Lab Members — Placantonakis Lab

**Dimitris Placantonakis, MD, PhD**

I obtained my MD/PhD at NYU School of Medicine. For my PhD, I studied electrical synapse-mediated oscillations in the membrane potential of neurons under John Welsh. For my postdoc, I studied stem cell biology in Lorenz Studer and Viviane Tabar’s labs at Memorial Sloan-Kettering. I also trained in neurosurgery at Cornell and Memorial Sloan-Kettering.
At NYU, I am a neurosurgeon-scientist focusing my research and clinical practice on brain tumors, and glioma in particular. Our lab is interested in how gliomas form and progress. Lab projects range from understanding the function of novel cell surface receptors relevant to glioma biology; to how changes in chromatin folding may predispose normal neural progenitors to transform into glioma cells.
My main motivation is to make a difference for my patients, with whom I form strong bonds. I care deeply about them and know that doing good surgery is not enough; I therefore try to understand the biology of brain tumors to really make a difference in their care. Like all scientists, I am addicted to the thrill of scientific discovery, but also love doing surgery to remove brain tumors. Outside of work, I love music and dance; and am passionate about helping students and colleagues reach their full potential and flourish.

Current Lab Members

**Shuai Wang, MD, PhD**

Postdoctoral fellow
*Shuai.Wang@nyulangone.org*

**Sara Lynn Haddock, PhD**

Postdoctoral fellow
*Sara.Haddock@nyulangone.org*

**Rebecca Ronnen**

NYU undergraduate student

**Sophie Song**

NYU undergraduate student

**Sebastian Anderson**

Columbia undergraduate student

**Enya Goonetilleke**

University of Connecticut undergraduate student

Past Lab Members

N. Sumru Bayin, PhD Aram Modrek, MD/PhD Zhongye Xu, MD/PhD Jod Prado, BS Abdulhakeem Alghamdi, MD Julio Inocencio, MD Michael Kader, MD Timmy Khan, PhD Shravanthi Chidambaram, PhD Jiaxin Li, MD/PhD Zeynep Tokcaer Keskin, PhD Rajeev Sen, MD Joravar Dhaliwal, MD Shivang Desai, MD August Dietrich, MD Richard Dowd, MD Benjamin Lu, MD Sheng Si, MD Sarah Schrader, MD/PhD candidate Josh Kane, BS Bethzaida Suarez, MD Jordan Rubenstein, BS Charles Levene Sophie Rockland Taylor Wong, BS Paulomi Gohel, BS Austin Galloway, BS Jon Lebowitz, MD Ilana Ajzenman Sophia Zelizer Jordan Wilcox, BS James Sun, MD/PhD candidate Sean Wang Theodoros Karnavas, PhD Adler Guerrero Katie Unger Jonathan Sabio, MS Greg Belizaire, MD candidate Luke Bonanni, MD candidate Joshi Frenster, PhD Julissa Vigil Maria Trifas, MD/PhD candidate Hanna Schwarz Chris Lawson, MD candidate Robert Kushmakov, MD candidate Gabi Stephan, PhD Stacy Mahiga Hannah Levy Niklas Boess Devin Bready, PhD Julia Cai Cathryn Lapierre Jonathan Sabio