The Rockefeller University » Postdocs from around the world share their experience at Rockefeller

 

Each year, more than 300 postdoctoral scholars carry out research in Rockefeller’s 70-plus laboratories, fueling discovery and shaping the future of science. They come from around the world, bringing fresh perspectives and curiosity to the campus community. In these short Q&As, we invite you to meet a few of them, hear about their work, and get a glimpse of the interests and experiences that inspire them outside the lab.

 

Andreas Mueller

Andreas Mueller is a postdoctoral researcher in the Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics, led by Seth Darst. Originally from Germany, he earned his doctorate at ETH Zurich and has been at Rockefeller for five years. His research examines the molecular machinery that transcribes DNA into RNA, a fundamental step in gene expression.

What is the main area of your research, and what questions are you hoping to answer through your work?
Mueller: I study the molecular machine in cells that copies DNA into RNA. This step is the beginning of how our genetic code is turned into proteins, which carry out most of life’s functions. My goal is to understand this machinery in detail—how it works and how it is regulated. The more we know about it, the better we understand how cells function in both health and disease.

When you’re not in the lab, where are you most likely to be?
Mueller:  I love being outdoors, especially hiking. More recently, I’ve picked up pickleball, which has become very popular on campus. I usually play two or three times a week with a group of other postdocs and staff. It’s a fun way to stay active and social, and a nice counterbalance to time at the bench.

Have you been involved in any causes or activities outside of research, such as mentoring, volunteering, or creative pursuits?
Mueller:  Yes. Early in my postdoc, I participated in RockEDU’s science outreach program, introducing students to the analysis of protein structures. I’ve also mentored a research assistant in our lab. I enjoy those roles because they let me share what I’ve learned and help guide others who are just starting out.

What is a fun or surprising fact your colleagues might not know about you?
Mueller:  Before I came to Rockefeller, I was part of a scientific scuba diving group during my undergraduate studies. We went on expeditions to places like the Adriatic Sea, the Persian Gulf, and the Red Sea, mapping coral reefs and working alongside geologists. For a couple of years, I did quite a bit of diving, both for research and for fun. These days, I’m more often on a pickleball court than underwater, but scuba diving is still part of my story.

How has Rockefeller shaped your growth as a researcher?
Mueller:  Rockefeller has been a great place to do this kind of foundational research. The facilities and instruments here make a real difference in what you can accomplish. I’ve also valued the opportunities to present my work, take career development courses, and connect with colleagues across fields. Those experiences have shaped my perspective on science and where I want to take it next.

 

Manoj Kumar

Manoj Kumar, a postdoctoral associate in the Laboratory of Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience, led by Priya Rajasethupathy. Originally from India, he earned his PhD at the CSIR-Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology and spent six months at the Francis Crick Institute in the UK before joining Rockefeller in March 2024. His research focuses on building 3D brain organoid cultures, tiny, lab-grown models that mimic aspects of the human brain, which can be used to study how neural circuits develop and to test potential therapies.

In what ways has your postdoc helped you build on your graduate training or explore a new direction
Kumar: During my PhD, I worked with more traditional cell and stem cell culture systems, so starting at a new place from scratch on organoid cultures has been a new challenge. My postdoc has given me the space to design these models in my own way and to think about how they might answer questions that older approaches cannot. It’s been both humbling and exciting to learn an entirely new system while also figuring out how to make it work for the big questions I care about.

When you’re not in the lab, how do you like to spend your time?
Kumar: I love sports like basketball, pickleball, volleyball, and cricket. When I have free time, I like to spend it outdoors. I’ve gone hiking in the Catskills, Bear Mountain, and Cold Spring, and I enjoy taking long walks exploring different parts of New York City. It’s a great way to clear my head.

Have you been involved in any mentoring or volunteer activities outside your research?
Kumar: I’ve been lucky to have wonderful mentors, so I know how important it is. I’m the first in my family to go to college and to earn a PhD, and I feel a responsibility to share what I’ve learned. I work with RockEDU, showing high school and college students what we do in the lab and helping them plan and run experiments. I also mentor students in Rockefeller’s summer program and am active in the Postdoctoral Association, where I help organize career development and social events for postdocs.

Who or what has shaped your commitment to science and education?
Kumar: My father was in the army, and my mother raised me after he passed away. She believed in education and encouraged me to be independent from an early age. I’ve also had mentors who saw my curiosity and pushed me to keep asking questions. That combination of family support and mentoring shaped who I am as a scientist.

What’s a fun or surprising fact your colleagues might not know about you?
Kumar: I sometimes dream about my experiments: planning them in my sleep, thinking through what could go wrong, and even coming up with fixes. A few times, I’ve woken up and scribbled something down that ended up being useful the next day. I also love to make people laugh, even with just a quick chat or a smile. If someone seems a little down and I can get them to crack a smile, that makes my day.

