Over the years, many Undergraduate students have worked in our lab as summer interns, research assistants
or in programs sponsored by e.g. the NSF, all with the goal of gaining valuable hands-on research experience.
Our goal is to integrate undergraduate students and interns into our multidisciplinary teams comprised of physics, chemistry,
biology, and materials science students and postdocs and thus educate them in methods which enable discovering nature's
building blocks and rules for assembling these blocks in distinct shapes and sizes for particular functions. The learned concepts
can be applied in the development of advanced nanoscale materials for applications in electronic, chemical, and pharmaceutical industries.
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Ximena Garcia Arceo Uundergraduate student in physics Research: Studying tau-mediated microtubule interactions using DIC microscopy and small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). |
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Luis Limon Uundergraduate student in chemistry Research: Using polarized microscopy to study the structure and function of lipid-cholesterol-DNA nanoparticles employed in cell delivery applications. |
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Lauren Solenke Biology and chemistry teacher Research: Characterization of hydrophobic drug carriers for in cancer therapeutics. |
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Christine Tchounwou Masters graduate student in biology Research: Optical microscopy and small-angle x-ray scattering studies of lipid-DNA complexes used in gene delivery. |
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Bryan Palmer and Zita Espinoza Students in nursing Research: Multidisciplinary research in gene therapy with lipid-DNA complexes. |
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Glen Robinson Student in chemical engineering Research: Multidisciplinary research in gene therapy with lipid-DNA complexes. |
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Avni Bhatt Uundergraduate student in Biochemistry Research: A structure-function study of MAP tau: Analyzing MAP tau function in mediating microtubule assembly and bundling using synchrotron SAXS. |
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Cathrine Keiner Uundergraduate student in Economics/Pre-Med Research: Characterization of MT-Tau Complexes with Biochemical Assays. |
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Uundergraduate student in Chemistry and Biochemistry Research: Differential interference contrast microscopy of MT-Tau Complexes. |
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Bretton Fletcher Undergraduate in Physics Research: Phase Behavior of a Thermotropic Liquid Crystal Under Flow and Confinement; Synthesis of Multivalent Cationic Lipids with Asymmetric Tails; XRD on Cells and Nuclei. |
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Bezawit Sumner Undergraduate student Research: Cell cycle synchronization and transfection with CL-DNA complexes. |
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Bianca Salas Junior high science teacher (6th, 7th, and 8th grades) Research: Isolation and purification of neurofilament proteins. |
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Andy Lihani Uundergraduate student in Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology Research: Purification of MAP Tau and site-directed mutagenesis. |
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Neeraja Venkateswaran First year graduate student in the Biomolecular Science and Engineering Program (BMSE) Research: Developing a microfluidic platform for in situ x-ray scattering of biomaterials. |
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Conner Houghtby Undergraduate senior in Physics Research: Measuring Gene Expression using GFP; Single Cell Statistics Shed New Light on Transfection. |
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Esther Taxon First year graduate student in the Biomolecular Science and Engineering Program (BMSE) Research: Interactions between cationic-liposome – DNA complexes with oleic acid near physiological conditions. |
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Jose Lopez Uncergraduate senior in Mechanical Engineering Research: Design and construction of a new SAXS instrument to characterize nanoscale assemblies. |
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Jona Kayser Exchange graduate student visitor Research: Structure of Keratin intermediate filament gels. |
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Thomas Oyuela-Trachter Uundergraduate senior in Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology Research: Purification of MAP Tau and site-directed mutagenesis. |
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Sareh Nasseri Visiting Scientist Research: Cell culture and transfection with cationic liposome-DNA complexes; Isolation and purification of neurofilament proteins. |
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Kevin Cozzoli Junior high science teacher (6th, 7th, and 8th grades) Research: Isolation and purification of neurofilament proteins. |
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Omid Borijian Undergraduate junior in Chemical Engineering Research: Isolation and purification of neurofilament proteins. |
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Christoper Polistrini High School Teacher Research: Quantitative investigations of the complex formation of microtubules and tau protein isoforms. |
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Julia Korolenko Undergraduate in Chemistry and Biochemistry Research: Quantitative investigations of the complex formation of microtubules and tau protein isoforms. |
