James was an undergraduate at McGill University, where he worked in the lab of Dr. Francois Fagotto on Xenopus developmental biology. During the summers, he returned to his hometown of Toronto and worked in Dr. Alan Davidson’s lab on TetR repressor biophysics and bacteriophage genomics.
He moved to California in 2005 to do his Ph.D. in Molecular and Cellular Biology at UC Berkeley. There, he worked with Dr. Tom Alber creating biophysical methods to characterize protein side chain flexibility in high resolution X-ray electron density maps. They applied these techniques to study connections between conformational dynamics and enzymatic catalysis, showing that room temperature, but not standard cryogenic, X-ray data collection could reveal the structural basis for critical functional motions.
Near the end of his Ph.D., he was an EMBO Short-Term Fellow in Dr. Dan Tawfik’s lab at the Weizmann Institute of Science. Concurrently, he authored the problems and solutions manual for the physical chemistry textbook The Molecules of Life by Kuriyan, Konforti, and Wemmer.
In January 2011, James started his independent career as a QB3 at UCSF Fellow affiliated with the Department of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology. In January 2013, he was appointed as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences and the California Institute for Quantitative Biosciences (QB3) with promotion to Associate Professor in 2016, and Full Professor in 2020. From 2022-2023, he was Vice Dean of Research for the UCSF School of Pharmacy. Since August 2023, he has been the Ernest L. Prien Professor and Chair of the Department of Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences.
The lab is also part of the Macromolecular Structure Group at UCSF and BioXFEL, a Science and Technology Center established by the National Science Foundation. We maintain a deep connection with Macomolecular Crystallography Beamline 8.3.1., directed by Dr. James Holton, at the Advanced Light Source. James is also a Faculty Scientist in the Molecular Biophysics and Integrated Bioimaging Division of Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, and Associate Director of the Quantitative Biosciences Initiative.
In addition to all the exciting developments in the lab, James has long standing interests in teaching, baseball statistics, and juggling. James was also on the board of ASAPbio, a non-profit organization dedicated to accelerating the pace of scientific discovery by making research outputs more accessible and reusable. The lab is committed to publishing our code, disseminating our datasets, posting manuscripts on preprint servers, and participating in open peer review. He is the co-creator of UCSF Talks, an aggregator of all the discovery science seminars at UCSF. His full conflicts of interest are available here.
Pooja received her Ph.D. from the University of Oulu in Finland. Her thesis focused on the structural characterization of mycobacterial membrane proteins using X-ray crystallography and small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS).
In the Fraser lab, Pooja will utilize both X-ray crystallography and cryo-EM to study the drug complexes of tubulin and understand the molecular mechanism of resistance of anti-parasitic drugs.
Outside of lab, Pooja enjoys long walks and board games.
Priyanka did her Bachelor’s in Biochemistry at Sri Venkateswara College, University of Delhi and her Master’s in Biochemistry at the University of Hyderabad. She completed her Ph.D. from Molecular Biophysics Unit, Indian Institute of Science under Prof. Raghavan Vardarajan. Her Ph.D. work involved developing high-thoughput screens for measuring the mutational sensitivity of the toxin component of the toxin-antitoxin system of E. coli. She carried out deep mutational scans of the site-saturation mutagenesis library and single-site synonymous mutant library of the toxin gene in operonic context.
In the Fraser lab, Priyanka will perform deep mutational scanning on cancer-related proteins.
Outside the lab, Priyanka likes to dance, go on adventurous trips and explore the city.
Lena graduated in pharmacy at the Julius-Maximilians-University in Wuerzburg, Germany. During her Ph.D. in biochemistry at the LMU Munich, she focused on the molecular mechanism of chromatin remodeler recruitment in yeast.
In the Fraser lab, Lena is responsible for lab management as well as protein purifications and subsequent assays.
On the weekends you can find her hiking in the forest or mountains or going to the ballet.
