Our Team
Anna Maurer, PhD
Anna is a Michigan native, first-generation college student who transferred from Macomb Community College to the University of Michigan and completed her Bachelors of Science in Cellular and Molecular Biology in 2012. She completed her graduate studies under Luk Vandenberghe on host and viral factors of adeno-associated viral (AAV) capsid assembly at Harvard Medical School in 2019. For her postdoctoral work, she studied cellular regulation of AAV-delivered DNA under Robert Tjian at UC Berkeley. In her independent research group, she will continue to study AAV vector biology through the lens of the host cell. Anna’s passion for science is matched by her passion to increase diversity among biomedical researchers by raising awareness about research careers among community college students and mentoring them through transfer to a four-year institution to pursue STEM degrees.
Outside of lab, Anna enjoys music, dancing, flow arts, hiking, running, shooting pool, yard games, eating all kinds of cuisine, beer snobbery, and college football.
Anna Maurer, PhD
Anna is a Michigan native, first-generation college student who transferred from Macomb Community College to the University of Michigan and completed her Bachelors of Science in Cellular and Molecular Biology in 2012. She completed her graduate studies under Luk Vandenberghe on host and viral factors of adeno-associated viral (AAV) capsid assembly at Harvard Medical School in 2019. For her postdoctoral work, she studied cellular regulation of AAV-delivered DNA under Robert Tjian at UC Berkeley. In her independent research group, she will continue to study AAV vector biology through the lens of the host cell. Anna’s passion for science is matched by her passion to increase diversity among biomedical researchers by raising awareness about research careers among community college students and mentoring them through transfer to a four-year institution to pursue STEM degrees.
Outside of lab, Anna enjoys music, dancing, flow arts, hiking, running, shooting pool, yard games, eating all kinds of cuisine, beer snobbery, and college football.
LAB MANAGER + SENIOR SCIENTIST
Ru Xiao, M.D., M.S.
Ru Xiao received her M.D. from Sun Yat-Sen University of Medical Sciences and an M.S. of Pharmacology from Sun Yat-Sen University, China. Dr. Xiao's Postdoctoral training (2007-2011) in Dr. James M Wilson’s lab within the University of Pennsylvania's Gene Therapy Program developed novel AAV vectors to treat rare genetic disorders, particularly those of the eye. In 2012-2019, Dr. Xiao served as the Associate Director of the Gene Transfer Vector Core within Dr. Luk Vandenberghe's group at the Schepens Eye Research Institute at Mass Eye and Ear, mainly focusing on research grade AAV manufacturing. In 2019, she joined Akouos Inc. and in 2022 she joined Vibologics Inc. leading upstream process development for large scale AAV production in bioreactors. In 2023, Dr. Xiao transitioned to QLD as Director of AAV Platforms, establishing AAV production systems with adherent cells and suspension cells at multiple scales. We are fortunate to have Dr. Xiao return to academia in spring 2025 as the Maurer Lab Manager and Senior Scientist.
POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCHERS
John Smolka, PhD
John is from Kentucky and California. He loves chromosome biology, and is now working with Dr. Maurer to engineer rAAV vector genomes that behave more like human chromosomes.
GRADUATE STUDENTS
Uchenna Nwaege, B.S.
Uchenna is from Los Angeles, beginning his academic journey at Santa Monica College before joining a furniture startup as a Data Engineer. He later transferred to the University of California, Riverside, where he applied Bayesian inference to predict mutation rates in simulated bacterial populations and earned his Bachelor’s degree in Physics in 2023. Now pursuing a PhD, Uchenna seeks to understand AAV capsid assembly. Outside of research, he enjoys biking, playing tennis, cooking international dishes, and traveling.
UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCHERS
Jade Griffin
Jade is from New York and is currently double majoring in biochemistry and biophysics at the University of Michigan. She has a strong interest in virus research and would love to explore continue to explore other types of research in the future, like cancer research. Jade hopes to pursue a PhD and run her own research lab one day. She is also an active member of the Women in Science and Engineering Residence Program. Outside of academics, Jade loves archery, reading, and musical theatre.
