Protein Acrobats 2026

Sivaraj (Shiv) Sivaramakrishnan

Principal Investigator (P.I.)
Department Head and Professor
Department of Genetics, Cell and Developmental Biology


[email protected]

To read more about Shiv please visit his page.

Morrhyssey Benz

Graduate Student
University of Oregon B.S.
[email protected]

 I’m interested in exploring the structure and regulation of G-protein coupled receptors and using this to develop novel allosteric modulators!

Nisha Patel

Postdoctoral Fellow
University of Illinois-Chicago B.S.
University of Wisconsin-Madison M.S.
Indian Institute of Technology-Gandhinagar Ph.D.
[email protected]

I am interested in protein-protein interactions that govern GPCR function. My background in cytoskeletal motors puts me in a unique position to dissect the role of myosin VI in regulation of GPCR trafficking and signaling. Overall, I aim to identify interacting partners of GPCRs and uncover unconventional regulatory pathways of GPCRs.

Fredrik Sadler

Postdoctoral Fellow
University of Minnesota Ph.D. 
St. Olaf College, B.A. 
[email protected]

GPCRs are implicated in many different diseases, but it is challenging to drug any one particular type of receptor among the hundreds of other similar receptors. I am combining our lab's toolbox of protein biosensors with molecular evolution approaches to uncover new druggable sites on GPCRs, with the overarching goal of designing highly specific GPCR-targeted therapeutics.

Duha Vang

Graduate student

St. Cloud State University, B.S.
[email protected]

Cancer cells often overexpress transmembrane receptors that promote cell survival, proliferation, and migration. My research seeks to understand the role of myosin VI in cancer progression through receptor trafficking and multiplexed regulation.

Edgardo J. Sánchez Rivas

Graduate Student
University of Puerto Rico at Cayey, B.S.
[email protected]

Selective targeting of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) is challenging, with many conserved pockets and highly dynamic elusive loops. I work to define the mechanisms of allosteric signal modulation and how evolution has dictated signaling profiles through GPCR intracellular loops. 

Ianna Debrunner 

Graduate Student
Colorado State University, B.S.
[email protected]

I am working to use DNA nanotechnology to model and understand multi-motor protein ensembles. I am studying both endocytic vesicle transport through the molecular motor Myosin VI and its adapter proteins, and the interactions of motor proteins and accessory proteins within heart muscle. 

Michael Ritt

Scientist / Lab Manager
Michigan State University, B.S.
[email protected]

GPCRs are integral membrane receptors, a fact which complicates their study in vitro. Giant Plasma Membrane Vesicles (GPMVs) allow us to express and work with these receptors similar to purified protein. I’m using GPMVs to explore the interactions of GPCRs with G proteins and the effects of different ligands and allosteric modulators on those interactions.