Meet Our Team
Principal Investigator
Ethylin (Mimi) Wang Jabs, MD
Ethylin (Mimi) is the director and principal investigator of the laboratory. She received her MD, pediatric, and medical genetic training at The Johns Hopkins University. She was the Dr. Frank V. Sutland Professor of Pediatric Genetics, Professor of Pediatrics, Medicine, and Plastic Surgery, and Director of the Center for Craniofacial Development and Disorders at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. She continues to have an adjunct Professor appointment at Johns Hopkins. Currently, she is the Vice Chair of the Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences at Icahn School of Medicine. She very much enjoys the adventure of original research and mentoring others.
Tel: 212-241-3504 – Fax: 212-426-9065 – e-mail: ethylin.jabs@mssm.edu
Current Members
Abdul Rashid Abdulai, MS
Abdul completed both his undergraduate and graduate studies in Biology and Translational Medicine respectively at the City College of New York. He worked in T-cell research in the context of development and autoimmunity during his undergraduate study. He recently worked in a neuroscience lab at the Rockefeller University which studied the molecular underpinnings that drive alcohol use and abuse and other related behavioral disturbances. He currently manages the Jabs laboratory at Mount Sinai. Abdul enjoys playing and watching football (sometimes called soccer) in his leisure.
Erin Brittain
Erin Brittain serves as the administrative assistant for the Jabs group. Her duties include maintaining the websites and database of samples received by research participants. Erin also serves as the educational coordinator for the Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences. She completed her graduate studies in classical voice in the Peabody Conservatory at Johns Hopkins University. In addition to working at Mount Sinai, Erin performs professionally with opera companies, orchestras, chamber ensembles and choirs in the US and abroad.
Janvi Patel, MS Candidate 
Janvi graduated from Rutgers University in 2021 with a B.A. in Biological and Nutritional Sciences on the Pre-Medicine track. She is currently pursuing a Masters in Biomedical Sciences at Mount Sinai, and her research focus is on identifying genetic pathways involved in neural tube defects.
Carlos Alberto Quintana Martinez, MS
Carlos graduated in 2019 from Universidad Interamericana de Puerto Rico. There, he completed his Master’s degree in Biology with a concentration in Molecular Biotechnology. His thesis was focused on microbial electrochemical systems, specifically Plant Microbial Fuel Cells and how microbial populations changed over time in this technology. Carlos has a great passion for genetics and genomics, especially those applied to reproductive healthcare. He currently works as a Research Associate II at Dr. Jab’s lab.
Ying Ru, MD/PhD
Ying received her PhD in Endocrinology and Metabolism from Shanghai Jiao Tong University in China, studying the function of osteoglycin in the regulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. She started her career in the Department of Endocrinology at Mount Sinai as a visiting scholar working on brain regulation of insulin sensitivity and bone turnover. She joined the Jabs laboratory in 2014 as a postdoctoral fellow and is working on making induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) to study disease pathogenesis.
Madrikha Saturne, MS Candidate
Madrikha graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 2019 with a BA in Liberal Arts, concentrating in pre-med and African studies. Her research focused on connecting and evaluating the relationship between race and science. There, she also participated in both psychology and biochemistry research. In 2019, her community outreach work at Sarah Lawrence College awarded her a Student Leadership Award. She is now part of the Access to Care Team with EHHOP. Madrikha is currently pursuing a Masters in Biomedical Science. She joined the Jabs lab in 2020, where her masters thesis focuses on craniofacial suture development in mouse models of craniosynostosis.
Arielle Strasser, MS, PhD Candidate
Arielle graduated from McGill University in 2016 with a major concentration in neuroscience. She then went on to pursue the Masters in Biomedical Science program here at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai prior to beginning her PhD. She received the 2018 Outstanding Research Innovation by a Student Award and the Best Masters Thesis Award at Mount Sinai. She is currently a PhD candidate in the Jabs lab and is co-mentored by Harm van Bakel. Her dissertation focuses on uncovering the pathogenesis of limb reduction in Roberts syndrome and thalidomide embryopathy using genetic, genomic, and bioinformatic approaches.
