Team Members

Jacqueline Kimmey, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

METX (06/2019 - present)

Fun fact: if all the cars break down, you'll find her commuting on horseback.

Area of focus: all the areas!

Ask me for help with: immunology, circadian biology, infectious disease

Jaden Knight

Master's Candidate

METX 4+1 (06/2022 - present)

Fun Fact: I worked on the UCSC Farm and know quantum chemistry!

Area of focus: chemical identification of clock modulating ligands

Ask me to help with: bacterial fractionation, MS, HPLC, NMR

Kevin Halim

Undergraduate

Human Bio (01/2023 - present)

Fun Fact: I travelled to Bali, Jakarta, and Thailand - all in one summer! (over 10 flights)

Area of focus: Circadian effects on inflammation during S. pneumoniae infection

Mariana Tominaga Pereira

Visiting Scholar (undergrad from U. São Paolo, Brazil)

(1/2024 - present)

Fun Fact: I used to do rhythmic gymnastics and love dogs!

Area of focus: zebrafish circadian rhythms, development of new cell lines

Camila Morales Fénero, PhD

Postdoctoral Fellow

METX (02/2023 - present)

Fun fact: I am a choir singer and love cats!

Area of focus: zebrafish infection models and circadian rhythms

Ask me to help with: anything zebrafish, histology, microscopy, molecular biology

Devons Mo

Ph.D. Student

METX (05/2023 - present)

Fun Fact: My favorite animal is a tree frog

Area of focus: circadian control of innate sensing and cellular response

Ask me to help with: cell culture, S. pneumoniae

Emily Noelle Pasion

Jr. Specialist

(04/2023 - present)

Fun Fact: I played for the UCSC Women's Volleyball team!

Area of focus: zebrafish models of bacterial pathogenesis

Catherine Palmer

Ph.D. Candidate

METX (03/2021 - present)

Fun fact: I probably have sand in my shoes!

Area of focus: time of day susceptibility to pneumonia, pulmonary immunity

Ask me to help with: murine models, pathogenesis, flow cytometry, S. pneumoniae

J. Colin McEachen

Master's Student

METX (10/2023 - present)

Fun Fact: I can sing a capella!

Area of focus: development of multi-color luciferase and BRET reporter zebrafish (in collaboration with Andy Yeh's lab at UCSC)

Philip Kovelman-Ottilie

Undergraduate

(10/2023 - present)

Fun Fact: I've been doing research on circadian rhythms since high school!

Area of focus: circadian immunity and infection

Alumni - Graduate Students (Thesis Lab)

Tiffany Thisner - PhD Student (Mar 2020 - Mar 2021). Withdrew from program to pursue career change.

Ti Lam - MS student (Mar 2020 - Dec 2021). Defended thesis Dec 2021! Current position: Research Associate at Exai Bio

Raina Sacksteder - MS student (Mar 2021 - Mar 2023). Defended thesis Mar 2023!

Alumni - Graduate Students (Rotations)

Joshua Shaffer (2020). Thesis lab: Upasna Sharma

Stephanie Aguiar (2020). Thesis lab: Raquel Chamorro-Garcia

Alumni - Undergraduates, Postbac, and other pre-graduate trainees

Manasa Handady - Undergrad (Oct 2019 - March 2021). Grad Spring 2021!Current: Med School, St. Louis University (entry 2021)

Brittany Gomez - PREP Scholar (July 2020 - March 2021).

Hadassah Legaspi - ACCESS Scholar (June - Aug 2022). Current: Undergrad at UCLA, class of 2024

Nathan Boucher - Undergraduate (Jan 2022 - Dec 2022). Graduated Winter 2023!

Ziad Kedkad - Undergraduate (Aug 2021 - Mar 2023). Graduated Winter 2023! Current: Technician at UCSF

Jared Kolahi - Undergraduate (Sept 2022 - Sept 2023). Graduated Summer 2023!

Hailey Christian - GAIN Scholar (June - Aug 2023). Current: Undergrad at CSUMB, class of 2025

Griffin Bohman - GAIN Scholar (June - Aug 2023). Current: Undergrad at CSUMB, class of 2024

Emily Pasion - Undergraduate (April - Dec 2023). Graduated Dec 2023! Current: Still in the lab! Hired as a Jr. Specialist.

Alumni - Staff

Meredith Klashman - Jr. Specialist (Sept 2019 - July 2019). Current position: MD /MS program at UCSF and Berkeley

Lisa Sudek - Technician (Sept 2020 - May 2021). Current position: Specialist in Carpenter Lab, UCSC