Sturgeon Lab Members
Christopher Sturgeon, Ph.D.
principal investigator
After completing his Ph.D. under the supervision of Michel Roberge at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Chris moved to Toronto for his postdoctoral studies with Gordon Keller. There, Chris developed a passion for embryonic stem cells and their potential for regenerative medicine and developmental biology. He then moved to St. Louis to run his own lab, as an Assistant Professor, in 2014. Chris strongly believes in having an open-door policy with his lab, and that collaboration across labs is key to success. Although his first love is to play tennis, as an ex-pat he still loves to watch hockey and listen to Nickelback, eh!
Stephanie Luff, Ph.D.
postdoctoral fellow
Stephanie Luff, Ph.D. is a postdoctoral researcher investigating signaling cues and transcriptional modulation involved in the specification of hemogenic endothelium from its mesodermal progenitor. Through combined experimental and computational approaches, the goal of her project is to discover novel pathways that can specify HSC-competent hemogenic endothelium from human pluripotent stem cells. Stephanie received her Ph.D. in Molecular Biology & Genetics from the University of Delaware and spent her doctoral tenure investigating megakaryocyte differentiation from primary hematopoietic stem cells. In her spare time, Stephanie can be found cheering for her favorite soccer teams, reading through her stack of unfinished books, or jamming to Reggaeton.
Kendra Sturgeon, M.S.
Senior Research Technician
Kendra Sturgeon is the Lab Manager and a total science geek who loves to learn new things. After completing her undergraduate degree in Cell Biology and Genetics at the University of British Columbia, she attended graduate school at the University of Toronto earning a MSc in Molecular Genetics. She is happy to have put down roots in St. Louis, even though they don’t have real winter here. She is an avid enabler of like-minded people who get a sense of glee from organization.
Analisa Dacunto
Research Assistant
Analisa Dacunto is our new research assistant here in New York. She received her undergraduate degree in Biology at Wagner College, where much of her research was dedicated to the different effects of proto-oncogenic proteins on breast cancer. In her spare time Analisa can be found watching Harry Potter or The Nightmare Before Christmas over and over again.