MEET THE LAB
Anne Carlson, Ph.D.
Principal Investigator
I received my Ph.D. from the University of Washington, and worked with Bertil Hille and Donner Babcock studying the preparation of sperm for fertilization. For my postdoctoral studies, I focused on ion channel structure and function in the laboratory of William Zagotta. I am now an Associate Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Pittsburgh, where my lab investigates how ion channels and metals regulate fertilization and sperm physiology. One major focus is the Ca2+-activated Cl- channel TMEM16A, which mediates the fast block to polyspermy in Xenopus laevis, and whose regulation by membrane lipids including PIP2 and arachidonic acid has broad implications for inflammatory signaling and vascular physiology. A second focus is the role of zinc in fertilization and sperm physiology, spanning egg protection from polyspermy across animal species to the regulation of mammalian sperm activation and capacitation. I received the 2019 Paul F. Cranefield Award from the Society of General Physiologists for our work on TMEM16A and the fast block to polyspermy.
Rachel Bainbridge, Ph.D.
Research Scientist (2026-current)
Rachel Cook
Research Technician (2025-current)
Rachel is currently a Research Technician in the Carlson Lab, working to understand how zinc regulates mammalian sperm.
Crystal Lara-Santos
Graduate Student (2022-current)
Crystal graduated from the University of Puerto Rico in 2019 with a B.S. in Industrial Microbiology. After graduation, Crystal spent two years performing research on characterizing fungi associated with Boa constrictor skin in Puerto Rico. Crystal’s dissertation research is focused on understanding how lipids regulate the Ca2+-activated Cl- channel TMEM16A. Her dissertation studies are supported by the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) and the Gilliam Fellows program from HHMI. Crystal received travel awards to attend the 2024 and 2026 Annual Meeting of the Biophysical Society.
Ashley Linton
Research Technician (2026-current)
Ashley is currently a Research Technician in the Carlson Lab, studying TMEM16A channels.
Cora McKean
Research Technician (2024-current)
Cora is currently a Research Technician in the Carlson Lab, working to understand how zinc regulates mammalian sperm.
Ana Santa Cruz Garcia, Ph.D.
Research Scientist (2026-current)
Audrey Smith
Graduate Student (2026-current)
Audrey graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 2020 with a B.S. in Cell and Developmental Biology. Following her undergraduate studies, Audrey worked for two biotechnology startup companies in the San Francisco Bay Area, contributing to the development of both a therapeutic against corneal defects and a cancer diagnostic. Audrey’s dissertation work focuses on how NSAIDs regulate the Ca2+-activated Cl- channel TMEM16A.
Elia Koleth
Undergraduate Researcher (2026-Current)
Killian Moreau
Undergraduate Researcher (2026-current)
Seyi Oduntan
Undergraduate Researcher (2025-current)
Jake Zheng
Undergraduate Researcher (2024-current)