Rahme Lab: People & Trainees | Renaissance School of Medicine

The Rahme Lab Team
	Gilbert J. Rahme, PhD Principal Investigator Gilbert was born and raised in Beirut, Lebanon. After a Bachelor's degree at the Lebanese University, and a Master's degree in Science at the American University of Beirut, Gilbert joined Mark Israel's lab at Dartmouth for his PhD. focusing on signaling pathways that underly brain tumor pathology. He then joined Bradley Bernstein's lab at Harvard Medical School for his postdoctoral research, focusing on brain tumor epigenetics. During his free time, Gilbert loves to spend time with his wife and two daughters, playing the guitar and enjoying the wonderful beaches the Long Island area offers.
	Bayan Razzaq, MD Postdoctoral Research Fellow and Neurosurgery Resident Bayan is a PGY5 neurosurgery resident and is excited to do a research fellowship in the Rahme Laboratory focusing on epigenetic heterogeneity and plasticity in brain tumors. He spends his time split between the clinic and the laboratory, and he is very excited to leverage cutting edge epigenome profiling methods for his postdoctoral studies.
	Yuqianxun (Harriet) Wu, BS, MS Genetics PhD student Harriet graduated in 2022 with a BS/MS degree in Bioengineering from Northeastern University with highest honors. During college, she worked to discover a 3D model for predicting natural C. elegans intestinal bacteria interactions. For her master’s project, she investigated deep reinforcement learning for the control of microbial co-cultures in bioreactors. After graduation, Harriet worked for a year at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute as a full-time research technician, studying translocations in renal cell carcinoma with Dr. Srinivas Viswanathan. She is very excited to work on diffuse gliomas and functional epigenetics in the Rahme Lab.
	Alexander Rhee, BS Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology PhD student After graduating with a Biochemistry degree at Stony Brook University, Alex spent several years exploring diverse research interests. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Alex worked as a technician in Dr. Ed Luk's laboratory studying histone variants in yeast and protein-protein interactions between SOX2 and β-catenin. He then joined Dr. Raphael Lis' group at Weill Cornell Medicine where he focused on neurovascular biology and the development of pluripotent stem cell-derived blood-brain barrier models. Alex is excited to start a new chapter in his scientific journey in the Rahme Lab working on epigenetics.
	Stilianos Papazahariou, BS Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology PhD student Stilianos is Greek-American and grew up in Queens, New York. He graduated from Stony Brook University with a Bachelor's of Science in Biology and is very excited to join the Rahme Lab as a PhD Graduate student after a two-year Research Support Specialist at the Rahme Lab. Stilianos focuses his studies on brain tumor epigenetics. During his free time, he likes to be with his friends and family, play guitar and sing.
	Sally Park, BS Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology MS student Sally graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Molecular Biotechnology from Ghent University. During her internship and Bachelor's thesis at Dr. Magdalena Radwanska's Biomedical Research Center, she studied splenic B-cell responses to Trypanosoma brucei brucei infections. Her research interests later expanded to cancer biology, leading her to join the Rahme Lab as a master's student. She is excited to work in the lab on identifying molecular drivers of gliomas.
	Anuj Raghani, BS Computer Science MS Student Anuj is currently pursuing his master's of science in computer science at Stony Brook University. He hails from Mumbai, India. Anuj works in the Rahme Lab as a computer scientist, helping everyone analyze their next-generation sequencing data and building bioinformatics pipelines for the team. In his free time, Anuj loves watching and playing soccer, reading finance articles and watching TV shows.
	Christian Jefferson, Undergraduate Christian, a freshman undergraduate at Stony Brook University, was born and raised in Maryland. He plans to graduate with a Bachelor’s of Science in Biology and is excited to study cancer epigenetics in the Rahme Lab. When he is not working hard on the bench, Christian likes to read, spend time with his friends and explore different genres of music.
	Diana (Zirui) Shao, Undergraduate Diana is a sophomore undergraduate majoring in Biochemistry and AMS. She is a pre-dental student currently working as a dental assistant in Queens. During her free time, she enjoys origami, going out with her friends and trying out new restaurants in the city.
	Aviya Boyce, Undergraduate Aviya is a Caribbean-American freshman student pursuing her Bachelor's of Science in Biology and Psychology at Stony Brook University. She is very grateful to be studying cancer epigenetics in the Rahme Lab. In her free time, Aviya likes to dance, learn new songs on the piano, socialize with family and friends, and travel.
	Yerona (Yerong) Lin, Undergraduate Yerona is a sophomore undergraduate at Stony Brook University and grew up in Queens, New York. She plans to graduate with a Bachelor’s of Science in Biology and Psychology. Yerona is a Pre-Pharmacy student interested in Cancer Biology, and is excited to study brain tumor epigenetics in the Rahme Lab. In her free time, Yerona likes to be with her friends, read novels and watch movies.
	Afwan Mahmood, Undergraduate Afwan is a sophomore studying Biology with an interest in oncology and epigenetics. Afwan comes from Queens, New York, but was born in Bangladesh. In his free time, he likes working out, learning the guitar and hiking.
	Eiki Shido, Undergraduate Eiki is a Japanese-American and grew up in Manhattan, New York. Eiki is a sophomore undergraduate on the pre-dental track at Stony Brook University. He plans to graduate with a Bachelor's of Science in Biochemistry and is excited to study cancer epigenetics at the Rahme Lab. In his free time, Eiki enjoys working out, spending time with friends and family, and listening to Japanese rock.
	Summer Robinson, Undergraduate Summer is a freshman undergraduate pre-med student at Stony Brook University. She is excited to study how epigenetic changes fuel malignant programs in brain tumors. During her free time, Summer likes to spend time with her friends, family and cats.
	Caitlin Werner, High School Student A student from Kings Park High School, Caitlin is excited to study how epigenetic changes drive malignancy in IDH-mutant gliomas using mouse models. During her free time, Caitlin enjoys spending time with her family and playing softball.
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Alumni
Former Graduate Students:
	Jina Yim, BS, MS Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology MS Student Current Position: Research Technician, Dr. Toni K. Choueiri's Laboratory, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School.
	Sikder Rabbi (Nahid), BS, MS Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology MS Student Current Position: Diagnostic Specialist, Northwell Health.
Former Undergraduate Students:
	Tammy Ruan, BS Current Position: Actively applying to MD programs.
Former Visiting Undergraduate and High School Students:
	Laura O'Sullivan Visiting Undergraduate from the University of Pennsylvania, Summer 2024 Current Position: Undergraduate Researcher, Drs. Donald O'Rourke and Zev Binder's Laboratory, Perelman School of Medicine at The University of Pennsylvania and Undergraduate class of 2026, The University of Pennsylvania.
	Suyeon "Emily" Ryu Visiting High School Student, Summer 2024 Current Position: Industrial Engineering student at Purdue University.
	Madeline McCullough Visiting High School Student, Summer 2024 Current Position: Class of 2026, Smithtown East High School.