Michael Payne
Graduate Student
Michael is a graduate student in the Loerch Lab.
Team
People in the Loerch Lab
Current Loerch Lab personnel.
Diana Suder
Postdoctoral Researcher
Shilpi Nagpal
Postdoctoral Researcher
I am a postdoctoral researcher in Sarah's lab with a background in biochemistry. I am interested in understanding how proteins and macromolecular complexes regulate essential cellular processes, especially translation.
My current research focuses on the translational regulator eEF2K, combining protein biochemistry, structural biology, and biophysical approaches to understand its function and regulation. I especially enjoy optimizing protein purification workflows and using biochemical approaches to answer challenging biological questions.
Outside the lab, I like going for long walks, hiking, playing badminton, and watching movies. I should read more books in the coming year though. 馃檪
Stephanie Smith-Berdan, MS
Research Specialist and Laboratory Manager
Stephanie Smith-Berdan, M.S., is a stem cell biologist, research specialist, and laboratory manager with more than 20 years of experience studying hematopoietic, neural, and cancer stem cells.
In spring 2026, Stephanie joined Dr. Sarah Loerch's laboratory at UC Santa Cruz to study the effects of DHPG on eEF2K phosphorylation and translation suppression, expanding her research interests into translational control.
She earned her M.S. in Molecular Microbiology from San Jos茅 State University and discovered her passion for stem cell research while training under Dr. Irving Weissman at Stanford University.
Outside of science, Stephanie is an award-winning home winemaker.
Principal Investigator
Sarah Loerch, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Anesthesiology
Graduate program affiliations: Molecular & Cellular Pharmacology and Biophysics.
Sarah Loerch is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Anesthesiology at the University of Wisconsin鈥揗adison School of Medicine and Public Health. She is affiliated with the Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology and Biophysics graduate programs.
Sarah鈥檚 scientific path began in pharmaceutical sciences at ETH Zurich, where she trained as a pharmacist before moving into structural biology and RNA biology. She earned her Ph.D. in Biophysics, Structural and Computational Biology at the University of Rochester, where she studied RNA-protein interactions and molecular mechanisms of gene regulation.
She completed postdoctoral training with Niko Grigorieff at Janelia Research Campus, where she developed expertise in cryo-electron microscopy and image analysis. Before moving to UW鈥揗adison, she started her independent lab at UC Santa Cruz.
The Loerch Lab studies how cells regulate protein synthesis in space and time, with a focus on ribosome states, localized translation in neurons, and disease-relevant translational control.