Team — Weber Lab @ Mcgill

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The Weber Lab is composed of a dynamic group of students and postdocs with expertise ranging from biology to physics.

Current Members

Steph Weber (she/her)

Associate Professor
Hi! My name’s Steph and I’m fascinated by the interplay between passive physical processes and active biological regulation. I grew up in Rochester, NY (USA, but right across the lake from Toronto, so basically Canada) and majored in Biology and Chemistry at Duke University. I fell in love with cell biology during my PhD at Stanford, where I studied bacterial chromosome dynamics with Julie Theriot and picked up some polymer physics from Andy Spakowitz. For my postdoc, I moved to Cliff Brangwynne’s lab at Princeton to investigate nucleolar assembly and size in worms. I took a brief “sabbatical” to teach full-time at Santa Clara University before coming to McGill in 2016. Now I’m lucky to work with the amazing people below as we explore spatial organization in diverse biological systems. Away from the lab, I enjoy hiking, jigsaw puzzles, and college basketball (Go Devils!).

Laeya Baldini

Postdoctoral Fellow

Hello ! I am Laeya, a post doc in the Weber lab coming from France. During my PhD, I had the chance to be immersed in the fantastic field of non-coding RNAs with Bruno Charpentier and Stéphane Labialle. I mostly used molecular biology tools to explore new partners and biological functions of small RNAs located in the nucleolus of human cells. I think that studying the phase behavior of the nucleolus has become a crucial step to better understand how molecular interactions are regulated by its compartmentalization. Now, I’m interested in studying how changes of the nucleolus structure affect its metabolic activity and the growth of the nematode C. elegans. Outside of the lab, I am a lover of hiking and art.

Omid Gholamalamdari

Postdoctoral Fellow

Hello! My name is Omid, and I’m a postdoc in the Weber Lab. I come from Tehran, Iran, where I received my BSc and MSc degrees in Biotechnology at the University of Tehran. During my time there, I discovered a passion for mountaineering and climbed many mountains located north of the city. For my PhD, I moved to Dr. Andy Belmont’s lab at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. There, I studied chromatin compaction, as well as the roles of nuclear bodies in genome organization. In the Weber Lab, I’m investigating how the material properties of nuclear bodies affect their functions. When I’m not in the lab, I enjoy biking, hiking, and experimenting with new recipes in the kitchen.

Lucas Philipp

PhD Student, Quantitative Life Sciences
Dinoflagellates are unicellular aquatic organisms. They can cause red tides, and if coral-dinoflagellate symbiosis is disrupted, coral bleaching occurs. Dinoflagellates are the only eukaryote to not express histones and therefore cannot use histones to compact and structure their genome. Instead of “beads on a string”, 30 nm fibres, etc…, their chromatin appears to be packaged into a cholesteric liquid crystalline state. Phase separation may have an important role in determining which regions of their genome are condensed and therefore transcriptionally silenced. The goal of my thesis is to experimentally determine the conditions necessary for the condensed phase of dinoflagellate chromatin, and to explain, using thermodynamic theory, why such a phase transition occurs. I use microscopy, liquid-crystal physics, and phase field modelling as tools to explore my research question. I hold a BSc in Honours Biophysics from UBC. My hobbies include disc golf, collecting records, and daydreaming.

Sean Moore

PhD Student, Quantitative Life Sciences

Hello! My name is Sean. I am a PhD student in the Quantitative Life Science program at McGill. I did my undergraduate in biology and computer science at McGill as well. I am currently working on using algorithms to analyse images to obtain quantitative information about biological systems from microscope images. In my free time I love to play board games and read horror novels!

Lydia Hodgins

PhD Student, Quantitative Life Sciences

Hello, my name is Lydia! I am a PhD student in the Quantitative Life Sciences program rotating in the Weber lab. I completed my Honours BSc at McMaster University in Medical and Biological Physics. I am fascinated by phase separation and the role it plays in the cell. For my rotation I will be studying the mobility of molecules crossing the interface of bacterial condensates. In my spare time I enjoy reading, playing the piano and exploring nature.

Lilli Wolfart

PhD Student, Biophysics

Hi, I’m Lilli and I’m a graduate student in the new McGill Biophysics program. I did my undergraduate degree in Biochemistry at McGill. In Steph's lab, I am interested in how dynamic condensates help manage recurrent stress. I'm currently working in C. elegans which are a new model organism for me, after working in yeast, mammalian cells, and gut bacteria! Outside the lab, I spend my time exploring Montreal by bike or on foot, cooking, and drawing.

Alex Larson

U3 Student, Biology

Hi! My name is Alex, and I'm an undergraduate student in the Weber lab studying in vitro liquid-liquid phase separation of bacterial antitermination factors. My major is in biology, but I am also working towards a minor in history and philosophy of science. Outside of school, I enjoy singing, baking, and going on walks!

Kalyna Levytsky

U2 Student, Chemistry

Hello! My name is Kalyna, and I’m an undergraduate student in the Weber lab investigating assembly and disassembly kinetics of RNA polymerase condensates in live E. coli cells. I’m excited to start out my research journey and learn more about liquid-liquid phase separation in vivo. Outside of school, I enjoy spending time outside hiking, in rehearsals for choir, and playing board games.

Isabella Miceli

U2 Student, Microbiology and Immunology
Hi! My name is Isabella, and I’m an undergraduate student at McGill University conducting research in the Weber Lab. I’m majoring in microbiology and immunology, and my current research focuses on NusA, a protein that clusters with RNA polymerase to form condensates within E. coli cells. My project involves depleting NusA in bacterial cells to determine whether this protein is necessary for condensate formation. Outside of academics, I enjoy cooking and baking, reading, going to the gym, and spending time outdoors.