Filippo mancia, ph.d.

Filippo Mancia is a Professor and Co-Director of Graduate Education in the Department of Physiology & Cellular Biophysics at Columbia University. He graduated in Chemistry in Pavia (Italy), and obtained a PhD at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, UK. His post-doctoral work was carried out in the labs of Drs. Wayne Hendrickson and Richard Axel at Columbia University. He is a structural biologist with experience in x-ray crystallography, single particle cryo-EM, and in production and characterization of membrane proteins for structural studies. The main research focus of his lab is on membrane protein – lipid interactions, both in terms of enzymes, which process lipid substrates, and of transporters, which mediate cellular uptake of lipidic substrates.

He is a key member of the NIH-funded biomedical technology resource Center on Membrane Protein Production and Analysis (COMPPÅ; Wayne Hendrickson, PI), where he serves on the executive committee. COMPPÅ’s mission is to develop enabling technology for membrane protein biochemical, structural and functional studies.

Jonathan Kim, Ph.D.

Jonathan received a B.S. in Biochemistry from Syracuse University (#ibleedorange) and a M.A. in Biotechnology from Columbia University. He completed his Ph.D. in the Department of Physiology and Cellular Biophysics and is currently an associate research scientist in the Mancia Lab. He is interested in understanding the role of a Plasmodium transporter in antimalarial drug resistance. 

AYSENUR TORUN YAZICI, PH.D.

Aysenur completed her undergraduate degree at Bilkent University, Turkey, and received an MSc from the German Cancer Research Center/Heidelberg University, Germany. She then joined the lab of Dr. Tibor Rohacs for her Ph.D. thesis at Rutgers University. During her thesis work, she explored the regulation of Transient Receptor Potential (TRP) channel function by membrane phospholipids via implementing electrophysiology experiments. In September 2022, she joined the Mancia lab as a postdoctoral fellow. She is interested in investigating the structure of membrane proteins and protein-lipid interactions to understand their roles in key cellular processes and sensory physiology. 

Outside the lab, she can be found discovering the biking trails of New Jersey with her family or trying new baking recipes.

Edoardo Gelardi, PH.D.

American Heart Association Fellow

Edoardo obtained his PhD in Chemistry and Biology at University of Piemonte Orientale under the supervision of Menico Rizzi and Silvia Garavaglia. He then moved to the European Institute of Oncology for a first post doc in the group of Marina Mapelli where he was awarded with an AIRC fellowship. He joined the Mancia Lab in May 2023 supported by an AICF fellowship. He is interested in using cryo-EM and ET to study the mechanism of drug-resistance in malaria parasites and cancer.

Evan Billings, Ph.D.

Evan graduated from Purdue University with a BS in biochemistry and minors in biology and philosophy in 2018. As a graduate student, he remained at Purdue, where he studied outer membrane protein folding in the pathogen Neisseria gonorrhoeae under Dr. Nicholas Noinaj. He was awarded fellowships through the Purdue NIH T32 Molecular Biophysics Training Program and the American Heart Association. After graduating, he joined the Mancia lab in 2024, where he is interested in structurally characterizing endogenous membrane protein complexes involved in human disease.

Xiao-Ru Chen, Ph.D.

Xiao-Ru obtained her M.S. degree from National Taiwan University. She then received her Ph.D. in Biochemistry & Biophysics at Texas A&M University, under the supervision of Dr. Tatyana Igumenova. Her PhD studies focused on using biophysical approaches to investigate the molecular mechanisms of membrane-associated proteins and the regulation of kinases. In September 2024, she joined Mancia Lab as a postdoctoral fellow, with research interests in protein-lipid interactions and the structural basis of membrane proteins involved in lipid metabolism associated with human diseases.

Ryan Morgan

NIH F31 Fellow (NICHD)

Ryan is a fourth-year student in the Integrated Ph.D. program and joined the Mancia lab in Summer 2023. He received his B.S. in Cell and Molecular Biology from the University of South Florida where he studied the structural basis of beta-lactam antibiotic resistance in bacteria. He is interested in using cryo-EM to study bacterial membrane enzymes and their physiological roles. Outside of the lab, he loves painting and trying new restaurants in NYC.

JING CHen

Jing is a fifth-year Ph.D. student in the Department of Physiology & Cellular Biophysics and joined the Mancia Lab in Fall 2025. She received her B.S. in Biochemistry and Biophysics from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. As an undergraduate, she investigated the structural basis of antibiotic resistance mediated by Y-family translesion DNA polymerases. She later used cryo-ET to study host–pathogen interactions in malaria parasites and to elucidate the molecular mechanism of Human Parainfluenza Virus 3 entry. Her current research interests center on using cryo-EM to investigate the mechanisms of membrane channels and their associated protein–protein interactions. Through structural and mechanistic studies, she aims to better understand how these complexes regulate cellular function. Outside the lab, Jing enjoys playing the violin and exploring hiking trails.

