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Team

Group photo from Marc's defense celebration.

Aaron's picture

Aaron Meyer, Principal Investigator   

Ph. D., Biological Engineering, MIT
B.S., Bioengineering, University of California, Los Angeles

Aaron is an Associate Professor of Bioengineering and a member of the Bioinformatics IDP, Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, Broad Stem Cell Research Center, and Institute for Quantitative and Computational Biosciences. He strives to learn how we can use computational models to control biological systems and treat disease. Outside of the lab, he can be found consuming anything that might be considered science fiction, reading about the philosophy/history of science, or cycling in the Santa Monica mountains.


Cyrillus's picture

Cyrillus Tan, Graduate Student   

B.S. Biology & Computer Science, Emory University

Cyrillus is a Bioinformatics Ph.D. student. His research interests include developing computational methods and models to understand biological systems. Aspiring traveler, amateur musician, financial analyst with no actual experience, know-it-all wannabe.


Brian's picture

Brian Orcutt-Jahns, Graduate Student   

B.S. Bioengineering, University of California, Los Angeles

Brian is a Ph.D. student who joined the lab during Summer 2019. Brian completed his B.S. in Bioengineering at UCLA, where he conducted research as a member of the Kasko group. Brian’s research interests include computational analysis of cellular signaling pathways and their processing dynamics, as well as the utility of these models in the process of drug discovery. His interests outside of the lab include playing soccer, lifting weights, and watching cooking shows.


Jackson's picture

Jackson Chin, Graduate Student   

B.S. Bioengineering, University of Washington

Jackson is a Ph.D. student who joined the lab during Fall 2020. He joins the lab from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory where he researched using metabolomics to predict type 1 diabetes onset. Jackson’s research interests include applying and developing tensor-based methods to unravel the mechanisms of disease. Outside of lab, Jackson is an avid soccer fan, board game collector, burrito connoisseur, and foodie.


Andrew's picture

Andrew Ramirez, Graduate Student   

B.S. Chemical Engineering, University of California, Davis

Andrew is a Bioengineering Ph.D. student who joined in Fall 2021. In his free time, Andrew is an avid Netflix/Hulu watcher for shows like Modern Family, Dragon Ball Z, and Parks and Recreation, loves boba, and enjoys walking his pitbull Misty.


Michelle's picture

Michelle Loui, Graduate Student

M.S., Biomedical Engineering, Arizona State University
B.S.E., Biomedical Engineering, Arizona State University

Michelle joined the lab in Spring 2022 as a bioengineering Ph.D. student. During her earlier studies, she worked on developing an injectable polymer for treating cerebral aneurysms and researched the extreme properties of amyloid materials through individual fibril analysis. Her research interests include therapeutic resistance in cancer. Outside of the lab, Michelle enjoys playing Animal Crossing and Mario Kart, consuming sweets, and volunteering at the West LA animal shelter.


Meera's picture

Meera Trisal, Graduate Student

B.S., Biological Sciences, University of California, Santa Barbara

Meera is an M.S. student who joined the lab in Fall 2022. Before coming to UCLA, Meera worked at Stanford University where she studied the mechanisms underlying the adaptive immune response to vaccination. In her free time, Meera enjoys spending time with friends, reading, playing soccer, dancing, and binge-watching TV. 



Het's picture

Het Desai, Graduate Student

B.S., Bioengineering, University of California, Los Angeles

Het is a Bioengineering M.S. student who joined the lab in Fall 2022. He works on the cancer serology project investigating the properties of anti-tumor antibodies. In his spare time, he enjoys hiking and camping, checking out the food scene in LA, and watching sitcoms and whodunnits.



Mana's picture

Manmeet Bains, Graduate Student

B.S., Biology, University of California, Los Angeles

Manmeet (Mana) is a M.S. student under the Chemistry and Biochemistry Department. She joined the lab in Spring 2023 to complete her capstone project on characterizing antibody-dependent effector responses. Outside of the lab, she enjoys playing tennis, cooking and spending time at the beach.



Armaan's picture

Armaan Abraham, Development Engineer

B.S., Biophysics and Computer Science, University of California, Los Angeles

Armaan is a computational scientist in the lab, supporting several projects. He is interested in computational modeling, biological measurement, and nanoengineering. He enjoys science fiction, weightlifting, and the beach.



Crystal's picture

Crystal Xiao, Development Engineer

M.S., Bioengineering, University of California, Los Angeles

Crystal Xiao is a research associate/lab manager who supports several projects. She has previously worked on immunotherapies, tissue engineering, and drug delivery related projects. In her spare time, she enjoys making tea and observing animals.



