Lab Members

Akshaya Mohan

Akshaya (Class of 2027) is majoring in Environmental Sciences & Policy with a minor in creative writing and has been working in the Meyer Lab since her freshman year. She is interested in the gut-brain axis as well as how certain drugs affect neurodegeneration. In her free time she enjoys hanging out with friends, spending time outdoors, and playing the NYT games.

Reyna Cardoza

My name is Reyna Cardoza and I am an undergraduate Biology major with a minor in Cultural Anthropology (Class of 2026). I began working at the Meyer Lab my sophomore year and have studied proteins and mtDNA damage in HeLa cells. I enjoy video games and participating in Native American/Indigenous events and groups on campus. 

Safia Zibo

I’m Safiatou “Safia” Zibo, an undergrad Biology major. I joined the Meyer Lab at Duke in 2024, where I have been researching neurodegeneration using C. elegans as a model. I’m especially interested in how environmental exposures affect long-term brain and cellular health, and how lab research can help uncover those connections. I plan to pursue a career as a medical laboratory scientist, and I’m passionate about applying lab science to real-world healthcare through diagnostics that help identify health issues and improve patient outcomes. Outside the lab, I love listening to music, traveling, shopping and trying new things.

Christina Bergemann

Coming from Wilmington, NC, Aquawoman spent most of her time growing up on the ocean where she enjoyed fishing, swimming, and discovering cool organisms in tidal pools. She eventually moved inland where she studied Environmental Science at the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill. After graduating with her B.S. degree, she made her way to Duke University where she joined a biogeochemistry lab studying saltwater intrusion along the coast of NC and the impact of engineered nanomaterials in the environment. She has studied how preconception exposure to toxicants change mitochondrial function in offspring. Her thesis project examines how the microbiome affects mitochondrial function. When not in the lab she enjoys biking, gardening, and spending time with her dog.

Laura Jameson

Laura joined the Meyer Lab in 2023 after graduating from UC Davis with a B.S. in Cognitive Science: Neuroscience. During undergrad she worked for Dr. Dan Starr in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology studying nuclear migration and anchorage proteins in the C. elegans LINC complex, using CRISPR for nucleotide modification and functional domain deletion. She became interested in toxicology through her work with Dr. Maxwell Leung as a lab technician at ASU. Her research interests include neuronal dysfunction and morphological damage from disrupted mitochondrial function, primarily redox stress and uncoupling. When outside the lab you’ll find her with a crochet project in hand, hanging out with her friends, or playing DnD.

Aliyah Webster

Aliyah earned her B.S. in Biochemistry with a math minor from Spelman College in 2024.  As an undergraduate, she optimized aspirin and acetaminophen lab procedures, analyzed biosynthetic gene clusters for novel antibiotic producers in the root microbiome, and evaluated lead levels in soil and drinking water in Atlanta’s West End.  Aliyah spent her summers before Duke working with G.C. Therapeutics to identify neurodegenerative disorders treatable with cell therapy, researching the efficacy of CEST MRI evaluation of glutamine utilization and ASCT2 transport for prostate cancer detection at Johns Hopkins, and completing a socially-directed science and technology fellowship with Station1. Aliyah joined the Meyer Lab in 2025 to study how environmental pollutants cause neurotoxicity through mitochondrial interference in C. elegans in hopes of linking these effects to human disorders.  In her free time, she enjoys exercising, volunteering at church, and attending concerts and festivals with friends and family.

Alex George

Alex graduated with a B.S. in Environmental Science from University of South Carolina in 2016. Before starting at Duke, he held jobs in private environmental testing, pharmaceutical microbiology, and cancer immunotherapy. He joined the Meyer Lab in 2023 and is interested in how cells respond to irreparable mitochondrial DNA damage from environmental agents. Utilizing mammalian cell culture, he studies how the mtDNA-binding protein TFAM may act as a DNA damage sensor. He also has an ongoing interest in development of dynamical models in toxicology and cell biology. Outside of the lab, you can find him cycling and curating his meme collection.

Ian Ryde only exists in the Superhero world.

Sarah Seay only exists in the real world.

Arunabh Sarkar

Arunabh has done both bachelors and master’s in engineering (B.Tech & M.Tech) in Biotechnology. He received PhD From CSIR-CDRI, India. His PhD work focused on highlighting proteome-wide changes, inflammatory stress pathways during aging and identifying novel modulators of Quality Control (QC) pathways especially such that, the possibility of augmenting the proteostasis/homeostasis network of these novel modulators seems promising in delaying age-associated pathological consequences.

As neurons always have a high energy demand to perform their functions, currently he is investigating how environmental toxins attenuate mitochondrial energetics which can disrupt neuronal metabolism or can trigger inflammatory pathways leading to neuropathology and accelerated ageing. 

Javier Huayta

Javier joined the lab in Summer 2022. He received his B.S. in Chemical Engineering from National University of San Marcos (UNMSM), located in Lima, Peru. He completed his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering at NC State in 2022. While at NC State he worked on elucidating the interplay between environmental factors and genetic pathways that extend lifespan in the nematode C. elegans with Dr. Adriana San Miguel. When not at the lab, he spends time taking care of his 4 cats and 2 lizards, playing board games, or organizing his stamp collection.