People

Figure Inspired by the Diversity and Inclusion Lab Posters of Sammy Katta – https://sammykatta.com/diversity
Bérénice A. Benayoun, Ph.D.
Education
Ph.D., Université Paris Diderot, Paris, France
M.Sc., Université Paris Diderot, Paris, France
B.Sc., Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris, France
Hometown: Paris, France
Favorite non-science activities: tabletop gaming, homebrewing
Dream benchmate(s): Leopold Fitz and Jemma Simmons
Birthday: June 19th
Chinese Zodiac Sign: Wood Rat
Post-doctoral fellows

Contact:
Email: minhooki@usc.edu
Min Hoo Kim, Ph.D.
Post-doctoral fellow
Education
Hometown: Seoul, Republic of Korea
Favorite non-science activities: Baking, jogging
Dream benchmate(s): John Legend
Birthday: March 27th
Chinese Zodiac Sign: Metal Horse

Contact:
Email: teefy@usc.edu
Bryan Teefy, Ph.D.
Post-doctoral fellow
Education
Hometown: Marion, MA, USA
Favorite non-science activities: Camping, Weight-lifting, Cooking
Dream benchmate(s): Tom Brady
Birthday: November 24th
Chinese Zodiac Sign: Goat

Contact:
Email: eric.hennigan@gmail.com
Eric Hennigan, Ph.D.
Volunteer/Post-doctoral
Education
Hometown: Ridgecrest, CA, USA
Favorite non-science activities: Hiking
Dream benchmate(s): Dexter’s Lab and The Doctor
Birthday:May 20th
Chinese Zodiac Sign: Water Dog
Ph.D. Students

Contact:
Email: bakercla@usc.edu
Clayton Baker
Ph.D. Student (Molecular and Computational Biology program)
Spring rotation #1
Education

Contact:
Email: juanb@usc.edu
Juan Bravo
Ph.D. Student (Biology of Aging program)
Education
Hometown: South Gate, California
Favorite non-science activities: Hiking, Weight-lifting, Xbox
Dream benchmate(s): Albert Wesker
Birthday: December 31st
Chinese Zodiac Sign: Fire Rooster

Contact:
Email: ajlemus@usc.edu
Aaron Lemus
Education
Hometown: North Hollywood, California
Favorite non-science activities: Concerts, Snowboard, and Rock Climbing
Dream benchmate(s): Alex Turner & Josh Homme
Birthday: May 12th
Chinese Zodiac Sign: Fire Rat

Contact:
Email: ryanlu@usc.edu
Ryan Lu
Education
Hometown: Alhambra, California
Favorite non-science activities: tennis, bowling, computer games
Dream benchmate(s): Rick (from Rick and Morty)
Birthday: November 25th
Chinese Zodiac Sign: Wood Dog

Contact:
Email: cjmcgill@usc.edu
Cassandra McGill
Education
Hometown: Gardena, California
Favorite non-science activities: Playing ukulele, walking my dog and playing Catan
Dream benchmate(s): The Mandalorian
Birthday: August 14th
Chinese Zodiac Sign: Ox
Research Lab Technicians

Contact:
Email: athenaal@usc.edu
Athena Alcala
Education
B.Sc., , USA
Hometown: Norwalk, CAFavorite non-science activities: Sewing, Traveling, Watching Cartoons, Trying New FoodsDream benchmate(s): TinkerbellBirthday: June 17thChinese Zodiac Sign: Earth Rabbit

Contact:
Email: ariadler@usc.edu
Ari Adler
Education
B.Sc., University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), CA, USA
Hometown: San Francisco, CA
Favorite non-science activities: SCUBA diving, playing with my cat
Dream benchmate(s): David Bowie
Birthday: July 18th
Chinese Zodiac Sign: Monkey

