Professors
Peter Kuhn, PHD
Director, CSI-Cancer
Dean’s Professor of Biological Sciences and Professor of Medicine, Biomedical Engineering, and Aerospace & Mechanical Engineering
James Hicks, PHD
Research Professor
Department of Biological Sciences
Dornsife College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences
Jeremy Mason, PHD
Assistant Professor of Research
Department of Urology
Keck School of Medicine
Dr Jorge Nieva, MD
Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine
Department of Medicine
Keck School of Medicine
Administration STAFF
Elvia Nunez
Program Manager
Allie Welsh
Program Administrator
Kathlynn Alba
Administrative Assistant II
Research Scientists
Anand Kolatkar, PHD
Carmen Ruiz Velasco, PHD
Mohan Singh, PHD
Postdoctoral Scholars
Stephanie Shishido, PHD
Liya Xu, PHD
Milind Pore, PHD
Varsha Sundaresan, PHD
Chen-Ching Patrick Peng, PHD
Graduate Students
Lisa Welter
PhD Candidate
Molecular Biology
Jiyoun Seo
PhD Student
Computational Biology and Bioinformatics
Paymaneh Malihi
PhD Candidate
Molecular Biology
Shoujie Chai
PhD student
Molecular Biology
Joseph Larsen
PhD Candidate
Computational Biology and Bioinformatics
Nikki Higa
PhD student
PIBBS: Cancer Biology and Genomics
Libere Ndacayisaba
PhD candidate
PIBBS: Medical Biophysics
Kien Nguyen
PhD student
Computer Science
Technical Support staff
Xiomara Villasenor
Research Associate
Sev R.
Specialized Lab Technician
Kai Han Tu
Specialized Lab Technician
Sujin Jeong
Research Associate
Ching-Ju (Ruu) Hsu
Research Associate
Software Engineering (DevOps & IT) Staff
Robin Dominguez
Systems Administrator
Jeff Sue
Systems Analyst
Rafael Navarez
Research Programmer I
Nicholas Matsumoto
Programmer Analyst II
Patient-facing Tech staff
Thuy Truong
Project Manager
Sara Ma
Program Administrator
Paul Lanctot
Programmer Analyst II
Undergraduate Students
More about our star students, check out: Cancer Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE)
Kate Rappard
Major: Human Biology
Mentors: Carmen and Libere
Carlisle Maney
Major: Global Health
Mentor: Libere
Isabelle Vu
Major: Human Biology
Mentor: Carmen
Mihir Kumar
Major: Health and Human Sciences
Mentor: Stephanie and Varsha
Michael Morikado
Major: Biomedical Engineering
Mentors: Paymaneh and Libere
Ryan Storgard
Major: Biological Sciences
Mentor: Paymaneh
Ayeshna Desai
Major:
Health and Human Sciences
Mentor: Carmen
Vera Hsu
Major: Biochemistry
Mentor: Lisa
Kate Cunningham
Major: Quantitative Biology
Mentor: Carmen
Amanda Hmelar
Major: Global Health
Mentor: Paymaneh
Eric Yang
Major: Quantitative Biology
Mentor: Libere
Sean Solomon
Major: Mathematics/Economics
Mentor: Libere
Daniel Flores
Major: Biological Sciences
Mentor: Milind
Arushi Agrawal
Major: Neuroscience
Mentor: Lisa
Olivia Hart
Major: Health and Human Sciences
Mentor: Stephanie and Varsha
Jaden Mullen
Major: Human Biology
Mentor: Jiyoun
Laura Roed
Major: Art, Technology, and Business of Innovation
Mentor: Jeremy
Sachin Narayan
Major: Biochemistry
Mentor: Stephanie
Cameron Baab
Major: Computer Science
Mentor: Jeremy
High school students
Kelly Hong
Mentor: Stephanie
Lab Alumni
| Name | Position in the lab | Dates | Current Position |
| Ms Kelly Hong | High school student intern | 2018-2019 | College student, Amherst College |
| Ms Tayebeh Hosseinzadegan | Specialized Lab Technician | 2015-2019 | Coming soon |
| Mr Dillon McKinly | Undergraduate Student | 2015-2019 | Fulbright Scholar, Czech Republic |
| Ms Divya Sripathy | Undergraduate Student | 2017-2019 | Graduate Student, USC Marshall School of Business |
| Ms Preeya Kati | Undergraduate Student | 2017-2019 | Coming soon |
| Mr Matthew Lin | Undergraduate Student | 2016-2019 | Medical Student, Keck School of Medicine of USC |
| Ms Angela Chen | Undergraduate Student | 2016-2019 | Graduate Student, USC School of Pharmacy |
| Mr Rahul Masson | Undergraduate Student | 2016-2019 | Medical student, Keck School of Medicine of USC |
| Mr Ali Ashemi | Undergraduate Student | 2018-2019 | Coming soon |
| Mr Ankur Rastogi | Undergraduate Student | 2018- 2019 | 23andMe |
| Mr. Shaobo Li | Rotation Student | Spring 2019 | PhD graduate student, Joseph Wiemels lab |
| Mr. Peter Savari | Rotation Student | Spring 2019 | PhD graduate student, The Smith Lab |
