Students in Clerkships

Kelsey Baron

• • Email: krbaron@health.ucsd.edu
  • Undergraduate Institution: University of California, San Diego (2017), B.S. Neurosciences
  • Laboratory Rotation: Jonathan Lin (Su '18), Luke Wiseman (Su '19), Jeff Kelly (Su '19)

Alec Calac (Pauma Band of Luiseño Indians)

• Email: acalac@health.ucsd.edu
• Undergraduate Institution: University of Arizona (2016), B.S. Molecular and Cellular Biology
• Graduate Program: Joint Doctoral Program (UCSD/SDSU) - Public Health
• Research Interests: Global Health, Infodemiology, Health Policy, Workforce Development
• Laboratory Rotation: Timothy Mackey, Gretchen Bandoli, Eran Mukamel
• Thesis Lab: Timothy Mackey
• Awards: 2022 National Minority Quality Forum 40 Under 50 Leader in Minority Health
• Publications: ORCID

Morgen Chalmiers

• Email: mchalmiers@ucsd.edu
• Undergraduate Institution: Pomona College (2013), B.S. Women's Global Health
• Graduate Department: Anthropology
• Research Interests: Anthropology
• Thesis Lab: Thomas Csordas
• Publications: ORCID

Isabel Costantino

• Email: icostantino@ucsd.edu
• Undergraduate Institution: Dartmouth University (2012), B.A. Biology, Neuroscience
• Graduate Program: Neuroscience
• Research Interests: Neuroscience
• Laboratory Rotation: Corinne Jolivalt (Su '16), Jerold Chun, Susan Ackerman (Su '17)
• Thesis Lab: John Ravit
• Publications: ORCID

Ellis James (E.J.) Curtis

• Email: ejcurtis@ucsd.edu
• Undergraduate Institution: St. Lawrence University (2017), B.S. Neuroscience
• Graduate Program: Biomedical Sciences
• Research Interests: Neuro-oncology, Cancer Biology, Neuroscience, Extrachromosomal DNA
• Laboratory Rotation: Paul Mischel (Su '17), Frank Furnari, (Su '18)
• Thesis Lab: Paul Mischel
• Publications: ORCID

James Deng

• Email: jdeng@health.ucsd.edu
• Undergraduate Institution: Massachusetts Institute for Technology (2017), B.S. Chemistry
• Graduate Program: Neurosciences
• Research Interests: Neuropsychiatric and Developmental Disorders, Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience
• Laboratory Rotation: Bing Ren (Su '18), Nicola Allen (Su '19), Li Ye (Su '19)
• Thesis Lab: Nicola Allen, Salk Institute
• Publications: ORCID

Imani Howard

• Email: ihoward@ucsd.edu
• Undergraduate Institution: Stanford University (2015), B.A. Biology, Philosophy
• Graduate Department: Philosophy/Science Studies
• Research Interests: Philosophy of Science, The Philosophy of Medicine, and The Philosophy of Race
• Laboratory Rotation: Amy Non (Su '17), Michael Hardimon (Su '18)
• Thesis Lab: Michael Hardimon
• Publications: ORCID

Saumya Jani

• Email: sjani@ucsd.edu
• Undergraduate Institution: Cal State Fullerton (2017), B.S. Biological Science
• Graduate Program: University of Washington - Lab Medicine and Pathology
• Research Interests: Immunology/Infection, Pharma/Drug Discovery, Stem Cell Research
• Laboratory Rotation: Matt Daugherty (Su '18), Bruce Torbett (Su '19), Cressida Madigan (Su '19)
• Thesis Lab: Paul Nghiem, UW
• Publications: ORCID

Bojing (Blair) Jia

• Email: b2jia@ucsd.edu
• Undergraduate Institution: McGill University (2015), B.Sc. Quantitative Biology
• Graduate Program: Bioinformatics & Systems Biology
• Research Interests: Genomics
• Laboratory Rotation: Gene Yeo (Su '17), Albert Hsiao, Bing Ren (Su '18), Eran Mukamel (Su '19), Kun Zhang (Su '19)
• Thesis Lab: Bing Ren
• Publications: ORCID

