Current Lab Members
Assistant Professor
Katie Drerup, PhD
Biography and Research statement: I earned my B.S. and M.Sc. from Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, OH (Go Falcons!). From there, I moved to Northwestern University for my dissertation work, which focused on defining the developmental function of DISC1, a schizophrenia susceptibility gene. In 2009, I started my postdoc work at Oregon Health & Science University in the lab of Alex Nechiporuk. In the Nechiporuk lab, I developed protocols to analyze intracellular transport in zebrafish sensory neurons and started our screen for regulators of retrograde axonal transport. From 2016 to 2021, I served as a tenure track investigator at the NICHD where my lab began our work on mitochondrial transport and dynein activity in zebrafish sensory axons. In January 2021, the Drerup lab became part of the iBio Department at the University of Wisconsin - Madison.
At the University of Wisconsin, my lab uses forward and reverse genetics, in vivo imaging, and protein interaction studies in zebrafish neurons to define the mechanisms regulating the transport of cargos by the Cytoplasmic dynein retrograde motor in neurons. Additionally, we utilize iPSC-derived sensory neurons to investigate conservation of these cellular processes in a mammalian model.
Email address: drerup@wisc.edu
Postdoctoral Fellow
Hiu-Tung (Candy) Wong, PhD
Biography and Research statement: My primary focus in the Drerup lab is to utilize biochemistry, genetics, and in vivo imaging to gain insight into the mechanistic regulation of neuronal cargo transport. Prior to joining the Drerup lab, I got a B.S. and M.S.E. from the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor (Go Blue). In my undergraduate years, I stumbled into Yehoash Raphael’s lab studying hearing loss and regeneration. There I became interested in the function and development of the auditory sensory neurons. Also in Michigan, I had wonderful discussions with Karl Grosh about the whys and hows of problematic fibrotic tissue growth, which dampens the signals sent from the cochlea implant to the auditory neuron. I did my Ph.D. thesis research work with Katie Kindt at the NIH through a joint Graduate Partnership Program with Johns Hopkins University. In my thesis, I used zebrafish larvae with transgenes encoding biosensors to study calcium flux and other things at the synapse and mitochondria of sensory hair cells in order to assess how mitochondria respond to synaptic activity and regulate presynaptic morphology. My main biological interest are peripheral sensory neurons, mitochondria, and the function and dysfunction of the axon terminal—what changes these structures, and what are the consequences?
Email address: hcwong3@wisc.edu
Postdoctoral Fellow
Brittany Salazar, PhD
Biography and Research statement: I earned my PhD in Cancer Biology from University of Michigan in 2024. My dissertation research in Dr. Ryoma Ohi’s lab focused on exploring force-balance in the mitotic spindle; specifically the mechanisms of Eg5-independent spindle assembly and the role of anti-parallel microtubule bundling in supporting kinesin-12-driven spindle assembly. My graduate work was conducted using cultured human cell lines, so in exploring my postdoc options I decided I wanted to return to a model organism system, having worked with zebrafish briefly as a technician before graduate school. In the Drerup lab, I am excited to delve into the regulation of microtubule-based transport, microtubule organization, and microtubule dynamics in axons.
Graduate Student (Genetics Training Program)
Angelica Lang
Biography and Research statement: I got my B.S. in Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology from the University of Kansas in May 2021. I first got started in research in high school, when I worked in the lab of Dr. Jeroen Roelofs at Kansas State University studying proteasome autophagy. In undergrad, I did research in the lab of Dr. Erik Lundquist studying the genetic mechanisms that regulate neuron migration in C. elegans. This helped spark my current interest in Neurogenetics. I am now pursuing my PhD through the Genetics Graduate Program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In the Drerup Lab, I will be studying how the transcriptome/proteome of the neuron is altered by retrograde transport of mitochondria.
Graduate Student (Neuroscience Training Program)
Serena Wisner
Biography and Research statement: I received my BS in biochemistry from the University of Washington in June 2018. While there, I worked in Dr. Jennifer Stone’s lab investigating the effectiveness of different CreER lines to study hair cell regeneration in the mouse vestibular system. Following that, I took a two year post-bac in the Drerup Lab at NICHD, characterizing one of the many mutants found in lab’s forward genetic screen. These two experiences got me interested in neuroscience and led to me pursuing my PhD in Neuroscience at UW-Madison. Now back in the Drerup Lab, I’m investigating mitochondria dynamics in neurons and how they change under different conditions.
Graduate Student (Neuroscience training program)
Brooke Weiler
Biography and Research statement: I received my B.S. in Biochemistry and B.S. in Psychology from the University of Missouri in May 2023. While completing this coursework, I studied osteogenesis imperfecta (brittle bone disease) in the lab of Dr. Charlotte Phillips. When the pandemic hit and I was stranded at home, I had the opportunity to provide Applied Behavior Analysis therapy to children with autism. While these are vastly different experiences, they led to my desire to pursue questions related to the basic cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying neuronal health and how disruption of these processes leads to disease. I am currently pursuing my PhD in Neuroscience here at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Research Specialist
Chris Stein
Email address: crstein3@wisc.edu
Undergraduate researchers
Anita Venzke
Rachel Jones
Anna Khanov
Open positions
Graduate students
Apply to one of the many amazing graduate programs at the University of Wisconsin! Links to the right. Email Katie Drerup (drerup@wisc.edu) for more information on programs and direct admits.
Lab Alumni - Current positions
Wesley Schnapp (postBac 2016-2019) - Graduate student at the University of Arizona
Dane Kawano (postBac 2017-2019) - Graduate student at Stanford University
Jeremy Popowitz (Summer student 2019) - Currently a post-Bac in the Farrell lab at the NICHD
Serena Wisner (postBac 2018-2020) - Graduate student at the University of Wisconsin - Madison and back in the Drerup lab!
Kate Pinter (Technician 2017-2020) - Lab manager and senior technician in the Kindt lab at the NIDCD
Katie Klier (postBac 2019-2020) - Graduate student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison
Amrita Mandal (Postdoc 2017-2020) - Postdoc in the Balla lab at the NICHD
Melissa Martin (undergraduate 2021) - Research Technician at PPD
Don Mai (undergraduate 2021-2023) - Clinical Research Fellow SPARCS program
Mady Chlebowski (research intern 2021-2023) - Graduate student at UNC