Current Lab Members
Ximena Garcia Arceo
Post-Doctoral Scholar
Ximena received her PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics at UC San Diego designing and testing quantitative models of mRNA localization in budding yeast. She is interested in all things stochastic inside biological systems particularly noise and noise modulation of gene expression in diverse cellular conditions. Outside of the lab she is pushing her dog in his stroller up and down the hills of San Francisco.
Email: ximena dot garciaarcero at gladstone dot ucsf dot edu
Giuliana Calia
Research Associate II
Giuliana received a BA in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and an MA in Biotechnology from Boston University where she investigated RSV mechanisms of immune suppression. She is interested in understanding viral variability in order to engineer smart therapeutics that can combat evolving viruses. Outside of the lab, she loves trail running, volunteering locally, and combining new foods in the kitchen.
Email: giuliana dot calia at gladstone dot ucsf dot edu
Sonali Chaturvedi, PhD
Research Investigator
Sonali got her PhD as a member of Professor A.L.N. Rao’s Lab in UC Riverside. Before that she was a graduate student at Sardar Patel University, and an RA at the University of Hyderabad in India. She is now interested in employing proteomics and structural biology to study the negative feedback regulation in Cytomegalovirus. Outside work, she enjoys hiking, sketching, and adventure sports.
Email:
Xinyue Chen, PhD
Post-Doctoral Scholar
Xinyue got her PhD in Cell Biology from Yale University, where she studied cell fate control during leukemic transformation. She is now interested in gene regulatory circuits underlying cellular decision-making. Outside of the lab, Xinyue enjoys painting, planting, and snowboarding.
Email: xinyue dot chen at gladstone dot ucsf dot edu
Yuvia Hernandez
Research Associate I
Yuvia was born and raised in the Coachella Valley and recently graduated from UC Berkeley with a BA in Molecular and Cell Biology, Immunology. She is fascinated by disease and how you can manipulate a disease’s mode of pathogenesis to create smart therapeutics. In Yuvia’s free time she enjoys binge watching sci fi and telenovela shows, reading a good book, and spending time in nature when possible.
Email: yuvia dot hernandez at gladstone dot ucsf dot edu
Neha Khetan, PhD
Post-Doctoral Scholar
Neha received her Ph.D. from the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Pune in India where she worked on the mechanistic modeling of subcellular processes. She is interested in understanding the design principles of biological systems and how they can be harnessed. The interplay of emergence and fitness across the scales, and the underlying circuitry excites her. Outside the lab, she enjoys reading books, writing, and spending time at the beach.
Email: neha dot khetan at gladstone dot ucsf dot edu
Clara Levrel
Lab Manager
Clara received a MS in Biology and therapeutics research from Nantes University where she investigated the underlying mechanisms of a rare genetic disease. Apart from her lab manager position, she is now interested in studying HIV pathogenesis and assisting in the design of HIV TIPs. Outside of the lab, she loves reading, spending time with friends and family, and discover new countries and landscapes.
Email: clara dot levrel at gladstone dot ucsf dot edu
Daniel Lewis, PhD
Post-Doctoral Scholar
Dan got his PhD in Genetics while working in Professor Cheemeng Tan's lab at UC Davis. Before his graduate work, Dan attended UC Santa Barbara, where he did research under Professor Anthony De Tomaso. Dan is fascinated by how the genetic networks control biochemical noise, produce nonlinear behavior, and ultimately determine cellular decision-making. When he's not involved in research, Dan enjoys swimming, reading, and playing Dungeons & Dragons.
Email: dan dot lewis at gladstone dot ucsf dot edu
Fathima Nagoor Pitchai, PhD
Post-Doctoral Scholar
Fathima earned her Ph.D. from United Arab Emirates University at Abu Dhabi where she worked on identifying protein-RNA binding sites essential for genomic RNA packaging in animal retroviruses. At the Weinberger lab, Fathima is interested in studying HIV TIPs (Therapeutic Interfering Particles) to better understand the mechanisms they use to outmaneuver wild-type HIV. Outside of the lab, Fathima enjoys reading and watching Sci-Fi, taking long walks, and trying new food.
Email: fathima dot nagoorpitchai at gladstone dot ucsf dot edu
Kevin Pastores
Research Associate I
Kevin relocated from Dallas, Texas to join the Weinberger Lab as a Research Associate. Before Gladstone, he attended Loyola University Chicago and double majored in Biology and History; subsequently, he matriculated at the Boston University School of Medicine to study Medical Sciences. As a graduate student, Kevin joined the Barouch Lab at the Center for Virology and Vaccine Research at Harvard Medical School and designed Simian-Human Immunodeficiency Viruses (SHIVs). Outside of the lab, Kevin enjoys baseball, singing in the shower, and bowling.