Emily's picture

Emily Lin, Undergraduate Student

Emily is an undergraduate student majoring in bioengineering. She is interested in computational approaches to immunotherapeutic research, tissue engineering, and pharmaceutical engineering. Outside of academics, she enjoys consuming and creating fiction and stories in all forms, including novels, movies, and video games.



Ethan's picture

Ethan Hung, Undergraduate Student

Ethan is an undergraduate student majoring in Computational & Systems Biology who joined the lab in Fall 2021. He’s interested in computational approaches to biological data and more broadly, how they can be applied in medicine. Outside the lab, he’s a big foodie, loves playing tennis and rock climbing, and spends his free time folding origami and watching Netflix.



Victoria's picture

Victoria Gong, Undergraduate Student

Victoria is an undergraduate student majoring in biochemistry. She is interested in cancer-related immunology research, protein engineering and structural analysis, and drug discovery/design. In her free time, she enjoys archery and singing.



Allison's picture

Allison Brookhart, Undergraduate Student

Allison (Allie) is an undergraduate student at UCLA who joined the lab in the summer of 2022. She is currently working on the cancer serology project to help profile anti-tumor antibody responses. Allie is interested in the intersection between technology and medicine to improve the quality of care for patients. She also enjoys crocheting, being active, and exploring Los Angeles in her free time.



Nathaniel's picture

Nathaniel Thomas, Undergraduate Student

Nathaniel is an undergraduate student majoring in Computer Science who joined the lab in the summer of 2023. His research interests include applying computational methods to further understand biological and chemical systems. In his free time, he enjoys playing pop songs on the piano, trying new foods, and keeping up with the latest TV shows.



Breanna's picture

Breanna Remigio, Undergraduate Student

Breanna is an undergraduate student majoring in Computational and Systems Biology who joined the lab in the fall of 2022. She is interested in applying computational methods to biological systems to further understand how these systems function. In her free time, she enjoys playing tennis, film photography, and dancing traditional Peruvian dances.




Former Members

Farnaz Mohammadi, Ph.D. Student (currently Postdoctoral Associate, Genentech)

Scott Taylor, Development Engineer (currently Research Associate, Xencor)

Marc Creixell, Ph.D. Student (currently Scientist, Calico Life Sciences)

JC Lagarde, Undergraduate Researcher (currently Process Engineer, Illumina)

Eva Hunter, Undergraduate Researcher (currently Medical Assistant, Glaucoma Center of San Francisco)

Sumedha Kanthamneni, Undergraduate Researcher

Madeleine Murphy, M.S. Student (currently Associate Computational Biologist, Broad Institute of MIT & Harvard)

Catera Wilder, Postdoctoral Fellow (currently Assistant Professor, University of California, San Francisco)

Amanda Tsao, Undergraduate Researcher (currently M.D. student, University of Southern California)

Linnet Chang, Undergraduate Researcher (currently Analyst, Accenture)

Eli Snyder, Undergraduate Researcher (currently M.D. student, University of Hawaii)

Stephen Lees, Undergraduate Researcher (currently Ph.D. student, Biomedical Engineering, University of Virginia)

Edward Richards, Postdoctoral Associate (currently Scientist, Dragonfly Therapeutics)

Zoe Kim, Undergraduate Researcher

Robert Theisen, Undergraduate Researcher (currently Ph.D. student, Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan)

Micah Bryant, Undergraduate Researcher

Alison Tran, Undergraduate Researcher (currently Account Manager, Thermo Fisher)

Heather Carmen Mercieca, Amgen Scholar

Moriah Garcia, Development Engineer (currently Project Manager, Genentech)

Song Yi Bae, Postdoctoral Fellow (currently Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Minnesota)

Katrina Warner, Amgen Scholar (currently Ph.D. student, Biomedical Sciences, Harvard)

Donya Khashayar, UCLA Transfer Student Summer Research Program

Rui Yan, Undergraduate Researcher (currently M.S./Ph.D. student, ICME, Stanford)

Ali Farhat, Undergraduate Researcher (currently M.D./Ph.D. student, University of Illinois College of Medicine-Chicago)

Adam Weiner, Undergraduate Researcher (currently Ph.D. student, Tri-Institute CompBio)

Annelien Zweemer, Postdoctoral Fellow (currently Assistant Professor, Leiden University)

Ryan Robinett, Undergraduate Researcher (currently Ph.D. student, Computer Science, University of Chicago)

Ning Guan, Undergraduate Researcher (currently Ph.D. student, Systems Biology, Harvard)

Simin Manole, Technical Assistant (currently Ph.D. student, Mol & Cell Biol, U Mass Amherst)

Christina Bray, Undergraduate Researcher

Nicole Kramer, Undergraduate Researcher (currently Ph.D. student, Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, UNC at Chapel Hill)