People

Wallace Marshall, Principal Investigator

Description of project: I'm an electrical engineer by training, but I got interested in how cells solve engineering problems, which I view as fundamentally interesting but also potentially as the key to learning how to harness cells for engineering purposes. My main focus is on how geometry arises within cells, as well as how cells perform computations and behaviors.

Ask me about: Weird unicellular organisms, Quantitative Cell Biology
 
When I'm not doing science, I enjoy: Reading, trying to play the piano, machining, electronics and robotics
 
For more, follow me on Twitter @WallaceUCSF

Hiroaki Ishikawa, Specialist

Description of project: My general interests are in understanding how cells control the size of their organelles. As a model system for size control, I study cilia/flagella of both cultured mammalian cells and the unicellular green alga, Chlamydomonas using quantitative live-cell imaging and analysis.

Ask me about: Cilia and flagella. Chlamydomonas. Most of general molecular biology, biochemistry and cell biology experiments.
 
When I'm not doing science, I enjoy: Reading, cooking, walking, taking photos, and playing with my son.
 
For more, visit: Linkedin, Google Scholar, Twitter

Mary Mirvis, Postdoctoral Fellow

Description of project: How is the cellular interior organized? I want to understand how the spatial and mechanical interactions between organelles contribute to cytoplasmic patterning in yeast using image-based modeling and biophysical simulations.

Ask me about: (your scientific expertise/interests) - organelles, cytoskeleton, confocal microscopy, live cell imaging, image analysis, cell biology/systems biology

When I'm not doing science I enjoy: reading all kinds of things, yoga, trail running & hanging out in the woods, learning astronomy & stargazing, trying and failing to teach my cat tricks, bullet journaling and calligraphy

For more, visit: TwitterLinkedin, PubMed

 
 

Ambika Nadkarni, postdoc (joint with Sindy Tang Lab, Dept. Mechanical Engineering, Stanford)

Description of project: mechanism of wound healing in Stentor

 

Ashley Albright, postdoc 
Description of project: mRNA regionalization as a patterning mechanism in Stentor.
i like weird cells and i cannot lie postdoc
@WallaceUcsf | @SF_IRACDA scholar | PhD @BerkeleyMCB @mbeisen | #FirstGen | UG @UNC_Biology | she/her

Ximena Garcia Arceo, postdoc

Description of project:  Quantitative analysis of flagellar length control in Chlamydomonas using image analysis, modeling,  and tools from Information Theory

Ulises Diaz, Tetrad Graduate Student

Description of project: I use imaging and micromanipulation techniques to study dynamics of the cytoskeleton and cytoplasm.  I'm interested in mixing driven by amoeboid motility as well as turnover and re-use of cytoskeletal proteins during Stentor growth and regeneration.  

 

Connie Yan, Tetrad Graduate Student

Description of project: I study the molecular basis of pattern formation and regeneration in Stentor, with a focus on the role of SFI1 proteins and the E2F pathway in controlling the spatial and temporal process of rebuilding cellular structure

 

Deepa Rajan, MD/PhD student

Description of project: exploring the basis of cognition in cells using Stentor

Yina Hudnall, Post-bac researcher

Description of project:  Function of regionalized mRNA in Stentor

Raphael Mostov, Post-bac researcher

Description of project: using graph theory and abstract algebra to understand mitochondrial network geometry

 

 

 

 

Lab Alumni

Former Postdoctoral Fellows

Shigenori Nonaka   Associate Professor, National Institute for Basic Biology, Okazaki Japan

Susanne Rafelski  Deputy Director, Allen Institute for Cell Science (formerly, Assistant Professor of Developmental and Cell Biology, UC Irvine)

Juliette Azimzadeh  Group Leader, Institute Jacques Monod, Paris, France

Nan Tang Associate Professor, National Institute of Biological Science (NIBS), Beijing, China

Prachee Avasthi
Cofounder and CSO, Arcadia Science (formerly, Associate Professor of Biology, Dartmouth University)

Mark Chan
Assistant Professor, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA

Guillermina Ramirez-San Juan
Assistant Professor, EPFL (formerly assistant professor, Dept. Biology, Brandeis University)

Sarah Reiff
Data curator, 4D Nucleome Data Coordination and Integration Center, Harvard Medical School

Pranidhi Sood
Computational Biologist, Calico

Tatyana Makushok
Computational scientist - Altos Labs

Former Graduate Students

Jessica Feldman  Associate Professor, Dept. Biology, Stanford University

Benjamin Engel  Assistant Professor, University of Basel, Switzerland

Will Ludington  Associate Professor, Dept. Biology, Johns Hopkins University

Mark Slabodnick  Assistant Professor, Dept. Biology, Knox College

Lani Keller  Wu Tsai Endowed Chair of Science, Bishops School, La Jolla,CA

Zachary Apte  Founder and CSO of uBiome

Kim Wemmer  Senior Scientist, Zymogen

Elisa Kannegaard  Former Grad Student

Jacob Kimmel  Founder and Head of Research, NewLimit

Amy Chang  Computational Biologist, UC Laboratory for Genomics Research, San Francisco, CA

Athena Lin  Staff Scientist, Lucira

David Bauer  Software Developer, Image Analysis, BioRad

Nathan Hendel  Software engineer, BioRad

Rebecca McGillivary  Postdoc, UC Davis, Starr/Luxton group

Karina Perlaza  Staff Scientist, Chan Zuckerberg Biohub

Erik Navarro  Computational Biologist, Altos Labs

Greyson Lewis Computational Biologist, UC Laboratory for Genomics Reseach

Gav Sturm  Computational Biologist, Chan Zuckerberg Biohub

 

Former post-bac students

PhD Student, UCSF
 
Jamarc Allen-Henderson
Ph.D. Student, UC Davis
 

Ph.D. Student, Oregon State University

 
PhD Student, UC Davis
 
PhD Student, University of Michigan
 
Christopher Baker
PhD UCSF, now Scientist II, Amyris