Postdoctoral Fellows
Diankai (Kai) Liu
Kai graduated from the Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences with a PhD in Analytical Chemistry. In his free time, he loves watching movies and working out.
liudiankai2023@g.ucla.edu
Fifth Year Graduate Students
Kaitlin Hartung
Kaitlin earned her BS in Biological Sciences, with a concentration in molecular and cellular biology, from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Outside of lab, she enjoys drinking coffee, hiking, and visiting her parents (and their many cats) in her hometown of Tulelake, California.
kaitlinhartung@chem.ucla.edu
Quintashia Wilson
Quintashia graduated with a BA in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Boston University in 2020. In her spare time she enjoys biking, running and creating delicious vegetarian meals.
qwilson@g.ucla.edu
Fourth Year Graduate Students
Prairie Hammer
Prairie graduated from Tufts University in 2020, with a BS in biochemistry and a BA in Spanish. She is originally from Berkeley, and enjoys cooking elaborate vegetarian meals, running, and reading murder mysteries.
prairiehammer@chem.ucla.edu
Paige Kotowitz
Paige graduated from Union College in 2018 with a BS in Chemistry and a minor in Psychology. Before starting graduate school, she worked at a nanotechnology company as a research associate. Outside of lab, Paige enjoys hiking, running, and exploring LA restaurants.
paige.kotowitz@chem.ucla.edu
Eric Lin
Eric graduated from Stanford University with a BS in Chemistry with Biology concentration. In his free time, he enjoys exploring new restaurants, eating sweets, going to the gym, and making music. Eric is also our resident boba connoisseur.
EYLin@mednet.ucla.edu
Helen Lin
Helen graduated from Hamilton College with a BA in Chemistry in 2019. Before starting her PhD, she worked for the Xavier Lab at Massachusetts General Hospital as a research associate. Originally from Lubbock, Texas, she enjoys playing outdoor sports, visiting breweries and meeting dogs.
hhlin@g.ucla.edu
Emily Mobley
Emily graduated from Cal Poly SLO with a MS in Polymers and Coatings Science in 2020, and a BS in Biochemistry with a Nutrition minor in 2019. She is from Napa, CA, and enjoys taking her dog on outdoor adventures, surfing, and rock climbing.
emilybrimobley@chem.ucla.edu
Ethan Ng
Ethan graduated from Sonoma State University in 2021 with a BS in Biochemistry. In his free time, he enjoys working out, listening to history podcasts, and reading sci fi novels.
ethan.ng@chem.ucla.edu
Katie Zhu
Katie graduated from the University of Toronto in 2021 with a BS in Chemistry. Outside of the lab, she enjoys swimming, hiking and learning how make different types of coffee.
katiezhu@g.ucla.edu
Third Year Graduate Students
Devon Stuart
Originally from Florida, Devon graduated from Amherst College in 2022 with a BA in Biochemistry and Biophysics. Outside of the lab, he likes to play ultimate frisbee and ski.
devonstuart@chem.ucla.edu
Second Year Graduate Students
Luigi Alde
Originally from the Philippines, Luigi grew up in Vancouver, Canada and graduated from the University of British Columbia with a BSc in Chemistry in 2023. Outside the lab, Luigi likes to cook and touch grass by playing golf and going on hikes.
lgalde@chem.ucla.edu
Jesus Hernandez
Jesus earned his BS in Biochemistry and MS in Chemistry from Cal State Northridge. In his free time he enjoys running, hiking and camping with his wife and fur babies (Kiara and Nova).
hernanja93@g.ucla.edu
First Year Graduate Rotation Students
Rehan Chagla
Rehan earned his BA/MA and MSci in Chemistry from the University of Cambridge in 2024. He was born and raised in Mumbai, India and likes to work out, play the guitar and violin, and cook in his free time.
rehanchagla@g.ucla.edu
Max Lyons
Max received his AB in Chemistry from Washington University in St. Louis in 2016. Originally from Berkeley, he returned to the Bay Area after graduating for a detour in industry. In his free time, he enjoys running around with his dogs, snowboarding, surfing, soccer, and disc golf.
