People

Figure inspired by the Diversity and Inclusion Lab Posters of Sammy Katta

Contact:

Ryo Sanabria, PhD

Assistant Professor of Gerontology

Principal Investigator

Hometown: New York, United States of America
Hobbies: Weightlifting, Running, Certified Yoga and Pilates Instructor
Favorite TV Shows: Friends, Demon Slayer, Big Bang Theory
Favorite Quotes:
“Welcome to the real world. It sucks. You’re gonna love it.” – Monica Geller
“Being alive…is a sign of strength.” -Erza Scarlet
“Sometimes I do feel like I’m a failure. Like there’s no hope for me. But even so, I’m not gonna give up.” – Izuku Midoriya
Research Interests: Defining the actin cytoskeleton as a novel biological hallmark of aging and investigating how the cytoskeleton can be targeted for anti-aging and anti-disease interventions. Developing tardigrades as a new model organism to study the intersection between stress and aging.

Gilberto Garcia

Postdoctoral Fellow

Hometown: Los Angeles, California
Hobbies: Running, Crocheting, Homebrewing
Favorite Movies: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, 28 Weeks Later
Favorite Quote: “Trying is the first step towards failure.” – Homer Simpson
Research Interests: Understanding the contribution of inter-organelle contacts and communication to cellular health.

Naibedya Dutta

Postdoctoral Fellow

Hometown: Bankura, West Bengal, India
Hobbies: Photography, Cooking
Favorite Movies: The Apu Trilogy, Nayak: The Hero
Favorite Quote: “Strength is Life, Weakness is Death. Expansion is Life, Contraction is Death. Love is Life, Hatred is Death.” – Swami Vivekananda
Research Interests: Understanding aging with a focus on heat shock factor 1 and its noncanonical functions.

Maxim Averbukh

Graduate Student

Hometown: Moscow, Russia
Hobbies: Hiking, Traveling
Favorite TV show: Doctor Who
Favorite Quote: “Hard work never killed anybody, but why take a chance?” – Edgar Bergen
Research Interests: Understanding the role stress response mechanisms play in aging.

Adam Hruby

Graduate Student

Hometown: Lake Crystal, Minnesota
Hobbies: Studying Japanese, reading, video games
Favorite TV show: Neon Genesis Evangelion
Favorite Quote: “Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known.” – Carl Sagan
Research Interests: Understanding the role bioelectric signaling between non-neuronal cells plays in tissue and organismal aging.

Aeowynn Coakley

Graduate Student (joint with Mullen lab)

Hometown: Bay Area, California
Hobbies: Walking to coffee shops, trying new restaurants, reading
Favorite Movie: Interstellar
Favorite Quote: “You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending.” – C.S. Lewis
Research Interests: Understanding how inter-organelle interaction may contribute to the disruption of cellular homeostasis in aging and disease states

Daniel Hicks

Graduate Student (joint with Phillips lab)

Hometown: Simi Valley, California
Hobbies: Reading, swimming, video games
Favorite TV Shows: BoJack Horseman, Revolutionary Girl Utena
Favorite Quote: “For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong.” – H. L. Mencken
Research Interests: Studying the contribution of neuronal actin function to cellular health and longevity

Juri Kim

Graduate Student

Hometown: Busan, South Korea
Hobbies: movies, concerts, music, watching random puppy videos
Favorite TV Shows: Friends, Modern family, The Normal People, Stranger Things
Favorite Quote: “You’re a shoe! You’re a shoe! You’re a shoe! But what if I don’t wanna be a shoe anymore?” – Rachel Green
Research Interests: Understanding the role of nuclear actin in aging and the role of proteostasis in extending lifespan

Athena Alcala

Research Technician

Hometown: California, United States of America
Hobbies: Sewing, Trying new food, Traveling, Playing with my dog
Favorite TV Shows: Community, Hunter x Hunter, Nature documentaries
Favorite Quote: “What? Like it’s hard?” – Elle Woods after getting into Harvard Law
Research Interests: Understanding the role actin plays in stress and aging.

Sally Hoang

Undergraduate Researcher

Hometown: California, United States of America
Hobbies: Cooking, Exploring new foods, Spending time with family
Favorite TV Shows: Grey’s Anatomy, The Vampire Diaries
Favorite Quote: “Don’t analyze everything. Just do it.” – Alex Karev
Research Interests: Understanding how novel ETC inhibitors affects the mitochondria and ultimately alter the aging process.

Matthew Vega

Undergraduate Researcher

Hometown: Santa Ana, California
Hobbies: Solving Jigsaw puzzles, Watching soccer
Favorite Movies: Rango
Favorite Quote: “Everyone keeps telling me how my story is supposed to go. Nah, I’ma do my own thing” – Miles Morales
Research Interests: Understanding the effects of transcription regulators in neuron and glia.

Alice Wang

Undergraduate Researcher

Hometown: Shanghai, China
Hobbies: playing video games, watching tennis
Favorite Show: The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Favorite Quote: “Nothing is impossible.” – Alice in Wonderland
Research Interests: Understanding how aging as a systemic and gradual process of our body is composed of molecular-level interactions.

Andrew Bong

Undergraduate Researcher

Hometown: Portland, Oregon
Hobbies: basketball, tennis, movies, music
Favorite Movies: Amazing Spiderman 2, Lala Land
Favorite Quote: “If you’re good at something, never do it for free.” -The Joker
Research Interests: How stress response genes and neurons affect how organisms respond to environmental stress.

Tiffany Wang

Undergraduate Researcher

Hometown: Temple City, California
Hobbies: Baking, hiking, and trying new foods
Favorite Movies: SpongeBob SquarePants, Friends, Up, Tuesdays with Morrie
Favorite Quote: “The most important thing in life is to learn how to give out love, and let it come in” – Morrie Shwartz
Research Interests: How stress activates the body’s inflammatory and immune response, and its link to various age-related diseases

Daniella Suh

Undergraduate Researcher

Hometown: Chicago, Illinois
Hobbies: Figure skating, crocheting
Favorite Movies: EEAAO, The Good Bad Mother, Doctor Who
Favorite Quote: “What can be said at all can be said clearly, and what we cannot talk about we must pass over in silence” – Ludwig Wittgenstein
Research Interests: Stress mechanisms and cellular aging; age-related changes in noradrenaline and attention control; the intersection of ethnicity, asylum status, and women’s health outcomes

Caitlin McTygue

Undergraduate Researcher

Hometown: Sacramento, Illinois
Hobbies: reading, yoga, traveling with friends
Favorite Movies: Yellowstone
Favorite Quote: “Live for the dash” -Linda Ellis
Research Interests: Understanding the role of stress pathways in aging

Rebecca Aviles Barahona

Undergraduate Researcher

Hometown: Los Angeles, California
Hobbies: Crocheting, Hiking, Avid coffee searcher, Rock climbing
Favorite Show and Book: Legends by Marie Lu , Bones
Favorite Quote: “The success of every woman should be the inspiration to another. We should raise each other up. Make sure you’re very courageous: be strong, be extremely kind, and above all, be humble.” — Serena Williams
Research Interests: Understanding stress responses and the impact of aging on a cellular level.

Jonas

Lab Mascot

Hometown: California, United States of America
Hobbies: Sleeping, Eating, Wrestling, Tug of War
Research Interests: Performing large-scale unbiased screens of matter to identify novel edible material.

Alumni

Assistance with lab illustrations were provided by:

Stefan Homentcovschi

Jenni Durieux

Sarah Tronnes