Past personnel

Abby Brand is recent graduate from Washington University.  She majored in biology with a computer science minor. She has always been interested in both neuroscience and AD, in particular.  She is currently working with the lab’s amyloid beta team.

Derica Cartwright received her bachelors in cellular and molecular biology in the spring of 2019 and began working as a clinical research assistant for the Bateman lab team shortly after. She was drawn to the team by her interest in cellular processes and disease biomarkers. She is currently working on the SEABIRD project, which is a study that seeks to validate a blood test for Alzheimer's disease while taking a special look at the biomarker amyloid beta. She is also involved in the cataloging of the samples collected for the SEABIRD study via the use of a composite sample organization program entitled FreezerWorks.

Abby Caudill is a current junior, pursuing her BA in psychology with minors in neuroscience, biology and religion at Wake Forest University. Her academic path combined with her work with dementia patients at local senior centers in the Winston-Salem area have reinforced her passion for research and the SEABIRD project’s work. She joined the Bateman Lab in May of 2023 and is involved in initial participant contact, screening, and visit facilitation for the SEABIRD team.

Janice Cousin is a second-year medical student at Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee. She graduated from University of Iowa with her bachelor's in psychology in 2018. Upon graduation, she did a research fellowship at NHGRI with the Undiagnosed Diseases Program as well as obtained her Master's in health science at Meharry in 2021. She joined the Bateman lab in summer 2022 as a member of the Meharry SRP cohort. In the Bateman lab, she works on the SEABIRD project.

Lauren Cumberbatch received her bachelor’s in philosophy-neuroscience-psychology (PNP) from Washington University in St. Louis in spring 2022 on the cognitive neuroscience track. She is applying for matriculation into medical school in fall 2023 and has an interest in incorporating clinical research into her medical career. She is continuously intrigued by the nervous system and how it changes with experience and protein alteration, which drew her to SEABIRD. Cumberbatch is involved in coordinating and facilitating patient visits for the study.

Tamara Donahue is a clinical research nurse coordinator in neurology. Her current studies include DIAN, DIAN-TU, and A-beta/ tau studies in Bateman’s lab. She completed her diploma nurses training at the Jewish Hospital School of Nursing, her bachelor of science degree in nursing at University of Missouri St. Louis and a master’s degree in clinical research management at Washington University. Her career has spanned various areas of clinical and research nursing including neurology, cardiology, imaging and cardiothoracic surgery.

Melinda Hamilton joined the Bateman lab in of May 2019. Hamilton helps to manage and coordinate the Bateman lab studies. She collaborates with many different departments such as CARS unit, ADRC and Imaging to complete studies successfully. Hamilton has 15 years of clinical research experience. She enjoys working and is constantly learning working with the Bateman lab team.

Paige Lawler first joined the Bateman Lab as a student in 2018. She recently graduated from Washington University in St. Louis with a bachelor’s degree in Neuroscience and has returned full time to the lab as part of the plasma amyloid beta team. In addition to assisting with amyloid beta measurement, she is currently focused on the study of apolipoprotein E and is particularly interested in assessing how differential post-translational processing of this protein may modulate Alzheimer’s disease pathophysiology.

Haiyan Liu earned her MD and MS degrees in China. She finished her post-doc training at University of Michigan.  Liu worked as a staff scientist in the CCR of Washington University before she joined the Bateman Lab and Lucey Lab in September of 2018.  Her current work focus on Amyloid beta measurement in human plasma and CSF.

Kwasi Mawuenyega joined the Bateman team in 2006. He is a biochemist and bioanalytical chemist specializing in assay development and validation. He manages the Abeta Kinetics Project and leads the assay design and automation project. Research areas include the development of assay for simultaneous measurement of amyloid and related proteins in human CSF and plasma to enable blood test for Alzheimer’s disease. He manages mass spectrometry and other equipment for their maintenance and service. He is also responsible for environmental health and safety compliance and conducts lab specific training for new hires.

Paul Moiseyev is a third year undergraduate at Washington University in St. Louis pursuing majors in philosophy-neuroscience-psychology and biology along with a minor in biomedical physics. Interests in biochemistry and neurodegenerative disorders led Moiseyev to join the Bateman lab in the summer of 2016. He is studying how the processing of Microtubule Associated Protein Tau changes in Alzheimer Disease. After graduation, Moiseyev plans to spend a year working as medical scribe along with being a volunteer tutor. Afterwards, he hopes to pursue an MD. Outside of lab, Moiseyev enjoys teaching, urban exploration, and taking hiking/biking trips through the gorgeous Missouri countryside.
Project Title: Establishing a Comprehensive, Qualitative Profile of Tau in the Human Brain, CSF, and Cell Culture Models

Vaibav Nandeesh is a sophomore undergraduate student at Washington University in St. Louis. He is majoring in biology on the neuroscience track. He joined the Bateman lab in the fall semester of 2020. He is interested in ABeta and its relationship with Alzheimer’s disease and is currently studying under Kwasi Mawuenyega. Outside of the lab, he is a volunteer for Mercy Hospital, as well as, the St. Louis Area Food Bank. He plans on attending medical school after graduation.

