ICTS Medical Student Research Program (MSRP) Available Faculty Mentors – UCI ICTS Institute for Clinical and Translational Science

Interested in becoming an MSRP Faculty Mentor? Sign up here!

Below, please find a comprehensive list of faculty from basic, clinical, and translational research backgrounds who may be available to mentor medical students involved in the MSRP. This list should be used as a starting point in your search for faculty mentorship and does not represent every available faculty on UCI’s large research campus actively recruiting trainees. Further individual research and internet searching should be used to determine the best fit for your research needs.

A note to students: The MSRP Team reaches out annually to all faculty associated with MSRP to determine if they have the bandwidth to train and mentor new students. While we are able to get updated responses from most faculty, some information is always missed. This list comprises the most current information we have for UCI faculty willing to train incoming medical students, however research is fluid and ever-changing, and therefore some faculty on this list may not be available to mentor at the time of your email request. If you have questions about a mentor on this list who said they were unable to take on new student mentees, please email Brooke Piercy at piercyb@hs.uci.edu.

Abouzari, Mehdi – MD, PhD, Assistant Professor In-Residence of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery

I am a translational physician-scientist working on several research projects showing that a number of ear disorders represent migraine phenomena. Furthermore, I have successfully led several clinical trials on the development of technology-based platforms and devices that address hearing loss and tinnitus. One of my main research interests for which I’m looking for talented and hard-working medical students with an engineering background is the application of artificial intelligence in decision support. We have created statistical and mathematical models for predicting recurrence following vestibular schwannoma treatment, predicting length of hospitalization and discharge disposition following complex head and neck surgery, and classifying otoscopic images based on the predicted diagnoses. In addition to creating novel machine learning algorithms, we have also published respective open-source interfaces (e.g., websites) where the predictive models can be tested in real-time by any user. For instance, the latter two projects’ algorithms are also accompanied by websites were hypothetical patient information or otoscopic images can be uploaded and the algorithm will provide predictions.

Acharya, Munjal – PhD, Associate Professor, Anatomy & Neurobiology and Radiation Oncology

Neuro-oncology lab with focus on neurobiological mechanism of cancer therapy-related cognitive impairments. Our laboratory focuses on neurobiological mechanisms and regenerative medicine approaches to treat cancer and cancer therapy-related cognitive impairments (CRCI). We use molecular, cellular, genetic, and behavioral techniques to focus on the following pre-clinical research emphases:

1) Glial complement cascade signaling mechanism in cranial radiation therapy and glioblastoma-induced neuroinflammation and cognitive dysfunction (supported by NIH).
2) Astrocyte-dependent mechanism of radiation-induced cognitive impairments and disruption of circadian rhythm (supported by American Cancer Society)
3) Human neural stem cell-based regenerative approaches to treat radiation- and chemotherapy-induced cognitive decline and synaptic damage (supported by CIRM).

*Only dedicated students and those sincerely interested in lab-based research should reach out.

Agrawal, Anshu – PhD, Professor of Medicine, Basic and Clinical Immunology

As we age, we become more susceptible to several diseases including respiratory infections, cancer, neurological disorders, heart disease etc. Immune dysfunction and inflammation are considered major culprits for this enhanced risk. The primary focus of my research is to therefore determine the age-associated changes in innate immunity, particularly dendritic cells (DCs) and the role these changes play in age-related diseases. My research focuses on three major areas of human aging-

The primary focus is on investigating the innate immune mechanisms underlying the increased susceptibility of the elderly to respiratory infections including COVID-19 and influenza. We are studying the interaction of lung non-immune cells with dendritic cells and macrophages in human 2D and 3D lung models.
The second focus is on Alzheimer’s disease where we are investigating the role of peripheral immune changes and their effect on cognition and development of AD. This project has both human and mice studies.
The third area of interest is cancer. We study the interaction of immune cells with tumor and fibroblast cells in prostate, ovarian and breast cancers. In addition, we are also working with Dr. Lee to develop artificial antigen presenting cells (aAPCs) for the treatment of cancers.

Akbari, Yama – MD, PhD, Associate Professor of Neurology, Neurological Surgery, Anatomy & Neurobiology, and Beckman Laser Institute

The Akbari lab is a dynamic lab that investigates consciousness, coma, cardiac arrest, and cardiopulmonary resuscitation and conducts bench-to-bedside research, including both preclinical (animal) components and clinical (human patient) components. The preclinical component mimics an animal neuro-intensive care unit while the clinical component takes place in the neuro-intensive care unit of Douglas Hospital at UCIMC in Orange. The lab offers opportunities to take part in clinical research or animal in vivo, in vitro/ex-vivo, and signal processing aspects (coding/programming of physiological data). We apply state-of-the-art multimodal monitoring techniques on the brain, heart, and lungs to improve diagnoses, prognostication, and treatments that can help critically ill patients. Commonly employed techniques in both animals and humans include the usage of advanced optics and electrophysiology tools to measure cerebral blood flow, brain metabolism, and brain function while simultaneously monitoring the heart and lungs. The lab’s innovative bench-to-bedside perspective focuses on protecting and healing the brain during or after a variety of severe conditions including stroke, seizures, traumatic brain injury, COVID, as well as cardiac arrest and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). Additional projects in the lab focus on the brain-heart-lung axis and how these organs affect each other. We also investigate the role of blood flow and brain metabolism in Alzheimer’s disease.

Anderson, Aileen– PhD, Professor of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, Director of Sue and Bill Gross Stem Cell Research Center

My scientific focus is on human CNS stem cell transplantation for CNS injury and investigation of the role of the immune microenvironment in neural stem cell fate, A second focus is the application of biomaterials to enhance regeneration after SCI. migration and self-renewal. Pre-clinical and translational work from my laboratory directly supported an IND filing for an FDA approved phase I trial of human neural stem cells in the myelination disorder, Pelizaeus-Merzbacher disease (PMD), and a phase I/II clinical trial for human neural stem cells in thoracic spinal cord injury (SCI).

Andrade, Rosa – MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Infectious Diseases (PRIME-LC)

I have been at UCI since 2016 and recently found out about this program. My research investigates the human pathogen Toxoplasma gondii that causes devastating neurological disease in immunocompromised patients. I am focused in two aspects of toxoplasmosis:

Elucidating how T. gondii controls its redox homeostasis and how it can be targeted for therapeutic development. Most of the projects part of this main area of research requires involvement in wet lab experiments (molecular biology, microscopy, cell culture)
Elucidating how T. gondii causes damage in the developing brain: we have optimized a chicken embryo model to investigate this area. Most of the work requires immunohistochemistry, molecular biology techniques.

I am also interested in investigating how T. gondii disease is diagnosed in clinical settings and the level of knowledge of providers to request screening. This project has not started yet but will require computer skills and attention to detail when harvesting patients ‘data from their electronic records.

All of these projects are suitable for abstracts or publications over the course of a few years.

Assaf, Rammy – MD, MPH, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Children’s Hospital of Orange County (CHOC)

I am a physician and research manager and principal investigator in the CHOC emergency department with 21 first-authored peer reviewed publications. While my background is in social sciences and multimethod research, I also have a broad interest in clinical-related research. Currently, we have an IRB-approved retrospective study developed jointly with the CHOC department of Urology investigating the epidemiology of hemorrhagic infectious urinary tract infections in toddlers and young children. We are seeking a medical student to be part of the research team, lead retrospective chart review and data logging, and to assist in manuscript preparation. A formal roles, expectations, and deliverables as it pertains to this project is available upon request.

Beier, Kevin – PhD, Assistant Professor, Physiology & Biophysics

Why do some people develop disease and not others? We study the vulnerability factors that contribute to neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease as well as mental illness and substance abuse. We use cutting-edge technologies to explore questions at both the circuit (neuropixels, in vivo imaging) and molecular (single cell sequencing, epigenetic) level. Our research is by necessity highly interdisciplinary.

Billimek, John – PhD, Associate Professor of Family Medicine, Co-Director of Program in Medical Education for the Latino Community (PRIME-LC)

The HELIOS lab is seeking motivated medical students to work on an NIH-funded study of disparities in hypertension management, the Mi Propio Camino study.

Latinx adults with hypertension in the U.S. are much more likely than others to have uncontrolled blood pressure, but are much less likely to be taking guideline medications. Although cost and access remain important barriers, much of this underuse is driven by pervasive concerns about the safety and benefit of medications.

Our NIH/NHLBI funded study (R01 HL142964, Billimek PI) examines an intervention combining group visits, home monitoring and physician oversight to empower patients to explore different combinations of medication and lifestyle regimens to find “my own way” (Mi Propio Camino) to control blood pressure. We hypothesize that patients empowered to reflect on their own concerns and preferences about blood pressure management, and to communicate about these concerns with the doctor, will be more willing and more committed to adhere to a clinically appropriate regimen.

Medical Students will have the opportunity to:

Work alongside experienced health educators and physicians facilitating group medical visits and group education classes for Spanish-speaking patient participants at FHC-Santa Ana
Support patients in their use of mobile devices to monitor their own experiences with blood pressure management strategies
Learn about how providers and patients can effectively communicate about concerns related to medications
Mentor URM undergraduate and postbaccalaureate student researchers on their path to careers in medicine and other health professions
Develop your own research question and use clinical, questionnaire, and home monitoring/mobile device data to publish or present findings in a peer reviewed journal or professional conference

Conversational or higher Spanish language proficiency is highly preferred. Learn more about our lab at theHELIOSlab.org.

