The Carvill lab is made up of a team of geneticists, molecular and computational biologists. Read more about our team members below.
We also collaborate closely with clinicians and clinical staff at the Comprehensive Epilepsy Center at Northwestern Memorial Hospital and pediatric neurology at Lurie Children’s Hospital.
Principal Investigator
Gemma L. Carvill, PhD (she/her)
Primary Investigator
Animal form – panda
Assistant Professor of Neurology – Ken and Ruth Davee Department and Pharmacology
Departments of Pharmacology and Pediatrics (secondary)
Gemma Carvill is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Neurology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, IL. She received her Bachelor of Science from the University of Pretoria and her PhD in Human Genetics from the University of Cape Town in South Africa. Dr. Carvill performed her postdoctoral work in the laboratory of Dr. Heather Mefford at the University of Washington where she used genomic sequencing approaches to identify novel genetic etiologies in the pediatric epilepsies. Her lab at Northwestern continues to use these technologies to define the molecular basis of epilepsy and provide answers for patients and families. Her group also uses patient-derived stem cell models to study how mutations in genes involved in epigenetic mechanisms cause epilepsy. Gemma is a recipient of a NIH Pathway to Independence Award in 2014 and the NIH Innovator’s award in 2018. Her independent research was made possible by early career awards from Citizens United for Research in Epilepsy (CURE), the American Epilepsy Society (AES) and most recently, the Dravet Syndrome Foundation. At Northwestern, Dr. Carvill interfaces with the adult and pediatric clinical teams to expand neurogenetics research and to facilitate genetic diagnoses for more patients and families affected by epilepsy.
Lab Members
Meet the Carvill Lab team members. We welcome requests for information about our work and collaboration opportunities!
Jeff Calhoun, PhD (he/him)
Research Assistant Professor
Animal form – dolphin
Jeff received a PhD in Cellular and Molecular Biology at the University of Michigan in 2013 under the mentorship of Dr. Lori Isom. For his postdoctoral training, he studied the genetics of epilepsy in mice and humans in the laboratories of Dr. Jennifer Kearney and Dr. Gemma Carvill. His research interests focus on improving the genetic diagnosis of epilepsy through genome sequencing, machine learning, and functional characterization of variants of uncertain significance. Outside of the laboratory, Jeff enjoys volleyball and racquetball (when his knees cooperate) and attempting to reproduce recipes from the internet (with occasional success).
Sheng Tang, MD PhD (he/him)
Postdoctoral Fellow
Animal form – wolf
Sheng is a postdoctoral fellow who is interested in studying the genetic and epigenetic underpinnings of epilepsy. He received his MD and PhD from the University of Pennsylvania, where he studied the neural circuit mechanisms of CDKL5 deficiency disorder, a developmental and epileptic encephalopathy. Here at Northwestern, he is completing the adult neurology residency and plans to specialize in epilepsy. His current project focuses on novel noncoding variants in SCN1A that lead to Dravet syndrome. In his free time, he enjoys running, playing badminton, and baking treats for friends and family.
Jennifer Cheng (she/her)
DGP PhD Student
Jennifer is a graduate student in the DGP. She graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2018 with a BS in Biochemistry and double minors in Business and Chemistry. Throughout her undergraduate degree, she was fortunate enough to contribute to multiple areas of research, including polyphosphate as a modulator of hemostasis, optogenetic manipulation and study of Wnt signaling, and solute carrier protein crystallography. Her work in Dr. Carvill’s lab focuses on elucidating the role of CUX2 dysfunction in the pathology of developmental and epileptic encephalopathies. In her free time, Jennifer enjoys golfing, playing the piano, and updating her food Instagram (@jzchengeats) with her latest cooking and dining explorations.
Aishwarya Ramamurthy (she/her)
DGP PhD Student
Animal form – giraffe
Aishwarya graduated from Purdue School of Science, IUPUI in 2014 with an MS degree, where her research focused on biochemical characterization of proteasomal assembly intermediates. She then joined Dr. Steve Kron’s lab at University of Chicago where she studied DNA repair mechanisms in the context of cancer metabolism. As an undergrad, she worked in national research institutes in India where her varied projects involved investigating chaperone functions of human small heat shock proteins (sHsps), establishing a genome database for neem trees (A. Indica) and studying genetic variants in Hirschsprung’s disease. Currently in the Carvill lab, Aishwarya is investigating the role of chromatin organization to understand pathogenic mechanisms that underpin genetic epilepsies. When not in lab, you can find her hanging out by the lake, or exploring Chicago’s visual art, music and food scene.
Mia Broad (she/her)
DGP PhD Student
Animal form – dog
Mia is a graduate student in the DGP. She first started pursuing academic research at the Buck Institutes for Research on Aging in Novato, CA in the lab of Dr. Dale Bredesen, studying BACE-1 cleavage of amyloid precursor protein (APP). She then worked at Dr. Varghese John’s lab at UCLA and studied a range of neurodegenerative disorders from Alzheimer’s disease to multiple sclerosis. After graduating from UCLA in 2018 with a B.S. in Neuroscience, she worked as a research associate in Dr. Robert Mahley’s lab at the Gladstone Insititutes at UCSF studying the strongest genetic risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease, APOE. Now, she is pursuing her thesis research at the Carvill lab and is studying poison exons and their effect on neurodevelopment and epileptic disorders as a computational biologist. In her free time, she enjoys playing tennis, cooking, baking, listening to live music, and going to the beach.
