Lab Members
Rolf Stottmann, PhD
Principal Investigator
Rolf Stottmann, PhD, is a Professor in the Steve and Cindy Rasmussen Institute for Genomic Medicine at Nationwide Children’s Hospital and The Ohio State University College of Medicine. Dr. Stottmann has an enduring interest in the genetics of structural birth defects. He is especially focused on structural brain malformations and disrupted craniofacial skeletal development: congenital malformations of craniofacial development. He originally trained using mouse genetics to study these issues but has recently added human sequencing projects to his lab portfolio. The lab now uses a combination of human and mouse genetics to identify and study rare genetic variants which cause these congenital malformations. Genome editing tools allow the group to directly model patient variants to assess pathogenicity, study animal models in depth and potentially design therapeutic intervention strategies.
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Dr. Stottmann received his bachelor’s degrees in Physiology and Neurobiology and his master’s degree in Developmental Neurobiology from the University of Maryland. Dr. Stottmann pursued dissertation work in the Department of Cell Biology at the Duke University School of Medicine followed by postdoctoral training at the Brigham & Women’s Hospital Division of Genetics and Harvard Medical School. In 2011, Dr. Stottmann set up his first laboratory research program at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital in the Division of Human Genetics with a joint appointment in the Division of Developmental Biology.
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Bayla Bessemer, DVM
Graduate Student
Bayla Bessemer is a graduate student in the Comparative Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program at the Ohio State University and a veterinary anatomic pathology resident in tOSU’s Department of Veterinary Biosciences. Dr. Bessemer completed her bachelor’s in Biomedical Sciences at the University of West Florida and her Master's in Public Health and Doctor of Veterinary Medicine at Michigan State University. Her research in the lab focuses on the investigation of the role of cholesterol biosynthesis in embryogenesis, with a special focus on the Hsd17b7 protein coding gene. Dr. Bessemer’s work outside of the lab primarily lies in diagnostic necropsy, histopathology, and teaching.
Paul Iyannar, PhD
Research Scientist
Paul joined the lab as a Research Scientist in August 2023. He has a longstanding interest in craniofacial development. During his Ph.D. program at the University of Saskatchewan, Canada, Paul investigated the mechanism of cleft palate pathogenesis due to mutations in the Hoxa2 gene. During his postdoctoral work at Cincinnati Children's Hospital, he characterized several transgenic mouse lines of Alx transcription factors and identified the developmental and patterning basis of frontonasal dysplasia (median cleft syndrome). In the Stottmann lab, Paul will be using a combination of human genetics and mouse transgenic approaches to delineate genetic, cell and developmental mechanisms of craniofacial malformations. Away from the lab, Paul likes driving, watching sports, and spending time with friends and family.
Jesus Leal
Research Assistant
Jesus M. Leal joined the Stottmann Lab as a research assistant in July 2023. Jesus recently graduated from Loyola University Chicago with a bachelor’s degree in Biology and a minor in History. As an undergraduate, Jesus conducted research in Ecology and Evolution. He is excited to pursue his other research interests as he studies the development of congenital brain defects.
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Ramon Macias
Graduate Student
Ramon Macias is a graduate student in The Ohio State’s Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology doctorate program. Ramon graduated from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign with a bachelor’s degree in Bioengineering and had been working at a diagnostic laboratory, Alverno Laboratories, for two years prior to joining the Stottmann Lab. His research in the lab is primarily focused on elucidating the role of α/β-tubulin isotypes in embryonic development, with a particular interest in cortical development. Outside of lab, Ramon enjoys running long distance events, hiking with his dog, and listening to podcasts.
Kurt Reynolds
Postdoctoral Scientist
Kurt recently completed his PhD at The University of California, Davis, where he investigated Wnt signaling in craniofacial development, and its roles in the etiology of oral clefts. He joins the Stottmann lab as a postdoctoral scientist where he will use mouse models to characterize the developmental contributions of two genes whose homologs are implicated in rare human craniofacial disorders. In his free time, Kurt enjoys hockey and spending time with family.
Rebekah Rushforth
Graduate Student
Rebekah Rushforth is a student in the Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program at The Ohio State University completing her graduate work in the Stottmann Lab.
Bekah graduated from Brigham Young University with a bachelor's degree in Genetics, Genomics, and Biotechnology. She became interested in pursuing rare pediatric neurological disorders while working as a lab tech at the University of Utah. Her research focus is on the genetic mechanisms of craniofacial disorders and basal ganglia development. Outside of the lab, Bekah enjoys dancing, reading and baking.