Daphne graduated from UCLA with a degree in Biophysics. As an undergraduate, she studied the effects of chaotropes and kosmotropes on protein hydration layers under the guidance of Dr. Giovanni Zocchi.
She discovered her interest in structural biology when she spent a summer working under Dr. Kliment Verba at UCSF.
As a graduate student, Daphne is characterizing anti-CRISPR proteins in collaboration with the Bondy-Denomy Lab, as well as pursuing structural biology projects related to the phage-bacteria arms race.
Outside of lab, Daphne enjoys birding, reading, and playing with her cat Lilly.
Daphne is supported by a graduate fellowship from the UCSF Discovery Fellows Program.
Karson graduated from Walla Walla University with a degree in Bioengineering. During his undergraduate training, he worked on methods for high-throughput determination of antibody binding affinities under the mentorship of Dr. Timothy Whitehead at CU Boulder. Now, in the Fraser Lab, Karson aims to study protein conformational ensembles using the rich experimental data in structural biology in combination with generative modeling. Outside of lab, Karson enjoys biking, running, skiing, listening to jazz, and board games. He also drinks lots of tea and coffee.
Galen’s research interest lies in using structural biology to tackle problems in protein engineering and drug design. He earned his Ph.D. from the Australian National University, where he worked with Dr. Colin Jackson on the structure, function and evolution of insect enzymes that detoxify organophosphate nerve agents.
In the Fraser lab, first as a postdoc and now as a staff scientist, Galen is using recently developed methods in fragment-based drug discovery to guide the design of new inhibitors of an emerging anti-cancer therapeutic target and leading the high-throughput crystallography component of the QCRG AVIDD Program to discover new anti-virals.
Mohamad hails from Southern California where he attended UC Irvine to pursue his B.S. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. Here, he researched fruit flies, bacteria and viruses. For his Ph.D. studies in Metabolic Biology, he trained under Dr. Marc Hellerstein at UC Berkeley on stable isotope methods and technology combined with mass spectrometry to investigate the fluxes of metabolic pathways in human health and disease.
In the Fraser lab, Mohamad is pursuing his postdoctoral studies where he will emerge in biophysics and structural biology to study ribosomal structures of M. tuberculosis using Cryo-EM.
For his recreational activities, Mohamad really enjoys going to concerts with his wife and playing guitar.
Jessica recently earned her Bachelor’s degree in chemical physics from UC Davis, where her research focused on building new theoretical models to describe intrinsically disordered proteins. She has also taken an interest in structural biology, and in the Fraser lab, she’s working on developing qFit. Beyond the lab, Jessica loves climbing, biking, and painting.
Daniel graduated from Stanford, where he worked on single-molecule biophysics with Dr. Steven Block.
In the Fraser lab, Daniel works to improve and expand the lab’s computational resources. He’s passionate about open science, open data, and open-source software.
Outside of lab, Daniel can usually be found running or playing board games.
Sonya graduated from Williams College with a degree in Chemistry. As an undergraduate, she studied antibiotic resistance mutations in beta-lactamase under Dr. Kathryn Hart.
In the Fraser lab, Sonya will be studying antibiotic resistance mechanisms.
Outside of the lab, she likes to listen to podcasts and stare into space.
Christian graduated from Arizona State University with degrees in Mathematics and Biochemistry, where he conducted research in the total synthesis of marine natural products with Dr. George Pettit. Afterwards, he attended the University of Michigan for his Ph.D. in Biophysics. In Dr. Randy Stockbridge’s lab, he studied the evolution and function of a number of membrane protein families.
Outside of lab, he enjoys books, music, being outdoors and/or on a bike, and drinking too much coffee.
Christian is supported by a Kirschstein NRSA (F32) fellowship from NIH/NIGMS.
Rishav graduated from St. Xavier’s College in Kolkata, India with a Masters degree in Biotechnology. He received his PhD from the University of Michigan, working with Dr. James Bardwell on studying molecular chaperones and intrinsically disordered proteins. In the Fraser lab, Rishav is interested in studying the conformational dynamics of Macrodomains. Outside of lab, Rishav enjoys traveling and can usually be found in art galleries and coffee shops.