mblyons@chem.ucla.edu
Ben Miller
Ben graduated from the University of Southern California with a BS in Chemistry in 2023. When he is not in lab, Ben enjoys finding new restaurants in LA, going to the beach, and spending time with his dog, Oliver.
bmill@g.ucla.edu
Aditya Sivakumar
Originally from New Jersey, Aditya graduated from Rutgers University in 2024 with a BA in Chemistry. In his free time he enjoys biking, reading, and playing tennis.
adisiv@g.ucla.edu
Cesar Torres
Cesar graduated from Sonoma State University in 2023 with a BS in Chemistry. He is from Santa Rosa, California and enjoys going to the gym, eating sushi, hiking, and reading.
cesartorres@g.ucla.edu
Katerina Varsamis
Originally from Greece, Katerina graduated from Tufts University in 2024 with a BS in Chemistry and Biology. In her free time, she enjoys traveling, jewelry making, and spending time with her dogs.
katerinavar@g.ucla.edu
Hafez
James
MACS Students
Dennis Wang
Originally from San Diego, Dennis graduated from UCSD in 2023 with a BS in Pharmacological Chemistry, and is now working with Devon. In his free time, he enjoys hiking, watching sports, going out to eat, and listening to music.
dew001@g.ucla.edu
Ziting
Undergraduate Researchers
Sangeeta Kelkar
Sangeeta is a 4th year Biochemistry major working with Katie. She is originally from Sacramento and enjoys hiking, going to concerts, and painting. Outside of the lab, she is also in a UCLA dance club.
Alumni
Cesar Garcia, PhD – graduate student
Anthony Spearman, PhD – graduate student
Joseph Garcia, PhD – graduate student
Lin-Jiun (Maggie) Chen, MS – MACS student, now at TSMC
Neel Fulton – undergraduate researcher, now medical scribe at Cedars-Sinai and volunteer researcher in the Sletten group
Jonathan Gaffney – undergraduate researcher, now at Juvena Therapeutics
Nika Gladkov – undergraduate researcher, now volunteer researcher in the Sletten group
Ashley Mendez – undergraduate researcher
Jessica Zeng, MS – graduate student
Irene Lim, PhD – graduate student, now faculty at Bates College
Shang Jia, PhD – postdoctoral fellow, now faculty at Rutgers University
Kyle Bui – undergraduate researcher, now MD student at Boston University
Daniel Turner – undergraduate researcher, now PhD student at UCLA
Heidi van de Wouw, PhD – postdoctoral fellow, now faculty at Georgia Tech
Margeaux Miller, PhD – graduate student, now at Novartis
Ga Young (Gina) Lee, PhD – graduate student, now at Vertex Pharmaceuticals
Anna Kataki-Anastasakou, PhD – graduate student, now at ZS Associates
Monica Pengshung, PhD – graduate student, now at Pacific Biosciences
Rachael Day, PhD – graduate student, now faculty at Drury University
Dan Estabrook, PhD – graduate student, now at Eli Lilly
Erika Aguiluz Ramirez, MS – graduate student
Joe Jaye, PhD – graduate student, now at Donaldson
Maly Cosco, PhD – graduate student, now at Merck
John Chapman – undergraduate researcher, now PhD student at Caltech
Olivia Leland – undergraduate researcher, now PhD student at Brandeis University
Junho Kwon – undergraduate researcher, now MPH graduate at University of Texas
Carolyn Wu – undergraduate researcher, now PhD student at UCLA
Jonathan Axtell, PhD – postdoctoral fellow, now at Dow
Selena Hernandez – undergraduate researcher, now PhD student at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Wei Cao, PhD – postdoctoral fellow, now faculty at Beijing Normal University
Rachel Ehrlich – undergraduate researcher, now at Ambercycle
Jay Gietzelt – undergraduate researcher, now PhD student at Wageningen University
Ryan McLaughlin – undergraduate researcher, now MD student at Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (US Air Force)