Bradley, Caryn – PhD, Health Sciences Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of Pediatrics

Co-Investigators: Dr. Aslam, Neonatologist and Dr. Mehta, Neonatology Fellow

Project Title: Respiratory Waveform Variability as a Physiologic Metric for Weaning nasal CPAP in Preterm Infants

Purpose of this research: Preterm infants are at risk for respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) requiring respiratory support with nasal continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) and in severe cases intubation and mechanical ventilation. These infants receive CPAP until ready to be weaned to room air, but weaning criteria vary widely across institutions due to lack of objective data to determine infant’s respiratory stability. A balanced approach to weaning CPAP to room air is challenging. Weaning infants from CPAP to room air when not ready can lead to respiratory failure with atelectasis and need for intubation/ventilator support. Infants can also develop apnea and bradycardia, respiratory distress, and need for prolonged oxygen therapy. Conversely, delay in CPAP discontinuation can increase the risk of nasal trauma, further lung injury from barotrauma, and delay in initiation of oral feeding. An objective physiologic metric to assist in predicting successful CPAP discontinuation is necessary to standardize care. Our study addresses this unmet need by examining if Respiratory Waveform Variability (RWV), a quantitative measure of breathing patterns, informs clinical decision making and aids successful weaning from CPAP. Refinement of CPAP weaning strategies will help improve long term pulmonary and neurodevelopmental outcomes for preterm infants.

Medical Student: Interested in collaboration with a multidisciplinary team on translational clinical research in the Newborn Intensive Care Unit.

Role of medical student: Assistance with data collection and data analysis of clinically relevant outcome measures in preterm infants. Medical Student will engage in a self-determined related project of interest.

Busciglio, Jorge – PhD, Associate Professor of Neurobiology and Behavior

We are interested in exploring the impact of DS on mitochondrial function as a mechanistic framework to understand the tremendous vulnerability of DS subjects to develop selective neuronal degeneration and AD as they become adults. Using a combination of novel molecular and imaging techniques and genomics to assess gene function and mitochondrial activity in DS fetal and adult cells we have found that chronic mitochondrial dysfunction, energy deficits and oxidative stress in DS cells contribute to several clinical phenotypes associated with DS including mental retardation, hypotonia, type 2 diabetes, and AD.

Calof, Anne – PhD, Professor of Anatomy & Neurobiology

The overall goal of my laboratory’s research is to understand how changes in cell lineage progression parameters and in the expression of diverse genes act in concert to direct normal development and, when development goes awry, to cause syndromic and non-syndromic birth defects. We are particularly interested in the nervous system, but we also study other systems such as the heart, limb, visceral organs, and craniofacial structures. In many of our studies, we use mouse and zebrafish models of Nipbl-deficiency (the major cause of Cornelia de Lange Syndrome (CdLS)) as systems with which to understand this question (e.g. Nipbl haploinsufficiency in CdLS, trisomy in Down Syndrome, MECP2 mutation in Rett Syndrome, etc.). Our goals are (1) to gain insight into general principles of developmental regulation by studying animal models of Nipbl-deficiency, and (2) to use these model systems to test therapeutic interventions for CdLS. Our current work in this area is focusing on using single-cell transcriptomics to understand how early embryonic cell lineages are altered by Nipbl haploinsufficiency; our recent studies suggest that early lineage misallocation may be the source of structural birth defects, not only of the heart, but of other tissues and organs as well.

Chang, Olivia – MD, Assistant Clinical Professor of Urology, Division Director of Female Urology

Dr. Chang’s research focus is on surgical outcomes after pelvic organ prolapse, urinary incontinence and fistula surgeries, uterine-preserving surgeries and the impact of hysterectomies on pelvic flood disorders. She is the author of more than 50 published research papers and several book chapters. She also focuses on voiding dysfunction and pelvic reconstructive surgery.

Currently the lab has 2 bi-monthly meetings and has more than 10 members in the lab generating high quality research.

Several projects suitable for medical student research participation are outlined below:

Project 1: Validation of the Value of Uterus questionnaire
The Value of Uterus (VALUS) questionnaire was developed as an objective instrument to measure how much patients value their uterus. For the first time, providers can objectively include this information in surgical decision making for benign gynecologic conditions, and potentially offer patients uterus-sparing, or “no-hysterectomy”, treatment options. Currently, this instrument is validated in patients with pelvic organ prolapse. We would like to validate this questionnaire in patients with endometriosis

Project 2: Decision aid tool before uterine preserving surgery
In this project, we will see if the use a decision aid tool would help patients in deciding on a treatment option before pelvic organ prolapse. This project will involve designing and refining a decision aid tool then testing it amongst a cohort of patients before surgery.

As part of the lab, you will have plenty of opportunities to lead studies and join studies with other members. We have a great track record of presenting at national conferences.

https://urology.uci.edu/dept_faculty_chang.shtml

Chang, Peter – MD, Assistant Professor-in-Residence of Radiological Sciences, Co-Directory of Center for Artificial Intelligence in Diagnostic Medicine (CAIDM)

Dr. Peter Chang, Technical Lead and Co-Director of the CAIDM, leads the healthcare AI curriculum which trains the next generation of physician-scientists in understanding and developing cutting-edge AI tools. The Center for Artificial Intelligence in Diagnostic Medicine (CAIDM) is a multi-specialty initiative, under the UCI School of Medicine, to develop and integrate artificial intelligence (AI) technology across the UC Irvine healthcare system. The Center accomplishes its goal by integrating the clinical expertise of our providers at UCI with multiple disciplines, including data scientists and software engineers. The Center focuses more specifically on developing deep learning, a subset of machine learning AI, approaches for the (1) detection, (2) characterization, and (3) prediction of a variety of conditions and disease states in an effort to improve healthcare. Our research projects encompass a wide variety of medical specialties, some of which include the automatic detection of intracerebral hemorrhage on head CT, automated identification of melanocytes and melanoma on dermopathologic slides, detection of prostate lesions on prostate MRI, and the segmentation of breast tissue with automated lesion detection on Breast MRI and mammography.

Chau, Anthony – MD, FACS, RPVI, Assistant Professor of Surgery, Division of Vascular Surgery

Dr. Chau’s clinical interests include abdominal and thoracic aortic aneurysm and dissections, carotid artery disease, peripheral arterial disease, dialysis access, and deep venous thrombosis. Dr. Chau is especially interested in new device development and trialing new innovative technologies. Dr. Chau has additional research interests in healthcare economics and disparities vascular surgery. Prospective medical students will have an opportunity to work on projects that meet their interests and to develop new skills along the way. Dr. Chau is looking forward to working with a group of students diverse in background, interests, and skill sets.

Current ongoing projects include:

Progression of renal failure in patients with chronic kidney disease after endovascular repair of thoracic or abdominal aortic aneurysms and dissections.
SARS-COV2 related thromboembolic complications
Iliac vein compression after spinal surgery

Chen, Patrick – MD, Assistant Clinical Professor of Neurology, Director of the UCI Neurology Traumatic Brain Injury & Concussion (NTBIC) Program

The UCI Neurology Traumatic Brain Injury & Concussion (NTBIC) Program is a rapidly growing multi-specialty collaborative clinical – research program encompassing an inpatient and clinic service. Dr. Chen is a neurologist, neurointensivist, and director of the program. The research program leverages a growing rich clinical database. Current research themes and projects include:

1) Phenotypes and outcomes of TBI from clinical data
2) Invasive & non invasive ICU multimodal monitoring trends in moderate-severe TBI
3) Predictors of disability and phenotypes in concussion and post-concussive syndrome (eg socioeconomic, imaging, symptoms)
4) Rapid cognitive testing methods in acute & subacute TBI
5) TBI and long-term chronic disease risk

We invite medical students interested in longitudinal clinical based projects who hope to be highly productive and gain clinical statistical skills that will benefit them in post-graduate training. Research and clinical opportunities are tailored to student interest and projects can blend with other subspecialties (eg. stroke, headache, trauma ICU, neurosurgery) . Projects are geared toward data analysis, fundamentals of medical- biostatistics, emerging machine learning topics.

Seeking students who want longitudinal experience. Limited research stipend available for students interested in assisting longitudinal database management with their project.

Choi, Bernard – PhD, Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Surgery

The Microvascular Therapeutics and Imaging (MTI) Laboratory, located in Beckman Laser Institute and Medical Clinic, is interested in developing optical technologies and methodologies designed to study the microcirculation. MTI lab researchers routinely partner with biologists and clinicians to develop and deploy novel biophotonics approaches. Preclinical work focuses on the study of flow-metabolism coupling and pathological uncoupling in the brain for a diverse set of neurological problems, including cardiac arrest and resuscitation and Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders. We also work on developing strategies to achieve three-dimensional thick-tissue microscopy of intact organs, using principles of molecular labeling and optical clearing. Clinical work focuses on the development of clinic-specific technologies, with recent work in exercise physiology and neonatal intensive care.

Do, An – MD, Assistant Clinical Professor of Neurology

My research is centered around developing and testing brain-computer interface (BCI) technology for future application in clinical neurorehabilitation. For example, we are currently developing a fully implantable BCI system for restoration of motor and sensory functions after spinal cord injury (SCI). We are also conducting a clinical trial to determine if BCI-controlled electrical stimulation can be used as a novel form of post-stroke therapy by comparing its potential effectiveness against conventional physiotherapy. Finally, a new area of work for our lab will involve exploring the use of cultured neural networks as a novel type of computing resource for the next generation of BCI systems.

Ediriwickrema, Lilangi – MD, Associate Clinical Professor of Ophthalmology

Dr. Ediriwickrema is an oculofacial plastic and reconstructive surgeon and neuro-ophthalmologist who conducts spatial frequency domain imaging research in collaboration with Durkin and Choi labs. Ongoing research projects include characterizing tissue chromophore properties in the periocular region of normal healthy patients, as well as those with periorbital inflammatory, cicatricial, and infiltrative disease. Prior experience with patient care, MATLAB, and/or bioengineering is encouraged but not required.

Eguchi, Asuka – PhD, Assistant Professor, Physiology and Biophysics

We study the pathogenic progression of genetic cardiomyopathies to develop therapeutic strategies for heart failure. Human iPSCs provide the disease model to study disease phenotypes. We use bioengineering techniques to study how tissue stiffness accelerates disease progression.

