Lab Members

Saba Valadkhan
Principle Investigator
Assistant Professor

Center for RNA Molecular Biology
Case Western Reserve University
10900 Euclid Avenue
Wood RT 100-8
Cleveland, OH 44106
Office phone: (216) 368 1068
Fax: (216) 368 2010

Saba Valadkhan was born and raised in Tehran, Iran. She attended medical school at the Iran University of Medical Sciences from 1989 to 1996 and in 1993 placed fourth in the country in the nationwide Basic Sciences Medical Board Exam. She moved to the United States in 1996 to attend graduate school at Columbia University, New York. There she studied the role of small nuclear RNAs in the human spliceosome under the supervision of Prof. James Manley. While at Columbia University she received awards for both teaching and research. Her thesis was recognized with a Harold Weintraub award from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle. In 2004 she joined the RNA Center in Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, as an assistant professor and was named a Searle Scholar the same year. In 2005, she was selected by the American Association for Advancement of Science (AAAS) as the recepient of the 2004 Young Scientist Award grand prize. Saba became a founding member of the Rosalind Franklin Society in 2006.

Bing Zhang

Graduate Student
Since December 2007
RT 100
(216) 368 0371

Bing Zhang obtained his Bachelor's degree from Shandong University (Jinan, China) in 2007, majoring in Biotechnology. He attended CWRU for graduate study in Fall 2007 and joined Valadkhan lab as a graduate student majoring in Biochemistry in Jan 2008. Bing works on the function and mechanism of large non-coding RNAs in mammalian cells.

Farshad Niazi

Contact info coming soon

was born and raised in Esfehan, Iran. He went to Medical School at Esfehan University of Medical Sciences and earned his MD late in the last century. He migrated to the US early in the third millenium to pursue the development of a unified theory for biology. Farshad has been working on functional and bioinformatics analysis of large non-coding RNA.

Contact info coming soon.

Bio coming soon.

Contact info coming soon.

Bio coming soon.

Contact info coming soon.

Bio coming soon.

Aaron Kim

Aaron Kim was born in Topeka, Kansas, but lived in S. Korea for thirteen years. At age 16, he came to the U.S. and went to a high school in Corvallis, Oregon. He is currently an undergraduate student at Case Western Reserve University majoring Biochemistry and minoring Japanese. He joined Valadkhan lab in Spring of 2007.

Yasaman Jaladat

Yasaman Jaladat was born in Yazd, the world's largest adobe town, but raised and schooled in Tehran, Iran. She attended medical school at Shahid Beheshty University of Medical Sciences (which was called National University of Iran formerly) in Tehran from 1995 to 2002. From 2002 to 2004 she was doing her social work in villages of Iran (Ghayesh and Damagh), and finally in 2004 she obtained her MD degree. Afterwards she returned to Tehran and was appointed to several research positions in addition to continuing her clinical practice. Finally, she ended up in Valadkhan Lab in April 2007 to pursue her research interests. Yasaman mostly works on further characterizing a minimal splicing system, and defining the functional elements required for its catalytic activity in mammalian cells. She is really interested in the role of splicing defects in cancers and autoimmune diseases. Her future goals are making use of RNAs, these hilarious molecules-she believes, to cure her patients.

was born in State College, PA, but lived and schooled in Seoul, S. Korea until she turned 15. She lived in Seattle, WA before she came to Cleveland, where she obtained her Bachelor's degree from Case Western Reserve University, majoring in Biochemistry. She joined Valadkhan lab in Summer of 2006 as an undergraduate and continued on as a graduate student. Caroline works on defining the differences between human and yeast splicing machinery. Comparison of the catalytic ability of protein-free human and yeast snRNAs has begun to provide clues on the sites and base-pairing interactions that significantly affect their function. Caroline was awarded the Phi Beta Kappa Research Grant for this project in December 2006, and in April 2009 she became the recipient of a Silber fellowship.

Armin

Armin obtained his B.A. degree from NEOCOM in Ohio and being interested in research, joined Valadkhan Lab in August 2006. He worked on characterization of a minimal splicing system and developed the basic kinetic framework for its function.

Justin Pruttivarasin

Justin Pruttivarasin was born in Glendale, California, but lived in Thailand for twelve years. He is currently an undergraduate student at Case Western Reserve University majoring in Biomedical Engineering. Justin works on the cellular function of large non-protein-coding RNAs and also helps other lab members by making polyacrylamide gels and preparing solutions for laboratory experiments.

Mastooreh Chamanian

Mastooreh Chamanian was born and raised in Iran. She obtained a B.Sc. degree from the National University of Iran (Shahid Beheshti) in marine biology. She joined Valadkhan Lab in September 2006 and was involved in a project related to modulation of splicing decisions in mammalian cells.

Fereshteh Jahaniani Kenari

Fereshteh Jahaniani Kenari obtained her Pharm.D. from Tehran University of Medical Sciences (Tehran, Iran) in 1999 and her PhD in Pharmacology from Iran University of Medical Science (Tehran, Iran) in 2005. She joined Valadkhan Lab in Oct 2005 as a research associate. Fereshteh initiated the study of large non-coding RNAs in Valadkhan lab and has made important discoveries about the role of this mysterious class of RNAs in higher eukaryotes. Her work has shown that large RNAs can be master regulators of cellular fate and differentiation, and has provided clues to the underlying principles that govern the function of this important and novel class of cellular regulators.

Afshin Bidari

was born and raised in Iran. He obtained an M.D. degree from the National University of Iran (Shahid Beheshti), and is currently in his second year of residency in internal medicine in the Case Medical Center/University Hospitals. Afshin is involved in a research project in Valadkhan Lab on the catalytic mechanism of a newly developed minimal splicing system.

Catherine Tran

Catherine Tran was a research assistant in the lab and helped shape the lab and get it going. We were happy to have her and wish her luck in her career!

Nasrulridza (Nash) Yusuf

Nasrulridza (Nash) Yusuf grew up in Sarawak, Malaysia, which is located in a tropical island of Borneo before he was offered a scholarship to study in Case Western Reserve University. He finished his studies majoring in Systems and Control Engineering with concentration in Signal Processing and Communication and minor in Sociology. While in Valadkhan Lab, Nash’s responsibilities included general laboratory tasks such as preparing solutions, mediums and polyacrylamide gels for experiments in the lab.

Sarah Geisler

Growing up in Canfield, OH and Brownsburg, IN, Sarah Geisler joined the Valadkhan Lab in the Spring of 2004 as a part-time research associate. After she graduated from Case Western Reserve University with majors in Chemistry and Art History and minor in Anthropology, she started working full time in the Valadkhan Lab. While in Valadkhan lab, she worked on characterizing the proposed spliceosomal active site within the complex of U6 and U2 snRNAs. Her research was awarded a Presidential Research Initiative Grant from Case Western.