People
CURRENT LAB MEMBERS
Dr. Jonathan Hall graduated from Michigan State University with a B.S. in biochemistry. He then completed his Ph.D. in biochemistry at the University of North Carolina under Dr. Jean Cook where his dissertation title was “The Role of Protein Degradation in Maintaining Genome Stability Through the Regulation of Origin Licensing”. Dr. Hall began his work at NCSU in 2008 when he completed a post-doc in the cell signaling and cancer group under Dr. Robert Smart. Following his post-doc in 2013 Dr. Hall joined NCSU as a Research Assistant Professor, and in the time since he has become a member of the Center for Human Health and the Environment, the Toxicology Graduate Program, the Genetics Graduate Program, and the Genetics and Genomics Academy. In 2021, Dr. Hall became an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences.
Hobbies: spending time with his family, cooking, watching his oldest son play soccer
Emma Tobin
Ph.D. Student – eetobin@ncsu.edu
Emma graduated from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville in 2019 with a B.S. in ecology and evolutionary biology. Throughout her time at UTK she interned at the Oak Ridge National Lab researching mercury and coal ash contamination in east Tennessee’s aquatic systems. After graduating she obtained her M.S. in biomedical science through East Carolina University, where she studied the immunotoxicity of novel PFAS identified in North Carolina’s waterways. In 2021 Emma joined the toxicology Ph.D. program at NC State, and in January 2022 she officially joined the Hall Lab. She is currently investigating the regulatory role of C/EBPβ in cell death and carcinogenesis after UVB-induced DNA damage.
Hobbies: roller skating, cooking, hanging out with her cats
Megan Welch
Ph.D. Student – mawelch3@ncsu.edu
Originally from Williamsburg, Virginia, Megan moved to Raleigh to attend NC State. She earned her B.S. degree in Biochemistry with a minor in Biotechnology, during which she conducted research on endosymbionts within whiteflies under the guidance of Dr. Trino Ascencio-Ibáñez. After graduating in 2021, Megan worked in RTP at a biotechnology company focusing on engineering bacteriophages for use as an alternative to antibiotics. Megan returned to NC State as a Genetic and Genomic Scholar in 2023, where she joined the Hall lab. She is currently researching pathways of apoptosis regulated by C/EBPβ.
Hobbies: Swimming, Baking, Hiking, and Traveling.
Sammy Kros
Undergraduate Researcher – stkros@ncsu.edu
Sammy is a senior majoring in physiology and neurobiology, she joined the Hall lab in the summer of 2023.
Hobbies: reading, hanging out with her friends, Kappa Delta
LAB ALUMNI
Undergraduate Students
- Alyssa Pederson (2023) — Alyssa graduated from NCSU in 2023 with a degree in physiology and neurobiology. She is now pursuing her Ph.D. in biomedical engineering at Duke University.
- Ayushma Sharma (2022-2023) — Ayushma graduated from NCSU in 2023 with a degree in human biology.
- Sophia Gray (2021-2023) — Sophia graduated from NCSU in 2023 with a degree in molecular biology. She is now pursuing her M.S. in analytics at NCSU.
Highschool Students
- Keshav Patel (Summer 2023)