Team — The Alarcon Lab

Meet the Team

Claudio Alarcón, Ph.D.

Principal Investigator
Pénélope Darnat, Ph.D.

Lab Manager
Pénélope received her PhD from La Sorbonne (UPMC) in Paris, France, where she is from.
As a lab manager, she assists her colleagues in ensuring the smooth operation of the lab.
She enjoys eating spicy foods, sewing, and trivia in her free time.
Hengyi Li, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Associate
Hengyi obtained her Ph.D. from Peking University, China.
Hengyi studies structural mechanisms of non-coding RNA and the role of RNA modification in development and disease using biochemistry, biophysics, X-ray crystallography, and cryo-EM. Hengyi has a joint appointment with the Klein lab.
Outside the lab, she likes to hike
Swapna Naik, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Associate
Swapna is originally from India. She completed her doctoral training at the NIH at Bethesda, MD under the Graduate Partnership Program with the University of Sunderland, UK.
She is interested in understanding how post-translational modifications regulate the activity of RNA-modifying enzymes.
Outside of research Swapna likes to explore arts and photography.
Daniela Villalobos

Postgraduate Associate
Daniela, a native of Chile, obtained her B.Sc. form the Catholic University of Chile.
She is exploring how negative feedback loops modulate the activity of RNA-modifying enzymes.
In her free time, Daniela enjoys swimming, hiking and traveling.
Fatma Gharbia, M.Sc.

Postgraduate Associate
Fatma, a native Egyptian, obtained her B.Sc. in Pharmacy and M.Sc. in Nanotechnology from the American University in Cairo, Egypt.
Fatma is trying to understand why some mRNA molecules get methylated while others don’t.
Fatma enjoys reading, horse riding, solving puzzles, and attending classic music concerts in her free time. She is currently learning to play piano.
Marcelo Perez-Pepe, Ph.D.

Postdctoral Associate
Marcelo is native of Buenos Aires, Argentina. He obtained his Ph.D. in biological sciences from the University of Buenos Aires.
Marcelo investigates how RNA modifications are regulated by upstream signaling pathways and their role in homeostasis and disease using multidisciplinary approaches.
When he's not doing science, he enjoys going to the movies, swimming at the beach, meeting with friends, meditating, solving Sudokus, and listening to audiobooks.