People

Christina Towers, PhD
Assistant Professor
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

Adriana De-Paz
Undergraduate at UCSD
Favorite quote: “A woman who knows what she brings to the table is not afraid to eat alone.”
Science passion: Cancer health disparities
Non-science passion: Running
Science passion: Cancer health disparities
Non-science passion: Running

Anvita Komarla, PhD
Engineering 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

Celina Shen
Undergraduate at UCSD
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

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)

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

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

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

Sienna Rocha, BS
Research Assistant
Fave quote: “There can be as much value in the blink of an eye as in months of rational analysis.”
Science passion: Eliminating cancer health disparities
Non-science passion: Art history
Science passion: Eliminating cancer health disparities
Non-science passion: Art history

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