Principal Investigator
Tom Nowakowski, Ph.D.
Research and Support Staff
Clif Duhn - Lab Manager
Owen Griffiths
Yasmin Fukushima
Fiona Sun
Postdoctoral Scholars
Sih-Rong Wu, Ph.D.
I received my master's degree from National Yang-Ming University, Taiwan where I first met the beauty and the complexity of the brains by studying neurodegenerative disorders. During my PhD training at Baylor College of Medicine, I was intrigued by the molecular mechanisms giving rise to neuronal diversity. I elucidated the heterogeneity of pontine nuclei neurons and their molecular driver during development in mice. As a postdoc in NOW lab, I am interested in studying the human brain development and its implications in psychiatric disorders.
Significant Publications
Wu SR, Nowakowski TJ. Exploring human brain development and disease using assembloids. Neuron. 2025 Mar 11:S0896-6273(25)00128-X. doi: 10.1016/j.neuron.2025.02.010. PMID: 40107269
Wu SR, Butts JC, Caudill MS, Revelli JP, Dhindsa RS, Durham MA, Zoghbi HY. Atoh1 drives the heterogeneity of the pontine nuclei neurons and promotes their differentiation. Sci Adv. 2023 Jun 30;9(26):eadg1671.
Guohua Yuan, Ph.D.
Went through a long journey from material engineering during undergraduate, single molecular biophysics in master, and tools development & single cell multi-omics study on the temporal regulation of cortex development during PhD in Tsinghua University, then came to the NOW lab UCSF, I finally found the field that excites me the most and am dedicated to focusing on it in my future career. Basically, I'm interested in the broad topics about how the brain is formed, how the development of brain can be perturbed by different conditions and how the brain development can be engineered in vitro and in vivo. Currently, I'm primarily focused on lineage tracing and in vivo perturb-seq to systematically study the spatial temporal brain development and revisit the long-standing questions in the field. btw, I'm open to mentor interns if you are interested in our research.
Significant publications
Yuan G, et al. Spatiotemporal clonal architecture of the newborn mouse forebrain. Nature 2026 Sep 30. doi: 10.1038/s41586-026-11064-8. PMID: 42816613
Yuan G*, Suresh V*, Wigdor E*, Hao Y*, Leonard R, Steyert M, Griffiths M, Evans C, Rohani N, Weiss J, Lassen FH, Schafer N, Dong S, Palmer DS, Sanders SJ, Nowakowski TJ. Disruption of Cell-Type-Specific Molecular Programs of Medium Spiny Neurons in Autism. bioRxiv 2025.11.05.686845
Suresh V*, Wigdor EM*, Hao Y*, Leonard R, Asfouri J, Griffiths M, Evans C, Yuan G, Rohani N, Weiss J, Dema C, Mukthar T, Lassen FH, Schafer N, Dong S, Palmer DS, Chang EF, Sanders SJ, Nowakowski TJ. Molecular dynamics of Brodmann Area 22 in development and autism. bioRxiv 2026.03.31.715694
Yuan G*, Zhao Z*, Dong X*, Wang X‑W, Zhang Q, Yu X, Zhu M, Yu J, Zhang D, Zhang N, Xu Z, Dai L, Liu Y‑Y, Shi S‑H, Li Y. Neocortical temporal patterning by a two-layered regulatory network. bioRxiv 2025.12.18.695250
Zhang Q*, Yuan G*, Albizzati E*, Yang J*, Zhao Z, Yu X, Chang X, Lee CH, Du H, Lao Z, Krishnamurthy A, Zhang X, Lv X, Tang X, Hu S, Chi Y, Ma J, Gronostajski RM, Richards LJ, Zhang J, Joyner AL, Tchieu J, Li Y, Shi S‑H. Dose-dependent NFI regulation of progenitor lifespan and output underlying human neocortical malformation. bioRxiv 2025.12.27.696675
Varun Suresh, Ph.D.
I graduated with a master's in biotechnology from SIES College, University of Mumbai, where I first encountered how rewarding research can be. Subsequently, in Dr.Deepak Modi's lab at NIRRCH, I fell in love with mammalian development. For my PhD, I worked in the lab of Prof Shubha Tole, TIFR Mumbai, to decipher molecular pathways in the developing forebrain. In my post-doctoral training at the NOW lab, I am excited to understand the genomic basis of neurodevelopment and disease across brain regions.
