Lab Team

Rebecca is from New York and received her PhD in Genetics from Tufts University (Boston, USA). Her PhD research focused on characterizing mechanisms of trinucleotide repeat instability. As a postdoctoral associate in the Gerhardt lab, she will examine causes of genome instability and ovarian insufficiency in BRCA mutant carriers.

Madhura received her Ph.D. from University of Pune, India and is currently working as a postdoc in the Gerhardt lab. Her research investigates the errors in DNA replication and how they can trigger alterations in genome leading to diseases such as cancer. She aims to assess accurate DNA replication in human pluripotent stem cells which can be used for regenerative medicine. 

Ted Paniza joined Dr. Gerhardt’s laboratory at the Center of Reproductive Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine in 2016. Before establishing a career in the science field, he graduated with an Associate’s Degree in Liberal Arts in Math and Science from Rockland Community College and continued his education and received a Bachelor’s Degree of Science in Science from Fairleigh Dickinson University. Currently specializing in Single Molecule Analysis of Replicated DNA assay (SMARD), he also has experience in stem cell culture and previously worked in male fertility.

Christina Anna Stratopoulou acquired a BSc in Biochemistry and Biotechnology (2017) and an MSc in Reproductive Biology (2018) from the University of Thessaly, Greece. She then conducted her PhD in Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences (2024) at the Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium. Christina joined the Gerhardt Lab in 2024 as a Postdoctoral Associate, to investigate the causes of Fragile X-associated premature ovarian insufficiency. Her main research interests are female (in)fertility and gynaecological diseases.