Biochemistry

Brannon McCullough Ph.D. has been serving as a Preclinical Research Scientist at W.L. Gore & Associates for over the past five years. His professional responsibilities include developing innovative medical products and technologies. Dr. McCullough's academic background includes B.S. degrees in Chemistry and Physics from the University of Wyoming, followed by a Ph.D. in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry from Yale University. His distinguished dissertation research focused on the mechanics of actin filament turnover. He then served as a Postdoctoral Associate in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Minnesota, where he researched brain cancer cell migration. Subsequently, he taught Chemistry and Biochemistry at Northern Arizona University. In his free time, Dr. McCullough enjoys being with his wife and three sons, exploring the outdoors, and traveling to new destinations.

Angela Blum, Ph.D.,  is a physical organic chemist working at the intersection of chemistry and biology. She earned her Ph.D. in Chemistry from the California Institute of Technology.  As a faculty member at Hamilton College, Dr. Blum taught courses in organic chemistry and biochemistry while leading a research laboratory focused on developing material-based solutions to antibiotic resistance. After several years in academia, Dr. Blum transitioned into the biotechnology industry, beginning with a role at a startup. This experience fostered an appreciation for the dynamic and fast-paced nature of the industry. Over the years, Dr. Blum has embraced the idea that multiple aspirations can be pursued throughout a lifetime and that adapting to change is both rewarding and fulfilling.

Samantha Zepeda is a biochemist and structural biologist with a background in protein biochemistry, biophysics, and virology. She earned her Ph.D. in Biochemistry at the University of Washington, studying the structure of bat viral glycoproteins through cryo-electron microscopy to elucidate the molecular mechanisms of bat borne sarbecovirus spillover. She steered a number of collaborative projects including exploring the evolutionary history of ACE2 receptor usage in coronaviruses, assessing the role of conformational dynamics in spike glycoproteins receptor tropism, and understanding the stability, and immunogenicity of antigens derived from bat viral glycoproteins. In addition to this work, Dr. Zepeda contributed to a number of pandemic response and pandemic preparedness projects focused on characterizing monoclonal antibodies and developing next generation vaccines. 

Jake LeVieux is a biochemist with an enzymology, assay development, and multi-omics background. He earned his PhD in Biochemistry at the University of Texas at Austin, studying the structure and mechanism of bacterial enzymes that degrade toxic components of crude oil. He then began working in the biotech industry at Element Biosciences, where he co-invented and developed DNA sequencing chemistry. He currently works at Element on a spatial biology platform as a Senior Scientist. Jake enjoys surfing, running, and playing guitar in his free time. 

Jake LeVieux is a biochemist with an enzymology, assay development, and multi-omics background. He earned his PhD in Biochemistry at the University of Texas at Austin, studying the structure and mechanism of bacterial enzymes that degrade toxic components of crude oil. He then began working in the biotech industry at Element Biosciences, where he co-invented and developed DNA sequencing chemistry. He currently works at Element on a spatial biology platform as a Senior Scientist. Jake enjoys surfing, running, and playing guitar in his free time. 

Agape Awad received her Ph.D. and completed her Postdoctoral Fellowship work at the University of California, Los Angeles, in the field of Biochemistry, Molecular, and Structural Biology, with a research emphasis in medicine.  Subsequently, Dr. Awad joined the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at UCLA as an Instructional Faculty member, where she spent several years teaching Biochemistry and conducting research in the field of respiratory metabolism and diseases. 

Ace Santiago obtained his Ph.D. in Chemistry and Chemical Biology from Cornell University and a Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biochemistry and Microbiology from Harvard Medical School. Dr. Santiago taught Biochemistry and General Chemistry courses during his graduate studies at Cornell. He has specialized skills in protein sciences, molecular biology, microbiology, fluorescence microscopy, genomics, and computing. His notable discoveries include 1) how transcription factor unbinding can be regulated, 2) how metal ion transporters assemble in living cells, and 3) the identification of the first protein regulator of a serine-threonine kinase in a bacterial pathogen, which gave insights into cell wall biosynthesis and antimicrobial resistance in gram-positive bacteria. Previously, Dr. Santiago worked as a Biochemist and Molecular Biologist at Siemens Healthineers and 10x Genomics, respectively, where he helped create state-of-the-art technologies for clinical diagnostic or genomics discovery applications. Ace enjoys drawing, reading, exploring cities or nature, and spending time with family and friends.