Email: kevin dot pastores at gladstone dot ucsf dot edu
Daniel Rosas-Rivera
Research Associate II
Daniel received a BS in Pharmaceutical and Biological Chemistry and a MSc in Biochemistry/Biotechnology from the National Autonomous University of Mexico where he worked with metabolic pathway engineering. He is interested in understanding viral pathogenesis and using that information to develop new therapeutics. Outside of the lab, Daniel loves practicing combat sports (boxing and jiu jitsu), watching anime, and playing videogames.
Email: daniel dot rosasrivera at gladstone dot ucsf dot edu
Gustavo Vasen, PhD
Post-Doctoral Scholar
Gustavo received his PhD from the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina, working in the field of Molecular and Systems Biology. He is interested in understanding the emergent properties of the molecular circuits that control viral replication. Outside of the lab, he enjoys sharing science with the public and loves doing experiments with kids. In his free time, he enjoys good books and struggling with a piece of paper to make an origami.
Email: gus dot vasen at gladstone dot ucsf dot edu
Leor Weinberger, PhD
William and Ute Bowes Distinguished Professor; Director, Gladstone Center for Cell Circuitry; Professor of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Biochemistry and Biophysics; University of California, San Francisco
Leor's background is in physics and virology and he has had a long-standing interest in viral dynamics and decision circuits. He is a member of UCSF's Biophysics (iPQB), Tetrad, and Biomedical Sciences (BMS) Graduate Programs, and the UC Berkeley/UCSF Bioengineering Graduate Program and was awarded the 2022 Gladstone Outstanding Mentoring Award. He enjoys mountaineering, woodworking and American craft whiskey.
Email: leor dot weinberger at gladstone dot ucsf dot edu
UCSF Profile: Click here
Marie Wolf, PhD
Staff Scientist
Marie received her PhD in Molecular and Cellular Biology from the Universite de Strasbourg (France) where she worked on viral translation mechanisms. During her postdoc at Stanford she developed an interest in virus trafficking and microscopy. As an Associate Specialist at UCSF she studied inflammation signaling, ECM remodeling and molecular changes following ocular injuries and infections. Having worked with various virus models, she is interested in developing new ways of disrupting viral infections. In her free time she enjoys knitting/hoarding yarn and urban hiking.
Email: marie dot wolf at gladstone dot ucsf dot edu
Binyamin Zuckerman, PhD
Post-Doctoral Scholar
Binyamin received his Ph.D. in Biology at the Weizmann Institute of Science (Israel), where he studied transcript features and cellular factors mediating selective nuclear RNA export. Binyamin is now interested in understanding how post-transcriptional mechanisms tune gene-expression noise at the transcriptome and transcript-specific resolution. He uses naïve cells and HIV infection models to uncover functional noise regulators in health and disease. When he's not involved in research, Binyamin is interested in Jewish mysticism and law and enjoys hiking with family.
Email: binyamin dot zuckerman at gladstone dot ucsf dot edu
Lab Alumni
Maike Hansen, Ph.D. (Post-Doctoral Scholar)
Current: Assistant Professor - Biophysical Chemistry, IMM Radboud University Nijmegan
Sonali Chaturvedi, Ph.D. (Post-doctoral Scholar)
Current: Assistant Professor - Virology, University of California, Riverside
Roy Dar, PhD (Post-Doctoral Scholar)
Current: Assistant Professor, Univ. of Illinois Urbana-Champaign – http://dar.bioengineering.illinois.edu
Abhyudai Singh, PhD (Post-Doctoral Scholar)
Current: Professor - Electrical & Computer Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, and Mathematical Sciences, University of Delaware https://udel.edu/~absingh/Site/
Igor Rouzine, PhD (Staff Scientist)
Current: Group Leader - Pierre and Marie Curie Univ.
Anand Pai, PhD (Post-Doctoral Scholar)
Current: Experimental Biologist - X, the moonshot factory
Noam Vardi, Ph.D. (Post-Doctoral Scholar)
Current: Scientist - Guardant Health
Seung Yong Jung, PhD (Staff Scientist)
Current: Scientist Biotech
Elizabeth Tanner, PhD (Bioinformatics Post-Doctoral Fellow)
Current: Director of Virology - VxBiosciences, Inc.
