Current - Castro and Lowenstein Lab

Castro and Lowenstein Lab

Courtesy of Michigan Medicine Photography

Dr. Maria Castro
R. C. Schneider Collegiate Professor Professor, Neurosurgery Professor, Cell & Developmental Biology

Areas of Interest

Pediatric and adult brain cancer biology and therapeutics. Epigenetics, cancer metabolism, and signaling networks that mediate tumor progression. Uncovering the role of secreted cancer ligands in hematopoietic stem cell development and anti-tumor immunity. Nanotechnology to develop novel anti-cancer therapies. DNA damage, DNA damage response, and development of novel combination therapies for both adult and pediatric brain tumors, including novel immunotherapeutic approaches.

Dr. Pedro Lowenstein
Richard Schneider Collegiate Professor Professor, Neurosurgery Professor, Cell & Developmental Biology

Areas of Interest

What is the molecular and cellular basis of malignant brain tumor invasion and growth? What are the essential mechanisms used by tumor cells to grow and to destroy normal brain tissue, thus killing the host? What are the first steps in the invasive process? Knowing this information, can we inhibit tumor growth?

Dr. YingXiang Li
Postdoctoral Fellow

Yingxiang holds a PhD in Marine Biology from the University of Chinese Academy of
Sciences. Before joining the Castro-Lowenstein Lab, he studied the conservation and
divergence in the molecular mechanism of the mitochondrial apoptosis pathway and
reported the existence of an unexpectedly diverse mitochondrial apoptosis pathway in
marine invertebrates. He also investigated the molecular mechanism of cell renewal and
discovered a novel signaling loop involving ROS, SGK1, and F1Fo-ATP synthase that
regulates epithelial cell renewal using a zebrafish model and human breast cancer cells.
In August 2022, Yingxiang joined the Castro-Lowenstein Lab. He is currently studying the
role of micronuclei in pediatric high-grade glioma (pHGG) and the molecular mechanism
of pHGG recurrence after radiation therapy.

Marta Edwards, MD.
Lab Manager

Marta joined the Castro/Lowenstein Lab in January 2013. She received M.D. degree from the Medical Academy of Lublin, Poland. After moving to Michigan, she worked in Immunohistochemistry, the Department of Pathology. Later she moved to research and worked in several laboratories:

– Kresge Hearing Institute, Department Of Otolaryngology with R. Altschuler, Ph.D.

-Served as a Technical Director of the Morphology Core, Center For Organogenesis in the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology under Deborah Gumucio, Ph.D.

-Department of Pediatrics and Pulmonary Medicine with Marc Hershenson, M.D.

-Department of Internal Medicine and Genetics with Steven Weiss, M.D.

Marta is now the lab’s manager, and her responsibilities include all aspects of histology, immunohistochemistry, microscopy, including training other lab members in these procedures. She is also responsible for sample preparation, and imaging on Sigma 3View Scanning Electron Microscope and sectioning on a Leica Cryomacrotome. Additionally, Marta ensures that the lab and its members have the necessary supplies and materials to keep our busy lab functioning in top condition.

Melissa Lay
Research Administrative Assistant

Melissa joined the Lowenstein-Castro Lab in 2021, after working 20 years at the University of Michigan Fetal Diagnostic and Treatment Center. Melissa received her bachelor’s in health service administration from Baker College. Melissa enjoys spending time with her family and 2 Bernese Mountain dogs, going on adventures throughout the United States. When she isn’t on any adventures, she loves to bake all kinds of goodies

Claire Tronrud M.S. B.S.
Research Laboratory Technician Intermediate

Claire graduated from Virginia Tech with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biochemistry in 2020 and graduated from Cardiff University with a Master of Science degree in Cancer Biology and Therapeutics in 2021. Shortly afterward, she joined the Castro-Lowenstein Lab in February of 2022 as a lab technician and has been working on several different projects since she joined the lab.

Brandon L. McClellan
Graduate Student

Brandon attended Saint Mary’s University in San Antonio, Texas, to earn his Bachelor’s of Science in Biochemistry. While obtaining his undergraduate degree. he conducted research at Saint Mary’s University, UT Health San Antonio, and the University of Iowa. This research concerned the identification of protein function, a mechanistic link between aging and autoimmunity via AIRE and AIRE dependent gene expression, and the lack of protective memory immune responses against plasmodium infection, respectively. Following undergraduate graduation, Brandon matriculated into the Immunology Graduate Program at the University of Michigan in the Fall of 2019. Here, he rotated in Michal Olszewski’s and Marilia Cascalho’s laboratories before joining the Castro-Lowenstein laboratory. In the Olszewski lab, he studied the importance of neutrophil accumulation in the early clearance of the trehalose-6-phosphate deleted strain of C. neoformans. In the Cascalho lab, he studied the utilization of B cell Ig diversification machinery to generate a mutable vaccine for mutable viruses.