Contact:
Email: mkhedkar@usc.edu
Mitali Khedkar
Education
B.Sc., S. N. D. T. Women’s University, Mumbai, India
M.Sc., University of Nebraska-Lincoln, NE, USA
Hometown: Mumbai (Bombay), India
Favorite non-science activities: Travelling, Exploring cafes and restaurants, Yoga
Dream benchmate(s): Hayao Miyazaki, Phineas and Ferb
Birthday: November 27th
Chinese Zodiac Sign: Fire Rat

Contact:
Email: hengyuzh@usc.edu
Hengyu Zhou
Education
B.Sc., University of California, San Diego, CA, USA
M.Sc., University of California, San Diego, CA, USA
Hometown: Shenzhen, China
Favorite non-science activities: Reading, Weight-lifting, Playing video games
Dream benchmate(s): Tony Stark, Bruce Banner, Barry Allen
Birthday: May 29th
Chinese Zodiac Sign: Fire Rat
Master Students

Contact:
Email: tutang@usc.edu
Tu Tang
Master Student
Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine Master Program
Education
B.Eng., Southeast University, China

Contact:
Email:celinetr@usc.edu
Celine Tran
Master Student
Nutrition, Health span, Longevity Master Program
Education
B.S., University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, USA
Undergraduate Research Assistants

Contact:
Email: bhala@usc.edu
Rajyk Bhala
Undergraduate Research Assistant
Health and Human Sciences Major
Hometown: Sugar Land, Texas
Favorite non-science activities: Cooking, Trying new restaurants, Working out
Dream benchmate(s): Spiderman
Birthday: March 25th
Chinese Zodiac Sign: Wood Monkey

Contact:
Email: ayguan@usc.edu
Anthony Guan
Undergraduate Research Assistant
Hometown: Aptos, California
Favorite non-science activities: skiing, travelling, hanging out with pets, sale shopping
Dream benchmate(s): Kit Connor, Melissa McCarthy, Micheal Scott
Birthday: January 30th
Chinese Zodiac Sign: Water Horse

Contact:
Email:kshsu@usc.edu
Katelyn Hsu
Undergraduate Research Assistant
Human Biology Major
Hometown: Diamond Bar, California
Favorite non-science activities: Running, creative journaling, exploring nature
Dream benchmate(s): Lin Manuel Miranda
Birthday: December 2nd
Chinese Zodiac Sign: Water Goat

Contact:
Email: younggyu@usc.edu
Younggyun Kim
Undergraduate Research Assistant
Biomedical Engineering Major
Hometown: Incheon, Republic of Korea
Favorite non-science activities: Working out, playing Pokemon, watching soccer
Dream benchmate(s): Son Heung-Min and Lionel Messi
Birthday: July 6th
Chinese Zodiac Sign: Horse

Contact:
Email:evelynhl@usc.edu
Evelyn Lee
Undergraduate Research Assistant
Human Development and Aging Major

Contact:
Email:crmizrah@usc.edu
Chanelle R. Mizrahi
Undergraduate Research Assistant
GEMSTEM Scholar
Human Development and Aging, Health Science Track

Contact:
Email: naksi@usc.edu
Sumiya Naksi
Undergraduate Research Assistant
Neuroscience Major, Gerontology Minor

Contact:
Email: jeslynng@usc.edu
Jeslyn Nguyen
Undergraduate Research Assistant
Neuroscience and Human Biology Major
Hometown: Rancho Cucamonga, CA
Favorite non-science activities: Singing, Drawing, Binge-watching Netflix
Dream Benchmate(s): Barbie
Birthday: September 5th
Chinese Zodiac Sign: Water Sheep

Contact:
Email:cravikum@usc.edu
Charan Ravikumar
Undergraduate Research Assistant
Health and Human Sciences
Hometown: McLean, VA, USA
Favorite Non-Science Activities: Cooking, Watching Reality TV
Dream Benchmate(s): Professor Utonium
Birthday: March 14th
Chinese Zodiac Sign: Horse

