Nicolau Lab Staff

Stefan Nicolau, MD
Principal Investigator
Stefan.Nicolau@NationwideChildrens.org

Stefan Nicolau, MD, attended medical school at McGill University, where he also completed his neurology residency. He subsequently undertook a Neuromuscular Medicine fellowship at Mayo Clinic and a Gene Therapy fellowship at Nationwide Children's Hospital. His main research interests are gene editing and inherited myopathies.

Noushin Saljoughian, PhD, PharmD
Research Scientist
Noushin.Saljoughian@NationwideChildrens.org

Noushin Saljoughian attended pharmacy school at Isfahan University of Medical Sciences and completed her doctorate at the Pasteur Institute of Iran in the field of pharmaceutical biotechnology. Her background in pharmacy, immunology and genetic engineering led her to The Ohio State University, where she worked on developing a CRISPR genome-edited live vaccine against leishmaniasis in collaboration with the FDA, NIH and McGill University. Dr. Saljoughian joined Nationwide Children’s Hospital as a research scientist in 2021. Prior to joining the Nicolau Lab, she led R&D projects in the CRISPR/Gene editing Core.

Breanna Trecha
Research Assistant
Breanna.Trecha@NationwideChildrens.org

Breanna Trecha graduated from the University of Toledo with dual bachelors of science in Pharmaceutical Sciences degrees in Medicinal Biological Chemistry and in Pharmacology and Toxicology. Prior to joining the Nicolau Lab, she studied analogues of histone deacetylase inhibitors in the Tillekeratne Lab, and interned in the Analytical Chemistry department at Charles River Laboratories and in the R&D department at Betco.

Riley Mendonca
Graduate Student
Riley.Mendonca@NationwideChildrens.org

Riley Mendonca graduated from the University of Northern Colorado with a bachelors of science in cell and molecular biology. Prior to joining the Nicolau lab, he studied cancer immunology and metastasis in the Pullen Lab as part of his undergraduate honors thesis project.