Meet Our Team
Principal Investigator

Flora Rutaganira
Assistant Professor of Biochemistry and Developmental Biology
Flora received her B.S. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from UC Davis and her Ph.D. in Chemistry and Chemical Biology from UC San Francisco under the mentorship of Prof. Kevan Shokat. In 2017, she became fascinated by choanoflagellates and joined the laboratory of Prof. Nicole King at UC Berkeley as an HHMI Hanna Gray Postdoctoral Fellow. Based on her research on choanoflagellate kinase signaling in the King lab, Flora started her lab, the FUNR lab (from Flora’s government name: Florentine Uwamahoro Novotny Rutaganira) to study the origin of cell communication in animals at Stanford University in the departments of Biochemistry and Developmental Biology. She hopes that the work in her lab will uncover how molecule sensing was integrated with core signaling pathways during the evolution of animals, and uncover core principles of animal cell signaling.
Email: FUNR[at]stanford.edu
Fellows

Open Position
Postdoc / Staff Scientist
We have an open position for a postdoc or staff scientist in the laboratory. Email Flora (FUNR[at]stanford.edu) with a CV and cover letter if interested.
Graduate Students

Nils Dormanns
U.Hannover-Microbiology
I am uncovering the ancestry of Insulin-like Growth Factor 1 Receptor signaling in Salpingoeca rosetta with structural biology and dominant negative mutants.
My favorite protist: Lacymaria olor
Email: dormanns[at]stanford.edu

Open Positions
Stanford Rotations
We have positions open for Stanford graduate students in the biosciences and chemistry. Email Flora (FUNR[@]stanford.edu) to schedule a meeting.
Post-Baccalaureate Researchers
Rotation Students

Open Positions
Stanford Rotations
We have positions open for Stanford graduate students in the biosciences and chemistry. Email Flora (FUNR[at]stanford.edu) to schedule a meeting.

We have positions open for Stanford graduate students in the biosciences and chemistry. Email Flora (FUNR[at]stanford.edu) to schedule a meeting.
Former Team Members
Name (Position, Academic Year)
Emma Esterman (Graduate Student Rotation, 2023)