OUR GROUP
Principle Investigator
Assistant Professor
sarah.hainer[at]pitt.edu
Sarah performed her postdoctoral work with Tom Fazzio at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. She joined the faculty at the University of Pittsburgh in January 2018.
Sarah is interested in learning how basic biological processes, such as transcription and chromatin dynamics, regulate cell fate decisions.
Sarah cares deeply about mentoring and supporting all individuals in the lab and junior scientists entering STEM.
Graduate Student
eeb74[at]pitt.edu
Emmy joined the lab in August of 2020. Emmy graduated in 2020 from the University of Pittsburgh with a BS in Microbiology, a minor in Chemistry, and a certificate in Global Health. Outside of lab, she loves cycling, exploring the Pittsburgh vegan food scene, backpacking, gardening, and enjoying live music. She is using her time as a technician in the Hainer lab to help narrow her academic interests before pursuing a PhD.
KYA FOXX (she/her)
Braulio joined the lab in January of 2021, as the first postdoctoral researcher to join the group. Braulio graduated from States University, Uruguay in 2008 with a BS in Biological Sciences and obtained a Masters degree in Biological Sciences from the same institution in 2013, working on miRNA regulation of CHD5. He continued in this lab as a technician for two years before obtaining a Fulbright scholarship for Graduate Studies. Braulio chose to perform his PhD research at the University of Pittsburgh in the Molecular Pharmacology Graduate Program with Dr. Kara Bernstein. During this time, Braulio studied DNA repair in S. cerevisiae, describing the role of the Shu complex in promoting error-free bypass of abasic sites and 3-methylcytosines.
Undergraduate Researcher
ksf26[at]pitt.edu
Kya joined the lab in February of 2023. She is majoring in History and philosophy of Science and plans to graduate in 2025. She is also studying biology, chemistry, and American Sign Language. In her free time she enjoys painting and puzzles.
Postdoctoral Researcher
brauliobonilla[at]pitt.edu
Postdoctoral Researcher
dck28[at]pitt.edu
Dave started his rotation in February 2018 and joined the lab officially in April 2018. He studies the roles of chromatin remodeling factors in mES cells and human leukemogenesis. He received his B.S. in Biology and Religion from Furman University in 2017. Dave defended his PhD in March 2023. Dave enjoys playing guitar, roasting and brewing coffee, and watching baseball.
Research Technician III / Lab Manager
sml111[at]pitt.edu
Santana joined the lab in June 2018 after graduating from the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown in April 2018 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Biology. Since joining the lab, she has found she has a real passion in research and hopes to make it a life-long career. She loves cooking, crafting, and spending time with her friends, family, and cat. She has recently bought a house with her partner and is in the process of flipping it.
Graduate Student
bjp86[at]pitt.edu
Ben joined the lab in April 2019, after spending his second rotation with us. Ben graduated from Truman State University in Kirksville, Missouri in December 2016 with a B.S. in Biology and minor in Chemistry. He spent a year and half working in the R&D side of a major biotechnology company focused on the development of genetically modified organisms. He is currently researching how chromatin factors called remodelers influence the expression of noncoding RNAs at enhancers and promoters in mammalian systems. Ben's claim to fame is that he met Bill Nye (once).
Graduate Student
ris84[at]pitt.edu
Rithika, a graduate student through the Integrative Systems Biology (ISB) program joined the lab in January 2022, after spending her second rotation with us in November 2021. She graduated in 2019 with a degree in Genetic Engineering from SRM Institute of Science and Technology, India. After graduation she spent two years working at the National Centre for Biological Sciences, India, studying the role store operated calcium entry in neurodegeneration. Her interests lie in stem cell biology and fate determination. Outside of the lab, Rithika enjoys dancing Bharatanatyam, learning other dance forms, and you can often find her curled up with a good book and coffee.
Graduate Student
sat143[at]pitt.edu
Sarah started her rotation in February 2019 and officially joined the lab in April 2019, co-mentored with Karen Arndt. She studies the chromatin remodeler Chd1 and how it is co-transcriptionally recruited to chromatin. Sarah graduated from the University of Dallas in 2018 with a B.S. in Biology and a Concentration in French. She enjoys traveling as often and she can, reading a wide variety of classic and contemporary literature, and going to concerts.
MIKA WESLEY (she/her)
Undergraduate Researcher
mkw50[at]pitt.edu
Mika joined the lab in August of 2021. She is majoring in Molecular Biology on the Cell and Developmental Biology track at the University of Pittsburgh and planning to graduate in 2024. She is also pursuing minors in Chemistry, French, and Gender Studies. In her free time, she enjoys reading and playing with her dog.
AIGBE WOGHIREN-AFEGBUA, MS (she/her)
Graduate Student
aow[at]pitt.edu
Aigbe joined the lab in February of 2022. Aigbe graduated from UC Santa Cruz in 2015 from the University of Pittsburgh with a BS in Biology and completed her MS from CSU Los Angeles in 2018.