Delayna B. Willie, MS Candidate
Delayna graduated from Spelman College in 2021 with a B.S. in Biology on a Pre-Medicine track. During her senior year, she participated in biology research where she studied arabidopsis thaliana growth on different media. Delayna is currently pursuing a Masters in Biomedical Science at Mount Sinai, where her masters thesis will focus on cleft palate.
Past Laboratory Members
Meng Wu, PhD
Meng received his PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Peking Union Medical College in China, studying chromatin remodeling in cell differentiation. He started his postdoctoral training in 2009 in the Center for Molecular Cardiology at Mount Sinai. There, he studied heart development with mouse genetics, focusing on the function of epigenetic regulators in the development of the cardiac conduction system. Meng has a strong interest in gene regulation in development. He joined the Jabs group in 2014 and works on projects to elucidate molecular mechanisms of human malformation disorders. He is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department. A full faculty profile is available here.
Greg Holmes, PhD
Greg received his PhD from The University of Queensland, Australia. His postdoctoral training has been in the laboratories of Lee Niswander (Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, NY) studying chick and mouse embryological limb development, and Claudio Basilico (NYU School of Medicine, NY) studying interactions between the Fgf and Wnt signaling pathways, including the role of Sox2, in osteoblasts. While there, he developed a strong interest in craniofacial development, and worked on the Apert craniosynostosis syndrome. He joined the Jabs group in 2011 to pursue further research into the molecular processes and tissue interactions underlying a variety of craniosynostosis syndromes. He is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department. A full faculty profile is available here.
Claudia Assouline, MS
Claudia completed her Doctorate of Pharmacy in Marseilles, France and specialized in the Pharmaceutical Industry. She moved to the US in 2007 and enrolled in the MA of Biotechnology of Columbia University. After her MA, she was working in the Physiology and Cellular Biophysics lab at Columbia University Medical Center working on immune cells, especially neutrophils. She then joined the Neurology department, working on Alzheimer disease. She joined the Jabs laboratory in 2014 and was engaged in working on transgenic mouse models. She currently is working in industry.
Ana Borges, PhD
Ana received her PhD degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the University of Sao Paulo in Brazil. She has worked as a Research Associate in academic institutions in Brazil, Denmark and United States, conducting molecular biology and genetics experiments for biotechnology and basic and medical research. Ana joined Dr. Jabs lab in May 2018 as a lab manager. She was involved in maintaining the animal colony and assisting on experiments of projects in the laboratory. Ana currently works for the Genomics Core Facility at Mount Sinai.
Monica Erazo, MS
Monica completed her undergraduate degree in Biology as well as a Master’s degree in Biology with a focus on genetics at Universidad del Valle in Cali, Colombia. She then moved to the U.S. where she joined the Gene Discovery Lab in Mount Sinai. During this time, Monica participated in multiple projects including gene mapping, large scale SNP analysis, and genotyping for Mendelian and complex disorders, including Setleis syndrome, Tukel syndrome and Crohn’s disease. Monica then completed her Master’s degree in Genetic Counseling at Mount Sinai, graduating in 2012. Monica is now a practicing Genetic Counselor and Research Coordinator at New York University.
Nicholas Heitman, MD/PhD
Nick graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a major in Microbiology. At UW, he studied metabolic integration and redundancy in Salmonella enterica under the mentorship of Dr. Diana Downs. After he received his Masters in Biomedical Sciences performing research on effects of fibroblast growth factor receptor in brain development in the Jabs laboratory, he entered the Mount Sinai MD/PhD program. He is interested in investigating the molecular bases of human genetic diseases. In 2023 he will be a dermatology resident at Mount Sinai.