Eng, Oliver – MD, Associate Professor of Surgery, Associate Director of Peritoneal Surface Malignancy Program

I am a surgical oncologist who focuses on the management of both primary and secondary peritoneal surface malignancies and the utilization of cytoreductive surgery (CRS) and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC). My research has primarily been driven towards improving outcomes in patients undergoing CRS/HIPEC for a variety of malignancies. The translational component of my research is focused on understanding molecular mechanisms of peritoneal metastasis, as well as genomic and immunologic changes in peritoneal metastases with systemic and regional therapies. My clinical research centers on optimization of perioperative care and quality of life metrics that impact outcomes, as well as identifying sociodemographic barriers to receipt of care for complex malignancies.

Ezzati, Ali – MD, Associate Professor of Neurology

We are a clinical research group in neurology specializing in Clinical Informatics, Data Science, and Neuroepidemiology. Our research focuses on the design and data analytics of clinical-epidemiologic studies.

We have active projects in the following areas:
– Alzheimer’s Disease: Multimodal integrative data analytics with a focus on data from clinical trials and cohort studies.
– Headache/Pain: Epidemiological studies in migraine disorders.

Students with background and interest in data analytics, biostatistics, or clinical informatics are encouraged to apply.

Fisher, Mark – MD, Professor of Neurology

Our Stroke Research Program is engaged in a wide variety of projects in vascular neurobiology. These range from clinical investigations such as the role of cardiac anatomic variants as a stroke risk factor, to basic science studies that address fundamental mechanisms of ischemic and hemorrhagic cerebrovascular disease. We have major ongoing investigations of mouse models of cerebral microvascular disease, especially involving cerebral microbleeds and the blood-brain barrier. Prior medical students have made significant scientific contributions.

Fleischman, Angela – MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Medicine

The Fleischman lab studies the pathogenesis of myeloproliferative neoplasm (MPN), a chronic hematologic malignancy characterized by excessive production of myeloid cells, high inflammatory cytokines, bone marrow fibrosis, and in some cases progression to acute leukemia. Specifically, we focus on chronic inflammation as a driver of MPN disease initiation and progression. We use mouse MPN models and primary MPN patient samples as our primary research tools. We are currently utilizing patient samples to identify the mechanism that drives excessive inflammatory cytokine production in MPN. We utilize mouse MPN models to identify how MPN mutant hematopoietic stem cells respond differently to inflammatory stimuli as compared to normal hematopoietic stem cells. We are also currently doing interventional trials in MPN patients utilizing diet to reduce inflammation.

Gehricke, Jean – PhD, Associate Professor, Center for Autism & Neurodevelopment Disorders

The research primarily focuses on the causes and treatment of neurodevelopmental disorders including Autism Spectrum Disorders, Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, and associated comorbidities. Medical student scholars will be able to study how the brain, genes and environment interact and contribute to neurodevelopmental disorders. The lab provides a hands-on learning experience on how to conduct brain imaging studies and behavioral interventions research (e.g., physical exercise programs for ASD; LEGO and Minecraft Therapy research). Scholars will have the opportunity to develop and implement their own study protocols, collect data, analyze research findings, as well as write grant proposals and manuscripts for publications.

Gershon, Paul – PhD, Professor, Molecular Biology and Biochemistry

My research is in virology, virus structure, and virus proteins. The current research interests include –

Quantitative analysis of complex systems at the protein level via mass spectrometry. This includes virus molecular structure, the effects of infection processes on all proteins of the infected cell, and mechanisms of oncogenesis.
Molecular dynamics of nucleic acid polymerization using, as a model, the simplest known translocating nucleic acid polymerase and the only known polymerase that can translocate independently on single-stranded nucleic acid (a non-rigid polymer).

Grill, Joshua – PhD, Professor of Psychiatry & Human Behavior, Professor of Neurobiology & Behavior

Our laboratory is devoted to translational neuroscience in Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders, particularly the science of clinical trial design, recruitment, retention and disclosure. We are part of the UC Irvine Institute for Memory Impairments and Neurological Disorders and the UC Irvine Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center.

Grob, Seanna – MD, Associate Professor, Ophthalmology

I specialize in oculofacial plastic surgery. My research focuses on clinical aspects of oculofacial plastic surgery, ocular and orbital trauma, periocular cancer, and ophthalmic technology including use of artificial intelligence for diagnosis of disease. I also am interested in projects based on improvements of ophthalmic and medical education and identifying disparities in medicine within ophthalmology, medical education and leadership.

Guo, Zhiling – MD, PhD, Department of Medicine, Professor of Cardiology

Currently, I serve as a principal investigator to study neural mechanisms underlying effects of peripheral nerve stimulation (including acupuncture) on cardiovascular responses. The study includes four projects: 1) electrical and mechanical neural mechanisms by which electroacupuncture and manual acupuncture inhibit cardiovascular responses; 2) the role of adenosine in the brainstem in opioid mediation of acupuncture inhibition of excitatory cardiovascular responses; 3) acupuncture’s action in lowering blood pressure in sustained hypertension through medullary opioids and adenosine; and 4) medullary mechanisms of auricular acupuncture in modulating elevated blood pressure through actions of opioids and GABA. The results from the study will provide novel insights into neural mechanisms underlying the effects of various forms of acupuncture to lower elevated blood pressure and ultimately guide clinical practice.

Hammad, Muhammed Alaa – MD, Department of Urology

Dr. Hammad’s research focuses on sexual health outcomes associated with urological diseases, such as prostate cancer. His work has explored potential therapeutic interventions, including the use of low-intensity shock wave therapy.

Dr. Hammad has published peer-reviewed articles in high-impact journals such as Sexual Medicine Reviews, Translational Andrology and Urology, and Journal of Urology. His research has also been presented at national and international conferences, including the AUA, SMSNA, ISSM, and North American Robotic Urology Symposium (NARUS), where his team won the Best Adult Abstract award in 2023 edition. He has also recently received Translational Andrology and Urology Journal Outstanding Author for the year 2023.

If you are interested in Urology and Andrology, please reach out.

Harris, Jeremy – MD, Assistant Professor of Radiation Oncology and Chief of the Theoracic Radiation Oncology Service

Dr. Harris specializes in the treatment of lung cancer, soft tissue sarcomas, skin cancers, and spine tumors. As an expert in the use of stereotactic body radiotherapy, Dr. Harris’s research focuses on the applications of advanced radiation technologies with systemic therapies to improve cancer care. He has received funding for investigator-initiated clinical trials on lung cancers as well as soft-tissue sarcomas. Dr. Harris serves on the steering committee of the University of California Lung Cancer Consortium, the SWOG sarcoma working group, and the UCI Data Safety Monitoring Board. A past winner of the Association of Residents in Radiation Oncology Educator of the Year award, Dr. Harris also serves as Associate Program Director for the radiation oncology residency.

Hayes, Wayne – PhD, Associate Professor of Computer Science

The Hayes lab in the Department of Computer Science conducts basic research in predicting the function of genes and gene products by analyzing biological networks, primarily protein-protein interaction networks. We aim to integrate sophisticated network analysis algorithms provided by Computer Science researchers, with biological knowledge of biology and medical researchers. Biology and medical students are needed to help interpret and guide the computational analyses done by the computer science contingent.

Head, Elizabeth –Professor and Vice Chair for Research of Pathology, PhD

Our lab is focused on understanding Alzheimer disease pathogenesis in the brains of people with Down syndrome. Our research includes studies of human brain tissue. The overarching goal of my laboratory is to use multidisciplinary approaches to identify targets for interventions for people with Down syndrome (DS) to slow or prevent the development of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). By identifying key factors modifying or associated with the development of dementia in DS, my laboratory focused on identifying novel targets for intervention that are highly likely to be unique to this vulnerable group of individuals. My laboratory also has a strong track record and emphasis on the study of autopsy samples from people with DS and brings expertise in autopsy protocols and molecular studies of DS brain. At UCI, I serve as the Alzheimer Disease Research Center Neuropathology Core Co-Investigator and Director of the UCI Brain Tissue Repository.

Healy, Erin – MD, Assistant Professor of Radiation Oncology and Chief of the Breast and Gynecological Radiation Oncology Services

Dr. Healy specializes in the treatment of breast and gynecologic cancers and has a particular interest in women’s health. As an expert in the use of brachytherapy, Dr. Healy is skilled in the application of internal radiation to cure a variety of cancers. Her research interests revolve around optimizing quality-of-life and survivorship for cancer patients, as well as process improvement in the radiation oncology workplace. Dr. Healy serves as Chief Quality Officer for the Department of Radiation Oncology and leads the weekly clinical quality improvement series. She also supervises the error-reporting system for the department and leads a conference exclusively focused on the patient experience. A renowned educator, Dr. Healy also enjoys mentoring residents and students from a variety of backgrounds.

Houshyar, Roozbeh – MD, Clinical Professor, Radiological Sciences, Vice Chair of Imaging Informatics

I have a background in both bench and clinical research. My main areas of interest are tumors of the genitourinary system. While we collaborate most frequently with urology; we do a lot of collaborations with other departments including surgery, CAIDM, medicine, etc. We conduct research on a variety of topics ranging from specific disease processes to quality, AI, and healthcare costs. My lab (Computational Abdominal Radiology Lab) website is: https://faculty.sites.uci.edu/carlab/

My lab is almost entirely made up of medical students, most of which go into diagnostic radiology; however, I have had students in the lab who have gone onto -ophthalmology, urology, surgery, anesthesiology, medicine, and psychology. Annually, our lab puts out 10-20 abstracts for conferences, 6-8 peer reviewed papers, and 3-5 student grants. The students are almost always first authors. While most students are from UCI, we also have students from different schools. Students who are self-driven, enthusiastic and curious perform best with my mentorship style, which is hands off as I do not like micromanagement.

We have a virtual lab meeting every week and organize our research resources online. Students break off into teams for their projects and meet separately to meet project milestones. In general students who join the lab early have the highest amount of research output. We also have a research fellowship for those looking for a gap year research opportunity.

Hunt, Robert – PhD, Associate Professor, Anatomy and Neurobiology, Director of the Epilepsy Research Center

My lab studies the principles of nervous system development, epilepsy and traumatic brain injury. Much of this work focuses on the molecular, cellular and synaptic organization of cortical inhibitory interneurons, and on creating, and applying, new technologies that enable precise manipulation or repair of the brain. My philosophy is to embrace a broad view of neuroscience as we integrate a constellation of molecular, cellular, developmental, electrophysiological and systems-level methods in our work. Ultimately, we hope to discover precisely how the nervous system is changed in neurodevelopmental disorders or by traumatic brain injury, and to use this information to create new therapies.