Brittany Mollette
Brittany Mollette is a non-traditional transfer student from Ypsilanti, Michigan whose early college experience began at Washtenaw Community College and Eastern Michigan University. She is now majoring in Human Origins, Biology, and Behavior at the University of Michigan. Her previous research experience in biological anthropology earned the UROP Blue Ribbon Award, and she is currently gaining laboratory experience studying mammalian cell responses to viral vectors. Brittany is interested in exploring how molecular and microbial factors influence human health and hopes to continue developing her research skills in graduate school. Outside of the lab she enjoys live music, weightlifting, plant cultivation, and the art of collecting.
Aakarsh Verma
Aakarsh is an undergraduate student at the University of Michigan with plans to pursue a major in biophysics and a minor in music. His interests within the lab center on the localization of proteins involved in capsid assembly. By developing his bench science skills, he hopes to prepare himself for his goal of entering an MD-PhD program. Outside of the lab, he enjoys drumming with the Michigan Marching Band, baking lots of banana bread, and spending time with his cat, Sage.
Hudson Mizgalski
Hudson is from Detroit, Michigan and is a senior studying Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology. He hopes to pursue a Master's degree and work in the Biotech industry with an emphasis on genetic engineering. Outside of academics, he enjoys playing soccer, going on hikes, listening to music, and meeting new people.
Sandra Alcini
Sandra is an undergraduate at University of Michigan and a UROP researcher for Maurer Lab. She is majoring in biochemistry with minors in Italian and philosophy. Sandra plans to continue her research into graduate school and pursue pharmaceutical design. Outside of school, Sandra is a mom and has a hair salon in Ann Arbor. She loves hiking in northern Michigan and gardening in her backyard with her chickens.
FORMER TRAINEES
Brian Benyamini, B.S.
Brian Benyamini (UC Berkeley Class of ‘22) trained with Anna from January 2022 - July 2023. Brian is a wizard at the bench - able to clone some of the most difficult constructs practically with his eyes closed, and he is most famous for making the highest titer vector preps Anna has ever seen. Wanting to expand into the clinical side of gene therapy research, he is currently an MD student at the Cleveland Clinic.
Ana Karla Cepeda Diaz, PhD
Ana Karla Cepeda Diaz (Harvard Class of ‘19) trained with Anna from 2016 - 2019. A bold experimentalist, her honors thesis project was selected for an oral presentation at ASGCT in 2019. Ana Karla went on to earn her PhD in the Biological and Biomedical Sciences Program at Harvard Medical School in 2024, studying inner membrane complex biogenesis in Plasmodium falciparum.
PAST MEMBERS
Richard Stewart, PhD
Former postdoc, currently in industry.
Caroline Hastings, B.S.
Former undergraduate, currently in industry.
LAB MANAGER + SENIOR SCIENTIST
Ru Xiao, M.D., M.S.
Ru Xiao received her M.D. from Sun Yat-Sen University of Medical Sciences and an M.S. of Pharmacology from Sun Yat-Sen University, China. Dr. Xiao's Postdoctoral training (2007-2011) in Dr. James M Wilson’s lab within the University of Pennsylvania's Gene Therapy Program developed novel AAV vectors to treat rare genetic disorders, particularly those of the eye. In 2012-2019, Dr. Xiao served as the Associate Director of the Gene Transfer Vector Core within Dr. Luk Vandenberghe's group at the Schepens Eye Research Institute at Mass Eye and Ear, mainly focusing on research grade AAV manufacturing. In 2019, she joined Akouos Inc. and in 2022 she joined Vibologics Inc. leading upstream process development for large scale AAV production in bioreactors. In 2023, Dr. Xiao transitioned to QLD as Director of AAV Platforms, establishing AAV production systems with adherent cells and suspension cells at multiple scales. We are fortunate to have Dr. Xiao return to academia in spring 2025 as the Maurer Lab Manager and Senior Scientist.
POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCHERS
John Smolka, PhD
John is from Kentucky and California. He loves chromosome biology, and is now working with Dr. Maurer to engineer rAAV vector genomes that behave more like human chromosomes.
GRADUATE STUDENTS
Uchenna Nwaege, B.S.
Uchenna is from Los Angeles, beginning his academic journey at Santa Monica College before joining a furniture startup as a Data Engineer. He later transferred to the University of California, Riverside, where he applied Bayesian inference to predict mutation rates in simulated bacterial populations and earned his Bachelor’s degree in Physics in 2023. Now pursuing a PhD, Uchenna seeks to understand AAV capsid assembly. Outside of research, he enjoys biking, playing tennis, cooking international dishes, and traveling.
UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCHERS
Jade Griffin
Jade is from New York and is currently double majoring in biochemistry and biophysics at the University of Michigan. She has a strong interest in virus research and would love to explore continue to explore other types of research in the future, like cancer research. Jade hopes to pursue a PhD and run her own research lab one day. She is also an active member of the Women in Science and Engineering Residence Program. Outside of academics, Jade loves archery, reading, and musical theatre.
Brittany Mollette
Brittany Mollette is a non-traditional transfer student from Ypsilanti, Michigan whose early college experience began at Washtenaw Community College and Eastern Michigan University. She is now majoring in Human Origins, Biology, and Behavior at the University of Michigan. Her previous research experience in biological anthropology earned the UROP Blue Ribbon Award, and she is currently gaining laboratory experience studying mammalian cell responses to viral vectors. Brittany is interested in exploring how molecular and microbial factors influence human health and hopes to continue developing her research skills in graduate school. Outside of the lab she enjoys live music, weightlifting, plant cultivation, and the art of collecting.
Aakarsh Verma
Aakarsh is an undergraduate student at the University of Michigan with plans to pursue a major in biophysics and a minor in music. His interests within the lab center on the localization of proteins involved in capsid assembly. By developing his bench science skills, he hopes to prepare himself for his goal of entering an MD-PhD program. Outside of the lab, he enjoys drumming with the Michigan Marching Band, baking lots of banana bread, and spending time with his cat, Sage.
Hudson Mizgalski
Hudson is from Detroit, Michigan and is a senior studying Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology. He hopes to pursue a Master's degree and work in the Biotech industry with an emphasis on genetic engineering. Outside of academics, he enjoys playing soccer, going on hikes, listening to music, and meeting new people.
Sandra Alcini
Sandra is an undergraduate at University of Michigan and a UROP researcher for Maurer Lab. She is majoring in biochemistry with minors in Italian and philosophy. Sandra plans to continue her research into graduate school and pursue pharmaceutical design. Outside of school, Sandra is a mom and has a hair salon in Ann Arbor. She loves hiking in northern Michigan and gardening in her backyard with her chickens.
FORMER TRAINEES
Brian Benyamini, B.S.
Brian Benyamini (UC Berkeley Class of ‘22) trained with Anna from January 2022 - July 2023. Brian is a wizard at the bench - able to clone some of the most difficult constructs practically with his eyes closed, and he is most famous for making the highest titer vector preps Anna has ever seen. Wanting to expand into the clinical side of gene therapy research, he is currently an MD student at the Cleveland Clinic.
Ana Karla Cepeda Diaz, PhD
Ana Karla Cepeda Diaz (Harvard Class of ‘19) trained with Anna from 2016 - 2019. A bold experimentalist, her honors thesis project was selected for an oral presentation at ASGCT in 2019. Ana Karla went on to earn her PhD in the Biological and Biomedical Sciences Program at Harvard Medical School in 2024, studying inner membrane complex biogenesis in Plasmodium falciparum.
PAST MEMBERS
Richard Stewart, PhD
Former postdoc, currently in industry.
Caroline Hastings, B.S.
Former undergraduate, currently in industry.
Internships
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Careers
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Investitors
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