Sagasti lab members
Katie Ching
Post-doc
Cytoskeletal regulation of axon caliber
Kadia Pemba Adula
Regulation of sensory axon regeneration
Current position: Post-doctoral Fellow, Appel lab, University of Colorado
Kyle Sheu, Staff Associate
Control of microridge morphogenesis by cortical contraction
After the lab: Staff associate, UCLA Department of Medicine
Khaled Nassman, Staff Associate
Axon and cell migration through the epidermis
After the lab: Graduate student, UCLA
Fang Wang
The molecular basis of somatosensory axon development
Current position: Associate Professor, Cal State University, Dominguez Hills
Josh Clanton
Mechanisms of axon ensheathment by skin
After the lab: Teaching, Mt. St. Mary’s College and Santa Monica College
Jeff Rasmussen
Innervation and phagocytosis in the larval and adult skin
Current position: Assistant Professor, University of Washington
Sandra Rieger
Interactions between the skin and sensory axons during regeneration
Current position: Associate Professor, University of Miami
Yasuko Inaba
Microridge morphogenesis
Current position: Assistant Professor, Nara University
· Post-docs: We are hiring post-docs in all research areas. If interested, contact Alvaro (sagasti@mcdb.ucla.edu) with a CV and statement of interest
· Grad students: We recruit students from two UCLA PhD programs: Cell and Developmental Biology and Neuroscience. If you are interested in the lab, please apply to one of those programs
Former lab member
Michael Porter, lab manager
Sandhiyha Kalyanasundarum, volunteer
Laura Yee, undergraduate
Lok Kwan Leung, undergraduate
Majid Husain, undergraduate
George Hanna, undergraduate
Wensi Wang, undergraduate
Jamie Fajardo, undergraduate
Jenny Ward, undergraduate
Elizabeth Hiroyasu, undergraduate
Rosario Villegas, visiting researcher
Dean Lee, undergraduate
Alaa Koleilat, undergraduate
Nickolas Wheat, undergraduate
Steve Roberts, undergraduate
Gerardo Tellez, undergraduate
Marci Rosenberg, undergraduate
Ara Vartanyan, undergraduate
Alex Chan, undergraduate
Lydia Kyrillova, undergraduate
Lamia Choudhury, undergraduate
Hannah Markovic, undergraduate
Rania Abdusamad, undergraduate
Jessica Sims, undergraduate
Reem Abu-Shamma, undergraduate
Kenya Ochoa, undergraduate
Current position (or position after UCLA)
Graduate student, UCSD
Manager, Cisco Systems
Graduate student, UCSF
Graduate student, UCLA
Medical School, UC Irvine
Medical School, Saint Louis University
Staff associate, OHSU
Nursing school, UCLA
Public health graduate student, Harvard
Graduate student, UCSB
Post Doc, Universidad Católica de Chile
Graduate student, Harvard Medical School
Graduate student, Mayo Clinic
Graduate student, UC Davis
Medical student, Touro University
Medical student, UC Davis
IRTA program, NIH; now MD/PhD student UCSF
Medical student, Saint Louis University
Graduate student, MIT
Medical student, UC Irvine
Medical student, UC Davis
Graduate student, University of Oregon
Medical student, Stanford
Medical student, Vanderbilt
Graduate student, Johns Hopkins
Medical student
Ana Maria Palanca
Somatosensory neuron subtypes and sensory transduction in zebrafish
Current position: Post-doctoral Fellow, Law lab, Salk Institute
Cressida Madigan
Neuroinflammatory responses to mycobacterial infection
Current position: Assistant Professor, UCSD
Mauricio Vargas
The role of calcium in Wallerian degeneration
Current position: Ophthalmologist
Georgeann (O’Brien) Sack
Impediments to skin reinnervation by regenerating peripheral sensory axons
After PhD: Post-doc, Feller lab, UC Berkeley
Current position: freelance science writer
Join our team
Former post-docs
Former grad students
Former staff
More lab alumni
Jeff Rosa
Axon-epithelium interaction
Current position: Researcher, University of Pennsylvania
Kelly O'Donnell
Live imaging of mitochondria during axon degeneration and neurodegeneration
After MD-PhD: Resident, Psychiatry, NYU
Donald Julien
Somatosensory axon diversity and cell recognition molecules
After PhD: Life science management consultant and marketing, Collective Acumen LLC
Current position: Giliad Sciences
Aaron van Loon
Regulation of microridge morphogenesis by cortical contraction
Current position: Post-doctoral Fellow, Theriot lab, University of Washington
Seanna Martin
Pathways controlling axon degeneration after injury
Current position: Assistant Professor, Diablo Valley College
Son Giang, Lab manager
After the lab: Fund manager, UCLA MCDB department; then fund manager, Pew Charitable Trust
Lindsey Barske, Lab manager
Current position: Assistant Professor, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital
Sean Wolfson, Staff associate
The molecular basis of somatosensory peripheral axon development
Current position: Hollywood production
Stephen Basenfelder, Lab manager
After the lab: Moved to Australia. Preparing for a career in occupational therapy.
Vasudha Chauhan, Staff associate
Genes regulating actin-based microridge formation in the skin
After the lab: Pharmacy school, USC
Thi Vo, Staff associate
Development and regeneration of nerves in fish scales
After the lab: Dental school, UCSF
Evan Takayoshi
Graduate student
Control of microridge morphogenesis by Plakin cytolinkers
Grace Johnson
Undergraduate researcher and lab assistant
Regulation of sensory axon caliber and lab management
Melissa Emami
Graduate student
Trans-epithelial cell migration in the epidermis
Tiffany Lu, Staff associate
Microridge development
After the lab: Graduate student, University of Chicago
Olivia Justynski
Post-doc
Molecular characterization of epidermal migratory cells
Sukriti Kapoor
Post-doc
Sensory axon-epithelial cell interaction in the epidermis
Chelsea Salem
Undergraduate researcher
Regulation of plakins in microridge morphogenesis
Sofia Stuart
Undergraduate researcher
Specification of mucus cells and ionocytes in zebrafish epidermis
Frankie Xu
Undergraduate lab assistant
Lab management
Fatimah Jaffar
Undergraduate lab assistant
Lab management
