Our Team

Photo of Alex Klotz, Kyle Covington, Nathan Howald, Josh Ragotskie, Sierra Breyer, Kam Mod

Principal Investigator: Dr. Alexander Klotz

Alex Klotz
  • Assistant Professor, Department of Physics and Astronomy, California State University, Long Beach, 2019-Present
  • Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2015-2019
  • Ph.D., Department of Physics, McGill University, 2015
  • M.Sc., Department of Physics, McGill University, 2011
  • B.Sc., Department of Physics, Queen's University, 2008

Graduate Researchers

  • Henry Sundland: Hydrodynamics in kinetoplast DNA.
  • Victor Corona: Solid state nanopores
  • Nick Cuomo: Kinetoplast DNA in microfluidics
  • Transito Gonzalez: Machine learning in nanopore analysis

Undergraduate Researchers

  • Donald Ferschweiler: Percolation phenomena in topological networks
  • Teri Obara: DNA in nematic fluids
  • Benjamin Estabrooks: Simulation of polymer entanglement
  • Jack Keller: Liquid crystal phase transitions.
  • A'anoali'i Eleasario: 3D printed microfluidics

Alumni

  • Dave Holling (M.Sc 2022): Kinetoplasts in poor solvents
  • Josh Ragotskie (M.Sc 2023): Destructive testing of kinetoplast DNA
  • Nathan Howald (M.Sc 2022): Nanopore genomic mapping
  • Kamyar Modjtahedzadeh (M.Sc 2022): Polymer simulation
  • Sierra Breyer Rheaume: Catenane nanopore translocation
  • Maria Maalouf: AFM imaging of DNA
  • Owen Sneddon: Visualizing topologically complex DNA
  • Chris Stackhouse: Visualizing gel electrophoresis
  • Olivia Kridler: DNA-Actin Mixtures
  • Jin Jeon: Microfluidic Mirrors
  • Edgar Garcia: Linked ring simulations (M.Sc 2021)
  • ​David Garcia: Mechanics of curved membranes
  • Matthew Maldonado: Simulations of ideal knots
  • Wyatt Hooper: Simulations of self-avoiding walks
  • Marcus Wakefield: Confocal imaging of kinetoplasts