Meet the Lab!
Kostandin Pajcini, PhD
PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
Kostandin Pajcini earned his B.S in Microbiology from the University of Pittsburgh. He completed his graduate training in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at Stanford University in the laboratory of Helen M. Blau Ph.D. Then moved on to conduct research in the field of hematopoietic development and disorders as a post-doc in the laboratory of Warren Pear at the University of Pennsylvania. Currently, Kostandin is a Principal Investigator and Associate Professor of Pharmacology at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He continues to conduct research in hematopoietic development and uses multidisciplinary genetic studies and transgenic mouse models of the cell signaling pathways to discover the regulation of rapid HSC self-renewal in the fetal liver as well as the regulation of differentiation potential of post-natal stem cells in the bone marrow niche.
Thilinie Bandara
phd candidate
Thilinie is a 4th Year Ph.D. Candidate in the Pajcini lab. She graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in May 2019 with a degree in Molecular and Cellular Biology. Currently, she studies the role of the adult liver and Notch signaling during extramedullary hematopoiesis. Outside of the lab, she enjoys finding new restaurants and reading.
Jacob Neethling
mstp candidate
Jacob is a 3rd Year MSTP Candidate in the Pajcini lab. He graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in May 2019 with a degree in Biochemistry. He is studying the role of the Transcriptional Activation Domain (TAD) of the Notch-1 receptor in T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL). Outside the lab, Jacob participates on the Rugby team and enjoys weightlifting.
Zekun Shen
postdoctoral fellow
Hagar Ismail
phd student
Hagar is a 2nd Year Ph.D. Student in the lab. She graduated from MSA University from Cairo, Egypt in July 2020 with a degree in Biotechnology. Currently, she is investigating the connection between Notch1 and Notch2 expression and CLP differentiation in bone marrow. Apart from her academic endeavors, she enjoys exercising and swimming.