Esther Yoon (she/her)
MD/PhD Student
Animal form – quokka
Esther is a MD/PhD student at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. She received her Bachelor of Science in neuroscience with minors in biology, psychology, and music from Indiana University. Her undergraduate thesis focused on the neural correlates of executive functions in EEG in toddlers. She then joined the NIH Human Motor Control Section to investigate the phenotype-genotype relationship of Parkinson’s disease using genetics, neuroimaging, and clinical data. Her interest in genetics and neurology led her to the Carvill lab, where she currently probes the role of CHD2 abundance and deficiency in neurodevelopmental disorders. Outside the lab, Esther likes to spend her time reading, playing music, running along the lakeshore, and hanging out with her friends and family.
Nico Bodkin (he/him)
MD/PhD Student
Animal form – mouse
Nico is an MD/PhD student at Northwestern interested in the intersection of functional genomics and computational biology. He graduated from Duke University in 2020, where he received a BS in Biology, BA in Computer Science, and a minor in Chemistry. After graduating, he spent a year at Octant where he developed tools to scale up their drug discovery platform. In the Carvill Lab, Nico is excited to apply his experience in high-throughput assays to the fields of neurogenetics and variant resolution. Outside of lab, Nico enjoys exploring Chicago’s neighborhoods, trying out new restaurants and cafés, and overspending on plants for his home.
Cole Pfeifer (he/him)
Research Technologist I
Cole graduated from Loyola University of Chicago with a BS in Neuroscience and a minor in Spanish. He worked with CRISPR to target cancer-linked genes in mice, and then transferred over to industry where he spent time in the Host Systems core, assisting projects with plasmid design and expression. Cole is excited to return to academia in the Carvill Lab! In his free time, Cole enjoys lifting weights, coaching, and exploring the city’s many incredible restaurants.
Carina Biar (she/her)
Research Technologist I
Carina graduated from Northwestern University with a BA in neuroscience. She hopes to pursue graduate study in biomedical sciences after applying in the Fall 2023 cycle. After working with the Decker and Shaw laboratories at Baylor College of Medicine, Carina decided to get further involved in bioinformatics and molecular biology research, bringing her to the Carvill lab! In her spare time, Carina enjoys hammocking by the lake, trying out new restaurants, and playing beach volleyball.
Likhita Aluru (she/her)
Undergraduate Student
Animal form – dog
Likhita is an undergraduate student in the Class of 2025 at Northwestern University. She is studying neuroscience with a focus in biology and is looking to either pursue graduate studies or attend medical school in the future. Fascinated by the role of genes on the pathogenesis of diseases, Likhita joined the lab eager to learn more about the role of chromatin organization in the development of epilepsy. In her free time, Likhita enjoys dancing on Northwestern Deeva, experimenting with new ingredients in the kitchen, and listening to music.
Karthik Sathish
Undergraduate Student
Karthik is an undergraduate student in the Class of 2025 at Northwestern University. He is pursuing the biological sciences with a concentration in genetics as well as a Spanish minor. Also, he hopes to attend medical school in the future. Intrigued by stem cell experimentation and specific genetic identification, he is eager to investigate the gene mutations influencing the development of epilepsy. During his free time, Karthik loves all things sports, enjoys a variety of Netflix shows, and trying new foods.
Julia Schnipper
Undergraduate Student
Julia is an undergraduate student in the class of 2025 at Northwestern University. She is majoring in Neuroscience with a concentration in human behavior and cognition and minoring in Psychology. In the future, Julia hopes to either attend medical school or graduate school for bioinformatics. Julia is intrigued by combining neuroscience with data science and is excited to learn genetic sequencing techniques. In her free time, she enjoys running, theater, and can be seen trying new restaurants for Northwestern’s Spoon University.
Adult Epilepsy Genetics Team
This program is co-directed by Dr. Elizabeth Gerard (left), a clinical epileptologist, and Dr. Carvill (center-right) along with Senior Genetic Counselor, Lisa Kinsley (MS, CGC) (right) and clinical research associate support from Irena Bellinski(center-left). Dr. Gerard and Lisa Kinsley see patients clinically with suspected genetic causes of epilepsy, and we recruit interested patients and families in research studies to find genetic causes of epilepsy as well as study these variants in cellular models.
Alumni
Lauren Petreanu, DGP PhD Student
Masha Bandouil, Research Technologist II, now Research Associate II at Tempus Labs, Inc.
Hannah Happ, DGP PhD Student, now Postdoc at University of Utah
Haritha Potineni, Research Technologist II
Jung Hong, Research Technologist III, now on 2 year Japan adventure
Kay Marie-Lamar, Postdoc, now AAAS Science and Technology Policy Fellow
Eleanor Goes, Undergraduate
Patricia Schneider, Postdoc, now Assistant Professor at LSU
Jonathan Gunti, Bioinformatician, now Senior Bioinformatics Software Developer at the National Institute of Health
Mimi Aziz, Research Technologist II, now PhD student at University of Utah
Marta Amador, Undergraduate, now PhD Student at University of Edinburgh
Aishwarya Ramamurthy, Research Technologist II, now DGP PhD student at Northwestern University
Michele Arnoldi, Visiting Research Scientist, now PhD student at The University of Trento, Italy
MC Schultz, Research Technologist II, now PhD student at the University of Chicago
Mattina Alonge, Research Technologist II, now PhD student at UC Berkley
Kristy Zheng, Undergraduate, now medical student at Feinberg School of Medicine
Chris Miller, Research Technologist II
Katherine Anjali Fleck, Summer Undergraduate Student