Meet the Lab

​Amy Brock, Ph.D. Amy received a Ph.D. in Biomedical and Biological Sciences from Harvard University and a B.S. from MIT. She carried out postdoctoral work at Boston Children’s Hospital and the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard and joined The University of Texas at Austin in 2013. Amy’s research interests include: cancer systems biology, heterogeneity and cell state plasticity, models of cancer progression and response to therapy. Outside the lab, you can find her sailing on Lake Travis with family, digging in the vegetable garden, playing board games, and just enjoying the antics of her five children.​

​Andrea (Didi) Gardner, Graduate Student. Didi joined the Brock Lab in 2019 as a graduate student in Biomedical Engineering. She obtained her B.S. in Bioengineering: Biotechnology from UCSD, and then worked with Weill Cornell Medicine and Cornell University to develop low-cost diagnostic kits for virally-driven cancers. Her current research focuses on the integration of experimentation, quantitative single cell technologies, and mathematical modeling to better understand how cell-cell interactions stabilize tumor heterogeneity and alter treatment response. Her work is focused on two questions: (1) Do unique phenotypes within clonally-derived cell populations interact? Viewing the tumor as an ecosystem of cells, she asks -- Are subpopulations of cells interacting with each other and if so, as friend or foe? And, (2) How does cell-cell fusion between clonally-related cancer cells alter tumor phenotype? Cell-cell fusion is a tightly controlled biological process that was first noted in cancer in 1911, yet little progress has been made toward understanding its role in this disease.  She combines live cell imaging, RNA-sequencing, drug dosing, and mathematical modeling to unveil the lasting impacts of homotypic cell-cell fusion in TNBC cells. Beyond the laboratory, Didi enjoys being involved in kickboxing, biking, and fantasy RPGs.
Learn more about Didi on twitter @AndreaLGardner

Daylin Morgan, Graduate Student. Daylin joined the Brock Lab in the Fall of 2018. Before coming to Austin, Daylin completed his undergraduate and master’s at Arizona State University. His current work focuses on utilizing molecular biology-based lineage tracing techniques to investigate the contribution of heterogeneity on chemotherapeutic response in colorectal cancer. Outside of the lab, Daylin enjoys pretending he is any good at intermural sports and trying out all the delicious food trucks in Austin.

Tyler Jost, Graduate Student. Tyler joined the Brock Lab in the Fall of 2019. He
received his master’s degree from Baylor University in biomedical engineering. His
research interests include mathematical modeling, single-cell transcriptomics, and
chemotherapeutic response. When not performing research, he enjoys reading,
playing the piano, and going on walks around Austin.

Carolina De Santiago, Graduate Student
Carolina joined the Brock lab in the Fall of 2020 as a graduate student in Biomedical Engineering. Before moving to Austin, she completed her undergraduate at Rice University in Houston. Her current work focuses on investigating the contribution of heterogeneity on metastatic and migratory potential in triple negative breast cancer. Outside the lab, Carolina enjoys to go paddle boarding, hiking, spending time at coffee shops and petting her cat, Cinder.

Sarah Meng, Graduate Student. Sarah joined the Brock lab in the fall of 2021. She grew up in Virginia and completed her undergraduate at the University of Virginia. Through her undergraduate career, she developed a passion for bioinformatics and therapeutic/immune response in the context of cancer. Outside of lab, she enjoys running, hiking, and trying as many taco places as she can in Austin.

Michael Cotner, Graduate Student. Michael joined the Brock lab in the Spring of 2022 as a graduate student in Biomedical Engineering. Michael grew up in Utah and obtained a B.S. in Biological Engineering from Utah State University before coming to UT Austin. Outside of lab, Michael's interests include playing one of various instruments, biking, hiking, paddle boarding, and caring for his tortoise, Clyde.

Kennedy Howland, Graduate Student. Kennedy joined the Brock lab after the Fall 2021 semester and is pursuing a Ph.D. in biomedical engineering. Kennedy is from San Antonio, Texas where she pursued a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering at UTSA. Her current work involves investigating cell fusion and its effects on the aneuploid state and cellular mechanics of triple negative breast cancer cells. Outside of the lab, Kennedy enjoys hiking, playing video games, and spending time with her cat and dog.

Audrey Freischel, Graduate Student. Audrey joined the Brock lab in fall 2022 as a graduate student in the biomedical engineering program. After receiving her masters in molecular medicine at the University of South Florida, she worked at Moffitt Cancer Center investigating the ecology and evolution of cancer. She is interested in combining mathematical and computational modeling with experiment to understand the effect of ecological competition in heterogeneous cell populations. In her free time, she enjoys exploring, dancing, playing video and board games, running, and swimming.

Patrik Parker, Lab Manager. Patrik joined the lab in the summer of 2021. They graduated with a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering from UT. Before joining the Brock lab they spent 3 years as a lab manager and research scientist for an immunology lab at UT. Outside of research Patrik spends time crafting, gardening, or is out exploring nature.

Lan Zheng, Undergraduate Student. Lan joined the Brock Lab in the summer of 2021 as an undergraduate researcher. She is pursuing her B.S. in Biomedical Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin with a minor in Business. Her current work focuses on assessing how cell-cell fusion contributes to therapeutic resistance in triple-negative breast cancer. After she graduates, Lan plans on going to graduate school to continue working in genetics and cancer biology. Outside of school, she enjoys karaoke, baking, and playing piano.