Xiao Jin
When Xiao was a senior at Oberlin College, he learned to dissect pre-implantation and post-implantation mouse embryos. He experimented with in vitro development of mouse blastocyst and compared morphology to in utero development. Furthermore, he derived epiblast stem cells from these in vitro embryos. After Oberlin, he did a Master’s thesis with Dr. Steve Ward at the Institute for Biogenesis Research at the University of Hawaii on the mechanism of mammalian sperm chromatin damage. He joined the biomedical sciences PhD program at Mount Sinai in 2015. Xiao was a PhD student in Dr. Jabs’s lab. Xiao studied mammalian neural tube disease models cause by perturbation in folate metabolism pathways. Xiao is currently teaching Cambridge International Advanced Level Biology at Olive Tree International Academy in Hangzhou, China
Angela Lee, MS Candidate
Angela graduated Kenyon College in 2015 with a BA in English Literature and a minor in Biology. Previously, she investigated the role of platelets and myeloid cells in cardiovascular disease by utilizing a combination of cell phenotyping and in vivo atherosclerotic models at NYU. Angela completed her studies in the Masters of Biomedical Sciences program at Mount Sinai, characterizing neural tube organoids in the hopes of ultimately identifying pathways relevant to NTDs. She is currently a medical student at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine
Tin Leong
Tin received his B.A. in Economics from NYU in 2015. He previously studied transcription factors involved in the mesolimbic dopamine pathway due to early life stress (ELS) and its complication in adult life using mouse models at the Fishberg Department of Neuroscience at Mount Sinai. He joined the Jabs lab in 2015 and is involved in maintaining and genotyping mice, characterizing mutant mice, analyzing gene expression and signaling pathways in abnormal developmental processes for craniofacial disorders such as Crouzon, Apert and Roberts syndrome. He currently is a medical student at Mount Sinai.
Na Lu, MD/PhD
Na completed her PhD study from a joint training postgraduate program of Fudan University and Harvard University in 2006-2011. She finished her residency in otorhinolaryngology at Shanghai ENT hospital of Fudan University, China in 2013. She has studied in the approach and mechanism to initiate inner ear hair cell regeneration and restore mammalian sensorineural hearing loss. She joined Jabs lab in May 2016 as a postdoctoral fellow, to further study the molecular basis of midface and upper airway abnormalities in craniosynostosis syndromes.
Courtney O’Rourke, MS
Courtney graduated from the University of Colorado, Boulder in 2014 with a degree in Molecular Biology. She was enrolled in the Masters of Biomedical Science program at Mt Sinai. She joined the lab in 2014 and her research focused on the cellular changes occurring in the midface of mouse models with craniosynostosis.
William (Bill) A. Paznekas
Bill has had experience in immunology and molecular biology over a period of 35 years from his work at Johns Hopkins University. His research endeavors include identification of disease genes and comparative genomics. He has assisted—and continues to assist—in the experimental design of many of the projects in the laboratory. Bill received the Institute of Genetic Medicine Staff Award in 2004 from the Johns Hopkins University. His focus recently has been to find contributing genetic factors to the phenotypic variability of oculodentodigital dysplasia. Bill is currently retired.
Joshua Rivera
Joshua graduated from Pace University-NYC in 2014 with B.S. in Cellular Biology. As a New York native he calls this city home. He began his career working in immunology/oncology, gaining experience in a broad spectrum of mouse genetics and anatomy. Currently, his skills are being used to work on craniosynostosis and the genetic profiling of genes differentially expressed in the osteogenic fronts versus expression in the suture mesenchyme using advanced techniques like sc-RNAseq. He has since moved on to University of Massachusetts’ Center for Personalized Cancer Therapy to pursue a Ph.D. in breast cancer genetics with Dr. Shailja Pathania in Boston, MA.
Bhavana Shewale, MD
Bhavana is a Medical Graduate from Lokmanya Tilak Medical College, India. She completed her MS degree at the Graduate School at Mount Sinai in the Jabs Lab in 2019. For her thesis, she studied the coronal suture and its development in pathogenic conditions resulting in craniosynostosis using data obtained from mouse models and patient derived iPSC lines. She is now a biomedical sciences PhD candidate at Mount Sinai pursuing her thesis with Nicole C. Dubois, Associate Professor of Cell Developmental and Regenerative Biology.
Yekaterina (Katya) Vaydylevich
Yekaterina Vaydylevich comes to Sinai having worked at the National Human Genome Research Institute as a Program Analyst for multiple projects; including 1000 Genomes, ClinGen, and ENCODE. As well as working on data access policy as part of the GAIN Data Access Committee. She received two GREAT Awards from the NHGRI Director, and a 2015 NIH Director’s Award. She has a degree in Neuroscience from Claremont Mckenna College, where she worked as a research assistant in the labs of Dr. Paul Zak and Dr. Catherine Reed. Having joined the Jabs lab for her biomedical sciences PhD research, she studied the formation and maintenance of the coronal suture using RNA-seq data from craniosynostosis mouse models, as well as patient derived iPSC lines.
