Current Students and Alumni Home Education Current Students and Alumni NIH National Research Service Award (NRSA) Fellowships The goal of the NIH Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) program dual-doctoral degree, predoctoral fellowship (F30) is to improve the research and clinical training of promising predoctoral students who are enrolled in a combined MD/PhD or other dual-doctoral degree training program and want to work as physician-scientists or other clinician-scientists. The fellowship experience is expected to clearly enhance the individuals’ potential to develop into productive, independent physician-scientists or other clinician-scientists. The award enables promising predoctoral students to obtain individualized, mentored research training from outstanding faculty sponsors while conducting dissertation research in scientific health-related fields. In recognition of their potential and accomplishments, CTVR is proud to announce that three students, Samuel Du (F30), John Hong (F30) and Zachary Engfer (F31) were each recently awarded 5 years of NRSA support from the National Eye Institute based on their first applications! Meet our Current Students Jacob Robert Dohl Jacob graduated from the University of Maryland; Baltimore County in 2016 with a B.S. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. After graduation, he took a position as a research assistant at the Consortium for Health and Military Performance where his passion for mitochondrial research was kindled while working for Dr. Tianzheng Yu. While at the Consortium, Jacob researched the mitochondrial involvement in disease, including heat-induced muscle injury, diabetes, and PTSD. This work resulted in two first author publications and eight co-author publications, setting a solid foundation for his graduate studies. Since joining the Kenney lab in 2021, Jacob has quickly adapted to the lab, learning to model age-related macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness in the United States, in the lab’s cytoplasmic hybrid model. He is starting work on in vivo murine ophthalmological studies to further expand his skillset. Based on his previous work and plans for future studies, Jacob was awarded the NSF GRFP in 2022. Samuel Du Samuel came into his MD/PhD training with an extraordinary wealth of research experience, recently publishing his tenth paper from his undergraduate work and post-bachelor’s research. These include five first-author research publications and five co-author publications in journals such as the Journal of Clinical Investigation, Journal of Experimental Medicine, Journal of Immunology, and the European Journal of Immunology. It is clear from his pre-doctoral work that he is a highly productive and talented scientist, with an exceptionally strong foundation for his doctoral research. As a member of the Palczewski laboratory since 2020, Samuel has quickly mastered the technical skills needed for success, ranging from cutting edge molecular biology cloning techniques to highly challenging mouse surgeries, such as subretinal injections. His research progress on applying these techniques to basic physiology and genome editing of the eye has led to co-authorships on a pair of papers that were accepted at Cell and Nature Communications. These resulted from his close collaboration with a graduated MD/PhD student, Dr. Susie Suh, and the laboratory of David Liu at the Broad Institute. Additionally, Samuel initiated a first-author review article on microRNA physiology in the retinal pigment epithelium that was published in Trends in Neurosciences in January 2022. Hernan Gomez Hernan Gomez is a second year graduate student in the chemistry department. Hernan previously had one year of undergraduate research experience developing nanoparticles to target toxic peptides and proteins. Post graduation he spent one year in industry at Takeda Pharmaceuticals where he learned about the potential of plasma derived protein therapeutics and how to perform analysis on them. Following his experience, he decided to continue to pursue his research experience and joined the chemistry PhD program at UCI to further investigate areas of chemical biology. Curious about exploring a new area of science, he joined the Palczewski laboratory in 2022. Since then, he has begun studying ophthalmology and expanding my knowledge on related fields to begin developing his research project. From the collaborative nature of the lab, he hopes to learn and develop his technical skills from wide range of disciplines available to eventually apply them to his research project. Currently he is synthesizing retinoid compounds to test if they stabilize the P23H rhodopsin mutant. John Hong He received an incredibly favorable score of 13 on his NIH Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) F30 Fellowship application for which he has recently received a Notice of Award. Over the course of his academic studies, he has co-authored four basic science research papers as well as completed 3 clinical research papers.Currently, John is close to completing the final set of experiments for his next basic science publication, which describes the release of expended chromophore from opsin proteins followed by its immediate interaction with phospholipids, vital steps in the visual cycle. John has developed an exciting new method that captures both events as they are occurring in tandem. This method will translate to major contributions to the field of vision research as it is highly reproducible and is easily accessible to all researchers, as the required reagents are inexpensive and widely available, and the required equipment (liquid chromatography and electrospray ionization mass spectrometry systems) are accessible at most research institutions Jennings Luu Jennings has been awarded the prestigious Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award Individual Fellowship from the National Institutes of Health for M.D./Ph.D. candidates