Katherine Thompson-Peer, PhD (PI)
Dr. Katie Thompson-Peer earned her bachelor’s degree in Biology from the University of Pennsylvania, followed by a two-year stint at the Johns Hopkins University with Alex Kolodkin. She earned her PhD from Harvard University working with Josh Kaplan, and was a postdoctoral fellow with Yuh-Nung and Lily Jan at the University of California, San Francisco and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Her postdoctoral work was supported by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke F32 and K99/R00 fellowships, as well as a the University of California Office of the President’s Postdoctoral Fellowship. She opened her lab at UC Irvine, in the department of Developmental and Cell Biology, in April 2019. Katie is a fellow with the Reeve-Irvine Research Center, the Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, and the Sue and Bill Gross Stem Cell Research Center. Katie is committed to diversifying the scientific community, and interested in the ways that science policy and science communication can be employed towards this goal.
email: ktpeer <at> uci <dot> edu
Patrick Hwu (grad student)
I am currently a second year graduate student in the Department of Developmental and Cell Biology. I received my B.A. in Psychology from UCI in 2019. During my undergraduate research career at UC Irvine, I studied brain regions involved with action anticipation in humans through functional magnetic resonance imaging in the Grossman Lab. Additionally, I was a member of the Holmes Lab studying circadian disruption in the fruit fly.
In the lab, I study how dendrites regenerate after laser injury in the peripheral nervous system. My goal is to learn more and identify potential genes that enhance the regenerative capacity of dendrites. I hope that studying the fundamentals of dendrite regeneration will uncover behavioral/functional insights in neurological disorders.
One of my favorite hobbies outside of lab is cooking. Cooking to me is similar to science in that it allows me to experiment with different techniques! Besides cooking, I enjoy cycling (track), reading, and watching documentaries! If you’re interested in learning more about the research that our lab does or have any general questions regarding the early graduate school process, don’t hesitate to contact me through email!
email: pthwu < at > uci <dot> edu
Vini Duarte (grad student)
Hey everyone! I am a second-year graduate student who came in through the Interdepartmental Neuroscience Gateway Program. Prior to my time at UCI, I interned in a pain lab at the University of Florida and studied Huntington’s Disease at the University of Central Florida. I obtained my bachelor’s in Biomedical Sciences at the University of Central Florida in 2019 #goKnights!
I am currently using 2-photon laser dendriotomy to assess the regenerative capacity of the peripheral sensory neurons in Drosophila larvae. Since I recently joined the lab, I am working on building up my control data set but I’m super excited to start working with mutant flies that may or may not bolster regeneration in the larvaes’ neurons.
My hobbies outside of lab include playing beach volleyball at West Street Beach (just south of Laguna; it is beautiful) and taking my dog everywhere because she’s my princess. I also enjoy working out, playing videogames, and volunteering with the Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory. If you need anything, please reach out; I love helping others!
vnduarte [at] uci [dot] edu
Jasmin Kwak (grad student)
Jasmin is a Physics PhD student who primarily mentored by Dr Steve Gross, working on a collaborative project with our lab. She was an undergraduate student at UC Santa Barbara. While there, she worked on a number of projects, including a project with Joel Rothman’s lab looking at mitochondrial dynamics in C. elegans. She joined the Gross lab in summer 2020, and began working on our collaborative project soon after.
kwakjj [at] uci [dot] edu
Anatoli Slepenkin (Staff Scientist)
Anatoli completed his PhD in Biotechnology at the Russian Academy of Sciences. From 1995 until 2017, he worked in the lab of Ellena Peterson, in the department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at UCI, studying the type III secretion system of Chlamydiae and developing putative type III secretion inhibitors as microbicide candidates. From 2017 until 2019, he worked in the lab of Anthony James in the department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics at UCI, developing transgenic mosquitoes using CRISPR-Cas9, establishing a mouse malaria model, testing anti-malaria effector molecules, and examining gene expression in the lab’s mosquito strains.
aslepenk [at] uci [dot] edu
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Current rotation student(s): Syndey Prange
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Current undergrads (Bio199 research or volunteer or work-study)
Dario Rimicci. Emily Davis. Vicky Tham. Mansher Dhaliwal. Rocelyn Lee. Miyo Sun. Jacob Liu.
Grace Jean, Human Biology major. Graduating Spring 2021. Recipient of the Howard Schneiderman prize for her 2020-2021 Excellence in Research project. UROP funding (Jan 2020).
Carolee Nguyen, Bio Sci major, graduated Summer 2020. Recipient of a travel award to present at the 4th annual RIKEN Center for Computational Science R-CCS Youth Workshop in Kobe, Japan, Feb 2020. UROP funding (Jan 2020).
Lab alumni
Former undergrads: Anita Bari, co-funded on UROP project with Grace Jean.
Former rotation students: Jharrayne McKnight (INP), Jeffrey Piña (CMB), Diana Suder (CMB).
We are hiring!
Postdocs: Interested postdocs should email us directly. Please include your CV.
Grad students: Current graduate students should contact us to set up a rotation. Future graduate students should apply to one of the UC Irvine graduate programs (Cellular and Molecular Biosciences or the Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program).
Undergrads: Interested undergraduates should contact us by email and consider enrolling in Bio 199.
Technicians: Potential technicians should email us directly.
ktpeer [ at ] uci [ dot ] com
Members of communities who are underrepresented in science are especially encouraged to apply.