Team Bios
In 2006, Alexandra Beasley graduated from the University of North Florida with a Bachelor of Science followed by a Master of Science in biomedical diagnostics in 2017. She joined Mayo Clinic's Department of Neuroscience in 2006, focusing on Parkinson's disease research. In 2010, Alexandra became the manager of Dr. Ross' lab, where she consistently oversees projects and assumes responsibility for the day-to-day operation of laboratory activities, including the design of research studies and experiments.
Over the years, Alexandra has continued to learn and develop new techniques and data analysis skills in order to advance in the rapidly evolving field of genetics. She has mentored many visiting clinical research fellows, summer undergraduate research fellows through the SURF program, undergraduate students and various research volunteers.
Beth graduated in 2004 from the University of North Florida with a Bachelor of Business Administration in Marketing, and in 2011 with a Master of Business Administration. She joined Mayo Clinic’s Department of Neuroscience in 2012 to oversee sample collection and management for a lab focusing on ALS and frontotemporal dementia. She joined the Ross lab in 2021.
In 2020 Marios Gavrielatos graduated from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA) Department of Biology. His undergraduate studies focused on molecular biology, biochemistry and bioinformatics. While working on his bachelor's thesis, Marios acquired a deep understanding of sequencing technologies and their potential in genomic studies. In 2023 he acquired a Master of Science in bioinformatics and biomedical data science from the NKUA Department of Informatics. Marios developed an interpretable machine learning model for the prediction of mild cognitive impairment using activity data as part of his thesis project. At the same time, he participated in various bioinformatics competitions and won the gold medal in the Cancer Immunotherapy Data Science Grand Challenge organized by the Eric and Wendy Schmidt Center at the Broad Institute. Following graduation, Marios joined Dr. Ross' lab at Mayo Clinic. His current research interests lie in the discovery of novel structural variants and single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) using long-read sequence data.
Michael Heckman received a Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics (statistics emphasis) from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse in 2001, and a Master of Science degree in statistics (biostatistics emphasis) from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2003. He has worked in Division of Clinical Trials and Biostatistics at the Mayo Clinic since 2003, with a current position of Principal Biostatistician. His primary research interests involve the statistical analysis of genetic-association data.
Dr. Ren received a Bachelor of Science degree in bioinformatics from Soochow University in China in 2007, a Master of Science degree in genetics from the University of Nebraska at Omaha in 2009, and a Ph.D. degree in genetics and genomics from Florida State University in 2015. She joined the Department of Health Sciences Research at Mayo Clinic in 2015 as a bioinformatician. Her research interests center on method development for the analysis of complex diseases.
In 2020, Nicole received her Bachelor of Science degree in neuroscience and mathematics from Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania. While there, she studied the behavioral implications of methamphetamine addiction. During her undergraduate studies, she also interned in Dr. Ross' lab through the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) studying mitochondrial genetic variation and investigating the presence of nonhuman genetic material in different neurodegenerative disorders.
Following graduation, Nicole joined the Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences as a Neuroscience Track Ph.D. student in Dr. Ross' lab. Her current research interests involve investigating the genomic and transcriptomic features of rare movement disorders.
In 2021 Ngan Tran graduated magna cum laude from Whitman College with a Bachelor of Arts in biochemistry, biophysics and molecular biology with a minor in mathematics and statistics. While at Whitman College, Ngan carried out several independent projects in the laboratory of Dr. Michael Coronado. She studied how mitochondria undergo dynamic processes under physiological conditions, such as exercise, and pathological conditions, such as ischemia. Ngan's interest in biomedical science was strengthened with the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) in the laboratory of DeLisa Fairweather, Ph.D., at Mayo Clinic, where she had the chance to observe how basic science translates into patient care through the study of sex differences in mitochondrial genes in myocarditis. These experiences shaped her passion to continue her education in biomedical science, aiming to decipher the unresolved role of mitochondria in neurodegenerative diseases.
Following graduation, Ngan joined Dr. Ross' laboratory and the Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences as a doctoral student in the Clinical and Translational Science Track. Her thesis project highlights her ongoing interest in mitochondria, primarily focusing on using state-of-the-art long-read sequencing to uncover the genetic architecture of early-onset Parkinson's disease. Ngan also is currently adapting existing mitochondrial DNA tools to characterize mtDNA heteroplasmy and complex structural variants, creating a computationally compatible pipeline that can be applied to long-read technology.
Molly earned her Bachelor of Science in biology with a chemistry minor from Robert Morris University in Moon Township, Pennsylvania, in 2021. After completing her undergraduate studies, she gained experience as a research trainee studying cardiovascular diseases in the lab of DeLisa Fairweather, Ph.D., at Mayo Clinic. She entered the Clinical and Translational Science Track within the Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences in 2022 and joined Dr. Ross’ lab for her thesis shortly thereafter. Her research examines phenotypic modifiers of Lewy body dementia.