Students in Graduate School

PhD I Students

Leen Abbas
- Email: labbas@health.ucsd.edu
- Undergraduate Institution: University of Colorado at Boulder (2022), BA Integrative Physiology (2024), MS Integrative Physiology
- Graduate Program: Scripps Research
- Research Interests: Circadian rhythms, microbiome, neurodegenerative disease, development, sleep apnea, sleep, rehab, recovery
- Laboratory Rotation: Satchin Panda (Su 24), Katja Lamia (Su 25), Paula Desplats (Su 25)
- Publications: ORCID
Suneel (Neel) Banerjee
- Email: s5banerjee@health.ucsd.edu
- Undergraduate Institution: Georgetown University (2023), BS Neurobiology
- Graduate Program: NIH-OxCam
- Laboratory Rotation: Trey Ideker (Su 24), Brad Voytek (Su 25)
- Publications: ORCID
David Berrios
- Email: daberrios@health.ucsd.edu
- Undergraduate Institution: University of California, Davis (2019), BS Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
- Graduate Program: Biomedical Sciences
- Research Interests: Metabolism/diabetes, developmental biology, and immunology
- Laboratory Rotation: Vira Kravets (Su 24) Luc Teyton, Scripps (Su 25), Jesse Dixon (Su 25), Jin Zhang (Su 25)
- Publications: ORCID
Bandy Chen
- Email: bac008@health.ucsd.edu
- Undergraduate Institution: City University of New York Hunter College (2021), BS Nutrition and Food Science: Dietetics
- Graduate Program: Neurosciences
- Laboratory Rotation: Ardem Patapoutian, Scripps Research (Su 24), Li Ye (Su 24), Scott Sternson (Su 25), Sung Han (Su 25)
- Publications: ORCID
Nour (Nora) Jabassini
- Email: njabassini@health.ucsd.edu
- Undergraduate Institution: University of California, Los Angeles (2020), BS Biochemistry
- Graduate Program: Biomedical Sciences
- Research Interests: Neuroimmunology, neurodegeneration, glial cells
- Laboratory Rotation: Richard Daneman (Su 24), Ed Callaway (Su 25), Sam Pfaff (Su 25)
- Publications: ORCID
Breanna Kim
- Email: brk014@health.ucsd.edu
- Undergraduate Institution: Scripps College (2021) BA Biology
- Graduate Program: Biomedical Sciences
- Research Interests: Cancer biology, immunology, cell biology, infectious diseases
- Laboratory Rotations: Vivien Maltez (Su 25)
- Publications: ORCID
Aidan McGinnis
- Email: aimcginnis@health.ucsd.edu
- Undergraduate Institution: Duke University (2020), BS Biology
- Graduate Program: Scripps Research
- Laboratory Rotation: Christian Metallo, Salk Institute (Su 24), Li Ye, Scripps (Su 25), Gulcin Pekkurnaz (Su 25)
- Publications: ORCID
Katherine (Kat) Nurminsky
- Email: knurminsky@health.ucsd.edu
- Undergraduate Institution: University of Chicago (2022), BS Mathematics
- Graduate Program: Biomedical Sciences
- Lab Rotation: Andrew McCulloch (Su 24), Aleah Brubaker & Peter Than (Su 25)
- Awards: 2025 MSTP Brendler Award for MS1 Academic Achievement
- Publications: ORCID
Maxwell Okros
- Email: mokros@health.ucsd.edu
- Undergraduate Institution: Grand Valley State University (2021), BS Biochemistry
- Graduate Program: Biomedical Sciences
- Research Interests: Developmental biology, pediatric diseases
- Laboratory Rotation: Ed Callaway (Su 24), Stephanie Cherqui (Su 25), Nicole Coufal (Su 25)
- Publications: ORCID
Sintra Stewart
- Email: sistewart@health.ucsd.edu
- Undergraduate Institution: California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt (2020), BS Cellular and Molecular Biology
- Graduate Program: Biomedical sciences
- Laboratory Rotation: Leslie Crews (Su 24), Frank Furnari (Su 25), Rob Signer (Su 25)
- Publications: ORCID
Lui Suzuki-Williams
- Email: lsuzukiwilliams@health.ucsd.edu
- Undergraduate Institution: University of Georgia (2021), BS Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
- Graduate Program: Scripps Research
- Research Interests: Immunology/infection, microbiology, and infectious disease
- Laboratory Rotation: Sujan Shresta (Su 24), Victor Nizet (Su 25), Megan Ken, Scripps (Su 25)
- Publications: ORCID
Jose Vasquez
- Email: jov003@health.ucsd.edu
- Undergraduate Institution: University of California, Irvine (2021), BS Neurobiology
- Graduate Program: Biomedical Sciences
- Research Interests: Neuropsychiatric illness, substance abuse, neurodegeneration and plasticity
- Laboratory Rotation: Tom Hnasko (Su 24), Sushi Mahata (Wi & Su 25), Monique Smith (Su 25), Silvio Gutkind (Su 25), Xu Chen (Su 25)
- Publications: ORCID
Yifan Zhang
- Email: yiz276@health.ucsd.edu
- Undergraduate Institution: Haverford College (2021), BS Biology
- Graduate Program: Scripps Research
- Laboratory Rotation: Prashant Mali (Su 24), Xin Jin, Scripps (Su 25), Hannah Carter (Su 25)
- Publications: ORCID