Awards
1. VATAT Fellowship Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel. 2020
2. Sarojini Damodaran Fellowship, TIFR. 2022.
Publications
Suresh V*, Wigdor EM*, Hao Y*, Leonard R, Asfouri J, Griffiths M, Evans C, Yuan G, Rohani N, Weiss J, Dema C, Mukthar T, Lassen FH, Schafer N, Dong S, Palmer DS, Chang EF, Sanders SJ, Nowakowski TJ. Molecular dynamics of Brodmann Area 22 in development and autism. bioRxiv 2026.03.31.715694
Yuan G*, Suresh V*, Wigdor E*, Hao Y*, Leonard R, Steyert M, Griffiths M, Evans C, Rohani N, Weiss J, Lassen FH, Schafer N, Dong S, Palmer DS, Sanders SJ, Nowakowski TJ. Disruption of Cell-Type-Specific Molecular Programs of Medium Spiny Neurons in Autism. bioRxiv 2025.11.05.686845
Suresh, V., Muralidharan, B., Pradhan, S.J., Bose, M., D’Souza, L., Parichha, A., Reddy, P.C., Galande, S., and Tole, S. (2023). Regulation of chromatin accessibility and gene expression in the developing hippocampal primordium by LIM-HD transcription factor LHX2. PLoS Genet. 19, e1010874. 10.1371/journal.pgen.1010874.
Suresh, V., Bhattacharya, B., Tshuva, R.Y., Danan Gotthold, M., Olender, T., Bose, M., Pradhan, S.J., Ben Zeev, B., Smith, R.S., Tole, S., et al. (2023). PRDM16 co-operates with LHX2 to shape the human brain. BioRxiv. 10.1101/2023.08.12.553065.
Vittorio Padovano, Ph.D.
I am a postdoctoral researcher with a background in molecular biology and neurodegeneration. I completed my PhD at Sapienza University of Rome under the supervision of Prof. Irene Bozzoni, where I investigated the role of non-coding RNAs in motor neuron physiology and disease, and optimized biochemical tools to study RNA subcellular localization in neurons. My interest in neurodevelopment was sparked during a summer course at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, where I met Dr. Nowakowski, which ultimately led me to join the lab. My goal in the Nowakowski lab is to investigate the possibility of explaining neurodevelopmental phenomena by assaying molecular and mechanistic paradigms, with a focus on how these circuits can be impaired in neurodevelopmental and neuropsychiatric diseases. I am particularly interested in how protein–protein interactions and subcellular protein localization may drive phenotypic convergence across diverse genetic mutations associated with schizophrenia. In the future, I aim to investigate the spatial regulation of RNA and proteins at human synapses to better understand the unique features of human synaptic development.
Publications
Pellegrini F*, Padovano V*, Biscarini S, Santini T, Setti A, Galfrè SG, Silenzi V, Vitiello E, Mariani D, Nicoletti C, Torromino G, De Leonibus E, Martone J, Bozzoni I. A KO mouse model for the lncRNA Lhx1os produces motor neuron alterations and locomotor impairment. iScience. 2022 Dec 28;26(1):105891. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2022.105891. PMID: 36647387; PMCID: PMC9840152.
Setti A, Stufera Mecarelli L, Santini T, D’Angelo A, Padovano V, Vitiello E, Castagnetti F, Martone J, Mariani D, Bozzoni I. Neuronal late endosomes serve as selective RNA hubs disrupted by ALS-linked FUS mutation. bioRxiv [Preprint]. 2026 Jan 19:2026.01.19.700337. doi:10.64898/2026.01.19.700337.
Graduate Students
Allison Melendez
Jose Gomez-Romo
Gomez is a Biomedical Sciences (BMS) graduate student in the Nowakowski Lab. He earned his B.A. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the University of California, Berkeley. Following graduation, he worked as a research associate in Robert Coffman's preclinical immunology group at Dynavax Technologies, where he established in vivo tumor models to investigate Toll-like receptor adjuvant therapies aimed at priming T cell responses against immunologically quiescent (“immune-cold”) tumors.
He subsequently held research associate positions at Lyell Immunopharma and Nurix Therapeutics, where he focused on engineering and reinvigorating antigen-specific T cells capable of delivering therapeutic payloads and engaging the endogenous immune system to improve efficacy in solid tumors. Building on this background in immunology, Jose’s graduate research focuses on understanding how microglia influence human neurodevelopment, particularly by identifying molecular interactions that regulate neurogenesis and shape neurodevelopmental outcomes.
Judy Luu
Before starting at UCSF, I spent my entire life in Massachusetts, growing up in Quincy and earning a B.S. in Psychology from UMass Amherst. After graduation, I worked as a research associate in Dr. Evan Macosko's lab at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, developing a new technology to relate single-neuron transcriptomes to their synaptic neuroanatomy. As a graduate student in the NOW lab, I aim to better understand sex differences in the developing brain on both the cellular and molecular levels.