My laboratory is extremely well funded but relatively small (8-10 trainees at any given time). My management approach is to regularly interact with everyone informally during the week regarding experimental results, hypotheses, future directions and career plans. We focus on publishing high quality basic science results, and all lab members are expected to contribute to advancing our research program.

Kain, Zeev – MD, MBA, Chancellor’s Professor, Director of UCI Center on Stress and Health, Anesthesiology & Perioperative Care

The UCI Center on Stress and Health is a multidisciplinary research center with the primary objective of assisting children and families manage pain, anxiety and stress surrounding the medical environment and disease burden. Dr. Kain’s research is largely focused on surgical disparities, perioperative stress and pain in children undergoing surgery as well as system re- design research. Dr. Kain is also co-directing research program in the Pediatric ED and the Pediatric Asthma clinic at the CHOC Children’s Hospital. Dr. Kain has been funded by the NIH since 1997 and published to date more than 300 peer reviewed papers. He has mentored over 100 students, residents, fellows and faculty. Below are a few of his active projects:

Perioperative:

A Tailored Internet-Based Preparation Program for Pediatric Perioperative Anxiety and Pain (WebTIPS) – NIH-supported multisite randomized control trial to test the efficacy of a Web-based Tailored Intervention Preparation for Surgery (WebTIPS) versus WebINFO, the attention control group program, targeted at children ages 1-12 undergoing outpatient elective surgery, and their parents.

Patient Experience & Value Based Care:

Predictors of Patient Experience – The overall purpose of the study is to prospectively identify clinical, demographic and behavioral predictors of patient satisfaction scores in a pediatric patient population in the outpatient procedure center, urology clinic, and the Emergency Department. The study will also be looking at the associations between physician personality and patient satisfaction scores.
Patient Experience: Predictors and Outcomes (UCI) – The overall purpose of the study is to identify demographics and clinical predictors of patient satisfaction scores in an adult patient population.
Health Disparities and Pediatric Urology – The primary research question is to evaluate whether health disparities, including socioeconomic status, race/ethnicity, health insurance status, and primary spoken language affect age at orchiopexy or lead to delayed orchiopexy (defined as orchiopexy after 18 months of age) among the patients in the Cerner Real-World Data database.
Health Disparities and Pediatric Surgery: A Mixed Methods study – This study evaluates the reasons behind the existence of surgical disparities in the pediatric population. The mixed methods design will use both qualitative and quantitative methods.

Kefalov, Vladimir – PhD, Professor and Vice Chair for Research, Department of Ophthalmology

We are a sensory neurobiology lab interested in the function of mammalian rod and cone photoreceptors. We use state-of-the-art tools, from single-cell and isolated retina recordings, to in vivo electroretinogram and behavior experiments with wild type and mutant mice. We study cone and rod phototransduction, dark and light adaptation, retinal degeneration, and are developing drug and gene-therapy tools for preventing photoreceptor death. We have several NIH-funded projects that offer opportunities for MSTP students to participate and contribute. These include behavioral testing and in vivo electroretinography (ERG) recordings from mice to determine the effect of several mutations in photoreceptors on their light responses and visual function. We are also beginning to develop methods for maintaining and recordings from freshly obtained human retinal tissue that would be a great project for an MSTP/MSRP student interested in ophthalmology. Successful participation in these projects will lead to abstracts and presentations at scientific conferences, and publications of the results. Rotation and dissertation slots are available as well.

Kenney, Maria Cristina – MD, PhD, Professor of Ophthalmology, Director of Mitochondrial Research

My overall research interests are to (a) identify the molecular and genetics changes in mitochondria associated with the dry form of age-related macular degeneration (AMD); (b) identify drugs that target and protect the AMD mitochondria so cellular longevity is prolonged; and (c) examine the influence of mtDNA variants from different racial/ethnic populations upon the behavior and gene expression of retinal cells. We have developed a transmitochondrial cybrid (cytoplasmic hybrid) model that has cells with identical nuclei but mtDNA from different individuals. Most recently, we have demonstrated that when mitochondria isolated from AMD subjects are placed into the RPE cell cybrids, the AMD cybrids have higher levels of cell death, apoptosis, autophagy and ER-stress compared to age-matched normal cybrids. Our overall goal is to use this model to identify drugs/agents that can reverse and protect the damaged mitochondria in the AMD cybrids. Successful completion of our studies will improve our understanding of the mitochondrial-nuclear interactions and may potentially lead to new drugs/agents that can benefit the patients with age-related diseases such as AMD, Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease.

Khine, Michelle – PhD, Professor of Biomedical Engineering

Our goal is to create wireless (potentially disposable) continuous blood pressure patches that allow for monitoring for up to 24 hours before replacement or recharging. To date, we have invented soft capacitive based pressure sensors that allows us to measure beat to beat BP continuously on ambulatory patients with a simple Band-Aid© like adhesive sensor. Importantly, we can record the entire hemodynamic pattern and track nominal changes in systolic, diastolic, and mean arterial blood pressures as the sensor deflects, registering changes in pressure, as the pulse wave traverses. The quick response times and wide dynamic range of the soft capacitive sensors allow detection of rapid and large changes in blood pressure that are essential for monitoring acute cardiovascular events. There are many applications for this technology, including monitoring CHF patients, healthy populations under stress, looking at the output of blood pressure variability as a digital biomarker for dementia/Alzheimer’s, amongst others. MSRP students will explore/pilot different clinical applications as well as help improve the technology.

Kim, Brian Y – MD, MS, Associate Professor of Family Medicine and Orthopaedic Surgery, Head Team Physician UC Irvine Athletics

I am an active academic clinician who sees patients in Family Medicine and Sports Medicine clinics at UC Irvine. I serve as the Program Director for the Primary Care Sports Medicine Fellowship, and Head Team Physician for UC Irvine Athletics. I also have experience in medical education, having served as Director of Medical Student Education for the Department of Family Medicine, Director of the Family Medicine Clerkship, and Director of the 4th year Elective in Sports Medicine. My research interests include the female and male athlete triad and bone stress injury, sports nutrition, research in intercollegiate athletics, and medical student and resident MSK education. I enjoy working with students who are interested in developing their own research question on a topic they are passionate about. Examples of recent/current research projects with students include:

Mental health and substance use in collegiate athletes during the COVID-19 pandemic
Injury risk in collegiate athletes before and after the COVID-19 pandemic
Results of an intervention to improve musculoskeletal and sports medicine training in a family medicine residency
The relationship between nutrition knowledge and risk factors for low energy availability in NCAA athletes

King, Christine – PhD, Assistant Professor, Biomedical Engineering

I am an Associate Professor of Teaching in the Department of Biomedical Engineering. I received my BS and MS in Mechanical Engineering from Manhattan College and my PhD in Biomedical Engineering from UC Irvine, where I developed brain-computer interface systems for neurorehabilitation. I was a post-doctorate in the Wireless Health Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles, and a research manager in the Center for SMART Health, where I focused on wireless health monitoring clinical trials for stroke and pediatric asthma. My current research is on engineering education, specializing in pedagogy strategies to promote learning and teamwork in design-build-test courses, as well as women’s health medical devices to improve physician workflow and patient comfort.

Kiser, Philip – PhD, PharmD, Associate Professor, Physiology and Biophysics

My laboratory studies the enzymes, transporters, and binding proteins that constitute a metabolic pathway known as the visual cycle as well as a variety of other proteins important for the health of the retina. We use an array of experimental techniques and methodologies, including knockout mouse models, histological and in vivo structural characterization, pharmacological approaches, X-ray crystallography, spectroscopy, enzyme kinetics, and evolutionary analysis to answer important questions about the structure and function of these proteins. Major emphasis is placed on the use of such information to develop effective therapeutics for currently untreatable retinal diseases.

Kitazawa, Masashi – PhD, Associate Professor, Occupational and Environmental Health

My laboratory investigates the neurotoxic mechanisms of environmental pollutants (e.g. air pollution, particulate matter) leading to Alzheimer’s disease (AD) using animal models and cell culture models. Additionally, my lab works on evaluating potential therapeutic candidates to treat AD in animal models. Research in my lab may help understand the contribution of environmental risk factors for AD. All the work is done in animal and cell culture models and we hope that outcomes from our studies have significant translational values to help understand AD.

Kraus, Christina – MD, FAAD, Assistant Professor of Dermatology

My research interests are in vulvar dermatoses, with an emphasis on vulvar lichen sclerosus and erosive lichen planus. This is an underserved part of medical care. My research goals include the following: 1) To better define the etiology and risk factors for various vulvar dermatoses, 2) Develop metrics to quantify disease severity and identify biomarkers (imaging and molecular) to measure disease activity (in both inflammatory and malignant disease), 3) Develop modalities to quantify disease burden utilizing patient reported outcomes 4) Perform comparative studies to determine optimal treatment modalities.

Kruggel, Frithjof – MD, PhD, Professor of Biomedical Engineering

I have MD and PhD degrees, am a trained neurologist, and work in neuroimaging data analysis. I have been the BME liaison to the MSTP for eight years. Research in the SIP Lab focuses on understanding the relation between structures and functions of the human brain. Recent neuroimaging methods (anatomical and functional MRI, emission tomography, electro- and magneto-encephalography) make an unprecedented view on brain functioning possible. Quantitative information hidden in neuroimaging data are revealed by new signal and image processing algorithms. Long-term work in the SIP Laboratory focuses on the following aims:

to quantify properties of anatomical brain structures as revealed by MRI,
to develop and install new algorithms for neurofunctional data analysis,
to combine results from different functional modalities,
to achieve a precise anatomical description and quantification of functional activity, and
to build structural and functional models of the brain.

Prior knowledge in a compiled programming language (C++) and statistics (R) is advantageous. Working remotely is possible.

