Denziz Erezylimaz
Deniz completed her PhD at the University of Washington in Seattle with the insect physiologists, Jim Truman and Lynn Riddiford. Her thesis explored the genetic basis of how metamorphosing insects evolved from direct-developing ancestors. She next joined David Stern’s Lab at Princeton as an NIH/NRSA Fellow to study microevolutionary processes between closely related species of Drosophila. Deniz then continued this work independently on adaptation and speciation between Drosophila species while at Stony Brook University and Oxford University, within Stephen Goodwin’s Lab. After a career break, she joins the Arguello Lab in 2026 to learn new ways to compare gene expression between species, focusing on an enigmatic group of receptors called the pickpocket proteins. Outside the lab, Deniz enjoys travel and hiking.