Kıvanç Birsoy, Ph.D.

Chapman-Perelman Associate Professor
Head, Laboratory of Metabolic Regulation and Genetics
kbirsoy@rockefeller.edu

Kıvanç received his undergraduate degree in Molecular Genetics from Bilkent University in 2004 and his Ph.D. from Rockefeller University in 2009, where he studied molecular genetics of obesity in the laboratory of Jeffrey Friedman. In 2010, he joined David Sabatini’s lab at MIT, combining forward genetics and metabolomics to understand how cancer types rewire metabolism to adapt to nutrient-deprived environments and how mitochondrial dysfunction influences cellular metabolism. In 2015, he joined Rockefeller as faculty. He is a recipient of the Searle Scholar Award, Pew-Stewart Scholar Award, NIH Director’s New Innovator Award, Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise, Society for Redox Biology and Medicine Discovery Award, Mark Foundation Emerging Leader Award, the Pershing Square Sohn Prize, and the Vehbi Koç Prize.

Beste Uygur, M.Sc.

Lab Manager — M.S., Bilkent University

Beste earned her B.S. in Molecular Biology and Genetics at Gebze Technical University and M.S. at Bilkent University studying purinergic signaling in colorectal cancer. She joined the Birsoy Lab in 2021 as lab manager.

Ijeoma Obi, B.S.

Research Assistant — B.S., Columbia University

Ijeoma investigates metabolic mechanisms in immune and cancer cells and assists in developing new experimental models in the lab.

Michelle Wilson

Administrative Assistant

Michelle is an English major with a background in cultural studies. She specializes in organizational systems and enjoys warm weather, ocean swims, movies with family, travel, yoga, and holistic wellness.

Emilie Wang, Ph.D.

Grants Administrator

Emilie holds a Ph.D. in Microbiology & Immunology (Albert Einstein College of Medicine) and an MBA (NYU Stern). Before joining the lab in 2021, she worked in cancer-care technology and supported MSF HIV/TB projects abroad.

Timothy Kenny, Ph.D.

NIH NIDDK K99 Postdoctoral Fellow — Ph.D., Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Tim studied mitochondrial quality control in cancer under Dr. Doris Germain and joined the Birsoy Lab in 2020 with Merck and NIH fellowships. His current work explores organellar metabolite transport in health and disease.

Toshitaka Nakamura, Ph.D.

Jane Coffin Childs Fellow — Technical University of Munich

Toshi investigates mechanisms of mitochondrial and metabolic signaling, focusing on redox control and transporter biology using advanced proteomic and biochemical tools.

Gökhan Ünlü, Ph.D.

Damon Runyon / NCI K99 Fellow — Ph.D., Vanderbilt University

Gökhan received degrees from METU and Vanderbilt University, where he studied protein trafficking and genetic disease models in zebrafish. He joined in 2019 and investigates tumor metabolic limitations using organelle metabolomics and CRISPR.

Shanshan Liu, Ph.D.

Human Frontiers Postdoctoral Associate — Ph.D., NIBS Beijing

Shanshan studies how mitochondrial dysfunction alters cellular metabolic pathways using CRISPR-Cas9–based genetic screens.

Brandon Chen, Ph.D.

NCI K00 Postdoctoral Fellow — University of Michigan

Brandon investigates mitochondrial metabolic control mechanisms underlying tumor progression and therapy response, integrating proteomics and genetic models.

Yuyang Liu

Graduate Student — B.S./M.S., Yale University

Michael Xiao (joint with Mike Kharas)

M.D.–Ph.D. Student — B.S., University of Utah

Nicole DelGaudio

William E. Ford Graduate Fellow — B.S., Wesleyan University

Nicole joined the Birsoy Lab in 2022 and studies the metabolic dependencies of cancer cells in diverse environments.

Mark Gad (joint with Hite Lab)

Graduate Student — B.A., Occidental College

Mark investigates membrane transport mechanisms as a joint fellow with Richard Hite (MSK Structural Biology).

Artem Khan (BIF / NIDDK K00 Fellow)

Graduate Student — A.B., Princeton University

Artem uses computational approaches to uncover functions of unknown metabolic genes. He enjoys reading, cross-country skiing, chess, and ice skating.

Frederick Yen (NCI F30 Fellow)

M.D.–Ph.D. Student — B.A., Hunter College

Joshua Lopez-Scarim

M.D.–Ph.D. Student — University of Florida