Leandro Velez
Yerba mate connoisseur
My enthusiasm for science began at an early age reading science magazines from my older brothers (who, along with my parents, also inspired my passion for rock music). At that time I was fascinated by the new inventions in space engineering, the latest advances in medicine and molecular biology, and the diversity of nature. Finally, I decided to study biology, and then start a scientific career in which I focused on studying the impact of major metabolic diseases on physiology, and recently incorporating integrative physiology along with systems genetics approaches.
Carlos Henrique Viesi do Nascimento Filho
So caffeinated… yet so calm
I grew up in a very cosmopolitan city (São Paulo, Brazil). Countering it, I developed a love for nature and science by exploring my grandparent’s house. As an old construction with a big yard with trees and plants, pass-by small animals, many books, and full of memories were fuel for a child’s creativity. Time flies, and today – as long as I have a cup of coffee! – my curiosity and love for nature and science keep stirring me. My research interests are deep-dive into the biology of cross-tissue interactions using systems genetics approaches.
Maggie Myers
Memphis Math Maven
Hi! I’m Maggie! I love plants, dad jokes, feeling helpful, DIYs, and spreading positivity. I’ve been described as “Chicken Soup for the Soul, but in human form”. Most likely to put a meme in a presentation. I grew up and went to college in Memphis, TN, majoring in Biomathematics at Rhodes College, a small liberal arts school. I equally love science, math, and coding, and my research background is math modeling. I moved to California in 2019 to begin a PhD in Mathematical Computational and Systems Biology (MCSB) at UC Irvine, and I love it so much! I want to do something that makes an impact, so I’ve always been drawn to disease modeling. I’m ecstatic to be a part of the Seldin and Lowengrub labs, researching cancer microenvironment with math models informed by genetic analyses.
Ian Tamburini
The perfect blend of chickens and epoxy
Hello, I’m Ian! I’m a PhD student from the CMB program generally interested in using ‘omics to characterize how various metabolites are exchanged in the body, genes interactions that determine their metabolic fates, and ultimate consequences for systemic physiology. Before UCI, I was working in Boston where I studied how the unique metabolic repertoire of the gut microbiome in agricultural animals can be leveraged to improve host health and benefit sustainable animal husbandry. In addition to science, I also get my thrills from playing jazz saxophone, biking (road and mountain!) and experiencing the many beautiful sights and sunshine that SoCal has to offer.
Christy Marie Nguyen
So many books… not enough eyeballs
Hi, I’m Christy! I am a PhD student in the Cellular and Molecular Biosciences Program. During my undergrad at CSULB, I studied the use of reconstituted HDL as a targeted drug delivery vehicle. I’m now interested in studying metabolic disorders using a systems genetics approach. Outside of research, I enjoy going to the beach, doing puzzles, and buying more books than I can read.
Mingqi Zhou
Spatial? Need a spaceship for that!
Hello, I’m Mingqi! I’m a PhD student in the BC Department at UCI, where I focus on leveraging multi-omics and spatial transcriptomics to explore how metabolic networks are regulated and their effects on systemic health, especially in metabolic diseases. During my undergrad, I conducted research at Duke-NUS and HKUMed, delving into polygenic scores and Mendelian Randomization. Originally from Shantung (山東) Peninsula, located on the other side of the Pacific, I have a deep appreciation for the ultra-umami flavors of cold-water seafood.
Casey Johnson
Knower of things
Casey invented pants, is a world-class cat juggler and can fabricate diamonds using #2 pencils, a microwave and dynamite.
Farah Gamie
Farah is a 199 student in the lab who enjoys sewing, reading and going on adventures with her dog. She hopes to one day live out her dream of owning a farm, where she can continue her work in bioinformatics alongside her animals.
Katie Do
Katie is a 199 student in the lab who, in her free time, likes to casually delve into quasiconformal mapping.
She’s always joking about how if you let f : D → D′ be an orientation preserving homeomorphism between open sets in the plane and if f is continuously differentiable, then it is K-quasiconformal if the derivative of f at every point maps circles to ellipses with eccentricity bounded by K.
It always get a chuckle!
Krista Lao
Krista is a 199 student in the lab who enjoys making keychains in her free time, and claims it helps her with pipetting precision. She also likes attending concerts, practicing with her dance team, and learning new languages. Ask her how long her Duolingo streak is!
Marie Li
Marie is a 199 student in the lab who loves collecting sweaters in every color. In her free time, she enjoys going to the beach, drawing, and capturing the perfect shot with her camera.
Tvisha Gujjarlapudi
I enjoy spending time at the beach and living a health-conscious lifestyle. In the future, I aspire to become an endocrinologist and travel the world
Marcus Seldin
El Jefe… le Grande Fromage
Im mostly interested in deep sea marine biology, but endocrine metabolism and systems genetics are nice side-gigs. I find this to be a very fun and rewarding job and could not imagine doing anything else. It’s a good life!
Lab alumnus/alumna… Where are they now?
Cassandra Van
Feline cafe flaneur
Cassandra has finished her PhD program and is currently seeking gainful employment in industry.
Lily Mott
Lily has entered into a PhD program at UC Davis and is growing to love all bovine-related olfactory experiences.
Isoo Yoon
Isoo was a 199 student in the lab. I tried very hard to convince her to open an igloo store called, Isoo’s Igloos. Unfortunately, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, about 20% of U.S. small igloo businesses fail within the first year. So, Isoo decided to go to medical school instead.
Farheen Bibi Dustagheer
Farheen was a 199 student in the lab. She is from an island off the coast of Africa. No, not Madagascar… you were thinking Madagascar, weren’t you? She is from Mauritius. Take a moment to think about how many people you know that are from Mauritius… go ahead, I’ll wait. Well, you can now add 1 to your list, which brings your list to a grand total of 1.
Ghassan Filimban
Ghassan is a 199 student who likes to spend their free time having staring contests with cats.
Daryn Chau
Daryn is very interested in machine learning, so he can better understand our future mechanical overlords.
Diana Quach
Diana loves all things mice-related and can go ballistic with a Kendo sword at the drop of a hat.
Timothy Pham
Tim flew the coop as a full-fledged college graduate. Tim said if he didn’t find a job on campus he was considering becoming a monk. To my knowledge his pictured hairstyle remains in tact, so the monastery will have to wait.