About Me
I am currently a postdoctoral researcher in Dr. Emma Lundberg’s spatial proteomics lab at Stanford University, which I started after completing my doctoral studies of Analytical Chemistry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison with Dr. Lloyd Smith. My doctoral studies focused on developing tools to identify and quantify proteoforms, which have continued to aid discoveries, such as that proteoforms are more specific to cell types than their corresponding proteins (Melani, et al. Science 2022). Inspired by the clear potential of proteoform variation to shape the localization of proteins in the cell, I pursued postdoctoral studies in Prof. Emma Lundberg’s spatial proteomics lab at Stanford. Our analysis of the human cell cycle using single-cell proteogenomics revealed hundreds of new cell cycle proteins and the mystery that around half of all cell-to-cell variation in protein expression is unexplained by the cell cycle (Mahdessian*, Cesnik*, et al. Nature 2021). My future research will delve deeper into the roles of proteoform variation in protein druggability and cellular organization, with a particular focus on autoimmunity.
Awards & Honors
- 2024 - Postdoc JEDI Champion Award for advancing justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion at Stanford
- 2018 - Gary Parr Memorial Award for an outstanding graduate student working in bioanalytical chemistry
- 2017 - Richard and Joan Hartl Award for research excellence in analytical chemistry
- 2015 - Stephen Morton Research Award for excellent mentormentee collaboration in undergraduate research
- 2014 - Graduate Student Travel Award, for outstanding abstract, University of California, San Francisco
- 2011 - Gerhard T. Alexis Scholarship for maintaining the highest academic record, Gustavus Adolphus College