Kwon, Young Jik – PhD, Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences

We investigate the use of viruses, biomacromolecules (e.g., proteins and nucleic acids), natural polymers, and cell-derived materials for the development of efficient and safe therapies for cancers and other diseases. The currently active projects include multi-modal gene and chemotherapy for cancer, stimuli-responsive polymers as nanoantibiotics against drug-resistant infections, and extracellular vesicles for acellular cell therapies. Commonly used laboratory skills are gel electrophoresis (nucleic acids and western blot), PCR, cell culture, flow cytometry, ELISA, nanomaterials characterizations, TEM, and validation of therapeutic efficacy using animal models.

Lau, Wei Ling – MD, Associate Professor In-Residence, Interim Chief of Division of Nephrology, Hypertension & Kidney Transplantation

Ongoing research projects:

Hyperkalemia interventions in the Emergency Department: We are examining the efficacy of different potassium-binding resins for acute lowering of blood potassium in the ED. Students will be involved in patient recruitment, data collection and reporting, and statistical analysis.
Gut dysbiosis in chronic kidney disease: We are conducting a prospective 2-year study examining dietary patterns, levels of gut-derived toxins in the blood, and cognitive changes in patients with chronic kidney disease. Students will become familiar with building and analyzing datasets from food frequency questionnaires, gut microbiome sequencing, blood and urine assays and cognitive testing.

Lawson, Devon – PhD, Associate Professor, Physiology and Biophysics

Dr. Lawson’s lab is interested in understanding the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying the metastatic spread of cancer cells to peripheral tissues. They take a systems-level approach, using cutting edge single-cell technologies to study intratumor heterogeneity in human patient-derived xenograft (PDX) models and identify pre-metastatic cells within primary tumors. Their work is aimed at defining the key genetic and transcriptomic programs that confer special fitness for metastasis in rare cancer cells, and understand how the interplay between intracellular signals within those cancer cells, and extracellular stimuli from the microenvironment (e.g. immune cells) influence the metastatic potential of individual cancer cells. The overarching goals are to identify new therapeutic strategies to prevent progression to lethal metastatic disease in cancer patients.

LeBron, Alana – PhD, Assistant Professor of Chicano/Latino Studies and Public Health

Dr. LeBrón’s scholarship focuses on understanding how structural racism shapes the health and well-being of low-income communities of color and community-driven solutions to interrupt these linkages. Dr. LeBrón is actively involved with several community-academic partnerships centered in Santa Ana, CA that are working to address community-identified priorities ranging from understanding and addressing environmental racism to COVID equity to climate justice. Many of these projects involve qualitative and quantitative research methods. The student may support qualitative data collection and analysis of interviews and focus groups with affected communities and/or institutional stakeholders, literature reviews, and/or quantitative analyses of primary (e.g., survey) or secondary (e.g., Census) data.

Lee, Sonia – MD, Assistant Professor of Radiological Sciences

I am a radiologist, subspecialty trained abdominal imaging, with particular interest in oncologic imaging of the GI tract, hepatopancreatobiliary ducts, and gynecologic malignancies. My lab focuses on effort to improve patient outcome by diagnosing and addressing gaps, from health disparity which may derive from unequal resources between different patient groups, to suboptimal accuracy of a radiologic interpretation, that may be related to quality of imaging or lack of proficiency of the interpreter, which may be a radiologist, or a medical student trying to make sense of an imaging exam. My projects are often retrospective studies, utilizing UCIMC patient data, which allows participating medical students proficiency in navigating the electronic medical health care system, and understanding the complex decision making and hurdles that the health care providers and patients face. Current project topics include health disparity in rectal cancer, cervical cancer, and hepatocellular carcinoma screening, and education modules to increase perception and/or interpretation proficiency from finding appendix on CT, to interpretation of rectal cancer MRI. Interest in imaging is a great plus, and but anyone who plan to order imaging studies in their future, such as those interested in the field of surgery or medicine may find it a rich learning opportunity.

Li, Wei – PhD, Endowed Chair and Professor of Bioinformatics; Division of Computational Biomedicine, Biological Chemistry School of Medicine

Our research bridges computational biology, epigenetics, RNA regulation, liquid biopsy, and human genetics, focusing on transforming genomics data into actionable medical insights.

Please feel free to review our website for more information: https://sites.uci.edu/weililab/

Lin, Ken – Associate Clinical Professor of Ophthalmology, Director of Medical Education in Ophthalmology, Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Director of Clinical Research in Ophthalmology

Large language models (LLMs) are rapidly revolutionizing multiple industries. Meanwhile, the alignment, speed, and rate of hallucination have all continued to improve significantly with each release of LLMs. There are immense untap potentials for LLMs in clinical medicine. We are interested specifically in evaluating some of the most recent LLMs (GPT4, Ilama3, Claude 3.5, Perplexity, etc) in expediting and improving the diagnosis and treatment plans for glaucoma. Specifically, we like to see if model performance can be enhanced via fine tuning, prompt engineering, or retrieval augmented generation.

Prerequisites: some working knowledge of Python, basic familiarity with statistics (both parametric and nonparametric techniques), willingness to learn new knowledge and be an independent thinker.

Lotfipour, Shahrdad – PhD, MSc, Assistant Professor, Emergency Medicine, Pharmaceutical Sciences, Pathology and Laboratory Medicine

Research objectives are to understand the mechanisms mediating addictive disorders. Special interest is on how gut, genes, brain and behavior interact with environment (e.g. developmental drug exposure) to influence addiction. Focus is placed on gut bacteria, genetics, midbrain and limbic brain regions in modulating baseline and drug-induced brain and behavior associations. The goals of the research studies are to further our understanding of the impact of drugs of abuse on the developing and adult brain using animal models, with translational relevance to the human population. The information gathered aims to assist in the promotion of better prevention and intervention strategies for the reduction of addictive disorders in the future.

Please feel free to review our website for more information: www.lotfipourlab.org.

Luderer, Ulrike – MD, PhD, MPH, Professor, Environmental and Occupational Health, Public Health, Developmental & Cell Biology, Medicine, Director of the Center for Occupational and Environmental Health

My lab’s research focuses on the mechanisms by which chemicals, pollutants, and ionizing radiation damage the reproductive system. Examples of recent and ongoing projects include: 1) We discovered that exposure to benzo[a]pyrene, a chemical found in cigarette smoke, particulate matter air pollution, and grilled and smoked foods depletes the finite ovarian reserve of oocytes not only in directly exposed females, but also in the great-grand-daughters of females exposed during pregnancy. Moreover, this transgenerational effect is associated with masculinization of the embryonic ovarian germ cell transcriptome. 2) Exposure of adult female mice to concentrated ambient particulate matter air pollution depletes the ovarian reserve by accelerating activation of quiescent primordial follicles into growing follicles. Currently, together with collaborators, we are investigating how these ovarian and testicular effects impact the brain in a late-onset Alzheimer’s disease model. 3) We discovered that adolescent exposure to THC, the main psychoactive component of cannabis, causes ovarian follicle depletion, and this is also associated with increased activation of quiescent follicles.

Martin, Sarah – PhD, Assistant Professor, UCI Center on Stress and Health, Anesthesiology & Perioperative Care

Dr. Martin’s research utilizes a biopsychosocial approach to study pain and medical distress in children, with a particular interest in populations that experience inequitable care. Current research projects, conducted within the Children’s Hospital of Orange County Emergency Department, include –

an NIH-funded study that examines behavioral, sociocultural, and healthcare system factors affecting pain, distress, and quality of care disparities surrounding pediatric emergency department (ED) procedures
a study that aims to characterize pediatric patients presenting to the ED with abdominal, head, or chest pain complaints and identify clinical and psychosocial factors associated with health care utilization and outcome trajectories.

Students may also participate in several other studies examining patient satisfaction and pediatric health care provider wellness, as well as other ongoing UCI CSH studies conducted in various medical settings including perioperative, hematology/oncology, and neonatology. During the research program, students will have the opportunity to develop their own research questions, collect and analyze data, present their research, and receive mentorship from a multidisciplinary team of investigators.

Min, Michelle – MD, MSc, Assistant Clinical Professor of Dermatology, Director of Rheumatologic-Dermatology

I am primarily a clinical dermatologist with an interest in clinical research. I love using our own patient pool to answer questions that are relevant to patient care. My primary clinical areas of interest are connective tissue disease, rheumatologic-dermatology, and/or inflammatory conditions of the skin. Given the rarity of some of these conditions, there are many questions left unanswered. I am looking to work with students who are comfortable navigating the electronic medical records system, Epic. Most of this type of research can easily be completed around the school semester/courses through VPN access. A solid understanding of statistics is also helpful.

Monuki, Ed – MD, PhD, Warren L. Bostick Professor and Chair, Pathology School of Medicine Joint Appointment, Developmental & Cell Biology School of Biological Sciences, Associate Director, Medical Scientist Training Program, Director, Neuropathology Core, Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center

My lab is interested in understanding the human choroid plexus, the cerebrospinal fluid it produces, and choroid plexus-based regenerative medicine approaches. As a physician-scientist mentor, I am interested in training medical students who are themselves interested in addressing two of the biggest problems confronting science and medicine in the US and worldwide – research integrity/scientific fraud and diagnostic errors.

Noymer, Andrew – PhD, MSc, Associate Professor of Population Health and Disease Prevention and Public Health

I am a medical demographer, with strong interests in infectious diseases and historical epidemiology. No work I do (excepting collaborations) is wet lab-based, and likewise for clinical trials. Many projects I work on are based on mortality microdata for the United States — public-record electronic data files on every death from 1959 to present. These data contain most information from the death certificate, for approximately 125 million deaths. I also work on pre-1959 data, using vital statistics data from before the computer era. Students interested in working with me should further familiarize themselves with the type of work I do by looking at my publications; my current CV is at: https://webfiles.uci.edu/noymer/web/noymer_cv.pdf

Odegaard, Andrew – PhD, MPH, Associate Professor of Epidemiology

My research relates to the patterns, causes and consequences of obesity, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. Within this context of cardiometabolic disease he largely focuses on the role that body composition, diet and lifestyle related factors play in the prevention and control of disease. Dr. Odegaard’s research considers the life course, employs observational and randomized study designs, emphasizes discovery and translation, and his aim is to partner with experts across disciplinary boundaries in pursuit of answers to important questions. He is also involved with research on the relationship between diet, lifestyle and body composition/anthropometric factors with different cancers, Alzheimer’s disease and cognitive decline.