PhD II Students

Fatema Abdurrob
- Email: fabdurrob@health.ucsd.edu
- Undergraduate Institution: Boston University (2014), BA Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, and English; MA in Biotechnology
- Graduate Program: Neurosciences
- Research Interests: Neurodegeneration, glia, learning & memory
- Laboratory Rotation: Richard Daneman (Su 23), Rusty Gage (Su 24), Nicola Allen (Su 24), Stuart Lipton (Fa 25), Kuo-Fen Lee (Fa 25)
- Publications: ORCID
Parwana Khazi
- Email: pkhazi@health.ucsd.edu
- Undergraduate Institution: Santa Clara University (2020), BS Biomedical Biology and Public Health Science, BA Spanish Studies; University of California, Los Angeles (2022), MSS with a Concentration in Anthropology
- Graduate Program: Biomedical Sciences
- Research Interests: Genetic epidemiology, epigenetics/epigenomics, biostatistical modeling, anthropology
- Thesis Lab: Emilie Reas
- Publications: ORCID
Matthew Jundong Kim
- Email: mak014@health.ucsd.edu
- Undergraduate Institution: Cornell University (2019), BS Biological Engineering
- Graduate Program: Biomedical Sciences
- Research Interests: Genomics, stem cells, bioengineering, regenerative medicine
- Laboratory Rotation: Neil Chi (Su 23), Kyle Gaulton (Su 24), and Bing Ren (Su 24)
- Thesis Lab: Kyle Gaulton
- Publications: ORCID
Elida Kocharian
- Email: ekocharian@health.ucsd.edu
- Undergraduate Institution: Harvard University (2021), AB Earth & Planetary Sciences and Environmental Engineering
- Graduate Program: Biomedical Sciences
- Research Interests: Biochemistry, metabolism, microbiology
- Laboratory Rotation: Christian Metallo, Salk (Su 23), Neal Devaraj (Su 24), Brad Moore, Scripps Institute of Oceanography (Su 24), Itay Budin (Su 25)
- Thesis Lab: Itay Budin
- Publications: ORCID
Matthew Levy
- Email: m4levy@health.ucsd.edu
- Undergraduate Institution: Georgia Tech (2020), BS Biomedical Engineering
- Graduate Program: Biomedical Sciences
- Research Interests: Cancer immunology, gene therapies
- Laboratory Rotation: Fotis Asimakpopulos (Su 23), David Cheresh (Su 24), Robert Signer (Su 24)
- Thesis Lab: Robert Signer
- Publications: ORCID
Ben Liebman
- Email: bliebman@health.ucsd.edu
- Undergraduate Institution: Hampshire College (2016), BA Molecular Biology; University of Vermont (2021), MS Pharmacology
- Graduate Program: Biomedical Sciences
- Research Interests: Wound healing and tissue regeneration
- Laboratory Rotation: Richard Gallo (Su '23)
- Thesis Lab: Karen Christman & Mark Hepokoski
- Publications: ORCID
Brandon Liu
- Email: brandonmliu@health.ucsd.edu
- Undergraduate Institution: California State University, Los Angeles (2019), BS Biochemistry
- Graduate Program: Biomedical Sciences
- Research Interests: Chemical biology, pharmacology, drug discovery
- Laboratory Rotation: Christopher Parker, Scripps (Su 22), Neal Devaraj (Su 22), Michael Erb, Scripps (Su 23), Christopher Obara (Su 25), Fleur Ferguson (Su 25)
- Thesis Lab: Christopher Obara
- Publications: ORCID
Shelby McGriff
- Email: smcgriff@health.ucsd.ed
- Undergraduate Institution: University of Florida (2020), BS Behavioral & Cognitive Neuroscience