Juliet Nicodemus

• Email: jnicodem@ucsd.edu
• Undergraduate Institution: Harvard University (2015), B.A. Neurobiology
• Graduate Program: Neurosciences
• Research Interests: Neuroscience, Immunology/Infection
• Laboratory Rotation: Rich Daneman (Su '16), Amir Zarrinpar & Nicole Coufal (Su '17)
• Thesis Lab: Jerold Chun
• Publications: ORCID

Diana Smith

• Email: d9smith@health.ucsd.edu
• Undergraduate Institution: Harvard University (2017), B.A. Cognitive Neuroscience & Evolutionary Psychology
• Graduate Program: Neurosciences
• Research Interests: Neuroscience and Epidemiology/Public Health
• Laboratory Rotation: Susan Tapert (Su '19), MJ Meloy (Su '19), Murray Stein and Terry Jernigan (Su '20)
• Thesis Lab: Terry Jernigan & Anders Dale
• Awards: Kavli Institute for Brain and Mind Innovation Reasearch Grant - 2022, NRSA F30 - 2023, UC Grand Slam 2023 - Finalist
• Publications: ORCID

Lauren Wedekind

• Email: lwedekind@health.ucsd.edu
• Undergraduate Institution: Stanford University (2016), B.A. Human Biology; London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (2017), M.S. Public Health; University of Oxford (2022), Ph.D. Biomedical Sciences
• Graduate Department: Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford
• Research Interests: Diabetes, Epidemiology, Genetics, Ophthalmology
• Laboratory Rotation: NIH (National Institutes of Health Oxford-Cambridge Scholars Program)
• Thesis Lab: Dr. Robert Hanson (NIH/National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases) and Prof. Mark McCarthy (University of Oxford)
• Awards: NIH Oxford-Cambridge Scholars Program
• Publications: ORCID

Elizabeth Bird

• Email: embird@ucsd.edu 
• Undergraduate Institution: University of California San Diego (2015), B.S. Bioengineering
• Graduate Program: Bioengineering
• Research Interests: Bioengineering
• Laboratory Rotation: Adam Engler (Su '15), Kim Prisk (Su '16), Marc Garellek (Su '16)
• Thesis Lab: Francisco Contijoch
• Publications: ORCID

Katherine Lee

• Email: k7lee@ucsd.edu
• Undergraduate Institution: Stanford University (2013), B.S. Human Biology
• Graduate Program: Biological Sciences
• Research Interests: Gene Regulation, RNA Biology, Bioinformatics
• Laboratory Rotation: Heidi Cook-Andersen (Su '16), Mana Parast, Karen Christman (Su '17)
• Thesis Lab: Heidi Cook-Andersen
• Publications: ORCID

Shannan McClain

• Email: spmcclain@ucsd.edu
  
• Undergraduate Institution: University of California, Berkeley (2013), B.A. Integrative Biology, Psychology
• Graduate Program: Neuroscience
• Research Interests: Biological basis of neuropsychiatric disorders
• Laboratory Rotation: Tom Hnasko (Su '15), Abraham Palmer (Su '16), Byungkook Lim (Su '16)
• Thesis Lab: Matthew Banghart
• Publications: ORCID

Elischa Sanders

• Email: ejsanders@ucsd.edu 
• Undergraduate Institution: University of Washington (2013), B.S. Neurobiology
• Graduate Program: Neuroscience
• Research Interests: Neuroscience
• Laboratory Rotation: Brenda Bloodgood (Su '15), Eiman Azim, Salk (Su '16)
• Thesis Lab: Eiman Azim, Salk Institute
• Thesis Title: Investigating the role of internal copies in dexterous forelimb movement
• Publications: ORCID