Current Lab Members

Liz Cooper Asst. Professor & Principal Investigator

Dr. Cooper joined the Department of Bioinformatics and Genomics at UNC Charlotte in 2018. She received her Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from the University of Southern California in 2011, then worked as a post-doc at the University of Miami from 2011 to 2014. She subsequently became a research associate at Clemson University, which is where she became interested in applying her background in evolutionary biology and genomics to agricultural systems.

William Voelker Ph.D. Student

William Voelker graduated from North Carolina State University with a B.S in Plant Biology in 2020. He is now working on earning his PhD in Bioinformatics and Computational Biology at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Under the guidance of Dr. Elizabeth Cooper, he is currently studying structural variant analysis and genome assembly methods in sorghum.

Eric Liao Ph.D. Student

Eric (Yunfei) Liao is a PhD student in Bioinformatics and Computational Biology at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He earned his B.S and M.S in Materials Engineering in Nanchang Hangkong University in China. He got his M.S in Information Technology at UNC Charlotte in 2019. Currently, he is forecasting West Nile Virus outbreaks using environmental, geographic, and mosquito genetic data under the guidance of Dr. Elizabeth Cooper.

Chinaza Nnamdi Ph.D. Student

Chinaza Nnamdi is a PhD student in Bioinformatics and Computational Biology. He earned his M.S. in Plant Pathology at the University of Georgia, Georgia and his B.Sc in Plant Biology at the University of Ilorin, Nigeria. His first project is the differential expression analysis of different sorghum genotypes under different iron conditions.

Julian Aileru Master's Student

Julian Aileru is a first year Master's student in the department of Bioinformatics and Genomics. He received a B.S. in Biology in 2021 from UNC Charlotte. He joined the lab in the Spring of 2023, and currently he is studying duplication events and mutation rates in Wyeomyia Smithii genes.

Whitney Brannen Master's Student

Whitney Brannen is a second year Master’s student in the department of Bioinformatics and Genomics. She graduated with a B.S. in Biology and minor in Chemistry from Western Carolina University in 2021. She joined the lab in the summer of 2023, and is currently working on identifying significant Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms in the mosquito species Culex tarsalis that could be driving local adaptation across different regions of North America.

Lydia Holley Master's Student

Lydia Holley is a second year Master’s student in the department of Bioinformatics and Genomics. She graduated with a B.S. in Biology and a concentration in Bioinformatics from George Mason University in 2021. She joined the lab in the spring of 2023. She is currently working towards identifying transposable elements (TEs) and possible horizontal transfers of TEs between Wyeomyia smithii and the other mosquito species.

Jimmy Nguyen Master's Student

Jimmy Nguyen is a second year Master's student in the department of Bioinformatics and Genomics. He graduated in 2021 with a B.S. in Biology from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He joined the lab in the Summer of 2023, and is currently working on multiple climate variables to uncover significant variation in genetic data that may be driving local adaptation of the mosquito species Culex tarsalis across the Western Continental United States.

Jenny Gilby Master's Student

Jenny Gilby is a second year Master’s student in the department of Bioinformatics and Genomics. She received a B.S. in Microbiology and a B.A. in Women’s Studies from the University of Florida in 2022. Jenny joined the lab in the fall of 2023 and is currently working on identifying iron transporter genes across various sorghum species.

Addison Harris Undergraduate

Addison Harris is a junior at UNC Charlotte working on getting her undergraduate degree in Biology. She joined Dr. Cooper's lab in the Spring of 2023, and she's currently working to identify transposable element insertions and deletions relative to the reference sorghum genome and their impacts.

Former Lab Members

  • Rachel Bartolomeo (MS student, 2018-19)
  • Tuvani Ramnarine (BS student, 2019-20)
  • Cristian Ponce (HS student, 2019-20; now at CalTech)
  • Bailee Ku (Summer research intern, 2020; now at Florida State)
  • Kittikun Songsomboon (Postdoc, 2018-2020; now a postdoctoral researcher at University of Sydney)
  • Touhid Islam (MS student, 2020-21; now a PhD student at the University of Utah)
  • James Heuser (BS,MS student, 2018-21; now working for ASRT,inc. as a contractor for the CDC)
  • Shelvasha Burkes (Postdoc, 2020-21; now a Data Scientist at Syngenta)
  • Krishna Thakor (MS student, 2020-21; now an ORISE fellow at the CDC)
  • Lindsay Shields (Certificate student, 2021-22; now at the EPA in Athens, GA)
  • Sangeetha Vijayam (MS student, spring 2022)
  • Azita Alasvand Zarasvand (Certificate student, 2019-2022)
  • Krittika Krishnan (MS student, 2021-22; now an ORISE fellow at the CDC)
  • Samantha Taylor (MS student, 2021-22)
  • Louie Alexander (MS student, summer 2022)
  • Jade Takakuwa (MS student, 2022-23; now an ORISE fellow at the CDC)

Lab Photos

Cooper Lab in Big Basin Redwoods State Park, during the 2019 ASPB meeting in San Jose, CA

Wishing Lindsay a fond farewell at the Golden Owl in April 2022

Krittika and Jade's graduation in December 2022