George P. Lisi (CV)
Associate Professor & Director of Graduate Studies
Department of Molecular Biology, Cell Biology & Biochemistry
George received a B.Sc. at Fairfield University (2009) and Ph.D. at Dartmouth (2014) under the direction of Dean Wilcox and Ekaterina Pletneva. His graduate work focused on allosteric, thermodynamic, and spectroscopic properties of zinc- and iron-containing proteins. He was a postdoc in the Department of Chemistry at Yale University under the mentorship of Pat Loria, studying enzyme structure, dynamics and allosteric regulation by NMR. He joined Brown University in September 2018, where he is primary faculty in the Dept. of Molecular Biology, Cell Biology & Biochemistry and the Warren Alpert Medical School, affiliate faculty in the Dept. of Chemistry, and an investigator in the Giuliani RNA Center. His group studies the biochemistry and structural biology of enzyme and nucleic acid complexes. 
Course Offerings vary year-to-year, but include:
BIOL 0280 - Introductory Biochemistry (undergraduate)
BIOL 1270/2270 - Advanced Biochemistry (undergraduate/graduate - MS or PhD)
BIOL 2010A - Introduction to Molecular Research in the Life Sciences (graduate - PhD)
BIOL 2030 - Foundations for Advanced Study in the Life Sciences (graduate - PhD)
BIOL  3642 - IMS-I Scientific Foundations of Medicine (medical students - MD)
​Anna Bock - Postdoc - Anna received a B.S. in biology with a minor in chemistry from Rhode Island College. She received a Ph.D. from the biotechnology graduate program at Brown University studying disordered proteins using solution NMR spectroscopy (with N. Fawzi). She continues NMR work in the Lisi lab, focusing on structural studies of diverse signaling and base editing enzymes.
Maddie Clark - Graduate Student (Yr 6) - Maddie received a B.S. in cellular, molecular, and physiological biology from Christopher Newport University. She joined the MCB Ph.D. program in 2021 and is studying the structure and mechanism of the HuR RNA binding protein.
Camila Molina - Graduate Student (Yr 5) - Camila received a B.S. in forensic science at Bay Path University and prior to joining the lab, conducted X-ray crystallographic research at UMass Amherst. As an NIH T32 and IMSD fellowship recipient, her Ph.D. project focuses on molecular characterization of allostery in Cas12a.
​Iz Varghese - Graduate Student (Yr 4) - Iz received a B.A. in chemistry with a concentration in biochemistry and minor in english from Colby College. Prior to joining Brown, they conducted research in biophysical chemistry at Colby College and the University of Michigan. They are an NIH T32 recipient as a joint graduate student in the Rubenstein and Lisi labs.
​Briana Mercado - Graduate Student (Yr 4) - Bri received a B.S. in biochemistry from the University of Maryland, College Park. Prior to Brown, she conducted research using X-ray crystallography and enzyme kinetics at Purdue University and UMD. Her Ph.D. project investigates the structural, dynamic, and allosteric influence of Cys and Met residues in the related MIF and MIF-2 cytokines.
Praise Lasekan - Graduate Student (Yr 2) - Praise received a B.S. in biological sciences from the University of Maryland, Baltimore Country. Prior to Brown, Praise conducted protein biochemistry research at UMBC and MIT. His project in the lab focuses on the mechanisms of temperature-sensitive Cas editors, their rational design, and inhibition. 
Max Root - Graduate Student (Yr 2) - Max received a B.S. in molecular biology with minors in chemistry and mathematics from San Diego State University. Prior to Brown, he conducted research research in electrochemistry and structural bioinformatics. Max is a joint graduate student in the Lisi and Rubenstein labs, where his project is focused on characterizing the structural, dynamic, and allosteric properties of human and bacterial tautomerases.
Olivia Duarte - Undergraduate - Olivia is a junior undergraduate concentrating in chemistry. Her work in the lab centers around the impact of distal mutations on the structure and function of Cas12a.
Anika Weling - Undergraduate - Anika is a sophomore undergraduate concentrating in biochemistry & molecular biology. Her work in the lab is focused on characterizing the effects of mutations on the structure and function of CRISPR-Cas12a.
Anvit Divekar
 Anvit Divekar - Undergraduate - Anvit is a freshman undergraduate at Georgia Tech majoring in neuroscience. His remote work in the Lisi lab revolves around exploring methods of protein structure prediction.
Lab Alumni

​Postdocs                              Years                         Current Position
​Manish Chaubey                     2024 - 2025                       
Helen Belato                            2024                               Postdoctoral Fellow, Brown University (M. Kizer)          
Emily Chen                               2022 - 2023                   Production Scientist, New England Biolabs
Kyle East                                   2019 - 2021                   Senior Advisor, biomolecular NMR spectroscopy, Eli Lilly & Co.

Graduate Students            Years                         Current Position
Vinnie Widjaja                         Ph.D. 2026                     Postdoctoral Fellow, University of North Carolina (Q. Zhang)
Alexa Knight                            Ph.D. 2026                     Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Oxford, UK (A. Baldwin)
Erin Skeens                              Ph.D. 2025​​
Jenn Cui                                    Ph.D. 2024                     
Helen Belato                            Ph.D. 2023                     Postdoctoral Fellow, Brown University (M. Kizer)
Emily Chen                               Ph.D. 2022                    Production Scientist, New England Biolabs

​Undergraduates                Years                         Current Position
Charlotte Dresser                  2024 - 2026                     Research Associate, MIT
Sirena D'Orazio                      2023 - 2026                     Kuchnir Dermatology & Dermatologic Surgery gap year program
Anna Steffen                           2024 - 2025                    Analyst, Clearview Healthcare Partners
Salman Aji                               2024                                 
Mariana Floody                      2023 - 2024                     Research Associate, Yale University
Jeet Patel                                  2022 - 2023                    MD-PhD program, University of Florida
Yannie Lam                             2022 - 2023                     PhD program, biochemistry, Stanford University
Adela Herce                             2021 - 2022                     Research Associate, Brigham & Women's Hospital
Aditya Rao                               2021 - 2022                     Georgetown University School of Medicine
Jon Scalabrini                         2021 - 2022                     MD-PhD program, Columbia University
J.P. Moise                                 2020 - 2021                     West Virginia University School of Medicine
Nadia Goldberg                      2019 - 2021                     Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons
Samuel Croes                          2019 - 2021                     Life Sciences Consultant, Acsel Health
Ji Yun (Estelle) Han               2019                                 The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University
​Visiting Scholars              Years                          Home Institution                           Current Position
Allison Gallagher                   2019                                 Washington College, MD                    Virginia Commonwealth University School
                                                                                                                                                              of Pharmacy