AUDREY PARROTT

Audrey joined the Mancia lab during the summer of 2025 as a technician. She received her B.A. in Chemistry at Carleton College in Northfield, MN. After her time in the Mancia lab, she hopes to enroll in a Ph.D. program.

Priyanka Mathews

Priyanka is an undergraduate student at Columbia University pursuing a major in biochemistry. Formerly, she worked in Dr. Anthony Fitzpatrick’s lab at the Zuckerman Institute assessing urinary proteins as potential biomarkers for preeclampsia. She has also worked with Dr. Julia Brasch’s lab at the University of Utah investigating interactions between synaptic adhesion proteins implicated in developmental disorders. In her free time, Priyanka loves reading and dances on Columbia’s Bhangra team.

Leora Hamberger

RIE NYGAARD, ph.d.

Rie is a former Post Doc in the Mancia lab. She is currently an Assistant Professor at Weill Cornell Medicine.

Yaqi Lui, ph.d.

Yaqi is a former Post Doc in the Mancia lab. She is currently a Post Doc in the Nygaard Lab.

ALLEN ZINKLE, ph.d.

Allen is a former graduate student and F31 Fellow in the Mancia lab. He is currently a Post Doc in the lab of Lucas Farnung at Harvard Medical School.

TING CHen

Ting is a former technician in the Mancia lab. She is currently a medical student at the Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University.

NEHA MANI

Neha is a former undergraduate student in the Mancia lab. She is currently a medical student at the Perelman School of Medicine at UPenn.

Rosemary cater, ph.d.

Rosie is a former Post Doc in the Mancia lab. She is currently an Assistant Professor at the University of Queensland in Brisbane Australia.

Brianna Costabile, PH.D.

Brianna is a former graduate student, F31 Fellow, and Post Doc in the Mancia lab. She is currently a Senior Scientist at Pfizer in San Diego.

Joseph Pepe

Joe is a former technician in the Mancia lab. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. at UCSF.

Brendon Choy

Brendon is a former undergrad student in the Mancia Lab. Brendon graduated in the summer of 2022 and is currently a medical student at Harvard University.  

INJIN BANG, PH.D.

Injin is a former Post Doc in the Mancia lab, she is currently a Post Doc in the Shohei lab at NYU.

David Roper, Ph.D.

David Roper is a former Columbia University Schaefer Research Scholar and Professor of Biochemistry at the University of Warwick in the UK. 

Khuram Ashraf, Ph.d.

Khuram is a former Post Doc in the Mancia lab. After a Post Doc in the Petrou lab at Rutgers University, he is now a Senior Scientist at Schrödinger.

Giacomo Parisi, ph.d.

Giacomo is a former Post Doc in the Mancia lab. He is currently a Post Doc at the Institute of Italian Technology.

Meagan Dufrisne, ph.d.

Meagan is a former graduate student in the Mancia lab. She is currently a Scientist III at Helix Biostructures.

Christina Chen, ph.d.

Christina is a former Post Doc in the Mancia lab. She is currently working as a senior scientist at Merck.

Chiara Ardiccioni, Ph.D.

Chiara is a former Post Doc in the Mancia lab. Chiara is currently working as fellow and Lecturer in the Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, New York-Marche Structural Biology Center (NY-MaSBiC), Polytechnic University of Marche, Ancona, Italy.

Zahra Assur, Ph.D.

Zahra was a PhD student shared between the Hendrickson and Mancia lab. She is currently a Post Doc in the Klinge lab at Rockefeller University.

David Tomasek, PH.D.

David is a former technician in the Mancia lab. He did his PhD at Harvard University, and is currently a senior scientist at Novartis.

Sabrina Giacometti

Sabrina worked in the Mancia lab as a lab technician from 2016-2019. She is currently pursuing a PhD at Johns Hopkins University.

Vasileios (Vasilis) Petrou, Ph.D.

Vasileios is a former Post Doc in the Mancia lab, and is currently an assistant professor at Rutgers University.

Yong Zi Tan, Ph.d.

Yong Zi is a former joint PhD student between Bridget Carragher, Clint Potter and Filippo Mancia. He did a post doc with Prof. Rubinstein at The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. In 2021, he started his own lab at NUS Singapore.