- Graduate Program: Neurosciences
- Research Interests: Neuroscience, pharmacology, neuropsychiatric disorders
- Laboratory Rotation: Ed Callaway (Su 23), Nicola Allen (Su 24), Kay Tye (Su 24)
- Thesis Lab: Kay Tye, Salk Institute
- Publications: ORCID
Cristina Mora
- Email: c1mora@health.ucsd.edu
- Undergraduate Institution: University of California, Berkeley (2013), BS Environmental Sciences; San Francisco State University (2019), MS Cell and Molecular Biology
- Graduate Program: Neurosciences
- Research Interests: Stem cell disease modeling, neurodevelopment, regenerative medicine, neuroscience
- Laboratory Rotation: Nicole Coufal (Su '23)
- Thesis Lab: Nicole Coufal & Chris Glass
- Publications: ORCID
Miranda Olson
- Email: miolson@health.ucsd.edu
- Undergraduate University: Brown University (2017), BA Global Health Narrative, BS Biomedical Engineering
- Graduate Program: Sociology
- Research Interests: Health policy, disability studies, women & gender, science & technology, global health
- Laboratory Rotation: David Serlin (Su 24), Michelle Villeneuve & Daniel Navon, University of Sydney Dept. of Sociology
- Awards: 2025 MSTP Brendler Award for MS1 Academic Achievement
- Publications: ORCID
Foxy Robinson
- Email: fprobinson@health.ucsd.edu
- Undergraduate Institution: University of California, Davis (2019), BS Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, BA African American and African Studies
- Graduate Program: Biomedical Sciences
- Research Interests: Cancer biology, stem cell research, genetics
- Laboratory Rotation: Christina Towers, Salk (Su '22), Leslie Crews (Sp '23), & Christian Metallo, Salk (Su/Fa '23)
- Thesis Lab: Leslie Crews
- Publications: ORCID
Aileen Szczepanski
- Email: aiszczepanski@health.ucsd.edu
- Undergraduate Institution: Carthage College (2019), BA Biology
- Graduate Program: Biological Sciences
- Research Interests: Reproductive/developmental biology, regenerative medicine, stem cells, gene regulation, epigenetics
- Laboratory Rotation: Neil Chi (Su 23), Bing Ren (Su 24), Heidi Cook-Andersen (Su 24)
- Thesis Lab: Heidi Cook-Andersen
- Publications: ORCID
Taariq Woods
- Email: tawoods@health.ucsd.edu
- Undergraduate Institution: University of Massachusetts Amherst (2021), BS Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
- Graduate Program: Biomedical Sciences
- Research Interests: Clinical decision support, patient risk assessment, computational precision medicine
- Laboratory Rotation: Jejo Koola (Su 23), Shamim Nemati (Su 24), Gabriel Wardi (Su 24), Edward Wang (Su 25), Sally Baxter (Su 25), Ahmed El Kaffas (Su 25)
- Publications: ORCID

PhD III Students

Mark Buckup
- Email: mbuckup@health.ucsd.edu
- Undergraduate Institution: Stanford University (2019), BS with Honors in Bioengineering
- Graduate Program: Bioengineering
- Research Interests: Biomedical imaging, regenerative medicine, medical devices, bioengineering
- Laboratory Rotation: Shaochen Chen (Su '22), Albert Hsiao (Su '23), & Francisco Contijoch (Su '23)
- Thesis Lab: Francisco Contijoch
- Publications: ORCID
Michael Ko

