NEWS
RIVKA FARRELL JOINS THE LAB!
May 2023

Rivka graduated with a B.A. in Biology from NJIT, with physician-scientist as the long-term vision. During her time there, in Dr. Genoa Warner's lab, she researched the endocrine disruption of the female reproductive system caused by plastic exposures. Afterward, Rivka eagerly joined the ESI-PREP program at Yale, where she is thrilled to collaborate with her fellow labmates in Dr. Didychuk's lab. Outside of the lab, she volunteers as an EMT, and during her spare time, Rivka enjoys hiking, kayaking, painting, and designing jewelry.
OLAIDE ADEYEMI JOINS THE LAB!
May 2023
With a background in Biochemistry and Physical Chemistry, Olaide is super excited about using biophysical methods in unraveling the role of essential factors involved in the KSHV packaging machinery. Outside of the lab, she finds pleasure in the art of photography and watching movies as it ignites her creativity. She loves the Yale community, and she looks forward to breaking new boundaries over the next few years in the Didychuk Lab

NICK DOAK & LIZ BAILEY JOIN THE LAB!
April 2023

Liz earned a Ph.D. in Chemistry at Columbia University as an NSF GRFP Fellow studying bacterial transcription-translation coupling and cryptic prophages. Previously, she earned an M.A. in Chemistry from Princeton University and a B.A. in Chemistry and Studio Art from Kenyon College. Outside the lab, Liz enjoys kayaking, hiking, and writing. Her writing — on algorithmic art, a forgotten female scientific illustrator, and the mechanisms of mass extinctions — has appeared in Scientific American and the Kenyon Review. Links to her publications etc. can be found at Liz’s personal website: https://elizabethjbailey.com/.
Coming from a background of ecology and chemistry, I’m so excited to immerse myself in the biochemistry of herpesviruses and master a new, wide array of virological techniques. For my graduate studies, I’m especially interested in parsing out the sequence & structure - function relationships of the KSHV late transcription complex through deep mutational scanning and assessing the exact structure of individual components. Outside of the lab I am an aspiring tango dancer (Join the Yale Tango Club!), fitness nerd, lover of all things coffee, and always look for any excuse to go outdoors. I love to call Yale home and am looking forward to training these next few years alongside everyone in the Didychuk lab.

XINYU CHEN JOINS THE LAB!
October 21, 2022
Xinyu is a BS/MS student in the MB&B Department at Yale interested in late gene transcription!
SARA GELLES-WATNICK JOINS THE LAB!
October 10, 2022
Sara completed her BS/MS in Biochemistry at Brandeis University working with Dr. Dorothee Kern. She brings a wealth of molecular biology experience to the team and is excited to learn more about ORF68!

MAYTE AND GIANCARLO START IN THE LAB!
July 11, 2022
Giancarlo is from Naples, FL and studied molecular biology at Yale. He is excited to learn about how herpesviruses employ molecular motors to package their genomes. Giancarlo looks forward to exploring more of New Haven and hopes to break into the local cycling scene.
Mayte comes from the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez. She is excited to learn new things in the research field, meet new people and create new memories! She’s also looking forward to see some of Connecticut’s beautiful hiking trails!
THE DIDYCHUK LAB OPENS!
July 1, 2022

KARA, ALLISON, DEQUINA, AND TINA PUBLISH "SCENTIFIC LIFE" PIECE IN TIBS DESCRIBING THE TRANSITION PHASE WHEN PREPARING TO LAUNCH A LABORATORY
May 26, 2022
We wrote this article to help incoming assistant professors navigate the time between accepting their job offer and starting their lab. We hope it helps demystify (and destress) this exciting but confusing time!