People
Professor and Principal Investigator
Professor of Cell Biology, Development & Physiology
B.S., University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley
Postdoc, University of California, San Francisco
Specialists
Specialist
I study the baculovirus Autographa californica M nucleopolyhedrovirus (AcMNPV) manipulation of the host cell actin cytoskeleton throughout the viral replication cycle. This work is carried out using viral genetics and advanced imaging methods to examine how the virus affects cellular actin. My ongoing research includes studying how AcMNPV uses nuclear-localized actin during replication. Our synthesis of molecular virology and cell biology has led to advances in understanding viral mechanisms of transport and viral usage of the actin cytoskeleton.
B.S., Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Ph.D., University of California, Davis
Postdoc, University of California, Berkeley
Current Postdocs
Postdoctoral Fellow
My project focuses on Mycobacterium marinum, a model organism to study the significant human pathogen Mycobacterium tuberculosis. M. marinum stimulates actin-based motility to drive movement within and between host cells. I am working to identify the bacterial and host factors necessary for actin-based motility and cell-to-cell spread. Elucidating how M. marinum mobilizes the actin cytoskeleton will ultimately illuminate novel aspects of mycobacterial pathogenesis as well as actin regulation and host cell biology.
B.A., Colorado College
Ph.D., Washington University in Saint Louis
Jane Coffin Childs Fund Fellow
Postdoctoral Fellow
I am interested in understanding the mechanism employed by bacterial secretion systems to spread from cell-to-cell during pathogenesis. I work on Burkholderia thailandensis which is unique in its ability to induce cell-cell fusion using a type VI secretion system (T6SS-5). T6SS-5 is a molecular syringe that injects toxic effectors into host cells to hijack their cellular machinery. By combining different imaging modalities including live-cell imaging and in situ cryo-electron tomography, I hope to understand the structural and cellular mechanism of cell-cell fusion induced by B. thailandensis.
B.S., M.S., Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi
Ph.D., University of California, San Diego
Fellowship, Life Sciences Research Foundation
Current Graduate Students
Graduate Student Researcher
I am interested in studying the cell biology of host-microbe interactions. My project focuses on comparing the activity of the two actin-based motility effectors RickA and Sca2 that many Rickettsia species use to hijack host cell actin cytoskeleton and move about the host cell in the ancestral species R. bellii and a pathogenic species R. parkeri. By investigating actin based motility in divergent Rickettsia species I aim to better understand how the mechanism of these two effectors have evolved in terms of actin nucleation mechanism and function.
B.S., University of Puget Sound
Graduate Student Researcher
The cytosolic niche in endothelial cells (ECs) that Rickettsia establishes during infection suggests intimate molecular interactions occurring between the pathogen and the host, providing a unique opportunity to study both pathogenesis and EC biology. I am interested in characterizing the role of differential actin-based motility mediated by RickA and Sca2 during infection of ECs, as well as the molecular mechanisms of junctional protein dysregulation. I hope to improve our understanding of Rickettsia pathogenesis and to provide insights on EC biology.
B.S., University of California, Irvine
Current Undergraduates and Others
Undergraduate Lab Assistant
My work in the Welch Lab revolves around understanding the expression of effectors RickA and Sca2 in Rickettsia parkeri’s actin-based motility. I’m interested in understanding how these two effectors are differentially regulated over the course of an infection, looking at both their regulation and their dynamics. I hope that this work will provide a better understanding of genetic and protein regulation of cytosolic bacterial pathogens.
Current Visiting Scholars
Lab Photos
Alumni
Former: Postdoctoral Fellow
Current: Scientist II, CZ Biohub, SF Bay Area
Former: Postdoctoral Fellow
Current: Scientific Collaborator, Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH), Basel
Former: Postdoctoral Fellow
Current: Senior Scientist, Caribou Biosciences, Berkeley
Former: Postdoctoral Fellow
Current: Associate Professor, NioMV, Maire de Conferences, University of Montpellier 2, France
Former: Graduate Student Researcher
Current: Postdoctoral Fellow, UCSF
Former: Graduate Student Researcher
Former: Postdoctoral Fellow
Current: Assistant Professor, Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, UC Irvine School of Medicine
Former: Postdoctoral Fellow
Current: Associate Professor, Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of Connecticut
Former: Graduate Student Researcher
Current: Project Manager, Mammoth Biosciences, SF Bay Area
Former: Technician
Current: Research Investigator, Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research, Boston
Former: Volunteer
Current: Graduate Student, Leiden University
Former: Graduate Student Researcher
Current: Emergency Physician, Envision Physician Services, San Diego
Former: Graduate Student Researcher
Current: Associate Professor, Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Koç University, Istanbul, Turkey
Former: Undergraduate Researcher
Current: Pediatric Resident, Stanford Children's Health, Lucile Packard Children's Hospital, Palo Alto, CA
Current: Former Graduate Student Researcher
Current: Associate Professor, Department of Biological Chemistry, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Former: Graduate Student Researcher
Current: Associate Professor of Epidemiology, University of Michigan School of Public Health, Ann Arbor
Former: Postdoctoral Fellow
Current: Partnerships and Business Development Director, Microbiology Institute of Technology, ESCP Europe
Former: Postdoctoral Fellow
Current: Executive Director, Berthoud Care and Rehab, Denver
Former: Graduate Student Researcher
Current: Scientist II, Nektar Therapeutics, Oakland, CA
Former: Postdoctoral Fellow
Current: Biosafety Officer, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, Aurora
Former: Graduate Student Researcher
Current: Executive Editor, Public Library of Science (PLOS) Water, San Francisco
Former: Undergraduate Researcher/Technician
Current: Resident, Orthopedic Surgery, UCLA
Former: Postdoctoral Fellow
Current: Medical Communications Manager, Greenwich Biosciences, Carlsbad, CA
Former: Undergraduate Researcher/Technician
Current: MD/PhD Student, Washington University
Former: Undergraduate Researcher
Current: Physician, Central California Faculty Medical Group, Fresno, CA
Former: Postdoctoral Fellow
Current: Assistant Professor, Department of Biology, MIT; Associate Member, Broad Institute, Cambridge, MA
Former: Graduate Student Researcher
Current: Postdoctoral Fellow, UCSF
Former: Undergraduate Researcher
Current: Resident Physician, Stanford Pediatrics, Palo Alto, CA
Former: Undergraduate Researcher
Current: Postdoctoral Researcher, UC San Diego
Former: Graduate Student Researcher
Current: Assistant Professor, Biomedical Sciences, Quinnipiac University
Former: Postdoctoral Fellow
Current: Director, Clinical Microbiology, Paratek Pharmaceuticals, Berkeley
Former: Graduate Student Researcher
Current: Technical Associate Director, Scientific Products at Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research (NIBR), Boston
Former: Graduate Student Researcher
Current: Vice President of Technical Operations, Caribou Biosciences, Inc., Berkeley
Former: Undergraduate Researcher
Current: Senior Scientist, Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Cambridge, MA
Former: Graduate Student Researcher
Current: Biological Sciences Specialist, CHU Sainte-Justine, Montreal
Former: Postdoctoral Fellow
Former: Graduate Student Researcher
Current: Director, Cancer Biology, Omega Therapeutics, Cambridge, MA
Former: Technician
Current: Scientist, Amyris, SF Bay Area