Carla Uranga, Ph.D., is currently a Postdoctoral Fellow at the J. Craig Venter Institute, where she is actively working on studying the metabolomics of microorganisms. With a specialty in purification method development, her current focus is on purifying small molecules produced by bacteria from the human oral microbiome and studying their physiological effects on the host immune system and on other bacteria.
 
Prior to joining JCVI, she worked in industry in a variety of capacities, including purification, especially as applied to virus and virus-like particles (VLPs) for oncolytics and vaccine purposes at PaxVax (now Emergent Biosolutions) and in plant molecular biology at Syngenta. She and her husband started a business in Baja California during her doctorate and they currently make natural lotions and soaps for the Guadalupe Valley wine country in Baja California.
 
She received her Bachelor’s Degree in Biochemistry from the University of California, San Diego, and her doctorate in Life Sciences/Biochemistry from CICESE in Ensenada, Mexico.

Brett Barbaro, Ph,D, is a fellow at The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, Department of Integrative Structural and Computational Biology, where he is currently working on integrating proteomics and cryo electron microscopy approaches in atomic-resolution computer models of biological systems.  He has over 15 years of laboratory experience, and has published numerous articles and several book chapters.  He majored in biochemistry at Harvard University, and received his Ph.D. from the University of California, Irvine, where he studied the molecular mechanisms of Huntington’s Disease.

Kirthi Reddy received her Ph.D. from Stanford University, where she studied effects of chromatin modification on DNA double-strand break formation. She completed her postdoctoral training at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, researching how interactions with microbes influence neuronal signaling and behavior. She then spent over ten years as a research scientist at UCSD and the Salk Institute where she worked in a broad range of fields including pathogen resistance, the genetics of autism, and cancer biology. She has published numerous journal articles and has mentored many students in the lab. In her free time, Dr. Reddy enjoys spending time with her kids, playing ping-pong, and solving puzzles. 

Teaching Experience
During his scientific career, Dr. Saborio has taught in-person full or part of courses in Biochemistry and in Molecular Biology to graduate students, and a Biology course in two community colleges: Irvine Valley College, at Irvine, CA, and Saddleback College, at Mission Viejo, CA. Dr. Saborio has been an instructor in eight Biochemistry courses offered by UC San Diego Extended Studies.

Research Experience 
At the Department of Molecular Biology of Beckman Instruments, Inc., Fullerton, CA, Dr. Saborio developed procedures for bulk production of recombinant proteins and antibodies used for diagnostic tests, and later on became Quality Assurance Manager for the company's Molecular Biology product line. 

The following link [https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sort=date&term=Saborio+JL&cauthor_id=7806347] opens a list of articles Dr. Saborio has published in peer-reviewed Journals during his scientific career. The articles are listed in no especial order but can be grouped as follows: 1) Studies on Poliovirus that describe work done at the Roche Institute of Molecular Biology, Nutley, NJ. USA, 2) Studies on Adenovirus that describe work done at the Wallenberg Laboratory, University of Uppsala, Uppsala, Sweden; 3) Articles on Cytoskeletal and Muscle proteins, done at the Institute of Advanced Studies, National Polytechnic Institute, Mexico City, Mexico; and 4) Articles on T. cruzi flagellar proteins, done at the Polytechnic Institute in Mexico City, the Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, School of Biological Sciences, University of California, Irvine, CA, and at several sites in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, Brazil. This site allows people to read the summary of the articles, and to assess the impact of those articles on the community working in those particular fields.