The Baas Lab Members

Peter W. Baas

Professor and Lab Director
pwb22@drexel.edu

Dr. Baas (view profile) earned his PhD in 1987 from Michigan State University, and then trained as a postdoctoral fellow at Temple University. From there, he was on the faculty of the University of Wisconsin for ten years before joining the faculty of Drexel University in 2000. Dr. Baas is interested in all aspects of the neuronal cytoskeleton, with a particular emphasis on the regulation of microtubules in developing neurons. He is also interested in various aspects of microtubules during neurodegenerative diseases as well as during nerve injury and regeneration. He is currently the director of the Graduate Program in Neuroscience at Drexel University.

Wenqian Yu

Research Assistant Professor
wyu@drexelmed.edu

Dr. Yu (view profile) earned her MD from Shanghai Medical University, and then joined the Baas Laboratory in 1993 as a postdoctoral fellow. She has remained in the laboratory since, and is currently a research instructor. She is the chief cell biologist in the laboratory, and is involved in several of the ongoing projects as well as the training of graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. She has published on microtubule transport in the axon, the role of the centrosome in generating axonal microtubules, the regulation of the dendritic microtubule array, the fragmentation of microtubules underlying collateral branch formation, and the role of microtubule-severing proteins and molecular motor proteins in regulating key events in the establishment of neuronal polarity. Dr. Yu is the recipient of the prestigious Edward Jekkal Award.

Emanuela Piermarini

Research Instructor
emanuela.piermarini@drexelmed.edu

Emanuela earned her PhD degree in biochemistry and molecular biology at University of Rome "Tor Vergata" in November 2016. During her PhD training she studied the role of oxidative stress in neurodegeneration, focusing her attention on the role of glutathione in the pathogenesis of Friedreich's ataxia. She joined the Baas Lab as a postdoc in December 2016, where she is involved in the project of characterizing a new mouse model of hereditary spastic paraplegia.

Bridie Eckel

Graduate Student
be355@drexel.edu

Bridie is a doctoral student in the Neuroscience program. She earned her BS in chemical engineering from Northeastern University in May 2021. Previously, she worked in Dr. Abigail Koppes’ Advanced Biosystems for Neuroengineering Laboratory at Northeastern University and the Finley Lab at Harvard Medical School. She joined Drexel’s program in August 2021. In the Baas Lab, she is working on the role of molecular motor proteins and crosslinking proteins in organizing neuronal microtubules.

Kendra Case

Graduate Student
klc356@drexel.edu

Kendra is a doctoral student in the Neuroscience program. She earned her BS in Biology with minors in Neuroscience and Psychology from Drexel University in 2018. Post-graduation she worked in the lab of Denise Garcia at Drexel and studied a subpopulation of astrocytes during development. In the Baas lab she will join the Gulf War Illness project, continuing to investigate tau in GWI.

Julie Schuab

Graduate Student
js5228@drexel.edu

Julie is a doctoral student in the Neuroscience program at Drexel University. She earned a BS in Biology from Gettysburg College and a MS in Biotechnology from Johns Hopkins University. Prior to joining the lab, she worked at Hopkins in an auto-immune disorders lab and then researched glaucoma at the Wilmer Eye Institute. In the Baas Lab, she is studying microtubule-associated proteins and their role in microtubule organization in neurons.