for his translational research proposal, which is focused on molecular mechanisms of neurodegenerative disorders of the retina and therapeutic approaches. During Mr. Luu’s Ph.D. training, he has published a first-authored manuscript in the premier journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2018), detailing an innovative Systems Pharmacology approach to identify synergistic combinations of drugs that modulate distinct mechanistic nodes within a network, minimizing off-target side effects and enabling better therapeutic outcomes. G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), along with PDEs, are particularly good targets for the application of Systems Pharmacology, because they activate different signal transduction pathways that can culminate in a common response. Jennings has also led a scientific study to completion, characterizing the epigenome of a mouse model that recapitulates the hallmarks of human AMD, for which his first-authored manuscript was published as the cover story in the August 2020 issue of Human Molecular Genetics.Some of Mr. Luu’s other notable accomplishments during this period include several contributing authorships on primary research reports published in the journals Structure (2022) and Journal of Clinical Investigation Insight (2022), resulting from collaborations with his colleagues in our Center for Translational Vision Research. Lastly, Jennings has also been leading a multidisciplinary study to evaluate a novel therapeutic approach for treating stress-induced retinal degeneration with PDE inhibitors. This study serves as the framework for his dissertation research as well as his F30 fellowship grant, which was officially awarded in December 2020. Mr. Luu’s first-authored manuscript describing this work with PDE inhibitors is currently being written, with a tentative submission date in May 2022. Carolline Menezes, M.D. Carolline is a medical doctor and incoming Ph.D. graduate student who will be training under the mentorship of Dr. Krzystof Palczewski. Carolline joined the Palczewski laboratory as a postdoctoral researcher in 2022 and quickly distinguished herself with her strong work ethic and tenacious desire to learn. Carolline’s robust foundation and background in Medicine laid the framework for swift acquirement of a multitude of complex and cutting-edge techniques ranging from multimodal imaging to highly challenging mouse surgeries, such as subretinal injections. Her research objectives are to contribute to the field of genome editing targeting inherited retinal disorders. Carolline is dedicated to understanding the pathophysiology of these burdensome diseases and devoting time to providing tools that could contribute to people’s quality of life and to make an impact on their health. Carolline believes that through immersion and in-depth comprehension of the scientific method will allow for full interpretation of these findings and developing critical sensibility as both a clinician and a scientist. With her research, Carolline aims to further her studies in disease-causing mutations and exploiting genome editing technologies and their potential as novel therapeutic approaches. Carolline hopes to extend her research outreach to progress her contributions that have the potential for translation and accessibility to low-income communities, as the one she has come from, and for that reason, she also takes part in various initiatives that foster relationships with at-risk communities and providing access to care. Carolline ultimately wholeheartedly believes in research as a transformative and impactful journey that shares a common value with Medicine: to serve others and allow for a continuum place of growth and understanding. Omar Medani Omar obtained his Bachelor's degree in Biology with a specialization in Prokaryotic and Eukaryotic genetics, which provided him with a profound appreciation for the intricate nature of life's fundamental building blocks. Omar focused his initial research endeavors towards the identification of heterozygosity loss within the Human Leukocyte Antigens (HLA) in relation Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML), which will aid in identifying cancerous cells that have adapted strategies to evade detection and treatment. Presently, Omar's ambition is to establish novel approaches to optimize the efficacy of Base and Prime Editors, thus fostering advancement in the field as a whole. One of his parallel undertakings involves the use of delivery systems that have a safer and efficient delivery mechanism. He will also be pursuing his doctoral degree in the department of biochemistry this upcoming cycle. Eleonora Risaliti Eleonora Risaliti is a recent graduate of the University of Pisa, where she earned her Master of Science degree in Neuroscience with a thesis on dopaminergic drugs and neurotoxins affecting pancreatic beta cells. Before pursuing her Master's degree, Eleonora earned a Bachelor of Science in Biology from the Università degli Studi di Firenze. As an intern at National Research Council in Pisa, her thesis focused on the isolation of exosomal microRNAs as potential biomarkers. During her Master’s degree, Eleonora was involved in research projects that led to the publication of two scientific papers. She conducted experiments on the vulnerability of β-cells to Parkinsonian neurotoxins and as first author, she performed a statistical analysis regarding five years of data from therapeutic drug monitoring. She also had the opportunity to collaborate with the Spacelab of the University of Pisa for the design and analysis of a biological experiment in the stratosphere. Having a strong desire to explore a new field of science, Eleonora joined the Palczewski laboratory as Junior Scientist and she will soon be embarking on her journey as a PhD student in the Physiology & Biophysics graduate program. She is excited to expand her knowledge and skills in this new area of science and is eager to contribute to