Brandon joined the Castro-Lowenstein laboratory in May of 2020, where he began by working with Dr. Mahmoud Alghamri to investigate the role of mutant isocitrate dehydrogenase (mIDH) induced G-CSF on the immune response to glioma. While working alongside Dr. Alghamri, Brandon developed a good understanding of glioma biology and the glioma induced immune response to develop his research project. Brandon is currently working to elucidate how mIDH alters the immune response to gliomas via alterations in the glioma microenvironment.

Anna Argento
Graduate Student

Anna is a PhD student in Biomedical Engineering. She did her undergraduate degree in Biophysics and Math also at the University of Michigan. Anna is working on understanding the mechanism behind cancer cell migration in oncostreams and defining and measuring physical interactions between cells and the extracellular matrix. Outside of the lab, she enjoys playing volleyball and tennis, hiking with her dog Rex, and reading.

Molly West, MS
Research Lab Specialist Inter

Molly completed her B.S. and M.S. in Biology at the University of Michigan and Bowling Green State University, respectively. Her master’s research aimed to elucidate ecotoxicological effects of genetically modified crops on macroinvertebrates. She went on to work for the Wyoming Game and Fish Department studying chronic wasting disease in cervids. Subsequently, she obtained a position with the University of Wyoming Biocontainment Facility/Wyoming State Veterinary Laboratory performing research on select agents, as well as piloting a sequencing and bioinformatics laboratory section for the study and diagnosis of a multitude of veterinary pathogens.

Molly joined the Castro-Lowenstein laboratory in June 2022 as a research lab specialist, with a focus on using spatial phenotyping to explore the interplay between gliomas and the immune system.

Dr. Maria Luisa Varela
Postdoctoral Fellow

Marilú is a Biologist and holds a PhD in Biological Chemistry from University of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Her thesis was conducted in the Laboratory of Molecular Endocrinology and Signal Translation at Institute of Biology and Experimental Medicine (IByME) under Dr. Carolina Mondillo, where she studied the biology of Leydig cell tumors, and the interaction of the histaminergic system and vitamin D, allowing to propose Histamine receptor 4 agonist in combination with calcitriol as therapeutic target. Her follow-up research, holding a Postdoctoral fellow position, focused on studying the negative impact of antihistaminic (targeting histamine receptors H1 and H2) in normal physiology.

In October of 2020, Marilú joined the Castro-Lowenstein Laboratory to study the role of LAIR-1 in mouse models of Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). This collagen receptor has showed to be present in gliomas cells as well as in infiltrating cells. Employing conditional transgenics for LAIR-1, Marilú will attempt to describe the mechanism in which this receptor is involved in tumor developing as well as its role in tumor cells and in infiltrating cells. Ultimately, her works aims to generate a gene therapy approach and/or an antibody-based therapy targeting LAIR-1, that could lead to innovating treatments for GBM.

Dr. Ziwen Zhu
Postdoctoral Fellow

Ziwen received a PhD in Biomedical Engineering from University of Michigan. His thesis was targeting on the branched chain amino acid metabolism in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma microenvironment. His research demonstrated the TGF-β/SMAD5 axis directly targets BCAT1 in cancer-associated fibroblasts to secrete branched-chain keto acids. Ziwen joined the Castro-Lowenstein Laboratory in 2021 to study the role of myeloid cells in IDH-mutant glioma.

Dr. Anzar Abdul Mujeeb
Postdoctoral Fellow

Anzar completed his B.S in Biochemistry from AMU, Aligarh, India. He continued his education at Interdisciplinary Biotechnology Unit, AMU, India, first with an M.S in Biotechnology under the supervision of Prof. Asad U khan, followed by a Ph.D. in Molecular Immunology under the supervision of Prof. M. Owais, investigating the role of cytokines in establishment and survival of intracellular pathogen in the host. He was awarded Research fellowships in Life Science by the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR), India, and Dept. of Biotechnology (DBT), Govt. of India , India.

Anzar joined the Castro-Lowenstein team in January 2021 as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow to study the pro and anti-tumor mechanisms mediated by genes involved in autophagy, DNA damage repair (DDR), and immune mechanisms of gliomas. Currently, he is working on neuro immuno-oncology which involves uncovering the role of the mIDH1, CXCR4/CXCL12, and DDR signalling in glioma. His goal is to establish the basis of a new treatment regimen for gliomas based on manipulating the immune, DNA damage repair, and autophagic mechanisms in glioma, leading to novel immunotherapeutic approaches which could be translated into the clinical trials.

Gurveer Singh

Research Technician

Gurveer earned a Bachelor of Science in Neuroscience with a Minor in Entrepreneurship from the University of Michigan in May 2021. Following graduation from the University of Michigan, Gurveer obtained a Graduate Certificate Degree in Neuroscience from Michigan State University as well as worked as an ophthalmic technician at the Retina Consultants of Michigan before joining the Castro-Lowenstein Lab as a Research Technician in September 2023. He will be applying to M.D. & D.O. programs and has significant interest in Neurosurgery. With regards to research, Gurveer is specifically interested in acquiring a comprehensive foundation regarding the concepts underlying neural diseases, and particularly gliomas, as well as the development of possible therapeutic remedies to help combat these diseases. In his free time, Gurveer likes to spend time with his friends and family, workout, and golf.