Current RMI Scholars

Sara Amirkiai
2020 – 2021
Major: Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology
Project Title: Identification and characterization of long noncoding RNAs during inflammation.
Faculty/Staff Mentor: Susan Carpenter
Research Mentor: Elektra Robinson
Lab: Carpenter Lab

Carlos Arevalo
2018 – 2019, 2019 – 2020, 2020 – 2021
Major: Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology
Project Title: Pan-cancer analysis of driver mutations and modules.
Faculty/Staff Mentor: Angela Brooks
Research Mentor: John Akutagawa
Lab: Brooks Lab

Laya Ashley
2020 – 2021
Major: Chemistry
Faculty/Staff Mentor: Vicki Auerbuch Stone
Lab: Auerbuch-Stone lab

Melica Baboldashtian
2020 – 2021
Major: Human Biology
Project Title: Validating mutation calls in RNA-sequencing data
Faculty/Staff Mentor: Holly Beale
Research Mentor: Holly Beale
Lab: Treehouse

Marco Chamorro
2020 – 2021
Major: Bioinformatics
Project Title: Structure-based modeling of peptide-MHC I complexes
Faculty/Staff Mentor: Sofie Salama
Research Mentor: Santrupti Nerli
Lab: Haussler/Salama Lab

Eduardo Del Rio
2020 – 2021
Major: Bioinformatics
Project Title: Examining mutations in RNA-sequencing data using Cyverse
Faculty/Staff Mentor: Holly Beale
Lab: Treehouse

Darhien Gaddis
2020 – 2021
Major: Molecular Cell and Developmental Biology
Faculty/Staff mentor: Sofie Salama
Research Mentor: Ryan Hoffman
Lab: Haussler/Salama Lab

Gifti Gemeda
2019 – 2020, 2020 – 2021
Major: Biomolecular Engineering and Bioinformatics
Project Title: Using a Notch-reporter assay to understand the ability of specific NOTCH2NL alleles to activate Notch signaling
Faculty/Staff Mentor: Sofie Salama
Research Mentor: Gary Mantalas
Lab: Haussler/Salama Lab

Ruby Guevara
2020 – 2021
Major: Molecular Cell and Developmental Biology
Project Title: The Expression of the Human LL-37 Antimicrobial Peptide Impairs the Detrimental Effect of Beta-amyloid in a Drosophila Model of Alzheimer’s Disease
Faculty/Staff Mentor: Jeremy Lee
Research Mentor: Shannon Twardy
Lab: Lee Lab

Juliana Limon
2020 – 2021
Major: Marine Biology/Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Project Title: The Complete mitogenome of Dascyllus trimaculatus
Faculty/Staff Mentor: Giacomo Bernardi
Research Mentor: May Roberts/Darrin Schultz
Lab: Bernardi Lab

Daniel Lozano
2020 – 2021
Major: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Project Title: Identifying novel regulators of cancer stem cells in breast cancer
Faculty/Staff Mentor: Shaheen Sikandar
Research Mentor: Veronica Haro-Acosta
Lab: Sikandar Lab

Duyen Nguyen
2020 – 2021
Major: Molecular Cell and Developmental Biology
Project Title: The Expression of the Human LL-37 Antimicrobial Peptide Impairs the Detrimental Effect of Beta-amyloid in a Drosophila Model of Alzheimer’s Disease
Faculty/Staff Mentor: Jeremy Lee
Research Mentor: Shannon Twardy
Lab: Lee Lab

Linh Thuy Nguyen
2019 – 2020, 2020 – 2021
Major: Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology
Project Title: Characterization of a Genetic Suppressor of a Histone H3 Mutations That Perturbs Transcription Elongation in Budding Yeast
Faculty/Staff Mentor: Grant Hartzog
Research Mentor: Michael Doody
Lab: Hartzog Lab

Serafina Nieves
2019 – 2020, 2020 – 2021
Major: Biomolecular Engineering and Bioinformatics
Project Title: Functional consequences of horizontal gene transfer from bacteria to arthropods
Faculty/Staff Mentor: Russ Corbett-Detig
Research Mentor: Russ Corbett-Detig
Lab: Corbett-Detig Lab

Claudia Paz Flores
2020 – 2021
Major: Neuroscience
Project Title: Identifying the functional consequences of human-specific genes on neural networks using organoid models of brain development
Faculty/Staff Mentor: Sofie Salama
Research Mentor: Jess Sevetson
Lab: Haussler/Salama Lab

Diana Reyna
2020 – 2021
Major: Biochemistry/Chemistry
Project Title: Understanding the role of ZNF257, ZNF534, & HERV-H in early human development
Faculty/Staff Mentor: Sofie Salama
Research Mentor: Paola Angulo
Lab: Haussler/Salama Lab

Milagros Rivera
2020 – 2021
Major: Marine Biology
Project Title: Environmental DNA based bioinventory of Palmyra Atoll
Faculty/Staff Mentor: Beth Shapiro
Research Mentor: Rachel Meyer
Lab: Shapiro Lab

Shamari Waller
2019 – 2020, 2020 – 2021
Major: Neuroscience
Project Title: Generation of biomaterials for third generation sequencing and assembly methods
Faculty/Staff Mentor: Sofie Salama
Research Mentor: Kristof Tigyi
Lab: Haussler/Salama Lab