The Cristea Lab: Beyond the Bench

Group outings, personal accomplishments, worldwide travelers, and community at the Cristea Lab.

We returned from the holiday break just to keep the celebrations rolling! Happy birthday to Ji Woo, Peter, and Rim!
The lab went on our annual apple-picking trip at Terhune Orchards, then stopped in Lambertville for a nice dinner. Now time to eat all of these apples!
Ileana welcomes a 2nd black lab to the lab: Miles!
A photo from one of our regular birthday celebrations. Happy birthday, James and Krystal!
Cristea Lab swag worn across generations and countries!
The lab returns to our beloved Hopewell Valley Vineyards for pizza and wine.
The lab came together for some grilling and lawn games at our yearly summer BBQ. What a blast!
We resumed the lab painting tradition in style!
The lab soaking up the skyline views in Chicago while at US HUPO 2023.
The lab goes apple picking! We picked Terhune Orchards clean.
Bokai & Cao are married!
We're so happy for both of you!
Dawei & Shiyi are married!
Congrats to the happy couple!
Lab pottery extravaganza!
Wine and art with friends—doesn't get better than that!
Celebration of our fully-vaccinated reality at Hopewell Valley Vineyards!
Doubling as Xinlei's PhD graduation party, we spent a few hours basking in the sun, wine, and joy of a new life chapter.
Meet our newest lab member: the paw-some Louie!
Ileana & Juha adopted this handsome doggo, obviously selected for his potential as a data scientist.
Cristea Lab 100 Papers Celebration!
Complete with matching t-shirts (design by Katelyn). February 2018
Ileana advances to full professorship at Princeton University!
Ileana addresses the lab at Masa Sushi in celebration of her advancement. Cheers!

1 / 17

Graduations and Farewells

Celebrating the FPO of Dr. Dawei Liu. We're excited for your next steps, but we'll miss your smile around lab!
Dr. Cora Betsinger graduates with her PhD!
The Betsinger Cake (with model of how the cake will be metabolized)!
Dr. Michelle Kennedy graduates with her PhD!
The Kennedy Cake!
Dr. Katelyn Cook graduates with her PhD!
The Cook Cake!
Dr. Bokai Song graduates with his PhD!
Dr. Timothy Howard graduates with his PhD!
Tim defended his thesis and will now begin a career in consulting. We're excited for you, Tim!
The Howard Cake: IFI16 indiscriminately binds viral genomes to suppress infection
We celebrated by indiscriminately devouring this cake--delicious!
Dr. Xinlei Sheng graduates with his PhD!
We celebrated Dr. Sheng's accomplishments all weekend long with family and friends.
The Sheng Cake: HCMV-driven modulation of the mitochondrial acetylome
It was a carrot cake shared cheerfully together with some champagne. Cheers, Xinlei!
Congratulations, Dr. Laura Murray-Nerger!
Laura defended her PhD and will soon leave us for Harvard Medical School in Boston. We're excited for you, Laura!
The Dr. Murray-Nerger graduation cake: acetylation of the nuclear lamina
(it also tasted delicious, with raspberry filling)
Congratulations Dr. Krystal Lum!!
Krystal defended her thesis and was awarded her PhD, soon to head to her Post Doc at U Penn. Congrats!!
The Lum cake - the dynamics of nuclear DNA sensing
Dr. Lum had a good mix of her favorite protein (IFI16) and (one of) her favorite bunnies, Smoosh
Pierre becomes Dr. Jean Beltran!
Congrats Pierre - and good luck in Boston!
The Jean Beltran cake - viruses manipulate cellular organization
Pierre's cake featured the cover design art (painted by his wife, Carla) from one of his papers.

1 / 18