Principal Investigator

Assistant Professor of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology

Adrianna is thrilled to be continuing her life-long pursuit of curiosity by opening her lab at Duke in 2024! She is fascinated by questions at the intersection of human genetics, epigenetics, and stem cell and tissue biology. She is passionate about scientific communication, outreach to the local community, and creating spaces in science where everyone feels like they belong. In her spare time she dabbles in flower farming.

email | CV

Research Technician

Molly is excited to return to her alma mater as the first member of the San Roman Lab! She looks forward to contributing to research that will help improve health outcomes across the spectrum of sex. She is also interested in how genetic sex differences, compared to gendered health behaviors, play a role in human health outcomes. In her free time, Molly performs on national tour with her comedy troupe and paddles on her affordable, yet surprisingly durable, second inflatable kayak... Feel free to contact her below to find out what happened to the first one.

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Postdoctoral Associate

Maike got her bachelor's degree in Biomedical Sciences at the University of Marburg in Germany before moving to Sweden to study for her Masters degree at the University of Linköping. She ended up staying in Linköping to pursue a PhD degree studying DNA methylation in healthy and malignant T-cells in the group of Colm Nestor. Maike is fascinated by the complex mechanisms that make us humans who we are and is happy to continue her quest for knowledge by exploring the details of our sex chromosomes. She is especially excited about applying her experience in epigenetics to study inactivation of the X-chromosome in complex systems and how this process affects sex differences.

Graduate Student, UPGG Program

Alia was born and raised in the Bay Area, CA, and graduated from the University of Washington with a degree in Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology. There she studied genotype-dependent developmental delay of Drosophila resulting from rapamycin exposure in the Promislow lab. To explore more of human systems and genetics, she moved back to the Bay to work in the Corces Lab at the Gladstone Institutes, researching non-coding variation within neurodegenerative disease. She is now pursuing her PhD in Genetics and Genomics and is thrilled to be in the San Roman lab, exploring her interest in evolution as it overlaps with sex chromosome divergence and molecular function. Outside the lab, you can find her playing volleyball, hiking, making crafts or art, reading, or cooking.

Graduate Student, MGM Program

Hannah Kubinski is originally from Norton, MA. She earned her BS in Molecular Genetics with a minor in Microbiology from the University of Vermont in 2023. She then worked as a Lab Technician in the Bruce Lab at the University of Vermont working on SARS-CoV-2 and influenza this past year before pursuing her PhD in Molecular Genetics and Microbiology at Duke University. Hannah joined the San Roman Lab in 2025 and is super excited to work on exploring molecular mechanisms underlying sex differences. In her free time, Hannah enjoys spending time outdoors, running or hiking, as well as baking and reading.

Post-baccalaureate Researcher

Nelanne is currently a PRIME-PREP scholar at Duke University, pursuing her research interest in engineering genetic technologies. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering with a concentration in Bioengineering from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) in May 2024. As part of her post-baccalaureate project, Nelanne is continuing the work of Erin Huggins, focusing on developing cell models for multi-gene editing using CRISPR/Cas technology. In her free time Nelanne bakes, dances, and recently started rollerblading!

Undergraduate Research Assistant

Vivian is a Duke undergraduate majoring in Chemistry and Chinese. She is very excited to learn about the molecular relationship between biological sex and health outcomes. In her free time, Vivian enjoys reading, playing piano, and going on walks in rainy weather.

Undergraduate Research Assistant, Amgen Scholars Program

Mahitha Chaturvedula is a rising fourth year at Carnegie Mellon University located in Pittsburgh, PA, majoring in Biological Sciences with a minor in Computational Biology. This summer, she is working in the San Roman Lab as part of Duke’s Amgen Scholars Program and is excited to deepen her passion of genetic regulation and expression in sex chromosomes and its impact on our understanding of genotypic sex differences. Outside of the lab, Mahitha enjoys going on hikes and singing!