Ravi Desai (Graduate Student Tetrad – UCSF, MSTP, MD/PhD Program)
Current: Medical Residency - Mount Sinai Hospital New York
Mike Pablo, PhD (Post-Doctoral Scholar)
Current: Scientist - Takeda
Erin Isaza (Graduate Student UCSF-MD/PhD Biophysics)
Current: Graduate Student - UCSF-MD/PhD Biophysics
Kay Aull, PhD (Graduate Student-Bioinformatics)
Current: Staff Scientist - Thermo-Fisher Scientific
Jon Klein (Research associate)
Current: MSTP - (MD/Ph.D. Program) Yale University
Elena Ingerman, PhD (PhD student)
Current: Staff Scientist - Thermo-Fisher Scientific
Brandon Razooky, PhD (PhD student)
Current: Merck Fellow - Rockefeller University (lab of Dr. Charles Rice)
Kate Franz, PhD (Master’s student)
Current: Scientist - Benitec Biopharma
Timothy Notton (Joint Graduate Program in Bioengineering, UCB & UCSF)
Current: Lead Scientist - Autonomous Therapeutics Inc
Giuliana Calia (Research Associate)
Current: Graduate Student, Weill Cornell’s BMCD Ph.D. Program
Karla DeLucas (Research Associate)
Current: Graduate Student, UCSF Biomedical Sciences Ph.D. Program
Arjun Kumar (Research Associate)
Current: Graduate Student, Univ. of Washington, Seattle
Kelvin Du (Research Associate)
Current: Medical student, the University of California, San Diego
Josh Galzier (Research Associate)
Current: Ph.D. student, University of Chicago, Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering
Cassandra Thompson (Research Associate)
Current: PhD student, Division of Biology and Biomedical Sciences at Washington University
Hye-In Son (Research Associate)
Current: Bioengineering Ph.D. Program, Duke Univ.
Victoria Saykallay (Research Associate)
Current: Univ. of Pacific Dental School
Luke Rast (Research Associate)
Current: Systems Biology PhD Program, Harvard Univ.
Maria Simitakou (Research Associate)
Current: Industry
Janaya Jones (Administrative Assistant)
Current: Post/BAC Student - Pre-Med track at San Francisco State University
Sydney Norman (Administrative Assistant)
Current: Administrative Assistant
Sarah Larkin (Administrative Assistant)
Current: Masters student, USC Chan Division of Occupational Therapy
Maple Chen (Rotation Student)
Current: Graduate Student - Berkeley – UCSF joint Ph.D. program in Bioengineering
Dana Wilkins (Rotation Student)
Current: Graduate Student - Berkeley – UCSF joint Ph.D. program in Bioengineering
Daniela Lopez (PUMAS Intern)
Current: Student - Los Medanos College majoring in Biology
Brendan Hall (Rotating Student)
Current: PhD Student, Biophysics graduate program at UCSF
Benjamin Martin (Summer Intern)
Current: Masters student, École Normale Supérieure Paris-Saclay
Cynthia Bolovan-Fritts, PhD
We lost a beloved member of Weinberger lab when Cynthia Bolovan-Fritts passed away in 2017.
Cynthia was the stalwart of the Weinberger lab for many years – in her 10 years here she was a mentor, scientist, friend and supporter both to our lab members, and to the wider scientific community.
Cynthia was born in Miami, received a PhD in Virology from the University of Cincinnati, and completed post-doctoral training with Ed Mocarski at Stanford. She then came to the Weinberger lab where she spent the last 10 years. Cynthia loved science and discovery above pretty much all else; she dedicated her career, and truly her life, to studying herpes viruses, and had an encyclopedic knowledge of these viruses. She was exacting in her technique; to her the science and the lab were what really mattered. She was an incredibly loyal and principled researcher – the glory didn’t concern at all, the work did. Few people know that in 1994 during PhD, Cynthia cloned the first mutants of HSV-1 ICP34.5; these mutants went on to become the first approved oncolytic virus therapy, Amgen’s ‘oncovex’, now used to treat late stage Melanoma. Cynthia never hyped this contribution, despite her claim to precedence. She was one of those unsung heroes.
Over her lifetime, Cynthia supported the preservation of nature and the environment, taking many trips to national parks across the United States with her husband Dan. When walking with Cynthia through San Francisco, one would often have to stop so that she could give money to the homeless. She also loved music, taught herself to play the guitar, and attended over 50 Grateful Dead concerts. She was a true "dead head” - when Jerry Garcia passed away, Cynthia went to the Pacific Ocean with 5 dozen roses and threw the bouquet into the ocean as a tribute.
She is remembered as a wonderful colleague and friend who was always willing to go the extra mile to help, regardless of the size of the problem. She was a welcoming, generous, dedicated and beloved mentor to young students of virology. Many of her trainees are now in top PhD and medical training programs around the country, including Harvard, Yale and Duke.
As well as the impact she has made to so many aspiring and successful scientists, Cynthia’s memory will live on with the awarding each year of the Cynthia Bolovan-Fritts Research Excellence Award at the Bay Area Virus Meeting. This award will help young researchers embark on careers in research by providing some recognition.
Past Cynthia Bolovan-Fritts Award Winners
2019: Pooja Bhardwaj, PhD
Awarded for her collaborative work with System Biosciences Inc. and ONI Nanoimaging titled ‘Surface engineering of exosomes to block HIV infection as a novel antiviral approach’.
2018:
Awarded for her work entitled ‘Hepatitis C Virus Infection and Lipid Droplets: a New Connection via DGAT1’.