Dillan Villavisanis
Dillan matriculated to the MD program at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai through the early acceptance FlexMed program with Tuchman scholarship. Dillan graduated from Johns Hopkins University as a Hodson Scholar with a BA in Anthropology and Medicine, Science, & the Humanities. During undergraduate he held research positions at the Bloomberg School of Public Health and the School of Medicine and completed a year in Biochemistry at the University of Oxford. His clinical interests are in Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery and Head & Neck Surgery. In the lab he was studying genetic and molecular drivers of craniofacial abnormalities. Dillan is currently a clinical research fellow in plastic and reconstructive surgery at Children’s Hospital Philadelphia.
Ying-Li Wang, DMD/PhD
Yingli received her DMD from Xi’an Medical University and PhD from Peking University of China. She finished her postdoctoral training at the Johns Hopkins University. She has risen to the position of Assistant Professor at Icahn School of Medicine. Her research focuses on studying the pathogenesis and molecular mechanism of human genetic malformations with craniofacial abnormalities, including Apert, Beare-Stevenson cutis gyrata and Saethre-Chotzen syndromes, by analyzing transgenic mouse models. She left the Jabs lab to receive her DMD from University of Pennsylvania and become a board certified dentist in the US.
Bryn Webb, MD
Bryn Webb completed the combined Pediatrics/Medical Genetics 5-year residency program at Mount Sinai. She has had a strong interest in basic science research since her first laboratory internship while in college at the age of 17. Bryn has received numerous scholarships and fellowships to work in research labs at a variety of institutions including Harvard Medical School and the National Institutes of Health. Bryn joined the Jabs lab in 2009 and is currently working on projects studying Moebius and Goldenhar syndromes. In 2011 Bryn received an award from the Moebius Syndrome Foundation and the Rappaport Memorial Resident Research Award. She is a physician-scientist and is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. She is also an adjunct assistant professor at Mount Sinai. A full faculty profile is available here.
Anthony Williams
Anthony is an undergraduate student a Pace University, majoring in Molecular Biology and Organic Chemistry. He had experience in clinical research with the Mt. Sinai Adrenal Steroids Disorders Division under Dr. Maria New and Dr. Mabel Yau. He carried out day to day experiments and procedures under the instruction of Gregory Holmes PhD and Meng Wu PhD and has an interest in investigating the molecular basis of genetic diseases. He is now a biomedical sciences PhD candidate at Rutgers University.
Jinglan Zhang, PhD
Jinglan received his PhD in 2009 from Baylor College of Medicine in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. He received his postdoctoral training in Clinical Biochemical Genetics and Clinical Molecular Biology at Mount Sinai and became an Assistant Professor in the Department of Molecular and Human Genetics at Baylor. He is continuing to collaborate with the Jabs laboratory. Jinglan is very interested in developing new methodology to discover human disease biomarkers.
Xueyan (Sherry) Zhou
Xueyan (Sherry) acquired her MD and MS in Microbiology from Hebei Medical University of P.R. China. She had been working as an assistant researcher in the Department of Dermatology at Mount Sinai for 5 years. She was a senior lab technician of the Jabs laboratory from 2009-to 2014. Her research focused on studying the transgenic mouse models of craniofacial abnormalities including Apert, Beare-Stevenson cutis gyrata and Saethre-Chotzen syndromes. She is currently a laboratory manager at Wake Forest University.
Xiao
qian Ye, DMD/PhD
Xiaoqian came to the lab as a postdoctoral fellow in June 2009. She obtained her DMD and PhD degree from Hospital and School of Stomatology, Wuhan University in China. Her research centers on the underlying mechanisms of craniofacial malformations. Her main focus includes functional studies on Roberts-SC phocomelia syndrome, and in addition, using mouse genetic approaches to elucidate mutant genes and their pathways that are responsible for normal and perturbed development of craniofacial skeleton and other organs. Xiaoqian received a 2011 award from the Society of Craniofacial Genetics for her poster, “Candidate genes analysis of nonsyndromic sagittal craniosynostosis.” She is an Instructor in the Department.