Email: mlko@health.ucsd.edu
- Undergraduate Institution: Stanford University (2020), BA Psychology, MS Statistics
- Graduate Program: Halıcıoğlu Data Science Institute (HDSI)
- Research Interests: Computer vision, medical imaging, data analytics, precision health
- Laboratory Rotation: Albert Hsiao (Su '22), Francisco Contijoch (Wi '23), & Andrew McCullough (Su '23)
- Thesis Lab: Jingbo Shang & Giorgio Quer
- Publications: ORCID
Tanya Kumar
- Email: tkumar@health.ucsd.edu
- Undergraduate Institution: University of California, Berkeley (2019), BS Microbial Biology
- Graduate Program: Bioengineering
- Research Interests: Microbiome, immunology/infection, bioengineering
- Laboratory Rotation: Rob Knight (Su 21), Gurol Suel (Wi 23), & Jeff Hasty (Su 23), Erika Cyphert (Fa 24)
- Thesis Lab: Erika Cyphert & Rob Knight
Min Jun Li
- Email: mil084@health.ucsd.edu
- Undergraduate Institution: Smith College (2020), BA Neuroscience
- Graduate Program: Neurosciences
- Research Interests: Neuroscience, cancer biology, immunology
- Laboratory Rotation: Axel Nimmerjahn (Su 22), Richard Daneman (Su 23), & Jing Yang (Su 23)
- Publications: ORCID
Grace McAuley
- Email: gmcauley@health.ucsd.edu
- Undergraduate Institution: University of California, Los Angeles (2020), BS Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology
- Graduate Program: Biomedical Sciences
- Research Interests: Hematopoietic stem cell gene therapy, immunotherapy, immunology, regenerative medicine, RNA therapeutics
- Laboratory Rotation: Dan Kaufman (Su '23), Gene Yeo (Su '23), Don Cleveland (Su '23)
- Thesis Lab: Gene Yeo
- Publications: ORCID
Katie Mostoller
- Email: kmostoller@health.ucsd.edu
- Undergraduate Institution: University of Washington (2020), BA Neuroscience, B.S. Biochemistry
- Graduate Program: Biomedical Sciences
- Research Interests: Neuroinflammation, mitochondrial disease, microglia
- Laboratory Rotation: Kelli Breen-Church (Su '22), Nicole Coufal (Su '23), & Richard Daneman (Su '23)
- Thesis Lab: Nicole Coufal
- Publications: ORCID
Rachel Oshiro
- Email: rloshiro@health.ucsd.edu
- Undergraduate Institution: Harvard University (2019), AB Molecular and Cellular Biology
- Graduate Program: Biomedical Sciences
- Research Interests: Developmental biology, bioengineering, biochemistry, epigenetics, molecular biology
- Laboratory Rotation: Joseph Gleeson (Su 22), Xin Jin, Scripps (Su 23), Bing Ren (Su 23), Joseph Ecker (Su 24)
- Thesis Lab: Bogdan Bintu
- Publications: ORCID
Logan Sigua
- Email: lsigua@health.ucsd.edu
- Undergraduate Institution: Boston University (2019), BS Chemistry
- Graduate Program: Scripps Research
- Research Interests: Chemical biology, chromatin biology
- Laboratory Rotation: Fleur Ferguson (Su '22), Michael Erb, Scripps Research (Su '22), Ben Cravatt, Scripps Research (Su '23), & Li Ye, Scripps Research (Su '23)
- Thesis Lab: Li Ye & Ben Cravatt
- Publications: ORCID
Anna Tifrea
- Email: atifrea@health.ucsd.edu
- Undergraduate Institution: California Institute of Technology (2022), BS Physics
- Graduate Program: Physics
- Research Interests: Biophysics, bioengineering, medical imaging
- Laboratory Rotation: Wouter-Jan Rappel (Su '22), Elizabeth Villa (Su '23), and Karen Cristman & Mariana Alperin (Su '23)
- Thesis Lab: Elizabeth Villa
- Publications: ORCID
Ellen Wang
- Email: ewangfan@health.ucsd.edu
- Undergraduate Institution: Pomona College (2020), BA Molecular Biology
- Graduate Program: Neurosciences
- Research Interests: Neuroscience, neuroimmunology, neurodegenerative diseases
- Laboratory Rotation: Nicole Coufal (Su '22), Matthew Shtrahman (Su '23), & Nicola Allen (Su '23)
- Thesis Lab: Binhai Zheng
- Publications: ORCID