Faris Shaikh is a second year undergraduate student at Washington University in St. Louis. He is a philosophy-neuroscience-psychology (PNP) major and bioinformatics minor. He has always been fascinated by the mind and its maintenance, which is why he joined the Bateman lab in the spring of 2020, working with the Tau team to develop in vitro models to study Tau kinetics. After college, he hopes to attend medical school and, one day, become a surgeon. Outside of the lab, Skaikh is also a part of an acapella group, is a residential advisor and a chemistry lab TA.

Jason Shao is a fourth year undergraduate at Washington University in St. Louis, majoring in biochemistry and minoring in computer science. He joined the Bateman lab in spring of 2017 because of his interests in neuroscience and pathology. Shao is studying the kinetics of amyloid-beta (Aß) deposition and the turnover rate of insoluble Aß deposits in Alzheimer’s patients. He hopes to pursue an MD after graduating. In his free time, Shao enjoys soccer, tennis, teaching and spending time with friends.
Project Title: Insoluble Aß Kinetics in the Human Brain

Melissa Sullivan joined the Bateman lab in 2015 after having been with Washington University for over ten years. Sullivan manages clinical study care and coordination of multiple Bateman lab studies. She collaborates with many different departments such as CARS unit, Dietary, Anesthesia, ADRC and Imaging to complete studies successfully. Sullivan prides herself on the relationships that are built with participants and ensures that they are given the utmost respect when contributing to Bateman research.

Kaylan Tripathy is currently an MD/PhD student in the neuroscience graduate program at Wash U. Previously, he worked with Virginia Lee and John Trojanowski at Penn on the role of TDP-43 in neurodegenerative disease pathogenesis, and with Brad Schlaggar and Steve Petersen at Wash U on cortical parcellation in children using resting state functional connectivity. Tripathy’s summer 2016 rotation project was to refine a purification scheme and apply newer mass spectrometry approaches to study the full range of amyloid beta proteoforms found in human cerebrospinal fluid. Prior and ongoing work in the lab has looked for these proteoforms by studying intact (undigested) a-beta in Alzheimer’s disease patient brains. His project aimed to take a top-down approach to look for these species by studying intact a-beta in human CSF. The goal is to eventually identify a fingerprint for Alzheimer’s disease, wherein valuable diagnostic and prognostic information can be extracted from the levels of various a-beta proteoforms in a patient’s CSF. In the process, we would also glean valuable information about the pathophysiology of Alzheimer’s disease. Outside of the lab, Tripathy volunteers with a few community service projects focused on medical care and teaching, and he also sings and plays guitar as part of a student band.
Project Title: Studying intact amyloid-beta proteoforms in human CSF

Samani Upadhyay is a third year undergraduate at Brown University majoring in neuroscience and contemplative studies. Driven by an interest in combining medicine and neurodegenerative disease research, she joined the Bateman lab in the summer of 2017 to study plasma abeta biomarkers. Her project is centered around identifying and characterizing novel abeta isoforms as potential biomarkers that may differ with AD status. After graduating, SamUpadhyayani hopes to pursue an MD/PhD. Her favorite activities outside of lab include hiking, rock climbing and eating food.

Kate Walter is a third year undergraduate at Boston College majoring in Psychology. Driven by an interest in neuroscience and Alzheimer disease, she joined the Bateman lab summer of 2015 to study the effects of apolipoprotein E-4 (ApoE4) genotype on amyloid-beta (Aß)kinetics. After graduating, Kate hopes to pursue an MD program. While not studying or working in the lab, Kate enjoys running, hiking, horseback riding, and road trips.
Project Title: Apolipoprotein E-4 Perturbation of ß-Amyloid Clearance in the Human Central Nervous System

David Wang is a recent graduate of Vanderbilt University with majors in molecular and cellular biology and Spanish. His current project focuses on the optimization and development of plasma AB as a clinical biomarker for Alzheimer’s disease. Specifically, he is investigating lower volumes of plasma for AB detection and quantitation as well as looking at ways to maximize the recovery of AB protein from plasma. He will be pursuing an MD degree at Carver College of Medicine. Outside of the lab, he enjoys traveling, exercising and improving his fluency in Spanish and Chinese.