 

Jayeesha Ghosh

Jayeesha Ghosh is a postdoctoral researcher in the Laboratory of DNA Replication, led by Michael O’Donnell. Originally from India, she earned her doctorate at Waseda Univeristy in Japan, and has been at Rockefeller since 2024. Her research examines proteins involved in the replication and repair of DNA strands during cell division, a process that occurs billions of times each day in every human.

What questions are you trying to answer in your research?
Ghosh: My lab is focused on biochemical, structural, and biophysical approaches to understanding how DNA replication works. More specifically, I work on clamp loaders – ring-like structures that help load proteins onto DNA that is undergoing the replication process. There are many clamp loaders, and I’m currently studying one called Rad24RFC that’s involved in DNA damage response. Learning how these proteins work is crucial to understanding diseases—such as cancer—that occur when problems arise during cell division.

How did you come to Rockefeller?
Ghosh: At Waseda University in Japan, I was part of a project to develop techniques for the cultivation of artificial meat. There was a lot of biochemistry, and I realized I wanted to learn more about the structure and biophysics of the proteins involved, and how they interact. To do that, I needed to go back to the fundamentals of cell biology. Mike’s lab was perfect. I liked his approach to studying DNA replication, and I immediately felt comfortable with the other scientists working there.

Where do you want to be in 10 years?
Ghosh: You may have to come back later to see – it’s too soon to tell! I like what I’m doing now, studying the structure of proteins, how DNA works, and how mutations happen, but I also like cell culture and tissue engineering. If I could combine those interests that would be the ideal situation, whether in industry or academia.

When did you decide you wanted to be a scientist?
Ghosh: I always wanted to do research, at least since middle school. Every field has its own vocabulary, and when I started learning the vocabulary of biology, I realized how much I liked it. It came easily to me. It felt like a storytelling process, and there were just so many stories I wanted to understand.

What’s something your colleagues don’t know about you?
Ghosh: I watch tons of retro movies, mostly in theaters. I joined the Film Forum shortly after I moved to New York, and I go there and to the Angelika all the time. I just watched Roman Holliday. It’s important to me to see these films in the theater, the way they were originally meant to be experienced.

Who’s someone who’s been a strong influence on you?
Ghosh: Outside of science, my greatest influences have been my parents, whose unwavering support allowed me to pursue my interests. I am also deeply grateful to my middle school biology teacher, who first nurtured my love for the subject, and to my Master’s professor, who guided my professional growth and encouraged me to pursue a Ph.D. His thoughtful advice has continued to sustain me across different countries and cultures.

 

Ján Burian

Ján Burian, a bacterial geneticist from Banská Štiavnica, Slovakia, joined Rockefeller in 2018 after earning his PhD in microbiology and immunology at the University of British Columbia. He completed his postdoc in Sean F. Brady’s Laboratory of Genetically Encoded Small Molecules and is now a research associate. His work focuses on developing new methods and genetic tools to accelerate functional metagenomics, which involves mining DNA from uncultured microbes to discover new antibiotics.

What inspired you to pursue a career in science and, specifically, this field?
Burian: I have always been curious about how things work. As a kid, I took gadgets apart to see the inside, and I loved building with Legos because the pieces could become anything. During my PhD, I assisted a visiting professor, Takeshi Murakami, on a project establishing a tool to copy and paste sections of a bacterial genome to improve antibiotic production, which got me interested in the genetics behind antibiotics and other bacterial natural products. I wanted to learn more about natural products as a postdoc. Julian Davies, a titan in antibiotics and a mentor, suggested I continue my work in Sean Brady’s lab at Rockefeller. That path felt right, and it brought me here.

What is something unexpected you have learned about yourself during your postdoc?
Burian: That I can thrive in a place that once felt intimidating. Rockefeller has an incredible reputation, and I arrived with a bit of imposter syndrome. Over time, I learned to trust my training and to see challenges as puzzles rather than obstacles. I also learned how much I enjoy collaborative science. The lab has people from a lot of different scientific backgrounds, including microbiology, natural products, synthetic chemistry and bioinformatics, and it’s been an exciting opportunity to blend a lot of different knowledge to tackle big projects.

When you are not in the lab, where are you most likely to be?
Burian: I love spending time with my 4-year-old daughter, Isabelle. Most evenings, we stop at a playground on the way home from day care, and weekends are usually spent outdoors together. I also love movies and TV, and have been introducing Izzy to some of my childhood favorites like Chip ’n Dale Rescue Rangers and classic Disney films. A friend from the lab, James Peek, is an excellent guitarist and was instrumental in getting me to make time to pick up my guitar more often. Though, I would say I approximate music more than I play it. I am also passionate about sharing science and love to support outreach events on campus or organize workshops when my schedule allows.

