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
Cesar Garcia
Cesar graduated from San Diego State with a BS in Chemistry. Originally from Mexico, Cesar loves rock climbing, video games, sports, and playing guitar with his mariachi band.
cegarturo95@gmail.com
Anthony Spearman
Anthony graduated from Southern Methodist University with a BA in Chemistry in 2018. Originally from the city of Chicago, Anthony enjoys listening to music, watching TV, and looking at clouds.
anthony.l.spearman@gmail.com
Joseph Garcia
A life-long Californian, Joseph received his BS in chemistry at the University of California, Irvine. In his free time, he enjoys making music, playing video games, going to shows, and exploring the L.A. area.
josephg1@g.ucla.edu
Fourth 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
Third 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
Second 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
First 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
Masters Students
Lin-Jiun (Maggie) Chen
Lin-Jiun (Maggie) is a MACS student working with Quintashia. She graduated from University of Taipei in 2021 with a BS in Applied Physics and Chemistry, and MS in Applied Science. In her free time, she loves to try different types of outdoor activities including surfing, snowboarding and bouldering.
linjiun@chem.ucla.edu
Undergraduate Researchers
Neel Fulton
Neel is a 3rd year Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology major working with Eric. Originally from Palo Alto, CA, he enjoys running, playing spikeball, and drinking boba.
Jon Gaffney
Jon is a 4th year Biochemistry major working with Ethan. He first became interested in research after taking Prof. Sletten’s Chemical Biology course at UCLA. Aside from conducting experiments in the lab, Jon is from La Jolla, California and loves playing basketball, beach volleyball, backpacking, hiking, and reading.
Ella Ghazinouri
Ella is a 3rd year Chemistry major working with Emily. Originally from San Francisco, she enjoys reading, cooking, and listening to music. Ella is also our resident Yerba Mate tea connoisseur.
Nika Gladkov
Nika is a 4th year Biochemistry major working with Prairie. She is originally from the Bay Area and enjoys reading, going to art galleries, and taking walks.
Sangeeta Kelkar
Sangeeta is a 3rd 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.
Ashley Mendez
Ashley is a 4th year Chemistry major working with Joseph. In her free time, she loves kayaking, hiking and exploring new art museums around the LA area.
Alumni
Jessica Zeng, MS – graduate student
Irene Lim, PhD – graduate student, now postdoctoral fellow at Stanford University
Shang Jia, PhD – postdoctoral fellow, now faculty at University of Arkansas
Kyle Bui – undergraduate researcher, now applying to medical school
Daniel Turner – undergraduate researcher, now PhD student at UCLA
Heidi van de Wouw, PhD – postdoctoral fellow, now faculty at Pomona College
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 MD/MPH student 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 PhD student at UC San Diego
Jay Gietzelt – undergraduate researcher, now at Leiden University
Ryan McLaughlin – undergraduate researcher, now postbaccalaureate researcher at NIH