Primary Investigator
Greg Davis
Associate Professor and Chair
Department of Biology
Bryn Mawr College
101 N. Merion Avenue
Bryn Mawr, PA 19010
610-526-5089
gdavis@brynmawr.edu Curriculum Vitae
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Current Students
Class of 2025
Jessica Cramer (Summer 2023 – present)
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Former Students
Class of 2009
Nicolette Belletier (Fall 2008 – Spring 2009)
Thesis title: The reproductive polyphenism in Acyrthosiphon pisum: anterior-posterior patterning of oviparous and viviparous oocytes.
Earned a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology in the laboratory of Liz Gavis at Princeton University, worked as a medical writer for Oxford PharmaGenesis, and is currently a Scientific Specialist at the pharmaceutical company Parexel. LinkedIn Profile
Class of 2010
Hillary Cleveland (Summer 2009 – Spring 2010)
Thesis title: Differential gene expression in viviparous versus oviparous development in the pea aphid, Acyrthosiphon pisum.
Worked as a technician in the laboratory of Jay Kolls, first at the Health Sciences Center at Louisiana State University and then at the University of Pittsburgh. Hillary then went on to earn an M.S. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in the laboratory of Jeffrey Hildebrand, also at the University of Pittsburgh. LinkedIn Profile
Eileen Downs (Summer 2009 – Spring 2010)
Thesis title: Functional disruption within the terminal system of the pea aphid, Acyrthosiphon pisum.
Earned her M.A. in Marine Science at Hawaii Pacific University and went on to earn the degree of Doctor of Veterinary Medicine at Michigan State University. LinkedIn Profile
Caitlin Jeschke (Fall 2009 – Spring 2010)
Thesis title: Oogenetic expression of a putative terminal system gene in the polyphenic insect, Acyrthosiphon pisum.
Earned her Associate of Applied Science degree through the Medical Laboratory Technician Program at Reading Area Community College and is now working as a technician in the Chemistry Department at St. Joseph Medical Center in Reading, PA.
Nafisa Misawa (Fall 2009 – Spring 2010)
Thesis title: Differential expression of components of the Torso signaling pathway among asexual and sexual morphs of the pea aphid.
Earned her M.D. at Meharry Medical College and is currently a resident at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Shadyside.
Class of 2011
Joanna Barkas (Summer 2010 – Spring 2011)
Thesis title: The role of capicua and torso-like in the terminal and dorsal ventral patterning systems of the pea aphid.
Currently pursuing an M.S. in Biomedical Sciences at Tufts Med and working as a technician in the lab of Dr. Bruce Levy at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
Emma Hedman (Summer 2009 – Fall 2009; Summer 2010 – Spring 2011)
Thesis title: Investigating the role of juvenile hormone in the reproductive polyphenism of the pea aphid.
Currently pursuing a Masters of Environmental Management at the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University.
Amelie Raz (Summer 2010 – Spring 2011)
Thesis title: The role of juvenile hormone in the evolutionary loss of sexual plasticity in aphids.
Currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Peter Reddien’s lab at MIT.
Class of 2012
Lizbeth Frontino (Fall 2010 – Spring 2012)
Thesis title: The evolution of the terminal patterning system in hemipteran insects.
Currently working as an ophthalmic technician with plans to attend optometry school in the fall of 2014.
Swampnima Shrestha (Fall 2010 – Spring 2012)
Thesis title: Investigation of the terminal patterning system in hemipteran insects using RNA interference.
Currently pursuing a degree in Dentistry at the University of Pennsylvania.
Class of 2013
Muna Aghaalnemer (Fall 2012 – Spring 2013)
Thesis title: The Role of Juvenile Hormone in the Reproductive Polyphenism of Pea Aphids.
Taught biology at the Pioneer Baccalaureate School in Nablus, Palestine and now teaches at the Rawabi English Academy in Rawabi. Muna plans to earn a Masters of Education degree in the near future.
Megan LaBouff (Fall 2012 – Spring 2013)
Thesis title: Knocking down developmental genes in the pea aphid: are short interfering RNAs the answer?
Class of 2014
Emily (Lemieux) McCain (Summer 2013 – Spring 2014)
Thesis title: Characterization of the distribution of Capicua protein in the pea aphid.
Earned a Masters of Public Health in Columbia University, with a focus on epidemiology, and is currently working as a Senior Analytic Solutions Manager at Flatiron Health.
Xingtao (Ariel) Zhou (Summer 2013 – Spring 2014)
Thesis title: RNA interference of developmental genes in pea aphids.
Earned a masters degree in Public Health at Columbia University, with a focus on biostatistics, and is now working as a research assistant at the New York State Psychiatric Institute.
Class of 2015
Emily Spica (Summer 2013 – Spring 2015)
Thesis title: The role of juvenile hormone in the reproductive polyphenism of pea aphids.
Worked as an assistant in a veterinary clinic in Philadelphia for two years and is currently pursuing a VMD degree at the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Veterinary Medicine.
Class of 2016
Gemma Johnson (Summer of 2015 – Spring of 2016)
Thesis title: RNA-seq analysis of sexual- and asexual-fated Acyrthosiphon pisum embryos.
Currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Systems Biology at Harvard University in the lab of Jessica Lehoczky.
Maho Okumura (Summer of 2015 – Spring of 2016)
Thesis title: Effects of Juvenile Hormone and Reproductive Polyphenism in Pea Aphids.
Worked for a year as a technician in George Shaw’s lab at Penn Med, earned a masters degree in Public Health at Drexel University, and is currently pursuing a VMD at University of Pennsylvania’s School of Veterinary Medicine.
Chloe Thangavelu (Summer of 2015 – Spring of 2016)
Thesis title: MAP kinase activity and function in oocyte differentiation in the pea aphid.
Worked for a year as a technician in Paula Oliver’s lab at Penn Med and went on to earn a Ph.D. in Cellular & Molecular Biosciences at the University of California, Irvine.
Class of 2017
Grisilda Bakiasi (Fall 2013 – Spring 2014; Fall of 2014 – Spring of 2015; Fall of 2015 – Spring of 2017)
Thesis title: Do Differences in Gene Expression Underlie the Evolution of the Photoperiod Response in Pea Aphids?
Erin Bonner (Summer of 2015; Spring of 2016 – Spring of 2017)
Thesis title: Evolution of pea aphid photoperiod response.
Earned a Ph.D. in Genomics and Precision Medicine at George Washington University. LinkedIn Profile
Maritza Vazquez-Trejo (Summer of 2015 – Spring of 2017)
Thesis title: Juvenile hormone titer and reproductive fate specification in the pea aphid.
Currently working as a research assistant at Temple University Hospital with plans to begin medical school at A.T. Still University School of Osteopathic Medicine in Fall 2022. LinkedIn Profile
Class of 2018
Mindy Reutter (Fall of 2015 – Spring of 2018)
Thesis title: The arbiter of (reproductive) fate: juvenile hormone’s putative role in pea aphid cyclical parthenogenesis.
Worked for two years as a research assistant in Ralph Stottman’s lab at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in public health at the Yale School of Public Health. LinkedIn Profile
Emily Spiegel (Fall of 2015 – Spring of 2018)
Thesis title: Maintenance and loss of a polyphenism.
Worked for three years as a life sciences consultant at Accenture and is currently working as an Associate Director in Oncology Business Development at Bristol Myers Squibb. LinkedIn Profile
Class of 2019
Maiko Sho (Summer of 2018 – Spring of 2019)
Thesis title: The role of juvenile hormone in specifying reproductive fate in the pea aphid, Acyrthosiphon pisum.
Earned a MS in Physiology at the Post-Baccalaureate Pre-Medical Certificate Program at Georgetown University, then worked as a technician in Joyce Slingerland’s laboratory at Georgetown, and is now pursuing a medical degree at Georgetown. LinkedIn Profile
Class of 2020
Sienna Burnett (Summer 2019 – Spring 2020)
Thesis title: Investigating the Maternal Signal for Sexual/Asexual Fate Specification in the Pea Aphid, Acyrthosiphon pisum
Currently pursuing a Doctor of Physical Therapy degree from Touro University. LinkedIn Profile
Farah Fazloon (Summer 2019 – Spring 2020)
Thesis title: Expression of Juvenile Hormone Receptor as a Potential Mechanism for the Evolution of the Reproductive Polyphenism in the Pea Aphid
Worked as a technician in the laboratory of Irwin Chaiken at Drexel College of Medicine. LinkedIn Profile
Julia Frederick (Summer 2017 – Spring 2020)
Thesis title: The Role of Juvenile Hormone Signaling in Specification of Asexual Fate in the Pea Aphid
Worked as a research specialist at Penn Med, then Chip Diagnostics, and is currently at Spark Therapeutics. LinkedIn Profile
Amanda Perna (Summer of 2019 – Spring 2020)
Thesis title: The Nature of the Maternal Signal in the Pea Aphid
Currently working as a technician at Johnson & Johnson.
Class of 2021
Lee Ecker (Summer 2020 – Spring 2021)
Thesis title: The reproductive polyphenism of the pea aphid: What role does juvenile hormone play?
Lee is currently pursuing an M.S. in genetic counseling at the MGH Institute of Health Professions. LinkedIn Profile
Emily Saks (Summer 2020 – Spring 2021)
Thesis title: In search of the maternal signal responsible for the reproductive polyphenism in the pea aphid.
Emily worked for two years as a Research Assistant for the Science and Society team at the Pew Research Center and is currently pursuing a PhD in Psychology at the University of Minnesota. LinkedIn Profile
Class of 2022
Claire Johnson (Spring 2022)
Thesis title: T. H. Morgan, Nettie M. Stevens, and the trouble with aphids.
Rebecca Li (Summer 2021 – Spring 2022)
Thesis title: What makes an aphid asexual? JH, insulin and the search for virginoparin.
Rebecca is currently working as a technician in Yukiko Yamashita’s laboratory in the Whitehead Institute at MIT. LinkedIn Profile
Class of 2023
Yeipyeng Kwa (Summer 2021 – Spring 2023)
Thesis title: The role of juvenile hormone in the pea aphid reproductive polyphenism.
Currently working in Gerd Blobel’s laboratory at Penn Med.