PhD IV Students

Sean Chapman
- Email: schapman@health.ucsd.edu
- Undergraduate Institution: Brigham Young University (2020), BS Neuroscience
- Graduate Program: Biomedical Sciences
- Research Interests: Neuroscience, chem/biochem, the Phoenix Suns
- Laboratory Rotation: William Mobley (Su '21), Richard Daneman/Eric Nudleman (Su '22), Derek Welsbie (Su '22)
- Thesis Lab: Derek Welsbie
- Publications: ORCID
Summer Fair
- Email: sfair@health.ucsd.edu
- Undergraduate Institution: The Ohio State University Main Campus (2017), BS Biomedical Sciences
- Graduate Program: Biomedical Sciences
- Research Interests: Stem cell technologies, neurodevelopment, and RNA biology
- Laboratory Rotation: Gabriel Haddad (Su 21), Alysson Muotri (Su 22), Mana Parast (Su 22), & Eugene Yeo (Su 23)
- Thesis Lab: Eugene Yeo
- Publications: ORCID
Jonathan Gunn
- Email: jogunn@health.ucsd.edu
- Undergraduate Institution: Johns Hopkins University (2019), BS Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Mathematics
- Graduate Program: Bioengineering
- Research Interests: Bioengineering, immunology/infection, and neuroscience
- Laboratory Rotation: Gene Yeo (Su '21), Luke Lairson (Su '22), Dan Kaufman (Su '22), Gurol Suel (Su '23), Ester Kwon (Su '23)
- Thesis Lab: Ester Kwon
- Publications: ORCID
Shivani Lakkaraju
- Email: slakkara@health.ucsd.edu
- Undergraduate Institution: University of California San Diego (2019), BS Human Biology
- Graduate Program: Biomedical Sciences
- Research Interests: Gene therapy for neuromuscular disease
- Laboratory Rotation: Hannah Carter (Su '21), Prashant Mali (Su '21), Sam Pfaff, Salk (Su '22), Bing Ren (Su '22)
- Thesis Lab: Bing Ren & Kyle Gaulton
- Publications: ORCID
Koushik Muralidharan
- Email: kmuralidharan@health.ucsd.edu
- Undergraduate Institution: Monmouth University (2019), BS Biology
- Graduate Program: Scripps Research, Integrative Structural and Computational Biology
- Research Interests: Cancer biology, RNA biology, liquid biopsy
- Laboratory Rotation: Shankar Subramaniam (Su '21), Ian Macrae (Su '22), Tariq Rana (Su '22)
- Thesis Lab: Ian Macrae, Scripps Research
- Publications: ORCID
Amanda Nguyen
- Email: avn006@health.ucsd.edu
- Undergraduate Institution: University of California, Davis (2020), BS Global Disease Biology
- Graduate Program: Neurosciences
- Research Interests: Neuroscience
- Laboratory Rotation: Arden Patapoutian (Su '21), Matthew Banghart (Su '22), Kay Tye, Salk (Su '22)
- Thesis Lab: Monique Smith
- Publications: ORCID
Lucas Patel
- Email: lpatel@health.ucsd.edu
- Undergraduate Institution: University of California, San Diego (2019), BS Biology with a Specialty in Bioinformatics
- Graduate Program: Bioinformatics and Systems Biology
- Research Interests: Bioinformatics, microbiology, machine learning
- Laboratory Rotation: Rachel Dutton (Su '21), Rob Knight (Su '22), And Albert Hsiao (Su '22)
- Thesis Lab: Rob Knight
- Publications: ORCID
Jose Sandoval
- Email: j3sandoval@health.ucsd.edu
- Undergraduate Institution: University of California, Davis (2020), BS Neurobiology, Physiology, and Behavior
- Graduate Program: Biomedical Sciences
- Research Interests: Endocrinology/metabolism, cardiovascular research, bioengineering
- Laboratory Rotation: Alan Saltiel (Su '21), Reuben Shaw (Su '22), Neil Chi (Su '22)
- Thesis Lab: Reuben Shaw
- Publications: ORCID