Publications
Urke A, Dolan MJ, Silverman J, Kim M, Pineda J, Garcia S, Luu J, Buckley A, Kumar V, Zhao B, Chan K, Nadaf N, Balderrama KS, Arnold DB, Stevens B, Deverman BE, Macosko EZ. Protein-guided RNA barcoding links transcriptomes to synaptic architecture bioRxiv doi: https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.02.26.705527
Kelsey Hennick
I'm interested in understanding the genetic and molecular mechanisms that underlie neurodevelopmental disorders. I received my B.S. in Genetics from UC Davis. After graduation, I worked in the Hockmeyer lab at UC Berkeley studying telomere biology. I'm currently a PhD student in UCSF's Tetrad graduate program.
Awards
Ruth L. Kirschstein Predoctoral Individual National Research Service Award F31 - 2023
Significant Publications
Hennick K*, Sui Y*, Karunakaran D, Nicollela A, Leonard R, Meyer‑Schuman R, Berk‑Rauch H, Wang T, Chakravarti A, Zoghbi HY, Eichler EE, Nowakowski TJ. Sex differences in the developing human cortex intersect with genetic risk of neurodevelopmental disorders. bioRxiv 2025.09.04.674293
Wang, B.; Vartak, R.; Zaltsman, Y.; Naing, Z. Z. C.; Hennick, K., et al. Autism mutations rewire protein interaction networks to drive neurodevelopmental pathology. Science. 2026 Aug 27;393:eady4523. doi: 10.1126/science.ady4523. PMID: 42658940
Joseph Asfouri
My background is in electrical engineering and neuroscience. In my undergrad at Rice and master's at Cambridge, I worked on magnetogenetics, closed-loop DBS, motor BCIs, and flexible bioelectronic implants. Now, I'm fascinated by the processes of neurodevelopment – neurogenesis, axonogenesis, synaptogenesis – and how we can co-opt these processes for cell transplantation therapies and biohybrid implants. With my co-adviser Dr. Karunesh Ganguly, I'm developing ways to monitor and perturb transplanted neuron activity in vivo to accelerate functional integration and recovery.
Awards
NSF Graduate Research Fellowship - 2024
IEEE-HKN Outstanding Student Award - 2023
Churchill Scholarship - 2023
Barry Goldwater Scholarship - 2022
Significant Publications
Suresh V*, Wigdor EM*, Hao Y*, Leonard R, Asfouri J, Griffiths M, Evans C, Yuan G, Rohani N, Weiss J, Dema C, Mukthar T, Lassen FH, Schafer N, Dong S, Palmer DS, Chang EF, Sanders SJ, Nowakowski TJ. Molecular dynamics of Brodmann Area 22 in development and autism. bioRxiv 2026.03.31.715694
Xiao J, Provenza N, Asfouri J, Myers J, Mathura R, Metzger B, Adkinson J, Allawala A, Pirtle V, Oswalt D, Shofty B, Robinson M, Mathew S, Goodman W, Pouratian N, Schrater P, Patel A, Tolias A, Bijanki K, Pitkow X, Sheth SA. Decoding depression severity from intracranial neural activity. Biological Psychiatry (2023). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2023.01.020.
Sebesta C, Torres D, Wang B, Asfouri J, Li Z, Duret G, Jiang K, Xiao Z, Zhang L, Zhang Q, Colvin V, Goetz S, Peterchev A, Dierick H, Bao G and Robinson JT. Subsecond multichannel magnetic control of select neural circuits in freely moving flies. Nature Materials (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-022-01281-7.
Alumni
Postdocs
2025 Anthony Lee - now Neurosurgery Fellow at UCSF
2025 John Andrews - now Assistant Professor
2023 Galina Popova - now Scientist at Calico
2022 Cathryn Cadwell - now Assistant Professor
2021 Ethan Winkler - now Assistant Professor
2019 Ryan Delgado - now postdoc at Harvard University
Graduate Students
2026 Chang Kim - now postdoc at UC Berkeley
2026 Marilyn Steyert - now postdoc at UCLA
2026 Marcus Williams - now founder of Voltagen Bio
2025 Julio Rivera de-Jesus - now scientist at Matter Bio
2025 Derek Bogdanoff - now postdoc at Stanford University
2024 David Shin - now postdoc at Harvard University
2024 Matt Keefe - now scientist at Merge Labs
2022 Denise Allen - now at Ozette
2021 Ryan Ziffra - now at Scribe Therapeutics
Undergrad / postbac
2026 Sean Simonini - now at stealth startup
2026 Clements Evans - now at Stanford University
2025 Timothy Liu - now graduate student at Princeton University
2025 Naya Fullerton - undergraduate at UCLA
2025 Nishant Chadha - now medical student
2025 Alma Dubuc - now graduate student at Yale University
2025 Adam Kazerounian - now graduate student at UCSF
2022 Jayden Ross - now PhD student at UCSF
2021 Sarah Soliman - now PhD student at UCSF
2019 Julia Schroeder - now medical student at UMich Med
2019 Shaun Cho - now investment banking
2018 Tamara Sharf - now medical student at USC
2017 Johain Ounadjela - now medical student at NYU