Ostlund, Sean – PhD, Associate Professor of Anesthesiology

The Ostlund lab conducts research on the neural systems underlying emotion, motivation and decision-making and how these systems become dysregulated to produce behavioral pathology. Team conducts basic science and translational research on these topics using a multi-disciplinary approach that includes the application of sophisticated behavioral tests capable of parsing fundamental aspects of behavior in rodents. Research strategies include the use of in vivo neurochemical analysis (fast-scan cyclic voltammetry and microdialysis) to measure dopamine and other neurochemical species in awake behaving animals, and optogenetic tools to activate or silence specific cell populations, as well as more traditional approaches including neuropharmacology (systemic and intracranial drug administration), focal brain lesions and immunohistochemistry.

Palczewski, Krzysztof (Kris) – PhD, Distinguished Professor of Ophthalmology

In the laboratory of Dr. Krzysztof Palczewski, we are focused on understanding the fundamental processes underlying vision in rod and cone photoreceptors of the retina and creating novel pharmacological treatments for the most common causes of blindness. Our scientific interests are focused in six areas:

Making basic observations concerning the chemistry and biochemistry of visual phototransduction.
Identify genetic mutations leading to blinding diseases in humans and the discovery of potential treatments for several of these diseases.
Advance gene editing to correct genetic lesion casing blindness.
Develop noninvasive imaging methods for the direct in vivo visualization of higher-order macromolecular and cellular structures involved in photoreceptor function.
Determine of the three-dimensional structure of proteins involved in vision.
Develop a novel class of small molecules that may prevent and arrest age-related macular degeneration, the major cause of blindness in the elderly.

Parajuli, Ritesh, MD – Associate Clinical Professor, Division of Hematology/Oncology

My research focuses on Breast Cancer, Medical Oncology, Biomarkers, and clinical trials.

Parsons, Michael – PhD, Associate Professor of Developmental and Cell Biology

The Parsons lab is interested in learning more about how the cellular compartments of the adult pancreas are maintained and regulated using Zebrafish as a model organism. . How are new cells made after a trauma, such as cell-specific loss or generalized infiltration/inflammation? We wish to know how new insulin-producing β cells are created – as a better understanding would provide routes to make new β cells and treat diabetes. Another important question is, how are the functions of stem cells and progenitors controlled and what is the relationship between these cells and the origins of pancreatic cancer?

Qavi, Abraham – Assistant Professor in Residence of Pathology, MD, PhD

I am a physician scientist, clinical pathologist, and Director of Innovative Laboratory Diagnostics at UCI. My research group focuses on the development of new diagnostics by leveraging novel optical techniques within photonics and plasmonics. In particular, we focus on neglected tropical diseases, which affect some of the most impoverished and vulnerable populations worldwide. Our work also focuses on bringing disruptive technologies into the clinic for a variety of diseases. Our projects span from clinical informatics to laboratory medicine to assay development. We have a range of potential projects depending on student interest. We are especially interested in students who have a DIY and engineering mind-set, as we fabricate a lot of our devices using low-cost techniques (e.g., laser cutters, 3D printers).

Reich, Stephanie – PhD, Associate Professor of Education

My research focuses on direct and indirect influences on children’s development especially through the family, schools, and digital environments. Currently, I have projects, in a variety of settings and with different ages. Here are a few to give students a sense: I have a bilingual (Spanish-English) parenting intervention that targets 2-parents families (mothers and fathers) with babies from 9-46 months. We have questionnaires, direct infant assessments, and medical charts. I am also conducting a series of focus groups with young people (8-18 years) about media use and wellbeing (from victimization to empowerment). I have a bunch of other small projects on children and media and parent-child interactions too.

Rinehart, Joseph – MD, Associate Clinical Professor, Department of Anesthesiology & Perioperative Care

As an anesthesiologist with a research background in clinical circulation, fluid management, resuscitation, and using computer algorithms to assist clinicians, Dr. Rinehart has spent the last ten years developing better medical devices to improve patient care, collaborating with critical care industry partners, and participating as an active member of UCI’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. Active projects include machine-learning applications based on arterial blood pressure waveform analysis, automation of devices in critical care, and collaborations with other members of the department.

Research in Surgery & Education (RISE) Program

Dr. Jeffry Nahmias – MD, Division Chief and Professor of Surgery, Director of Trauma/Critical Care and Surgical ICU, Director of Surgical Step Down Units

Dr. Areg Grigorian – MD, Assistant Professor of Surgery – Trauma, Critical Care, and Burn

Dr. Lourdes Swentek – MD, Assistant Health Sciences Professor of Surgery

Dr. Cristobal Barrios – MD, Professor of Surgery, Director of the Critical Care Core Lecture Series, Assistant Dean of Admissions (SOM)

The UC Irvine Division of Trauma, Burns, Critical Care & Acute Care Surgery has developed a comprehensive program for medical students, residents and fellows interested in surgical research. This program offers the opportunity for current UC Irvine medical students, residents & fellows to obtain research mentorship and gain valuable skills to conduct high quality research. There will be monthly research meetings to discuss new ideas and provide updates of projects, with opportunities for collaboration.

Who should join?
Any MS 1 or MS 2 student dedicated with both time and effort to gaining significant research experience in large database outcomes research, single center studies, multicenter clinical trials, or education-based research. Also, any General Surgery resident can join. In addition, any dedicated research fellow accepted into the program. Given this diverse group of researchers there will also be opportunities for peer research mentorship.

How to join?
Contact Dr. Jeffry Nahmias jnahmias@hs.uci.edu, Dr. Areg Grigorian agrigori@hs.uci.edu, Dr. Lourdes Swentek lyrobles@hs.uci.edu, or Dr. Cristobal Barrios cbarrios@hs.uci.edu.

Why join the RISE Program?
The UC Irvine Division of Trauma, Burns, Critical Care & Acute Care Surgery has an unparalleled track record in mentoring students, with over 30 medical student first author publications and over 100 total student publications since 2020, as well as countless others by residents and fellows. In addition, we have developed helpful tools regarding all phases of research (i.e., from literature review to manuscript writing).

Sadigh, Gelareh – MD, Associate Professor-in-Residence of Radiological Sciences, Director of Radiology Health Services and Comparative Outcome Research

My research focuses on improving patient-centered healthcare delivery. My areas of research encompass evaluating medical financial hardship, its impact on care non-adherence and health disparity, and developing interventions to mitigate financial hardship. Some of these interventions include price transparency and costs of care discussion with patients, improving shared decision making, offering financial navigation services, and improving access to care. My other areas of research include assessing healthcare utilization trends specifically for imaging services. My first project orients around testing the effectiveness of a mobile health (mHealth) intervention on improving oral chemotherapy adherence in patients with metastatic breast cancer. With this mHealth intervention, we address a variety of barriers to adherence including financial issues. Secondly, to compare the effectiveness of out-of-pocket cost communication and financial navigation vs. enhanced usual care in mitigating financial hardship in cancer patients receiving treatment at 15 NCI community oncology practices across the US.

I am also leading several smaller projects to improve patients’ adherence to lung cancer screening.

Medical Students will have the opportunity to:

Work as part of our multi-disciplinary multi-institutional research team and contribute to activities related to patient interventions and follow-up.
Learn basics of health services research and get familiar with multi-level interventions to improve patient-centered healthcare delivery.
Develop their own research question for a smaller study using similar concepts and conduct their study with the support and mentorship of our team.
Our goal for medical student team members is to publish or present their research findings in a peer-reviewed journal or professional conference.

Sajjadi, Seyed Ahmad – MD, PhD, Associate Professor, Neurology and Pathology

I am a clinician scientist and director of an NIH funded lab dedicated to studying Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders. Our research is clinical involving neuroimaging, blood biomarkers, pathological investigations, and leveraging artificial intelligence to use speech as a diagnostic biomarker and predictor of cognitive impairment and dementia.

We welcome students who are passionate about research and neurodegenerative disorders.

Schueller, Stephen – PhD, Associate Professor of Psychological Science

Dr. Schueller is a clinical psychologist and mental health services researcher. His research focuses on improving the accessibility and availability of mental health services through technology. This includes the development, evaluation, and deployment of digital mental health interventions (ie., Internet websites and mobile applications) for the treatment and prevention of mental health issues especially common mental health issues such as depression and anxiety. His current work focuses on the implementation of digital mental health in various service settings including county mental healthcare and primary care.

Schultz, Carl – MD, Professor Emeritus of Emergency Medicine and Public Health

I am currently a professor emeritus of emergency medicine at the University of California Irvine School of Medicine and the EMS Medical Director for Orange County. I directed the EMS and Disaster Medical Sciences Fellowship at UCI for 10 years before I took my position with the County.

Disaster medicine has been my research focus for my entire career. My publications focus on earthquakes, terrorism, and mass casualty triage among other topics. These publications include two first author papers in the New England Journal of Medicine addressing the medical responses to earthquakes. I have also received funding from the National Science Foundation and from the U.S. Department of Defense and the State of Israel for work as a consultant.

My most recent work is serving as co-editor for the third edition of the disaster medicine textbook, Koenig and Schultz’s Disaster Medicine: Comprehensive Principles and Practices. The second edition of the textbook has been translated into Arabic and Chinese, with the Turkish translation almost complete.

Seiler, Magdalene – Associate Professor in Residence of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, Ophthalmology, and Anatomy & Neurobiology, PhD

Our research focus is retinal transplantation. We use immunodeficient rat models of retinal degeneration, and transplant sheets derived from hESC-retinal organoids or rat fetal retina to the subretinal space. We have shown that such transplants improve vision and integrate with the host retina. Our research is currently supported by 2 NIH grants and was previously supported by a CIRM early Translational grant (2014-2017), and a CIRM Tran1 grant (2018-2022). Students will need to find several time blocks of 3-4 hours/week to effectively be trained and perform experiments. Need to be able to work with rats (would be trained).

