Jeff came to Washington University in 2003, after his postdoctoral
training and junior faculty experiences at Yale. He grew up in
rural Iowa, and became passionate about infectious diseases while
an exchange student to Malaysia. In high school, he built a small
lab and developed a simple field test for bacterial contamination
of infant formula. Subsequently he had the opportunity to work on
infectious diseases projects with UNICEF and the U.N. World Health
Organization in Kenya, Thailand and India, and to study
engineering, biology and medicine at the University of Iowa,
Oxford University and Yale University. At Yale, he was elected
pediatric teaching fellow of the year and pediatric teaching
faculty of the year; and he investigated RNA biology as a post-doc
in Sidney Altman’s lab. Jeff and his wife Holly have two young
children who – for now - particularly enjoy checking rainbow
markers on western blots on weekends.
Yasmin Razia
Yasmin grew up in a small, beautiful town in Orissa, India. After
her Masters Degree, as she was making plans to come to the US, she
was married to Dr. Nur Shaikh and joined him in Tokyo, where she
received her initial microbiology training (and learned Japanese)
at Japan’s National Institutes of Health. Nur and Yasmin, with
their son Ryan, subsequently moved to Seattle to join the
laboratory of Dr. Phillip Tarr, studying E. coli microbiology at
the University of Washington. When the Tarr Lab moved to
Washington University in St. Louis, Nur and Yasmin also relocated
and Yasmin began work down the hall in the McKinney Lab. Besides
thoroughly enjoying her work in the lab, her home with Nur and
Ryan (Ryan’s future plans include joining his Mom and Dad in the
lab), Yasmin loves reading books. Her retirement dream - a swing,
lots of books and a big mug of coffee!
Felix Lui
Felix is a WashU undergraduate working on his honors thesis in the
lab. Felix is from Ewa Beach, Hawaii – where he first became
interested in research through opportunities in laboratories at
Kamehameha Schools and the University of Hawaii-Manoa. Felix was a
national finalist in the US Junior Science and Humanities
Symposium, where he presented his research work investigating a
tiger shark hemoglobin derivative as a potential blood substitute
and genetic analysis of a native Hawaiian plant species. Before
joining our lab, Felix was a WashU prefreshmen summer scholar and
a Hughes Undergraduate Research Fellowship winner. In 2004, he was
accepted into the WashU BA / MAT undergraduate / graduate program
and was awarded research funding from the Howard Hughes Medical
Institute. When not tracking bacterial gene expression, Felix
particularly enjoys writing, playing beach volleyball, and
enjoying the arts.
Jay-Ming Wang
Jay-Ming is a WashU undergraduate working on his honors thesis in
the lab. Jay-Ming is from Orlando, Florida – where he attended
Winter High School and was involved in chess and swimming. His
interests include biology and chemistry. At WashU, he was awarded
a Lohman Scholarship and a Murphy Scholarship, and is a Dean’s
List student. In 2004, Jay-Ming was awarded a Howard Hughes
Student Research Fellowship. When not investigating bacterial
metabolism and gene stability, Jay-Ming particularly enjoys
relaxing and preparing for his next challenge.
Living & Working in Saint Louis
Our WashU work environment is a pleasure, with great facilities
and colleagues. For what it is worth, Washington University
consistently is among the top tier of academic research centers in
rankings such as the USNews&World Report tables and in NIH
extramural funding levels. Our research setting offers extensive
opportunities to pursue the experiments we feel will be most
interesting and useful. Cost of living in Saint Louis is
moderate, yet opportunities for a rich life outside the lab
abound. We’ve included images of some of our favorite Saint Louis
area places, below.
St. Louis Skyline
St. Louis skyline, as visible from our building - including the
St. Louis Gateway Arch, which is directly adjacent to the
Laclede’s Landing historic neighborhood dating from the 1764
French settlement on the banks of the Mississippi.
McDonnell Pediatric Research Building
We work in the state-of-the-art McDonnell Pediatric Research
Building, dedicated September 2000, and built with generous
community funding support.
Tour available, via:
http://peds.wustl.edu/scripts/div/research/virtual_tours/#page_con
tent
Creve Coeur Sailing
There’s no surf, but at least you can sail – here with an adjunct
member of the very friendly and affordable Creve Coeur Sailing
Association. (Photo by D. Cholon)
More info,via:
http://www.crevecoeursailingassociation.org/
Forest Park
Forest Park (think 500 acres bigger than NYC’s Central Park and 8
million fewer people competing for a picnic table), site of the
1904 World’s Fair and now undergoing a $90 million restoration.
Here, enjoying paddleboats from the Boathouse.
More info, via: http://www.forestparkforever.org/default.asp
Missouri Botanical Garden
The Missouri Botanical Garden, home of world-class botany research
and some exuberantly pretty plants.
More info, via:
http://www.mobot.org/
Rural Missouri
Rural Missouri, on a farm near Fredericktown, nestled among the
northern ridges of the Ozark Mountains, near Mark Twain National
Forest. (Photo by R. Hertel)
Related links, via:
http://www.dnr.state.mo.us/
http://www.conservation.state.mo.us/
http://www.fs.fed.us/r9/marktwain/
SCHOOL OF MEDICINE
