Meet the Lab

Dr. Kathryn Gunn

Principal Investigator

Dr. Gunn did her undergraduate degree in chemistry at the California Institute of Technology where she worked in Dr. Douglas Rees’ lab. She went on to earn her PhD in biological sciences from Northwestern University in Dr. Alfonso Mondragón’s lab. For her postdoctoral work she joined Dr. Saskia Neher’s lab at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. There she worked on lipase structure and mechanism, producing work that has been recognized with multiple fellowships and awards, including a K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award, two American Heart Association Postdoctoral Fellowships, HHMI Leading Edge Fellow, and the Porter Prize for Research Excellence from the American Society for Cell Biology. Dr. Gunn is now embarking on the new adventure of starting her own lab at Stony Brook University where her group will study oligomeric regulation of lipases.

The Gunn Lab Team

Thomas Whitbread

Lab Technician
Tom graduated with a B.S. in biology with a minor in marine sciences from Stony Brook University in 2021. He then completed an M.S. in cellular and molecular at St. John’s University in 2023, working in Dr. Yan Zhu’s lab studying the regulation of the tumor suppressor p53 by channel-kinases. He then spent a year teaching introductory biology labs at St. John’s before joining the Gunn Lab. In the Gunn Lab, he is working on a project to solve the active structure of pancreatic lipase by Cryo-EM.
Isabella Berger

Undergraduate Researcher
Raisa Suha

Undergraduate Researcher
Asvin Ranganathan

Undergraduate Researcher
Benson Huang

Summer High School Researcher
I love playing Ice Hockey and that’s why I’m interested in the digestion of dietary fats. My goals include doing well in school and bulking at the gym by applying the knowledge I gained here about nutrition!
Jaeda Lau

Summer High School Researcher
I love biological sciences and going to the lab often because it’s like a mini surprise every visit. I would like to expand my knowledge about triglyceride synthesis and lipases and carry out advanced lab techniques. In my free time, I like to play the piano and violin!