Senthil, Maheswari – MD, FACS, Professor of Surgical Oncology, Director of Peritoneal Malignancy Program

Maheswari Senthil, MD, is a surgical oncologist with a special expertise in the management of patients with peritoneal carcinomatosis and advanced malignancies. Dr. Senthil has several important clinical, translational, and basic science research projects focused on changing the treatment and diagnostic paradigms of cancer, specifically peritoneal carcinomatosis. She and her team of collaborators at UCI and other reputed institutions are developing an exosomes-based liquid biopsy that could serve as a diagnostic, prognostic, and predictive tool. Exosomes are stable, nanovesicles released abundantly by cancer cells and play a crucial role in cancer inter-cellular communication. Transcriptomic signals and surface proteins carried by exosomes are currently being studied in her laboratory to develop a refined and clinically applicable liquid biopsy tool. Dr. Senthil also has several cancer-related clinical projects that are focused on important clinical questions that’ll lead to future translational studies. She also has epidemiological research projects to address gastric cancer disparities in Latinx population. She is involved in several investigator-initiated clinical trials to develop novel strategies to treat patients with peritoneal carcinomatosis. Medical students joining Dr. Senthil’s research team will be able to choose the research projects that meet their research interests and career objectives.

Seyedin, Steven – MD, Assistant Professor of Radiation Oncology and Chief of the Genitourinary and Gastrointestinal Services

Dr. Seyedin specializes in the treatment of cancers of the prostate, kidney, bladder, stomach, esophagus, pancreas, liver, anus, and rectum. As an expert in the use of stereotactic body radiotherapy for a variety of tumors, his research focuses on the integration of advanced technologies with systemic therapies to improve cancer care. He has developed active collaborations with laboratory investigators at UCI and has an interest in ushering new treatments to the clinic. Dr. Seyedin is a member of the NRG Oncology’s Colorectal Cancer Core Committee. A gifted educator who was recently awarded the Association of Residents in Radiation Oncology Educator of the Year award, Dr. Seyedin also serves Medical Student Clerkship Director for the Department of Radiation Oncology.

Shiu, Jessica – MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Dermatology

I am a Dermatology trained physician scientist with a strong interest in vitiligo, an autoimmune disorder characterized by CD8+ destruction of melanocytes resulting in white patches of skin. My research combines animal models, cell cultures and patient samples to understand tissue-specific mechanisms affect treatment response in vitiligo. We utilize spatial transcriptomics, single-cell RNAseq, tissue staining and other techniques to answer questions regarding treatment response. I was in the Medical Scientist Training Program at the University of Maryland School of Medicine where I completed my MD/ PhD training. I completed my Dermatology Residency training at UCI and Board Certification in July 2019. I was a KL-2 scholar at the University of California Irvine Institute of Clinical and Translational Research with protected research time and funding. Currently, I am an Assistant Professor with research support from NIAMS and the Skin of Color Society.

Simon, Aaron – MD, Assistant Professor of Radiation Oncology and Chief of the Central Nervous System Service

Dr. Simon specializes in the management of malignant and benign tumors of the brain and spinal cord and also has an interest in the treatment of skin cancers and soft tissue sarcomas. As an expert in the use of radiosurgery, Dr. Simon is actively involved in investigational studies to improve the efficacy and safety of radiation therapy for brain tumors. His research interests involve the incorporation of advanced, quantitative imaging techniques into the specialty of radiation oncology. Dr. Simon has received prestigious grants from the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) and the American Society for Clinical Oncology (ASCO) for his translational research.

Skowronska-Krawczyk, Dorota – PhD, MSc, Assistant Professor of Physiology & Biophysics and Ophthalmology

The focus of research conducted in Dr. Skowronska-Krawczyk’s laboratory revolves around understanding the implications of natural aging on visual function, as well as its impact on neurodegenerative ocular conditions. Using a multifaceted approach encompassing molecular, biochemical, and cellular methodologies, her team works to elucidate the intricate processes affected during the aging and assess the translational potential of these findings for clinical applications. Dr. Skowronska-Krawczyk’s investigations have led to groundbreaking insights, including the identification of senescence as a key factor in the pathogenesis of glaucoma. Moreover, she has established a compelling genetic link between the mechanisms of aging and the development of ocular diseases. Notably, her research has unveiled that susceptibility to stress responses increases with advancing age and is epigenetically regulated at the chromatin level. Furthermore, her work has demonstrated that repeated episodes of intraocular pressure elevation accelerates the aging process within the young retina.
The expertise of Dr. Skowronska-Krawczyk’s laboratory extends to the domains of epigenomics, transcriptomics, and lipidomics, facilitating an in-depth exploration of age-related eye disorders at the molecular level. This enables her to provide a comprehensive understanding of the underlying mechanisms driving these conditions.

A significant part of the research conducted in her laboratory is dedicated to the development of therapeutic interventions, and on the repurposing of FDA-approved pharmaceutical agents for potential application in ophthalmic clinical settings. Through the years, work of Dr. Skowronska-Krawczyk has been funded from many sources, including NIH National Eye Institute, Glaucoma Research Foundation, and BrightFocus foundation. Our research is translational and we actively look for approaches that can be introduced to the clinic.

Su, Lydia Min-Ying – PhD, Professor of Radiological Sciences, Director of Tu & Yuen Center for Functional Onco-Imagining

My research interests are in the development of imaging technologies and quantitative computer-based analysis tools to extract imaging biomarkers for clinical applications, including risk assessment, diagnosis, treatment response evaluation and prognosis prediction. Recently, I have extended my previous research using computer-aided and radiomics analysis to deep learning, a more powerful tool for developing artificial intelligence (AI)-based quantitative imaging models for various applications in radiology and precision medicine. My recent publications include differential diagnosis of various cancers and molecular subtypes, prediction of neoadjuvant chemo/radiation therapy response in advanced breast and rectal cancer, prediction of prognosis in brain tumors, automatic segmentation of lesions and organs for radiotherapy planning, etc.

Suh, Donny – MD, FAAP, MBA, FACS, Professor of Ophthalmology, Chief of Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus

Dr. Suh is actively involved with research with the Pediatric Eye Disease Investigation Group (PEDIG), which has been sponsored by the National Eye Institute (NIH) since 2000. He has numerous inventions with patents for surgical equipment and medical devices. He helps to establish guidelines and to advocate for pediatricians for pediatric eye care. He is also the Chairman for Membership Committee for American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Ophthalmology Section, and he has been voted “Best Doctor in America” and “America’s Top Ophthalmologist” since 2003 to present. He is actively involved with teaching medical students and residents in pediatrics and ophthalmology at the University of California, Irvine (UCI) School of Medicine and Children’s Hospital of Orange County (CHOC). He is currently involved in multiple Institutional Review Board (IRB) approved research projects and actively working with UCI and Creighton medical students, residents in Pediatrics and Ophthalmology.

Tantisattamo, Ekamol – Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine, Division of Nephrology – MD, MPH

My research interest is hypertension and cardiovascular outcomes in kidney transplant recipients and living kidney donors. I am also interested in research methodology and how to implement science and knowledge translation into clinical practice. Participating in research will be clinical research onsite or online.

Tenner, Andrea – PhD, Professor of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry

My laboratory studies the roles of the complement system in health and disease with a current emphasis on disorders of the nervous system. One goal is to complete the preclinical studies necessary to establish rationale for a clinical trial testing an antagonist of the C5a receptor1 as a treatment for Alzheimer’s disease and/or other acquired cognitive disorders caused by aging, cancer, infection or other injury. In AD, the complement pathway (which is normally protective during infection) is activated and can cause detrimental inflammation and neurotoxicity. Administering a specific inhibitor of this inflammatory event improved cognitive performance in AD mouse models suggesting that this strategy may be a beneficial treatment to slow the progression of AD. Since a small molecule C5aR1 antagonist is currently in Phase 3 clinical trials for a peripheral vascular inflammatory disease, we would like to identify biomarkers that could be used to test central nervous system target engagement in humans treated with such antagonists.

Tjoa, Tjoson – MD, Associate Professor and Residency Program Director, Department of Otolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery

As a department, we have a busy head & neck oncologic and reconstructive surgical service, with multiple opportunities for clinical and translational research projects. Specific interests include the role and best practice for antibiotic prophylaxis in head & neck oncologic surgery, the use of ultrasonography to more precisely defines hemodynamics in microvascular reconstructive surgery, and perioperative prognostic factors associated with surgical success in head & neck oncologic surgery and microvascular reconstruction. We have a dedicated team of Otolaryngology residents, medical students, and undergraduate volunteers.

Tseng, Peter – PhD, Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science

Our research group develops next-generation, electromagnetic tools to remotely monitor and manipulate living systems. On the bodily scale we are creating integrated, wearable analytical devices that can monitor unique parameters from the body, such as our nutritional intake. On the tissue and cellular scale, we are developing high-throughput screening tools to better understand excitation-contraction coupling in living networks. Finally, we are investigating novel techniques to remotely actuate living systems via magnetism (i.e., with magneto genetics).