PhD V Students

Jianna Cressy
- Email: jcressy@health.ucsd.edu
- Undergraduate Institution: Johns Hopkins (2018), BS Neuroscience
- Graduate Program: Neurosciences
- Research Interests: Neuroscience, genetics, pharmacology
- Laboratory Rotation: Kay Tye (Su '21), Ed Callaway (Su '21)
- Thesis Lab: Kay Tye, Salk Institute
- Publications: ORCID
Genevieve Curtin
- Email: gcurtin@health.ucsd.edu
- Undergraduate Institution: Tulane University (2019), BS Neuroscience
- Graduate Program: Biomedical Sciences
- Research Interests: Neuroscience, immunology/infection, chemistry/biochemistry
- Laboratory Rotation: Jeff Kelly, Scripps Research (Su '20), Nicole Coufal (Su '21) and Samara Reck-Peterson (Su '21)
- Thesis Lab: Nicole Coufal
- Publications: ORCID
MK Duff
- Email: mduff@ucsd.edu
- Undergraduate Institution: Columbia University (2013), BA Philosophy; Neuroscience
- Graduate Program: Neurosciences
- Research Interests: Neuroscience, immunology/infection, endocrinology/metabolism, Pharmacology/Drug Discovery
- Laboratory Rotation: Axel Nimmerjahn, Salk (Su '19), Lisa Eyler (Su '20), and Paula Desplats (Su '20)
- Thesis Lab: Axel Nimmerjahn, Salk Institute
- Publications: ORCID
Quetzal Flores-Ramirez
- Email: qfloresramirez@health.ucsd.edu
- Undergraduate Institution: University of California, Berkeley (2013), BA Molecular Biology
- Graduate Program: Neurosciences
- Research Interests: Neuroplasticity, neurodevelopment, brain repair
- Laboratory Rotation: Marga Behrens, Salk (Su '20), Robert Hevner (Su '21) and Ed Callaway (Su '21)
- Thesis Lab: Marga Behrens & Ed Callaway
- Publications: ORCID
Lauren Ostrowski
- Email: lostrows@health.ucsd.edu
- Undergraduate Institution: Brown University (2018), BS Neuroscience
- Graduate Program: Neurosciences
- Research Interests: Neural dynamics, machine learning, brain-computer interfaces, speech and language
- Laboratory Rotation: Eran Mukamel (Su 20), Vikash Gilja & Timothy Gentner (Su 21); Eric Halgren (Su 21)
- Thesis Lab: Timothy Gentner
- Awards: Sanford Research Fellowship, Merkin Graduate Fellowship, ACM SigHPC Computational and Data Science Fellowship
- Publications: ORCID
Alta Steward
- Email: amstewar@health.ucsd.edu
- Undergraduate Institution: University of Washington (2016), BS Neurobiology; Mathematics
- Graduate Program: Bioengineering
- Research Interests: Deep learning, bioengineering, mathematics, epidemiology/public health, medical imaging, neurodegenerative diseases, genomics
- Laboratory Rotation: Paula Desplats (Su '19), Albert Hsiao (Su '20), Jill Mesirov (Su '21)
- Thesis Lab: Albert Hsiao
- Publications: ORCID
Brett Taylor
- Email: b5taylor@health.ucsd.edu
- Undergraduate Institution: Fordham University (2018), BS Integrative Neuroscience and Philosophy
- Graduate Program: Biomedical Sciences
- Research Interests: Cancer biology, computational biology, stem cell biology, neuroscience
- Laboratory Rotation: Gene Yeo & Frank Furnari (Su '20), Bing Ren (Su '21), Alysson Muotri (Su '21)
- Thesis Lab: Frank Furnari & Bing Ren
- Awards: T32 Cancer Biology Informatics and OMICs (CBIO) Training Grant
- Publications: ORCID