she likes gardening and cooking.
Mohsin Arsiwala
Mohsin, a sophomore at the University of Michigan, is from Northville, Michigan. He is pursuing his Bachelor degree at the University of Michigan's School of Public Health with a specific focus on Community and Global Health. Mohsin enjoys research specifically at Tomlin's lab for the opportunity to explore the field of research and for the immense knowledge he has gained regarding the connection between clinical and research-based medicine. Currently, he focuses on the scraping and extraction of Aldosterone Producing Cell Clusters. Outside of the lab, Mohsin enjoys participating in numerous intermural sports teams and exploring all of the great restaurants Ann Arbor has to offer.
Kei Omata M.D.
Simpa Salami M.D.
Aaron Udager M.D.
Andrew McDaniel M.D.
Michaela Haller
Samantha Rahrig
Jarred Bratley
Rishika Ramireddy
Sharath Kumar Anand
Bhavneet Singh
Sherin John