TEAM
HAOSHENG SUN
P.I.
Dr. HaoSheng Sun received his PhD in Neuroscience in 2014 in the laboratory of Dr. Eric Nestler at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, where he studied how chronic exposure adverse environmental stimuli such as stress or drugs of abuse led to long term transcriptional and chromatin changes that disrupt normal reward circuitry. He then went on to complete his postdoctoral training with Dr. Oliver Hobert, where using the model organism C. elegans, he examined the transcriptional programs that underlie the temporal maturation of post-mitotic nervous system during post-embryonic development.
​
As an LGBTQ+ immigrant growing up in Canada, Dr. Sun recognizes the important roles that opportunity and the fantastic mentorships he's received throughout his scientific training played to allow him to pursue his dream career of academic research. He hopes to pay this forward to the next generation of science trainees by establishing an inclusive and fun lab environment where rigorous science is conducted.
​
​
HELEN (GUIHUA) ZHOU
Lab Manager/Scientist I
Dr. Helen Zhou received her MD and PhD degrees from Jilin University, School of Medicine in China. Following her post-doctoral training at University of Louisville, Kentucky, she joined and followed Dr. Sumanth Prabhu’s research group to University of Alabama at Birmingham, where she studied the role of immune cells in the pathophysiology of heart failure and their potential role as therapeutic targets. Her continuous goal is to contribute to medical scientific research. Her passion for the science drives her to challenge herself in new field of neuroscience. She is ready for her next chapter of medical research.
GABRIELLE PRINCE
Researcher III
Gabrielle is a native of Birmingham, Alabama but attended the University of South Alabama in Mobile, Alabama where she received her B.Sc and M.Sc. in Biology. She was mentored underneath Dr. Ryan Littlefield for both of her undergraduate and graduate research projects studying muscle physiology. Her undergraduate research focused on using CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing to tag myosins with fluorescent protein in Caenorhabditis elegans muscles and to characterize their assembly. Her graduate research project focused on the generation of transgenic C. elegans worms to visualize the location and conformation of the giant, elastic protein Titin in muscles. Her current research interests include cellular biology and neurobiology.
SHARRELL GREENE
Researcher I
Sharrell Greene recently graduated from UAB with a BSc in Biology. Yoga, hiking, ziplining, traveling, and tasting new foods are among her favorite hobbies. She has thoroughly loved working with therapeutic horses to assist children with physical, mental, developmental, and behavioral challenges. Her long-term ambitions is to work as an Animal Lab Veterinarian and to educate kids from low-income communities about careers in research.
CRAIG PETERS
Undergraduate Researcher
Craig is a Science and Technology Honors student majoring in Genetics and Genomic Sciences here at UAB with a double minor in Biology and Chemistry and is pursuing an accelerated masters degree in Multidisciplinary Biomedical Sciences. He is from Houston, TX, where he spent most of his life growing up in Katy, a Houston suburb. His hobbies include reading, binging tv shows, and trying new foods. His research interests include improving the efficiency of the Crispr-Cas9 molecular targeting system as well as different aspects of neuroscience, including development. He hopes to one day either pursue a PhD or an MD/PhD and continue a career in scientific research.
NASH ROBINSON
Undergraduate Researcher
Nash is originally from Dallas, Texas, but now lives in Huntsville, Alabama. He is a chemistry major with a concentration in biochemistry, but he is interested in all subjects relating to science. In his free time, Nash likes to play guitar and read comic books.
EMMA SAUTMAN
Undergraduate Researcher
Emma is an undergraduate Science and Technology Honors student currently majoring in Genetics and Genomic Sciences. She is originally from Augusta, GA and hopes to pursue a career in Genetic Counseling in the future. With a family history of MS (Multiple Sclerosis), her research interests include using genomic data and metabolic pathways to better understand the role that genetic predisposition and environment play in some diseases.
MOLLY REYNOLDS
Undergraduate Researcher
Molly is a freshman majoring in Neuroscience with a minor in Chemistry at UAB. She is originally from Birmingham, and has loved staying in the city that she grew up in. She plans on obtaining her Masters in Multidisciplinary Biomedical Sciences at UAB, followed by a PhD in Neuroscience. She hopes to begin a career in neurodegenerative and neurodevelopmental research. She is super excited to be working in the Sun Lab and to be a part of some exciting research projects.
MONTY
Lab Mascot/Cheerleader
Monty is a Min Pin mix with a PhD in Squirrel Chasing. He doesn't actually do any lab work, but will be there to cheer you up when the experiments do not work.