What is a fun or surprising fact your colleagues might not know about you?
Burian: For almost 15 years, I have worn a tie every Thursday. It started in graduate school when a friend, Keith Mewis, wore a bow tie to teach. I started wearing ties to compete, as ties are “clearly” superior. We still send each other photos to keep the tradition alive. People often assume I have a presentation or an interview, but no, it is just Thursday. At this point, I own more than 30 ties, plus a few ascots and vintage cravats, and I like experimenting with different knots. My wife says half of my wardrobe is just for Thursdays.

 

Catherine Freije

Catherine Freije is a postdoctoral researcher in the Laboratory of Virology and Infectious Disease, led by Charles Rice. Originally from Southern California, she earned her doctorate in virology at Harvard. At Rockefeller, where she has spent the past five years, she studies hepatitis B virus (HBV), a major global health challenge that affects millions worldwide.

What questions are you hoping to answer through your research?
Freije: Hepatitis B remains common in parts of Asia and Africa, despite an effective vaccine that can prevent new infections. There are treatments that can control the virus but rarely cure it, often requiring lifelong use or carrying significant side effects. My goal is to develop better tools to study hepatitis B and ultimately create therapies that, allow people to manage infection without taking drugs for life.

When you’re not in the lab, where are you most likely to be?
Freije: You’d find me with my young son and our two rescue dogs, usually outdoors. We live right across from campus, so Central Park and neighborhood playgrounds are part of our daily rhythm. It surprises people that we can live in Manhattan and still have so much access to green space.

Outside of research, what activities or causes are most meaningful to you?
Freije: Mentoring is a big one. I’ve worked with high school students through Rockefeller’s summer program and enjoy their sharp questions and fresh perspective. At home, baking is my creative outlet. I especially love making pies and chasing the perfect flaky crust.

What’s a fun or surprising fact your colleagues might not know about you?
Freije: On a backpacking trip in Costa Rica, my brother and I had to climb a tree to avoid a pack of wild boars. They can be aggressive and even trample people, so our guide had to scare them off. Definitely not an everyday experience.

Looking ahead, what possibilities excite you after your postdoc?
Freije: I’d like to continue in academia, ideally in a role where I can combine research with mentoring. Wherever I land, I hope to keep exploring big questions about viruses while supporting the next generation of scientists.

 

Manivel Lodha

Manivel Lodha is a postdoctoral research associate in the Laboratory of Retrovirology led by Paul Bieniasz and Theodora Hatziioannou. A molecular virologist, Lodha studies how coronaviruses invade human cells, the critical first step of infection and a prime target for vaccines and therapies. Originally from Mumbai, India, Lodha lived and worked in four countries, including the UK and Germany, before joining Rockefeller in 2023.

What questions are you trying to answer through your research?
Lodha: I study seasonal coronaviruses, including OC43, which is notorious for causing the common cold and a probable cause of the “Russian flu” pandemic (1889-1890) after it spilled over from cattle to humans. I work to understand how these viruses attach to and enter cells. The aim is to identify the proteins they bind to, because that first step is where you ideally want to block infection. OC43, like SARS-CoV2, is a Betacoronavirus – a genetically similar group of coronaviruses which have caused major outbreaks in the last two decades.

What is something unexpected you have learned during your postdoc?
Lodha: I came from working on DNA viruses, so moving into coronaviruses, which are RNA viruses, meant stepping into a different world. Even within virology, every virus group has its own way of thinking and unique set of approaches. One of the most significant lessons for me at Rockefeller has been to revisit old questions with fresh eyes. Sometimes, when people return to something they thought they understood, they uncover something new.

You have lived and worked in many countries. How has that shaped you as a scientist?
Lodha: Different countries have their own working styles. In Germany, for example, I developed a deep respect for organization and precision. In India and the United States, I have observed a more exploratory, ‘jump right in’ approach. I strive to strike a balance between the two, and this balance enables me to work both efficiently and creatively.

Where are you most likely to be when you are not in the lab?
Lodha: Playing table tennis. I like to visit PingPod venues across the city, which are open-table spaces where you can book a game by the hour. I’ve made a whole group of friends there, most of them outside science, which is refreshing. Talking with people in entirely different fields gives me a new perspective and leaves me energized when I return to the lab.

What is a fun or surprising fact your colleagues might not know about you?
Lodha: I compose electronic music and recently started taking piano lessons. I began using free software in high school and loved the process of stitching melodies together. In many ways, it feels like science. You experiment, test, and refine until it finally comes together.