Contact:
Email: zwang474@usc.edu
Justin Wang
Undergraduate Research Assistant
Biochemistry Major
Hometown: Orange, Connecticut
Favorite non-science activities: Cooking, movie marathons, photography, and writing!
Dream benchmate(s): Barack Obama
Birthday: February 19th
Chinese Zodiac Sign: Water Goat

Contact:
Email: oswhite@usc.edu
Olivia White
Undergraduate Research Assistant
Quantitative Biology Major
Hometown: Indianapolis, Indiana
Favorite non-science activities: hiking, strategy games, eating açaí bowls
Dream benchmate(s): Veronica Mars
Birthday: September 17th
Chinese Zodiac Sign: Water Horse

Contact:
Email: alanxu@usc.edu
Alan Xu
Undergraduate Research Assistant
Quantitive Biology Major
Hometown: Boston, Massachusetts
Favorite non-science activities: Travelling, trying new games and cooking
Dream benchmate(s): Louis Pasteur
Birthday: September 23rd
Chinese Zodiac Sign: Gold Snake

Contact:
Email:lrzhang@usc.edu
Lucia Zhang
Undergraduate Research Assistant
Quantitive Biology Major
Hometown: Portland, Oregon
Favorite non-science activities: painting, writing, dancing, piano
Dream benchmate(s): Carl (from Up)
Birthday: December 3rd
Chinese Zodiac Sign: Wood Monkey
Student workers

Contact:
Email: Email-lankipal@usc.edu
Ram Charan Lankipalli Vijaya Shankar Rao
Student worker (Fish team)
Master of Science in Civil Engineering Program
Education
B.Eng., B M S College of Engineering, India
Hometown: Bengaluru, India
Favorite non-sciences activities: Cricket, Soccer, Politics, Traveling
Dream Benchmate: Virat Kohli
Birthday: May 28th
Chinese Zodiac Sign: Earth Rabbit

Contact:
Email:dobenaue@usc.edu
Delana Obenauer
Student worker (Fish team)
Hometown:
Favorite non-science activities:
Dream benchmate(s):
Birthday:
Chinese Zodiac Sign:

Contact:
Email: ollerton@usc.edu
Isabel Ollerton
Student worker (Fish team)
Hometown: Hemet, CA
Favorite non-science activities: swimming, exploring, spending time with my cat
Dream benchmate(s): Spencer Reid
Birthday: February 11th
Chinese Zodiac Sign: Metal Snake

Contact:
Email:aomehe@usc.edu
Amanda Omehe
Student worker (Fish team)
Cognitive Science Major, Computer Science Minor
Hometown: Cedar Hill, TX
Favorite non-science activities: Reading, Soccer, Trying new restaurants
Dream benchmate(s): Brooke Davis
Birthday: January 20th
Chinese Zodiac Sign: Goat
High-School Students

Isabella Lau
Hometown: Alhambra, CA
Favorite non-science activities: baking, binge-watching TV shows, Calligraphy
Dream benchmate(s): Dr. Shaun Muprhy (from the “Good Doctor”)
Birthday: May 12th
Chinese Zodiac Sign: Wood Roster
Mascots & Cie

Contact:
jarvis.usc.edu
J.A.R.V.I.S.
Lab Server
Dell PowerEdge 360
Hometown: Austin, TX, USA
Favorite non-science activities: running (processes), idling
Dream benchmate(s): Tony Stark
Birthday: October 25th
Chinese Zodiac Sign: Fire Rooster

Contact:
Above Ryan’s desk
Moucifer
Lab Mascot
Cyagen transgenic mouse
Hometown: Santa Clara, California
Favorite non-science activities: being judgemental, looking at cute pictures
Dream benchmate(s): Pinky and the Brain
Birthday: November 9th
Chinese Zodiac Sign: Fire Rooster

Contact:
Turki
Lab Mascot
African turquoise killifish
Hometown: Gonarezhou National Park, Zimbabwe
Favorite non-science activities: swimming around, eating
Dream benchmate(s): Nemo and Dory
Birthday: Less than 6 months ago