The Zastrow Lab
  • Home
  • Research
  • Members
    • Current Members
    • About Melissa
    • Alumni
    • Join us
  • Publications
  • News
  • Photos
  • Contact
Menu

Alumni



    Graduate students


Hazel Nguyen
Ph.D. 2025





    Makena Janis
    Ph.D. 2024





      Muxin Qiao
      M.S. 2022

      Current position: Chemist at A & B Environment Science, Houston, TX





        Wenping Zou
        Ph.D. 2022

        Current position: postdoctoral scholar at University of Houston, Department of Chemistry (Eva Harth group)





        Haowen Zhao
        M.S. 2022

        Current position: Project Coordinator, Novogene Europe



          Undergraduate students


        Mahail Tahirkheli
        Spring 2025, Biology





        Aanshi Trivedi
        Summer 2024–Fall 2024, Psychology

        Aanshi worked in the Zastrow lab from summer 2024 to fall 2024 developing protein-based metal ion sensors for bacteria using cyanobacteriochromes.





        Quynh Huong (Susan) Ngoc Nguyen
        Fall 2023, Biomedical Engineering




        Molly Rhodes
        Fall 2021–Fall 2023, B.S. Chemistry

        Molly worked in the Zastrow lab from fall 2021-2023 developing protein-based metal ion sensors for bacteria.




        Jazzmin Jara
        Fall 2020–Spring 2022, B.S. Biology

        Current position: Medical student





        Nasir Abbasi
        Fall 2020–Spring 2022, B.S. Human Nutrition and Foods

        Current position: Medical student





        Joanna Elhaj
        Summer 2020–Spring 2021, B.S. Human Nutrition and Foods

        Current position: Medical student at Arkansas College of Osteopathic Medicine





        Khoa Le
        Spring 2018–Spring 2020, B.S. Chemistry

        Current position: Graduate student at Caltech





        Juventino Valdez
        Fall 2017–Spring 2020, B.S. Biology

        Current position: DDS student at UTHealth School of Dentistry at Houston




        John King
        Spring 2019–Fall 2019

        Current position: MChE student at University of Houston





        Leon Le
        Spring 2019–Fall 2019





        Marium Haq
        Summer 2018–Spring 2019, B.S. Chemistry

        Current position: Graduate Student at University of Oregon





        Brittany Trinh
        Spring 2018–Fall 2018, B.S. Chemistry

        Current position: Graduate student at University of Wisconsin-Madison

        LinkedIn Website





        Jonathan Pickett
        Fall 2017-Spring 2018, B.S. Chemistry

        Current position: Graduate Student at Baylor College of Medicine





        Carlos Iniguez
        Fall 2017-Spring 2018, B.S. Biochemistry

        Current position: Graduate Student at The Ohio State University







          High School students


        Aerial Miller
        2025 ACS Project SEED Student

        Aerial worked in the Zastrow lab from June-July 2025 alongside Dr. Uyen Huynh studying the effects of dietary essential metals like zinc on probiotic Lactobacillus. In her free time, she enjoys dance, piano, and cleaning.






        James Garcia
        2025 ACS Project SEED Student

        James worked in the Zastrow lab from June-July 2025 alongside Dr. Uyen Huynh studying the effects of zinc and calcium on probiotic Lactobacillus. His favorite color is green.






        Elizabeth Guo
        2025 Welch Summer Scholar

        Elizabeth is a rising junior in the IB program at Nikki Rowe High School. She worked in the Zastrow lab from June-July 2025 alongside Dr. Gary Jensen on a project focused on mutagenesis of a computationally designed high-solubility version of an orange fluorescent protein-based zinc sensor. In her free time, she enjoys swimming and traveling.






        Bralon Wilson
        2024 ACS Project SEED student

        Bralon worked in the Zastrow lab from June-August 2024 alongside Dr. Uyen Huynh studying the effects of essential dietary metals on probiotic Lactobacillus. His hobbies are graphic design and comedy.




        Eileen Zhao
        2024 Welch Summer Scholar

        Eileen worked in the Zastrow lab from June-July 2024 alongside Dr. Gary Jensen enhancing the solubility of fluorescent proteins using a soluble protein tag. In her free time, she enjoys playing piano, cello, and golf.






        Dimitri Licona
        2023 Summer Researcher

        Dimitri worked in the Zastrow lab from June-July 2023 alongside Dr. Gary Jensen developing cofactor-binding fluorescent proteins for metal ion sensing.






        Wendy Geng
        2023 Welch Summer Scholar

        Wendy is a rising senior at LASA High School in Austin. She worked in the Zastrow lab from June-July 2023 alongside Dr. Gary Jensen designing fluorescent proteins for metal ion sensing. In her free time, she enjoys going hiking and reading comics.






        Jasmine Chou
        2022 Summer Researcher

        Jasmine worked in the Zastrow lab from June-August 2022 alongside Dr. Uyen Huynh studying the effects of calcium on lactobacilli.






        Bryce Chun
        2022 Welch Summer Scholar

        Bryce worked in the Zastrow lab from June-July 2022 alongside Makena Janis developing anaerobic metal ion sensing fluorescent proteins. During his free time, Bryce enjoys archery and volleyball.






        Timothy Osazuwa
        2019 ACS Project SEED II student

        Timothy worked in the Zastrow lab from June-August 2019 alongside Dr. Uyen Huynh studying the effects of zinc on Lactobacillus species.




        Jose Alvarado
        2019 ACS Project SEED I student

        Jose worked in the Zastrow lab from June-August 2019 alongside Dr. Uyen Huynh studying the effects of zinc on Lactobacillus species.




        Christopher Shi
        2019 Welch Summer Scholar

        Chris is a senior at Westlake High School in Austin. He worked in the Zastrow lab from June-July 2019 alongside Wenping Zou using cofactor-based fluorescent proteins as metal ion sensors. In his free time, he enjoys playing tennis and spending time outdoors.

        Current position: Undergraduate student at Rice University




        Amy Vo
        2018 Welch Summer Scholar

        Current position: Undergraduate student at Caltech