Associate Professor of Cell Biology, HMS

Lucas completed his doctoral thesis at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich and the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry (Lab of Patrick Cramer). As a postdoctoral fellow and project leader at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Lucas worked to elucidate molecular mechanisms of transcription. His work focuses on processes at the intersection of transcription, replication, and chromatin.

EmaiL: Lucas_Farnung@hms.harvard.edu

Post-doctoral researcher

Jon is a postdoc in the lab with a background in biochemistry and biophysics. He completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and his PhD in the Luger lab at the University of Colorado Boulder.

Email: Jonathan_Markert@hms.harvard.edu

Post-doctoral researcher

Manuel is a postdoc in the lab. He completed his PhD in the Thanbichler lab at the Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology in Marburg, Germany. Manuel is a Damon Runyon Fellow and has been awarded the Philip O'Bryan Montgomery, Jr., MD Fellowship.

Email: Manuel_OsorioValeriano@hms.harvard.edu

PhD candidate

Sophie is a graduate student in the Farnung lab. Before joining the lab in 2024, Sophie completed her International Master of Biomedicine program at Université du Luxembourg, Université de Strasbourg, and Johannes-Gutenberg-Universität Mainz.

Email: Sophie_Roth@hms.harvard.edu

PhD candidate

Felix is a graduate student in the Biological & Biomedical Sciences program. Felix joined the lab in 2022. Before coming to Harvard, he completed his Bachelor's degree in Biology and Computer Science at Duke University. Felix is a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow.

Email: felix_steinruecke@g.harvard.edu

PhD candidate

Alex is a graduate student in the Biophysics program at HMS and joined the lab in 2023. He obtained his Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Bioengineering from Cornell University and worked as a technician at the Mount Sinai Icahn School of Medicine.

Email: alexander_stone@g.harvard.edu

PhD candidate

Serena is a PhD candidate in the Harvard Biophysics program. She joined the lab in 2024. Before coming to Harvard, she completed her Bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry at the University of Toronto.

Email: serenaharden@g.harvard.edu

PhD candidate

Jean is a PhD candidate in the Biological & Biomedical Sciences program. He joined the lab in 2025. He completed his Bachelor's degree in Biology at Davidson College.

Email: jean_beltranjusino@g.harvard.edu

Post-doctoral researcher

Quentin is a joint postdoc with Taekjip Ha. He is a EMBO postdoctoral fellow. He has a background in biochemistry (Masters, University of Kent) and biophysics (PhD, Imperial College London).

Email: quentin_smith@hms.harvard.edu

Post-doctoral researcher

Allen is a postdoc in the lab with a background in membrane protein biochemistry and biophysics. He completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and his PhD in the Mancia lab at Columbia University.

Email: allen_zinkle@hms.harvard.edu

Harvard Biophysics graduate student

Owen is a graduate student in the Harvard Biophysics program. He joined the lab in 2026.

2026 HHMI Cech Fellow

Saara Dhore is an undergraduate student at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, majoring in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. Saara is a 2026 HHMI Cech Fellow in the Farnung Lab.

Research associate

Sebástian completed his PhD in Biotechnology through Acharya Nagarjuna University (India) in collaboration with the Institute for Scientific Research and Technology Services (INDICASAT) in Panama and the University of Central Florida.

Email: valeriohlsa@hms.harvard.edu

Harvard PRISE Fellow

Yerosen is an undergraduate at Harvard University studying biomedical engineering. He joined the lab in summer 2025 and returned in 2026 as a Harvard Prise Fellow.

Alina is an MD-PhD student in the Harvard/MIT MD-PhD Program and joined the Farnung lab as a rotation student in 2026. She graduated from Williams College in 2023 and then spent three years as a research associate at UC San Diego.

BBS graduate student

Namaa is a graduate student in the Biological & Biomedical Sciences program. She joined the lab in 2026. Following her undergraduate studies at Beijing Forestry University, she conducted research in GPCR structural biology at ShanghaiTech University.