| Ms. Amanda Meyer | Rotation Student | Fall 2018 | PhD graduate student, Andrew McMahon lab |
| Mr. Benjamin Ormseth | Research Lab Technician II | 2017 – 2018 | Medical Student, The Ohio State School of Medicine |
| Mr. Joseph Bae | Undergraduate Student | 2016 – 2018 | Medical Student |
| Mr. Christopher Kohler | Undergraduate Student | 2016 – 2017 | Medical Student, Warren Alpert Medical School, Brown University |
| Dr. Jana-Aletta Thiele | PhD Student with Charles University in Prague | 2015 – 2018 | Postdoctoral Fellow, Charles University in Prague |
| Ms. Sophia Wix | Undergraduate Student | 2015 – 2018 | Medical Student, TCU and UNTHSC School of Medicine |
| Ms. Serena Zheng | Undergraduate Student | 2015 – 2018 | Medical Student, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai |
| Dr. Michaela Miklikova | Exchange Postdoctoral Fellow | 2015 – 2016 | Postdoctoral Fellow, Charles University in Prague |
| Dr. Anna Sundstrom-Gerdtsson | Postdoctoral Scholar | 2014 – 2018 | Postdoctoral Scholar, Lund University, Sweden |
| Mr. Erik Gerdtsson | Research Lab Specialist | 2014 – 2018 | Imaging Scientist, ImaGene-iT |
| Dr. Fredrika Carlsson | Postdoctoral Scholar; Research Associate | 2014 – 2016 | Scientist, Alligator Bioscience, Lund, Sweden |
| Ms. Lan Zhou | Research Assistant | 2013 – 2015 | PhD Graduate Student, Arizona State University |
| Dr. Edna Flores | Scripps Clinical Fellow | 2013 – 2014 | Medical Director, The Cancer Institute at Pioneers Hospital, Brawley, CA |
| Dr. Aadel Chaudhuri | Professional Scientific Collaborator | 2013 – 2014 | Chief Resident, Radiation Oncology, Stanford HealthCare |
| Ms. Newsha Sahaf | Research Assistant III | 2013 – 2014 | Research Associate, Fate Therapeutics |
| Dr. Jennifer Au | Scripps Clinical Fellow | 2013 – 2014 | Physician, Internal Medicine, Scripps Clinic |
| Dr. Zheng Topp | Scripps Clinical Fellow | 2013 – 2014 | Physician, Hematology, Scripps Green Clinic Oncology |
| Dr. Mariam Rodriguez Lee | Research Associate; Research Scientist | 2013 – 2013; 2013 – 2018 | Coming soon |
| Dr. Anders Carlsson | Postdoctoral Scholar; Research Scientist | 2012 – 2015, 2015 – 2016 | Consultant, Bionamic Data Consulting AB, Lund Sweden |
| Ms. Nadia Ebrahim | Research Assistant | 2012 – 2014 | Alliances Manager, Epic Sciences |
| Dr. Luisa Fernandez Altuna | Research Associate | 2012 – 2014 | Scientist, Epic Sciences |
| Ms. Janett Stoehr | Research Assistant Trainee | 2012 – 2013 | Research Assistant, Garvan Institute of Medical Research, Sydney, Australia |
| Ms. Magdalena Panetta | Summer Intern | 2012 | Figure Staking Coach, Saint Paul, Minnesota |
| Dr. Garry Jason Forse | Research Associate | 2011- 2013 | Principal Scientist, Grifols Biologicals |
| Ms. Natalie Felch | Research Assistant | 2011 – 2013 | Coming soon |
| Dr. Mohsen Sabouri | Bioinformatics Analyst | 2011 – 2013 | President, Computational Biodiscovery, Inc. |
| Ms. (Julia) Su Zhou Li | Research Assistant | 2011 – 2013 | PhD Graduate Student, Kellogg School of Science and Technology, TSRI |
| Ms. Meghana Bhimarao | Summer Intern | 2011 | Graduate Student in Biostatistics, University of Minnesota School of Public Health |
| Dr. Angel Ernesto Dago Rodriguez | Research Associate | 2010 – 2014 | Genomics Scientist, Epic Sciences |
| Ms. Rachelle Kareen Jessica Lamy | Research Assistant | 2010 – 2012 | Scientific Associate, Sequenom |
| Mr. Thomas Metzner | Research Assistant | 2010 – 2012 | Research Assistant/Clinical Research Coordinator, Stanford University Medical Center |
| Ms. Loressa Uson | Research Assistant | 2010 – 2012 | PhD Candidate, Weil Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences |
| Ms. Meghana Honnatti | Research Assistant | 2010 – 2011 | Biomedical Project Lead, Epic Science |
| Dr. Melissa Torrey | Oncology Research Fellow | 2010 – 2011 | Staff Oncologist, Scripps Clinic |
| Dr. Edward Cho | Research Associate | 2010 – 2011 | Senior Scientist, BioNano Genomics |
| Mr. Daniel Malinowski | Summer Intern | 2010 | Dartmouth College, Hannover, NH |
| Dr. Yelena Petrova | Research Associate | 2009 – 2011 | Statistical Programmer, Vertex Data Designs |
