Lab Members
Katharina Schlacher, Ph.D.
Principal Investigator
Associate Professor, Cancer Biology
KSchlacher@mdanderson.org
Postdoctoral Fellow: Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center with Maria Jasin, Ph.D., and at University of California, Los Angeles with Hong Wu, M.D., Ph.D.
Graduate: University of Southern California under Myron Goodman, Ph.D.
M.Sc.: Karl-Franzens University, Graz, Austria
Undergraduate: Karl-Franzens University, Graz, Austria
Brittany Fallis Miklis
Sr. Administrative Assistant
bfmiklis@mdanderson.org
Yue Chen – Research Investigator
Yue Chen graduated from Nankai University in China and obtained her Ph.D. degree from Chinese Academy of Sciences. Prior to joining the Schlacher’s Lab in 2021, she worked as postdoctoral fellow at the Baylor College of Medicine where her research interest involves proteomics of transmembrane receptors and DNA-bound nuclear receptor-coregulator complexes. In Schlacher’s lab, Yue helps handle general lab operations including management of demand and supplies, maintenance of laboratory equipments, mentoring and training new members. Additionally, Yue participates in several research projects using microscopic studies as well as various cellular and molecular assays to investigate the role of different FA proteins in replication fork instability.
Platon Selemenakis – Postdoctoral Fellow
Platon is from Athens, Greece and earned his B.S. in Biology at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens in 2014. After graduating he joined Dr. Vassileios Gorgoulis’ Histology and Embryology lab, where he was exploring the role of autophagy in the progression of cancer. In 2016 he started his Ph.D. in Cancer Biology at Colorado State University. He joined Dr. Claudia Wiese’s lab at the Environmental and Radiological Health Sciences Department, where he investigated the role of RAD51AP1 and RAD54 proteins in the Homologous Recombination DNA repair pathway. Platon joined the Schlacher Lab as a postdoctoral fellow in August 2021 and is working on a 53BP1 knockout and BRCA2 mutant mouse model.
Outside of the lab, Platon enjoys cooking, painting, and playing the guitar and bouzouki.
Macy Lozen – Research Assistant
Macy is an Austin, TX native who earned her B.S. in Health Science at Friends University and M.S. in Biological Chemistry at the University of Michigan. She completed her master’s research in Dr. Yan Zhang’s lab, where she tested various anti-CRISPR proteins for their inhibition of Neisseria CRISPR-Cas systems. Macy is currently investigating the mechanism of inflammation-induced chemotherapy resistance at the crosstalk of nuclear and mitochondrial genome instability.
When she isn’t working, Macy enjoys being active and spending time with her dogs.
Momo Harris – Research Assistant II
B.S. in Biology - Brigham Young University, 2018
Momo has become Schlacher Lab’s resident “Mouse Lady” since joining in 2021, managing colonies and executing experiments for the majority of our animal models. Her main projects include embryo studies and drug treatment experiments for our Brca2/Rad51c mouse model.
Outside of work, Momo plays the flute with the Houston Concert Band, spends time with her husband and son, and crochets. She also is an avid board-gamer and is always looking for others to join in on a weekend game night.
Ana Paula Guevara Sosa – Undergraduate Researcher
B.A. in Chemistry with Philosophy minor - University of St Thomas, Houston, 2023
Lab experience: Undergraduate research, Synthesis and Characterization of Gold Nanoparticles and Nanorods for Photothermal therapy.
Ana Paula is from Venezuela. She loves playing volleyball, painting and playing with her dog. She's also pre-med, but is sure she wants to do research as well!