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Lizbeth Martinez Undergraduate junior in Molecular, Cellular, and Development Biology Research: Characterization of degradable cationic lipids using ethidium bromide displacement and cytotoxicity assays. |
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Marcela Areyano Undergraduate junior in Mechanical Engineering Research: Dynamic light scattering of lipid–DNA complexes in serum. |
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Simon Bill Undergraduate in Electrical Engineering Research: Design and construction of a new SAXS instrument. |
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Bernice McLaurin Undergraduate senior in Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology Research: Salt dependence of neurofilament gel
phase behavior. |
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Nathan Inouye Biology teacher Research: Optimization of staining of neurofilaments and their assembled structures for electron microscopy. |
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Jenny Butler Undergraduate student in chemistry Research: Characterization of degradable multivalent cationic lipids for gene delivery and silencing. |
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Daniel Orosco Undergraduate senior in Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology Research: Nucleic acid delivery: Studying the complexation of DNA, siRNA and short DNA with a library of novel cationic lipids. |
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Sophia Rudorf Undergraduate exchange student Research: Studied the interactions between DNA molecules adsorbed on supported lipid bilayers with tunable membrane charge density using fluorescence microscopy and other techniques. |
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Katelyn Cahill Thompson Undergraduate sophomore in Biomedical Engineering Research: Self-assembly of neurofilament (NF) subunits in vitro under various solution conditions. More (Poster Presentation PDF, 726 K) |
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Holger Hesse Physics exchange Diploma (Masters) graduate student Research: Studying the structure and phase behavior of Neurofilaments, which stabilize axon and dendrite neuronal processes. |
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Tuo (Thomas) Huang Undergraduate in Physics Research: Computer Simulation of X-ray propagation in SAXS facilities. More |
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Humphrey Kariuki High school teacher in Oxnard, California Research: Studied the binding properties of the protein tau to its substrate microtubule. |
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Heike Schirmer Physics exchange Diploma (Masters) graduate student |
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Lisa Boyer Science Department Head at Cuyama Valley High School (New Cuyama, CA) Research: Lipid-DNA complexes and their applications in gene delivery |
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Nataly Belman Exchange graduate student |
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Kelsey Gorter From: Allan Hancock Community College / UCSB |
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J. Abby Oehler Allan Hancock Community College / UCSB |
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Danielle Aranda Santa Barbara High School teacher (San Marcos High School) Research: Studied how actin filaments which make up the skeleton of cells arrange themselves for cell functions such as sticking, crawling, and growing (cell division) |
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Tracy MacDonough From: Hancock Community College |
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Claire Carey AP Biology Teacher, Santa Barbara High School Our hearts are heavy on hearing this news. |
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Amanda Jamieson From: Carlton College Research/ Training: Use of state-of-the-art video-enhanced optical microscopy |
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Tammy Luoh Undergraduate in Biochemistry Research: Effect of serum on gene delivery via cationic lipid. More |
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Helen Chang Undergraduate in Cell Biology and Biochemistry Research: Using fluorescence microscopy to understand behavior of cationic lipid/DNA complexes for gene delivery. More |
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Daisuke Chihara Undergraduate in Molecular Biology Research: Using GFP to Determine the Transfection Effeciency and Mechanism of DNA Uptake into HeLa Cells. More |
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Roshni George Undergraduate in Biochemistry Research: Investigating the Time Dependence of Transfection for use in Gene Therapy; Effect of various concentrations of helper lipids in DNA transfection efficiency. More |
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Bahman Rostama Undergraduate in Biology Research: Microinjection Techniques for Gene Therapy |
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David Samuel Undergraduate in Biology Research: Direct Imaging of Gene Carrier Complexes in Animal Cells; GFP and Microinjection for Characterization of Cationic Liposome Complexes |
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Kimberly Cunningham Undergraduate in Biology Research: Investigating the Effects of Lipid Composition and Lipid/DNA Ratios on Transfection Rate for Use in Gene Therapy |
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Genevieve Anderson Faculty Member, Natural Sciences Research: Transfection of cells with cationic liposomes. More |
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Jeff Gelb
Now Senior Applications Development Engineer |
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Ian Spradlin Now at Micro Photonics, Pennsylvenia. |
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