Iftekahr Showpnil
Bioinformatics Analyst I
Iftekhar is a Bioinformatics Analyst in the Stottmann lab performing variant analysis for the craniofacial malformations human genetics research protocol launched by Dr. Rolf Stottmann at the Institute for Genomic Medicine (IGM), Nationwide Children's Hospital. He completed his PhD with Dr. Stephen Lessnick at the Center for Childhood Cancer, Nationwide Children's Hospital. As part of his graduate studies, Iftekhar worked with several genomic and epigenetic datasets including Hi-C, 4C, CUT&TAG, ChIP-seq, ATAC-seq, and RNA-seq to understand the effects of the EWS::FLI oncogenic transcription factor on chromatin organization and gene expression in Ewing sarcoma. Iftekhar is highly interested in studying disease mechanisms using genomics and bioinformatics tools and is currently integrated with the research genomics group at IGM (led by Daniel Koboldt) where he routinely works with genomic datasets (WES, WGS, and RNA-seq) to identify disease causing variant(s) in patient families enrolled in various human genetics research protocol at IGM.
Morgan Smith
Graduate Student
Morgan Smith is a graduate student in the Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology doctorate program at The Ohio State University. She received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Miami in both Biology and Marine Science. She has previously worked at Columbia University as a research assistant focusing on the development of stem cell therapies for pediatric diseases and more recently as a high school biology teacher in Florida. Her research in the lab focuses on understanding the role various genes and their pathogenic mutations have on cell biology, neurogenesis, and cortical development.
Jennifer Watts, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow
Jennifer Watts, PhD is a postdoctoral scientist in the Stottmann Lab. She received her bachelor’s degree in Biology from the University of Texas at San Antonio in 2016, completing her undergraduate thesis on a novel light-activated cancer therapeutic. She earned her doctorate degree in Molecular, Cellular and Integrative Physiology from Michigan State University in 2021, completing her dissertation on the effects of Zika virus infection on embryo development utilizing mouse and stem cell models.
Dr. Watts currently works on the GPI-anchor biosynthetic pathway genetic requirements for mammalian brain and craniofacial development. Additionally, she is studying gene variants in protein deubiquitylation that cause craniofacial and brain anomalies in patients. Jennifer has received the AWRI Postdoctoral Fellowship for Academic Diversity in 2023 to fund her studies. Dr. Watts’ long-term goal is to become a principal investigator with an emphasis on mammalian developmental biology. In her free time, Jennifer likes to paint, play the piano, be outdoors, and do science outreach
Logan Willeke
Research Assistant
Logan Willeke joined the Stottmann Lab as a research assistant in September 2023. Logan graduated from The Ohio State University with a bachelor’s degree in Molecular Genetics. He is excited to gain more experience with research before pursuing a master’s degree in Genetic Counseling.
Lab Alumni
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Postdoctoral/ Clinical Fellows Last Spotted
Beulah Solivio, Ph.D. (2019-2021) Sarepta Pharmaceuticals
Ben Pode, M.D. (2020-2021) Sheba Medical Center
Zakia Abdelhamed, Ph.D. (2018-2021) Yale Molecular Genetics Fellowship
K. Nicole Weaver, M.D. (2015-2021) Cincinnati Children's
Ryan Liegel, Ph.D. (2015-2017) University of Wisconsin, Madison
Ashley Driver, Ph.D. (2012-2017) University of Scranton
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Graduate Students (Thesis Title)
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Katherine Inskeep, PhD (2018-2023) MedPace
"Combining mouse and human cell models: a love story for brain development."
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Marshall Lukacs, MD, PhD (2014- 2019) Brigham & Women's Hospital
“The role of glycosylphosphotidylinositol biosynthesis and remodeling in neural and craniofacial development”
Andrew DiStasio, PhD (2013- 2020) MedPace
“Novel regulators of neural crest and neural progenitor survival”
John Snedeker, PhD (2013- 2018) Sarepta Pharmaceuticals
“A genetic approach to the role of primary cilia in forebrain development”
Saima Ali, M.S. (2019- 2020) The University of Cincinnati
Molecular Genetics PhD program
“Bbs7 and Bbs10 homozygosity cause structural and functional deficits in inbred mouse olfactory sensory neuronal cilia and postnatal lethality”
Elizabeth Bittermann, M.S. (2016- 2018) US Army Research Labs
“The roles of tubulin in the developing mouse brain”
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Derek Go, M.S. (2015) The University of Cincinnati
School of Medicine
“The impact of CRISPR/CAS9-based genomic engineering on biomedical research and medicine”
Technical Staff
Thamara Dayarathna
Russell Chuah Cincinnati Children's Hospital,
Univ. Cincinnati DSRM PhD Program
Hillary Kordecki Ohio State University Medical Center
Andrew Vontell Ohio State University, MCDB PhD Program
Nicole Costantino University of Colorado,
Anschutz Medical Campus, PhD Program
JES-Rite Michaels Case Western Reserve Pre-Med Program
Max Jaggers Ohio State University Medical Ceneter
Rebekah Niewoehner Sarepta Pharmaceuticals
David Paulding Cincinnati Children's MDB PhD program
Sanika Vaidya Wake Forest University Medical School
Lauren Blizzard Merck
Mindy Reutter Yale Divinity School
Luke Knudson Georgia Tech PhD program
Megan Cionni Cincinnati Public Schools, teacher
Milene Donlin Cincinnati State College