Dr. Dae-Sung Hwangbo is an Associate Professor of Genetics whose research explores how genetic and environmental factors interact to regulate health, aging, and behavior. He earned his Ph.D. in Biomedical Genetics from the University of Rochester in 2012 under the mentorship of Dr. Heinrich Jasper, and completed his postdoctoral training at Northwestern University in 2018 with Dr. Ravi Allada in the Department of Neurobiology.

Mubaraq earned his M.S. from the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Nigeria in 2019. His research focused on the mechanisms of sugar-dependent feeding behavior in Drosophila, investigating how dietary cues influence feeding decisions at both the behavioral and molecular levels.

Bre Beard is a Ph.D. candidate who earned her B.S. from Bellarmine University in 2020. Her research focuses on the roles of peripheral circadian clocks in regulating physiology and behavior in Drosophila.

Pallavi Padmaraj is a Ph.D. student at the University of Louisville, starting in Fall 2024. She earned her M.Sc. from the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Thiruvananthapuram. Pallavi’s research focuses on a Drosophila model of Werner syndrome, a rare genetic disorder characterized by premature aging and an increased susceptibility to age-related diseases.

Shakil holds a DVM degree from Sylhet Agricultural University (SAU), Bangladesh. He joined the Hwangbo Laboratory in Fall 2025 to pursue a Ph.D. in Molecular Genetics and has begun investigating how adipokinetic hormone (Akh) regulates metabolism and behavior in response to dietary changes.

Aubrey Reitzel is a senior majoring in Biology. She joined the Hwangbo Lab in Summer 2023 and has contributed to various projects. Her Honors thesis focuses on understanding how circadian misalignment—such as social jet lag—affects physiology and behavior, ultimately influencing the aging process.

Bailey Ramirez is a senior pursuing a B.S. in Public Health and is part of the GEMS (Guaranteed Entrance to Medical School) program at the University of Louisville. She joined the Hwangbo Lab in Spring 2024, where she has been investigating how circadian clocks in peripheral tissues regulate metabolism, behavior, and aging.

Abby is a junior majoring in Biology on a pre-med track through the University of Louisville’s Guaranteed Entrance into Medical School (GEMS) Program. She joined the Hwangbo Lab in Fall 2024. Her current research focuses on the roles of circadian clocks in the detoxification of environmental toxins. Specifically, she is investigating the toxicity of Atrazine, one of the most widely used herbicides in Kentucky, using Drosophila as a model organism.

Matthew is a senior majoring in Biology. He joined the Hwangbo Lab in Spring 2025 and has initiated a new line of research exploring the effects of microplastics (MPs) on neurodegeneration and tumor growth in Drosophila.