Our Team

The current members of the Garg Lab

Salil Garg
Principal Investigator
Education: MD PhD Harvard Medical School

Salil hails from Ohio and completed his B.S./M.S. at the University of Chicago. From there he completed doctoral work in immunobiology with Michael Brenner at Harvard Medical School before pursuing residency training in Pathology at Massachusetts General Hospital and postdoctoral training with MIT faculty member Phillip Sharp. When he is not chasing difficult questions in the lab he engages in the even more difficult task of cheering for his hometown Cincinnati sports teams.

Jyotsna Kumar
Associate Research Scientist
Education: PhD Epigenetics, Institute of Microbial Technology, Chandigarh

Jyotsna is from India, where she worked on RNA/DNA interactions with chromatin in S. pombe. She later worked at the NIH on polyglutamine aggregates and University of Connecticut on RNA post-translational modifications.  Currently, Jyotsna is exploring underlying mechanisms of non-genetic heterogeneity and locus memory using functional genomics. In her free time, she loves to learn new skills and admire the beauty of nature.

Yan (Jennifer) Gu
Postdoctoral Associate
Education: PhD in Medical Sciences, McMaster University

Jennifer hails from Canada, where she studied Biochemistry (HBSc). During her doctoral training, she investigated oncogenic factors that contribute to treatment resistance in prostate cancer. In the Garg lab, Jennifer’s focus centers on the exploration of how non-genetic heterogeneity contributes to therapy resistance in cancer cells. During her free time, Jennifer enjoys watching funny cat videos and reading (anything non-science related, that is).

Michele Meline
Yale MD-PhD Student
Education: BA/MS University of Pennsylvania

Michele grew up in Philadelphia, PA. Before Yale, Michele worked on  structure and function of Integrator subunits 15 and 6 at UPenn. Additionally, she investigated the biogenesis of circular RNAs in S. Cerevisiae. Currently, Michele is interested in studying gene expression regulation and the contributions of non-coding sequence factors to cellular heterogeneity. Outside of research, Michele enjoys spending time with her friends, reading, and annoying her two cats.

Blake Torres
Postgraduate Associate
Education: BS Molecular, Cell, Developmental Biology, Yale University

Blake lived in Southern California before coming to Yale, where he first studied RNA riboswitches using bioinformatic analysis and experimental validation. Currently, he is interested in understanding non-genetic factors of cellular heterogeneity through characterization of enhancer elements using new techniques in genomics. He enjoys reading, broomball, and his two dogs: Loki and Rango.

Qi (Iris) Cheng
Postgraduate Associate
Education: BS Psychology and Neuroscience, Smith College

Iris hails from China, where she worked at the Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology.  Iris completed her bachelors at Smith College where she worked in Sharon Owino’s lab on GPR37 and WNT signaling.  Iris is interested in the role cell-to-cell communication plays in driving heterogeneity in stem cells.  In her spare time, Iris enjoys cooking, painting, and video chatting with her cats back home in China.

Kira Tang
Yale Undergraduate MCDB

Kira hails from Lexington, Massachusetts. Her interests in both neuroscience and cancer biology were sparked when she worked as a high school intern in a lab studying pediatric gliomas. In the Garg lab, she is exploring how transcription factors impact gene expression, with long term interests in functional neurological disorders. In her free time, Kira loves drawing, playing the cello, eating spicy foods, and pretending to be a DJ.

Lynette Chan
MIT Undergraduate Course 10-B

Lynette grew up in Orange County, California, and is interested in studying transcription factor binding kinetics in the context of cellular differentiation.  She is also intrigued by the development of rational design techniques in protein engineering.  Lynette chooses to strategically invest her ever-waning free time into playing Genshin Impact and watching Korean cooking vlogs.

Mary Gatison
Sr. Administrative Assistant

Mary is a devoted supporter of research labs at Yale University, with over 15 years experience at the institution and over 34 years experience in the medical field. Mary is passionate about helping others and enjoys the ever-changing nature of her role. Outside of work, Mary treasures time spent with family and friends, and has a love for games, cooking, music, movies, and travel.

Lab Alumni (next position)