the field through her research. Yasmeen Joannna Solano Rodriguez Yasmeen Solano is a Ph.D. graduate student who is training under the mentorship of Dr. Philip Kiser. Yasmeen’s research interest involves the development of unfamiliar proteins involved in critical biological systems. Specifically, Yasmeen’s current objectives are to contribute scientific findings towards various proteins that take part within the visual cycle, one of them being Lecithin retinol acyltransferase (LRAT). LRAT is a retinyl ester synthase, catalyzing the formation of fatty acid retinyl esters, a crucial step in the retinoid cycle. In the eye, it is specifically expressed in the RPE, therefore, LRAT dysfunction leads to diminished visual chromophores and eventual retinal degeneration. Loss-of-function of LRAT in humans causes severe vision loss, ultimately developing into retinitis pigmentosa (RP). What captures Yasmeen’s interest the most about this protein is that at present, native LRAT, an integral membrane protein, has never been purified and its structural knowledge is not fully established. By applying various biochemical techniques, Yasmeen has expressed, solubilized, and purified a fully functioning LRAT protein. This sets the stage for Yasmeen to move onto crystallizing the protein and obtain an overall better structural understanding of native LRAT. As she strives to expand the development of proteins within the visual cycle, Yasmeen has also taken the role of mentoring undergraduates in the lab. She finds it critical to take part in mentorship and outreach as she notes that if outreach would have been accessible to her in her lower income community, her love for science would have started at a much younger age. For that reason, her and her mentor are working to provide a day of science to low-income students in neighboring minority-filled communities. Outside of lab, Yasmeen enjoys spending time with her family and creating new memories with her newborn son, Eleus. Emily Tom Ms. Emily Tom is an M.D./Ph.D. trainee under the mentorship of Dr. Dorota Skowronska-Krawczyk. Emily’s research interest concentrates on the molecular mechanisms of aging and age-related eye diseases. Emily has conducted key cell-based assays to characterize the phenotype of decreased ELOVL2 expression in human ARPE19 and iPSc-RPE cells, including the establishment of a novel lipidomics-based approach to measure phagocytic function in a quantifiable, sensitive, and reproducible manner. Her contributions to the lipidomics field also include a co-first author mini review published in Frontiers in Aging in March 2022 on current technological advances to study lipids in aging. During her time in the laboratory, she has also mentored several undergraduate students and a senior-year high school student in the lab. Outside of the lab, Ms. Emily Tom is an active member of the UCI community. Her interest in ophthalmology spans beyond just the lab bench. She volunteers with the Orange County Eye Project (OCEP), led by Retina Global and Dr. Rajat Agarwal, to provide free eye exams at their monthly clinic in Orange. She then leveraged her position as co-president of the Ophthalmology Interest Group at UCI to establish a volunteer program for medical students with OCEP. Additionally, working together with a group led by Dr. Donny Suh, she developed, clinically tested, and validated a smartphone app to measure visual acuity. In addition, her strong science communication skills led her to be selected as a Loh Down on Science Fellow, where she writes and edits scripts for a science podcast that is broadcasted on NPR. Zachary Engfer Since joining Dr. Palczewski lab in the Center for Translational Vision Research (CTVR) at the beginning of 2021, Zachary has demonstrated exceptional tenacity and drive to advance his research and obtain the training he needs to fulfill his future goal of becoming an independent investigator. His research interests are multifaceted, and he is currently spearheading two independent projects while assisting with a third, collaborative effort. His primary project focuses on studying retinoid flux and the biochemical basis of a two-cell visual chromophore recycling pathway, i.e., the “visual cycle”, via the manipulation of two key enzymes in murine retinas. Zachary’s main goal with his core project is understanding how engineering Lrat and Rpe65 expression in the photoreceptors (normally these are endogenously expressed in the RPE) affects retinoid flux and influences normal retinal function and morphology. Understanding how perturbations to the visual cycle affect both health of the retina and movement of retinoid intermediates provides insight into potential metabolic networks that need to be addressed for effective treatment and/or reversal of specific retinal degenerative pathologies. Additionally, Zachary is working on generating new antibodies against rod- and cone-specific cyclic nucleotide-gated channel isoforms that are responsible for generating the initial hyperpolarization response in the photoreceptors. Zachary has demonstrated a profound keenness to engage with the biomedical research community at large, and he actively engages with guest speakers in an array of diverse fields. Innate enthusiasm, serious work ethic, and curiosity for discovery is essential for a lifelong career in research, and Zachary displays these attributes on a daily basis. His commitment to bettering human health through a balance of basic and translational research identifies him as a student who will continue a schoolwide commitment to excellence and empathy in biomedical research as he continues with his career. Meet our Alumni Susie Suh, now at Case Western Reserve University, finishing MD program Elliot Choi, now at Case Western Reserve University, finishing MD program Anahita Darwalla, now Senior Associate Scientist at 23andMe Christopher Sander, now Senior Scientist at Evotec Avery Sears, now at Case Western Reserve University, finishing MD program