Ulloa, Chulie – MD, MSc, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics and Microbiology & Molecular Genetics, Infectious Diseases (PRIME-LC Faculty)

The Ulloa lab studies novel treatment strategies for bacterial infections, specifically: (A) Drugs that directly boost the antibacterial killing capacity of human immune factors; (B) Innovative treatment strategies, including drug repurposing, for difficult-to-treat bacterial infections; and (C) Novel antimicrobial susceptibility testing paradigms for drug-resistant bacterial pathogens. https://faculty.sites.uci.edu/ulloalab/publications/

Funding Available: For those interested in infectious diseases research, there are three fantastic research funding opportunities ($3-4K). Applications are due by December of each year. Must be able to work during the summer between MS1 and MS2. If interested, please submit your CV, and a brief statement of interest to Dr. Ulloa and copy Allen Jankeel, the Ulloa Lab Manager. https://faculty.sites.uci.edu/ulloalab/contact/

Vawter, Marquis – PhD, Research Professor of Psychiatry & Human Behavior, Director of Functional Genomics Laboratory

The goals of the laboratory are to understand the pathogenesis of psychiatric disorders (schizophrenia and mood disorders) and to enable better prevention and treatments of these psychiatric disorders. Dr. Vawter started the Functional Genomics Laboratory in 2001 and collaborates with the Pritzker Neuropsychiatric Disorders Research Consortium. He is the Senior Associate Director of the UCI Brain Bank and has been involved in large genetic studies of bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. He is a member of the Schizophrenia Working Mitochondria SubGroup of the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium and was part of a multi-center collaborative grant awarded through NIMH Molecular Genetics of Schizophrenia. In addition, he is involved in studies using postmortem brain gene expression in healthy controls, and subjects with mood and psychotic disorders, and suicide. A large effort spanning current NIMH funding involves mitochondria gene expression and resequencing of the mitochondria genome in psychiatric disorders. Somatic variation in mitochondria DNA has been discovered to play a role in psychiatric disorders such as depression, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia.

Villalta, Armando – PhD, Assistant Professor, Physiology & Biophysics

The overall goal of the research in the Villalta laboratory is directed towards understanding how immune cells contribute to tissue injury and repair in degenerative and autoimmune diseases. Although several studies have characterized immune cell subpopulations in muscle that possess either pro-injury or pro-reparative functions, little is known about the signals regulating these distinct functional programs. To address this lack in understanding our laboratory uses the mdx mouse model of Duchenne muscular dystrophy, which has provided the field an excellent system to investigate the role of immunity in muscular dystrophy and how immune cells contribute to muscle injury and repair.

Two broad aims of the research in the Villalta laboratory are i) to define and characterize the immune cell populations that contribute to muscle regeneration during chronic muscle injury (e.g. regulatory T cells, M2 macrophages and type 2 innate lymphoid cells), and ii) to determine the cellular and molecular basis of immune-mediated regulation of muscle regeneration following acute injury and during muscular dystrophy. Using methods from both the immunology and muscle physiology fields, our research contributes to our understanding of the cellular and molecular basis of immune-mediated muscle damage and repair. Our findings position the field with new information for the development of novel therapies to treat and cure human disease, and have translational implication in a number of clinical settings including immunological tolerance during gene therapy and regenerative medicine.

For a full list of publications please visit:
Pubmed.gov/Villalta SA

Wang, Dean – MD, Associate Professor, Departments of Orthopaedic Surgery & Biomedical Engineering

My research focuses on orthopaedic sports medicine, arthroscopic surgery, and biologic joint preservation procedures. In the laboratory, we investigate novel cartilage repair strategies in preclinical large animal models. We also investigate the effects of commonly used drugs and implants on soft tissue biomechanics. My clinical research is focused on biologic therapies for cartilage, tendon, and ligament healing and patient outcomes after joint preservation surgery.

Wang, Raymond – MD, Director of the Multidisciplinary Lysosomal Storage Disorder Program, Board Certified Clinical Geneticist and Biochemical Genetics Specialist, Children’s Hospital of Orange County (CHOC)

I’m a physician-scientist, with a portion of my time seeing patients with inborn errors of metabolism and another portion of my time overseeing a laboratory that uses CRISPR genome editing techniques to correct metabolic disease-causing pathogenic variants. My particular area of interest is genome editing to treat lysosomal storage diseases with serious unmet needs, especially pediatric neurodegenerative disorders that currently have no existing therapies. I place a high value in mentoring and fostering the next generation of academic physicians, and conducting research that is directly applicable to patients. In addition to me, the lab has three PhD and one MS scientist and one lab assistant who will happily teach you basic lab techniques (using a pipetman, performing PCR, restriction enzyme digests for genotyping, cloning, bacterial culture, DNA extraction, western blots, cell culture, animal behavioral assessments, and much more. Know that the work you do contributes towards the development of key treatments for children with rare diseases!

Please submit a CV and cover letter explaining your interest in pursuing research in my laboratory to me, at rawang@choc.org and CC my senior scientist shih.hsin.kan@choc.org.

Weiss, Gregory – PhD, Professor of Chemistry, Pharmaceutical Sciences, Molecular Biology and Biochemistry

The Weiss Laboratory invents methods to detect and quantify disease-associated molecules under the skin and in patient samples. We have developed real-time, implantable sensors for calcium and peptide hormones; such information could guide more precise and timely delivery of therapeutics. In addition, we have developed ultra-sensitive sensors for quantifying disease biomarkers in urine in 60 seconds or less. UCI Medical students can participate in the patient interface, sample and data analysis aspects of this research.

Weiss, John – MD, PhD, Professor of Neurology, Anatomy & Neurobiology

Dr. Weiss’ laboratory seeks to examine cellular mechanisms of neurodegeneration in models of diseases including stroke, seizures, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Fluorescence imaging, electrophysiological and neurotoxicity techniques are used to examine neurons in dissociated culture, brain slice and rodent models of disease. Areas of ongoing investigation include examination of roles of glutamate receptors, mitochondria, oxidative stress and divalent cations (calcium and zinc) in the triggering of neurodegeneration, and the elucidation of factors that underlie selective vulnerability of distinct populations of neurons in these diseases. The studies seek to highlight new approaches for beneficial therapeutic interventions in these conditions.

Wodarz, Dominik – PhD, Professor of Population Health & Disease Prevention, Program in Public Health

We work on mathematical and computational models of biological processes, with the following focus:

Dynamics of cancer and its treatment
Dynamics of virus infections and the immune system
General evolutionary dynamics and population dynamics

The common theme among these diverse topics is population dynamics as well as ecological and evolutionary theory. A lot of the work is biomedical in nature: we model the dynamics of cells, pathogens, and molecules. This has many practical applications such as the analysis and development of treatments against infectious diseases and cancer. We collaborate with several experimental laboratories in order to couple computational work with data. Knowledge of computer programing is required to do this research.

Wong, Brian – MD, Assistant Professor of Otolaryngology

My clinical practice is in facial plastic surgery, and the operation I perform most often is rhinoplasty. I’m a clinician scientist as well as being a surgeon. My background is in biomedical engineering with an emphasis on electrical engineering. The focus of my lab and my collaborators is on translational research. Topics have included optical imaging, and at present time are focuses on imaging the upper airway, in particular the function of cilia, as well as the anatomic dimensions of the nasal vault. I also look at functional imaging of the vocal folds and holding vibrate using optical imaging techniques. The major focus of my lab is on electrochemistry – as applied to in situ surgical modification of tissues. My lab focuses on corneal reshaping, contouring of body fat, and correction of scars using electro chemical methods. This is fairly novel, and the work is in the process of commercialization. I’ve mentored over 40 medical students now, and about 25 have gone on to otolaryngology, about three into plastic surgery, several into radiation oncology and radiology.

Wu, Hao-Hua – MD, Assistant Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery

Dr. Wu is interested in spine, global health, leadership, and medical education-related research. Dr. Wu is known for utilizing his expertise in neck and back disorders to recommend non-surgical treatment methods when clinically appropriate. If surgery is indicated, he is able to perform a range of open and minimally invasive spine (MIS) procedures, such as cervical laminoplasty, motion-sparing cervical disc replacement, tubular decompression for disc herniations, and robotic surgery. Dr. Wu has published over 50 peer-reviewed articles in preeminent orthopaedic journals including Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, Journal of the American Association of Orthopaedic Surgeons, and Spine Deformity. All levels of research experience welcome

Xiang, Shawn – PhD, Associate Professor of Radiological Sciences and Biomedical Engineering

My research focuses on biomedical imaging. In particular, his lab explores new ways to generate ultrasound for imaging.The TRUE lab (Theranostics with Radiation-induced Ultrasound Emission lab) has invented or discovered X-ray-induced acoustic computed tomography (XACT), fast proton-induced acoustic imaging (PAI), and electroacoustic tomography (EAT). Broad applications include image-guided cancer treatment, bone density measurement, and brain imaging and modulation.

🔬 Led by a dedicated researcher overseeing a team of over 10 PhD students and postdocs.
🤝 Experience hands-on training by collaborating closely with our knowledgeable members.
✍️ Every student in our lab is empowered and expected to publish as a 1st author annually.

Be a part of groundbreaking research. Step into the future with us!

Yokomori, Kyoko – PhD, Professor of Biological Chemistry

The Yokomori laboratory investigates the mechanisms of chromosome structural organization and how they affect DNA repair and gene regulation in human health and disease. Specifically, we use various DNA damaging methods, including laser micro irradiation to study nucleus-wide epigenetic responses to complex DNA damage through PARP signaling and metabolic alteration. The mechanism and function of heterochromatin disruption in FSHD muscular dystrophy is another area of research, in which we perform single cell/nucleus analyses to isolate and characterize a small number of disease-driving cells and are developing 3D and tissue on a chip to measure intrinsic defects of FSHD and CRISPR-engineered mutant myocytes.

Yong, Holly – MD, Assistant Clinical Professor, Surgery

I am a breast surgical oncologist specializing in both breast cancer and benign breast diseases. My interests include young women diagnosed with breast cancer, technological advances within breast surgery, and oncoplastic surgical techniques. My current research focus is on reproductive-aged women diagnosed with malignancies who undergo systemic treatment or radiation therapy that can greatly affect their fertility and quality of life. My aim is to encourage timely discussions in regard to oncofertility between the patient and physician as well as understand the barriers to pursuing fertility options within this population. This project is a patient reported outcomes study. Interested students will have the opportunity to potentially interact with patients, take part in data collection/analysis and present at meetings, as well as shadow/scrub in the OR, if interested.

Zeng, Fan-Gang – PhD, Professor of Otolaryngology

My research interest lies in using neuromodulation or electric stimulation to treat sensory and neurological disorders from hearing loss and tinnitus to potentially Alzheimer’s Disease.