| Dr. Craig Yoshioka | Research Programmer | 2009 – 2011 | Research Programmer, TSRI |
| Dr. Marco Wendel | Research Associate | 2009 – 2011 | Senior Manager Buisness Insights and Analytics- Hematology, Business Intelligence at Janssen |
| Dr. Xing Yang | Scientific Associate | 2009 – 2010 | VP of Technology, BioNanomatrix |
| Mr. Devin Sok | Graduate Student | 2009 – 2010 | Research Project Manager, International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) |
| Dr. Ethan Schram | Oncology Research Fellow | 2009 – 2010 | Staff Oncologist at Epic-Care |
| Dr. David Nelson | Visiting Investigator | 2009 – 2010 | President and CEO, Splash Pharmaceuticals, Inc, San Diego, CA |
| Ms. Madelyn Luttgen | Research Assistant II | 2008 – 2014 | Law Clerk, Fish & Richardson P.C., San Diego, CA |
| Dr. Michael McCormick | Research Associate | 2008 – 2013 | Technology Specialist, Mintz Levin Cohn Ferris Glovsky and Popeo, P.C.; Suffolk University of Law School |
| Mr. Lawrence Allin | Research Assistant III | 2008 – 2012 | Quality Control III, Baxter Biosciences |
| Dr. Cromwell Cornillez-Ty | Staff Scientist | 2008 – 2011 | Research & Management in the Life Sciences |
| Mr. Michael Malchiodi | Research Assistant | 2008 – 2011 | Research Associate, Epic Sciences |
| Dr. Sumana Chandramouli | Research Associate | 2008 – 2009 | Scientific Associate, Novartis |
| Dr. Edward Huynh | Oncology Research Fellow | 2008 – 2009 | Pacific Oncology Hematology Associates |
| Mr. Daniel Lazar | Research Assistant | 2007 – 2012 | Research Assistant, TSRI |
| Dr. Beili Wu | Research Associate | 2007 – 2011 | Professor, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, CAS, Shanghai, P.R. China |
| Ms. Theresa Tran | Research Intern; Summer Intern | 2007-2008; 2009 | UCSD |
| Dr. Jennifer Fisher | Oncology Research Fellow | 2007 – 2008 | Oncology Associates, San Diego, CA |
| Dr. Vadim Cherezov | Assistant Professor | 2006 – 2013 | Professor, The Bridge at USC |
| Mr. Peter Clark | Research Assistant I | 2006 – 2010 | Professional Helicopter Pilot & Instructor |
| Dr. Jerome Dupuy | Research Associate | 2006 – 2008 | Assistant Professor, Marseille-Luminy University, France |
| Ms. Leila Davis | Research Assistant | 2006 – 2008 | Not available yet |
| Dr. Nicole Lazarus | Research Associate | 2006 – 2008 | Scientific Associate at PARC |
| Mr. Joshua Kunken | Bioinformatics Analyst | 2005 – 2014 | Data Scientist/Engineer, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center |
| Ms. Sophie Daudenarde | Research Assistant | 2005 – 2009 | Biotech Marketing, Gilead Sciences, Boston, MA |
| Ms. Michelle Kraus | Research Assistant | 2005 – 2007 | Scientist, Pfizer Pharmaceuticals |
| Mr. Matthew Leach | Research Assistant I | 2005 – 2007 | Medical School, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee |
| Ms. Christine Chen | Research Assistant | 2005 – 2006 | Graduate student – UCSB |
| Mr. Enrique Rayon | Summer Intern | 2005 | Bio-Mechanical Engineer, NuVasive |
| Dr. Dena Marrinucci | Graduate Student; Scientific Associate | 2004 – 2009; 2009 – 2010 | Founder and VP of Truvivian Sciences |
| Dr. Kumar Saikatendu | Research Associate | 2004 – 2008 | Scientist, Takeda Pharmaceutical |
| Ms. Sophie Coon | Research Programmer III | 2004 – 2007 | Research Programmer, Illumina |
| Ms. Vanitha Subramanian | Research Assistant I | 2004 – 2007 | Scientist, Novartis |
| Dr. Alexei Brooun | Scientific Associate | 2004 – 2007 | Group Leader, Pfizer Pharmaceuticals |
| Dr. Maneesh Yadav | Graduate Student | 2004 – 2007 | Quantitative Research Analyst, Graham Capital Management, San Francisco, CA |
| Dr. Jill E. Chrencik | Research Associate | 2004 – 2007 | Principal Scientist, Pfizer Pharmaceuticals |
| Mr. Scott Foster | Research Assistant | 2004 – 2006 | Executive Director and Director of Coaching, Liverpool FC International Academy |
| Dr. Lindsay Kroener | Research Assistant | 2004 – 2005 | Assistant Clinical Professor in Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, UCLA |
| Dr. Enrique Abola | Research Scientist (Staff) | 2003 – 2014 | Semi-retired |
| Dr. Jeremiah Joseph | Staff Scientist | 2003 – 2012 | Scientist, Ferring Pharmaceuticals |