Former Members

Postdoctoral Trainees

  • Alba Timón-Gómez. 2017-2022.
    Current position: Lead Scientist at Oroboros Instruments (Austria).
  • Alberto Ferrari. 2021-2022.
    Current position: Associate Scientist at University of Parma (Italy).
  • Priyanka Maiti. 2017 – 2021.
    Current position: Scientist at Charles River Laboratories (Wilmington, MA).
  • Myriam Bourens. 2011-2017.
    Current position: Scientist at University of Paris-Sud (France).
  • Iliana Soto. 2012-2015.
    Current position: Biomedical Sciences Program Director at Keiser University (Miami, FL).
  • Flavia Fontanesi. 2005-2013.
    Current position: Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Miami (Miami, FL).
  • Alejandro Ocampo. 2011-2012.
    Current position: Assistant Professor of Pharmacology at the University of Lausanne (Switzerland).
  • Catherine Trivigno. 2010- 2011.
    Current position: Professor of Biology at Florida Atlantic University (Boca Raton, FL).
  • Darryl Horn. 2010-2011
    Current position: Assistant Professor at Keystone College (PA).
  • Xiaoping Zhu. 2009- 2010.
    Current position: Postdoctoral Fellow at the Systems Biomedicine Lab, Houston Methodist Research Institute (Houston, TX).
  • Karine Gouget. 2008-2011.
    Current position: Clinical Research Associate at PAREXEL (Paris, France)
  • Andrea Zambrano. 2003-2006.
    Current position: Clinical Professor of Radiology at University of Chicago (IL).
  • Asun Solans. 2003-2006.
    Current position: Regulatory Affairs Associate at NUFARM (Barcelona, Spain).

Predoctoral Trainees

  • Hui Zhong, Ph.D. 2023. Project: Assembly of Fe-S clusters in the human mitoribosome. Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology.
    Current position: Postdoc at Harvard
  • Samuel Del’Olio, Ph.D. 2023. Project: Role of an intrinsic GTPase in mitoribosome function. Department of Molecular and cellular pharmacology.
    Current position: Postdoc at University of Miami.
  • John Conor Moran, Ph.D. 2023. Project: Role of LRPPRC in Leigh’s syndrome. Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology.
    Current position: M.D./Ph.D. student back to Medical School.
  • Hong Weng Pang, Ph.D. 2023. Project: Role of yeast Dbp2 in the regulation of mitochondrial translation under oxidative stress. Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology.
    Current position: Researcher at Harvard Medical School (Massachusetts).
  • Austin Choi, Ph.D. 2022. Project: Mitoribosome membrane tethering. Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology.
    Current position: M.D./Ph.D. student back to Medicine School.
  • Hyun-Jung Kim. Ph.D. 2018. Project: Role of the GTPase MTG1 in human mitochondrial ribosome assembly in health and cardiac disease. Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology.
    Current position: Postdoctoral Associate at Stanford University (CA).
  • Rui Zeng, Ph.D. 2017. Project: The assembly pathway of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae mitochondrial large ribosome subunit. Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology.
    Current position: Postdoctoral Researcher at Abcam (China).
  • Ya-Ting Tu, Ph.D. 2016. Project: Role of the DEAD-box helicase DDX28 in human mitochondrial ribosome assembly. Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology.
    Current position: Postdoctoral Associate at Stanford University (CA).
  • Dasmanthie de Silva, Ph.D. 2015. Project: Role of the DEAD-box helicase Mrh4 in S. cerevisiae mitochondrial ribosome assembly. Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology.
    Current position: Scientist at Synthetic Biology ArsenalBio.
  • Jingjing Liu, Ph.D. 2012. Project: Regulation of mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase composition by oxygen and oxidative stress. Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology.
    Current position: Assistant Professor at Soochow University (Suzhou, China).
  • Iliana C. Soto, Ph.D. 2011. Project: Insights into the roles of Mss51 in the biogenesis of subunit 1 of mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase. Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology.
    Current position: Biomedical Sciences Program Director at Keiser University (Miami, FL).
  • Alejandro Ocampo, Ph.D. 2011. Project: Mitochondrial function in yeast models of polyglutamine disorders and aging. Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology.
    Current position: Assistant Professor of Pharmacology at the University of Lausanne (Switzerland).
  • Darryl Horn, Ph.D. 2010. Project: Role of Cmc1p, a new COX assembly factor. Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology.
    Current Position: Assistant Professor at Keystone College (PA).

Undergraduate Students (Honors thesis) with Barrientos:

  • Ansel Amaral, Senior Honors thesis project: Mitochondrial Physiology in a yeast model of Parkinson’s disease. Graduated in 2007 with Honors Summa cum laude. Currently M.D./ Ph.D. following his Internal Medicine Residency at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois.
  • Philip Chong, Senior Honors thesis project: Mitochondrial Physiology in yeast models of Huntington’s disease. Graduated in 2010 with Honors Summa cum laude.
  • Ryan Werner, Senior Honors thesis project: Investigations into the mitochondrial functions of nuclear-encoded translational factor Mss51. Graduated in 2010 with Honors Summa cum laude.
  • Shea Hughes, Senior Honors thesis project: The role of Cox24 in cytochrome c oxidase biogenesis. Graduated in 2012.
  • Enrique Garcia. Project: Characterization of human cytochrome c oxidase assembly factors. 2011-2013. Currently following an M.D.-Ph.D. program at Columbia University (NY)
  • Danielle Buoquio. Project: Role of Mrh4 in the assembly of yeast mitoribosomes. Graduated in 2014. Currently following a Ph.D. program at UCLA (CA)
  • Sarah Poliquin. Project: Role of Mss116 on mitochondrial translation. Graduated in 2015. Currently following a Ph.D. program at Stony Brook University (NY)
  • Erin Smith. Project. Assembly of the yeast mitochondrial ribosome large subunit. Graduated in 2017.

Visiting/Exchange Students:

  • Rodrigo de Oliveira, Universidade do Minho, Braga, Portugal. 2004.
  • Paula Clemente, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas-Universidad Autonoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain. 2010.
  • Constanza Moren, Cellex-IDIBAPS, Facultat de Medicina-University of Barcelona, Hospital Clínic de Barcelona, Spain. 2010.
  • Marco Tigano, University of Parma, Parma, Italy. 2012.
  • Teresa Lobo-Jarne, Hospital 12 de octubre, Madrid, Spain. 2016.
  • Viktoriia Bazylianska, Wayne State University, Detroit, IL (USA). 2016
  • Manon Delcourt, Université de Mons, Mons, Belgium. 2017
  • Ana Sierra-Magro, Hospital 12 de octubre, Madrid, Spain. 2021.

Former Visiting Professors:

  • Paula Ludovico, Universidade do Minho, Braga, Portugal. 2004.
  • Mario Barros, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil. 2015.
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