People
Christina Towers, PhD
Assistant Professor
Richard Heyman and Anne Daigle Endowed Developmental Chair
Favorite quote: The task is not to see what has never been seen…but to think what has never been thought…about what you see everyday.
Science Passion: Asking questions!
Non-science passion: Teaching my boys how to ski, hike, bike, camp, and enjoy the outdoors
Twitter: @ChristieTowers
Pubmed: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/myncbi/1dMBvb_lOvDkD/bibliography/public/
Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=9jM0tHwAAAAJ&hl=en
Science Passion: Asking questions!
Non-science passion: Teaching my boys how to ski, hike, bike, camp, and enjoy the outdoors
Twitter: @ChristieTowers
Pubmed: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/myncbi/1dMBvb_lOvDkD/bibliography/public/
Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=9jM0tHwAAAAJ&hl=en
Post-Docs
Suzanne Dufresne, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow
Favorite quote/Life motto : “A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for.”
Science passion: Western Blots!
Non-science passion: Gymnastics, surfing & traveling
Science passion: Western Blots!
Non-science passion: Gymnastics, surfing & traveling
Payel Mondal, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow
Favorite quote: “Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out.”
Science passion: Gene-editing and cancer therapeutics
Non-science passion: Travel, Reading
Science passion: Gene-editing and cancer therapeutics
Non-science passion: Travel, Reading
Louis Parham, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow
Favorite quote: “Forget about it”
Science passion: Answering big picture questions about fundamental biology
Non-science passion: Everything music
Science passion: Answering big picture questions about fundamental biology
Non-science passion: Everything music
PhD Students
Adelaida Estrada-Cardenas, MS
PhD Student, UCSD Biosciences Program
T32 Fellow, Pathways in Biological Sciences Training Program
Favorite quote: A smooth sea never made a skilled sailor
Science Passion: Cancer cell metabolism
Non-Science Passion: Spending time with family and powerlifting
Science Passion: Cancer cell metabolism
Non-Science Passion: Spending time with family and powerlifting
Anvita Komarla, MS
PhD Student, UCSD Bioengineering Program
T32 Fellow, Genetics Training Program
Favorite quote/Life motto: “She believed she could so she did.”
Science passion: Developing better ways to model disease in vitro and using them to understand how cells adapt to stressors in their environment (but also staying curious to explore more cool ideas!)
Non-science passion: Reading aka adding books to my to-read list, trying new restaurants, listening to true crime podcasts, hanging out at the beach, collecting earrings
Science passion: Developing better ways to model disease in vitro and using them to understand how cells adapt to stressors in their environment (but also staying curious to explore more cool ideas!)
Non-science passion: Reading aka adding books to my to-read list, trying new restaurants, listening to true crime podcasts, hanging out at the beach, collecting earrings
Staff
Roopal Rawani
Administrative Assistant
Favorite quote: “Be the change you wish to see in the world.”
Science passion: Continuing discoveries to improve human health
Non-science passion: Cooking, dancing, traveling
Science passion: Continuing discoveries to improve human health
Non-science passion: Cooking, dancing, traveling
Kirthi Reddy, PhD
Senior Staff Scientist
Science Passion: Working with C. elegans
Non-Science Passion: Spending time with my kids
Non-Science Passion: Spending time with my kids
Angelica Rock, BS
Research Technician
Favorite quote: If you look at what you have in life, you’ll always have more. If you look at what you don’t have in life, you’ll never have enough.
Science Passion: learning about how the immune microenvironment responds to pancreatic cancer
Non-science Passion: Running, skiing, swimming, hiking, and traveling
Science Passion: learning about how the immune microenvironment responds to pancreatic cancer
Non-science Passion: Running, skiing, swimming, hiking, and traveling
Celina Shen, BS
Research Technician
Favorite quote: “If the misery of our poor be caused not by the laws of nature, but by our institutions, great is our sin.” –Charles Darwin
Science passion: Mitochondrial quality control and drug resistance in cancer cells
Non-science passion: Language learning, reading, needlework
Science passion: Mitochondrial quality control and drug resistance in cancer cells
Non-science passion: Language learning, reading, needlework
Undergraduates
Amanda Cyril
Undergraduate, UCSD
Favorite quote: Don’t let yesterday take up too much of today
Science Passion: Understanding how different processes connect to the big picture
Non-science Passion: Swimming, Dancing, and Reading
Science Passion: Understanding how different processes connect to the big picture
Non-science Passion: Swimming, Dancing, and Reading
Kristiana Wong
Undergraduate at UCSD
Favorite quote: Y.O.L.O.
Science passion: Oncology/microbes/virology/genetics/pathology
Non-science passion: Art! Specifically animation and Asian artists (Japanese retro/sci-fi)
Science passion: Oncology/microbes/virology/genetics/pathology
Non-science passion: Art! Specifically animation and Asian artists (Japanese retro/sci-fi)
Towers Lab Alumni
Sienna Rocha, BS
Currently a PhD student at City of Hope