Postbaccalaureate Research Education Program at UC Davis

Nashley Fuentes-Sanabria earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Microbiology, Cum Laude, from the University of Puerto Rico, Arecibo, in 2019. She worked in the laboratory of Sergi Simó to study wound healing, and in the lab of Joy Geng from the Center for Mind and Brain on studies of attention control in humans.

Amy Leslie graduated from UC Santa Cruz with a BS in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in June 2019. At UCSC, she was an IMSD scholar and conducted research in Alan Zahler’s lab, where she studied alternative pre-mRNA splicing in C. elegans. Amy’s research interests include genetics, molecular biology, and immunology. At UC Davis, she works in Lesilee Rose’s lab, which studies asymmetric cell division in C. elegans. The Rose lab has examined LET-99’s role in regulating spindle positioning and cytokinesis during asymmetric division. Amy will use structure function analysis to determine which domains of LET-99 are required for its localization to the membrane and its roles in cell division.

Celena Lozano graduated from UC Davis with a BS in Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior in June 2019. She is currently working in the Cheng Lab studying adult neurogenesis in the hippocampus. The integration of newborn granule cells in the hippocampal circuitry of the adult brain is involved in learning and memory, and disruption of these new connections is associated with neurological disorders. Celena uses immunofluorescent array tomography to investigate the molecular differences between the adult and aged brain at the newborn granule cell-CA3 pyramidal cell synapse.

Alyssa Paparella graduated in May 2019 from Sarah Lawrence College in New York with degrees in Biology and Chemistry. While part of PREP, Alyssa joined Daniel Starr’s lab to study C. elegans to better understand nuclear migration. Specifically, she is focusing on UNC-83, a protein on the outer nuclear membrane surface that helps to recruit microtubule motor proteins for nuclear migration. Alyssa hopes to better understand UNC-83’s different isoforms and their specific role in nuclear migration.

Dianah Anderson graduated in Spring of 2023 with a BS in biology from Savannah State University. As an undergraduate, she conducted research as an ADISRE scholar, where she worked in Dr. Teresa Shakespeare's lab focusing on identifying wild type C. elegans isolates in Southeast Georgia. During her last year of undergrad, she conducted research under Dr. Takayuki Nitta studying how benzalkonium chloride enhances cell death induced by etoposide in a p53- independent manner. As a PREP@UCD scholar, she will work in Dr. Gerardo Mackenzie's Lab.

Andrew Barber graduated from North Carolina Central University in May 2023 with a BS in Biomedical Science. As an undergraduate, he conducted research as an NSF LSAMP and McNair scholar, focusing on the toxicological effects of air pollutants and the neurological effects of alcohol dependency. As a PREP@UCD scholar, he will work with Professor Sean Collins.

Daniela Hernandez graduated from California State University Fullerton with a B.A in psychology and a minor in cellular molecular biology. As an undergraduate, she conducted research as a MARC scholar in the lab of Dr. Adam Roberts. In the Roberts’ lab, she explored the effects of pharmacological agents on larval zebrafish in order to build a model for neurodevelopmental disorders. As a PREP@UC Davis scholar, she will be working in the lab of Dr. Anna la Torre’s lab where she will study neuronal progenitor cells and their development. Daniela hopes to pursue a PhD in the field of neuroscience.

Emari Mann earned a BS in Biochemistry from her family’s alma mater, and the first HBCU in South Carolina, Claflin University. In summer 2022 she worked in the lab of Professor Catherine Grimes, in collaboration with the lab of Professor April Kloxin as a fellow in the University of Delaware NSF CHARM REU program. She focused on synthesizing large muropeptide fragments on an automated peptide synthesizer to establish the utility of automated solid phase peptide synthesis. As a PREP scholar she will work in Dr. Theanne Griffith’s lab.

Cassandra Morris completed a BS in neuroscience in May 2019 at the University of Minnesota, where she was a member of Dr. Gant Luxton's lab studying the disease-related regulators of nucleus-cytoskeleton coupling. As a PREP@UCD affiliate, she will continue her work in the joint lab of Dr. Daniel Starr and Dr. Luxton developing image analysis pipelines.

Christian Torres earned his undergraduate degree in Biology with a minor in Mathematical Modeling from Northeastern Illinois University. As a MARC and McNair scholar and as a Society for Developmental Biology Choose Development! fellow, he studied a downstream effector of p53 called PIG11 and its role in neural crest cells during early zebrafish development, with guidance from Dr. Jorge Cantú. During his time as PREP@UCD scholar, he will investigate the intricacies of mRNA processing from a temporal perspective using yeast as a model system. Christian hopes to pursue a PhD in developmental biology.