Tushar recently graduated from Department of Chemistry, Universität Hamburg. His research project was carried out in the laboratories of Dr. Arwen Pearson (Center for Free-Electron Laser Science) and Dr. Trevor Forsyth (Institut Laue-Langevin). As a graduate student, he worked on two enzyme systems: E. coli copper amine oxidase (ECAO) and aspartate α-decarboxylase (ADC). In case of ECAO, he explored the effect of two non active site mutations whereas in case of ADC, he studied the effect of binding of a ligand on structure and dynamics of these enzymes. For this, he used a combination of neutron spectroscopy, X-ray/neutron diffraction and molecular dynamics simulations.
In the Fraser lab, Tushar will work on the structural basis of translation stalling using single particle cryo-EM. He will create a predictive model for interactions between nascent peptide motifs, small molecules, and the ribosome.
CJ graduated from UC Berkeley with a degree in Genetics, Genomics and Developmental Biology. As an undergraduate, he studied how somitogenesis is initiated in Xenopus laevis under the mentorship of Dr. Richard Harland.
Outside of lab, CJ enjoys biking, hiking, cooking, and music, and playing guitar.
I graduated from Aix Marseille university in France with a Ph.D. degree in structural biochemistry. During my Ph.D., I studied, at the functional and structural levels, two component systems involved in the virulence of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. After that, I joined the structural motility team at Curie Institute in Paris as a postdoctoral researcher. My project aimed to understand how does the human cardiac myosin interacts with other proteins and how dysfunction can lead to hypertrophic cardiomyopathies.
At UCSF, I will manage the X-ray Crystallography Core. I will also be involved in identifying new anti-viral compounds by X-ray crystallography.
Outside the lab, I enjoy listening to music, shopping, hiking, and discovering new places around the world.
Donovan Trinidad
Affiliate, Graduate Student, BMS (F31 NRSA)
he/him/his
2021 - 2024
0000-0002-1439-9927
donovan-trinidad-b97a3511b
Donovan’s Citations
Ashraya Ravikumar, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Scholar
she/her/hers
2021 - 2024
0000-0002-4902-4025
ashraya-ravikumar-2647a39b
Ashraya’s Citations
@ashrayaravi
ashrayar
Gabriella Estevam, Ph.D.
Graduate Student, Tetrad
she/her/hers
2019 - 2023
Subsequently: Scientist, Profluent Bio
0000-0002-9142-7805
gestevam
@GabbyEstevam
gestevam
Eric Greene, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Scholar (F32 NRSA)
he/him/his
2020 - 2023
Subsequently: Assistant Professor - Greene Lab @ SFSU
https://www.egreenelab.org/
0000-0003-1717-0914
eric-greene-1b169847
Eric’s Citations
@EricRGreene1
egreene488
Willow Coyote-Maestas, Ph.D.
Affiliate, HHMI Hanna Gray and
QBI Fellow
he/him/his
2021 - 2023
Subsequently: Assistant Professor - Coyote-Maestas Lab @ UCSF
https://www.wcoyotelab.com/
0000-0001-9614-5340
Willow’s Citations
@willowcoyote
coywil26
Roberto Efraín (Robbie) Díaz, Ph.D.
Graduate Student, Tetrad
(NSF GRFP, HHMI Gilliam Fellow)
he/él
2018 - 2023
Subsequently: DEIA Program Manager, Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, UCSF
https://rediaz.science/
0000-0002-1172-9919
rediaz111
Roberto Efraín’s Citations
@robbiediaz_
rediaz111
Stephanie Wankowicz, Ph.D.
Graduate Student, Biophysics (NSF GRFP (2019-2023),
Staff Scientist, AViDD Mentored Project Award (2023-2024)
she/her/hers
2019 - 2024
Subsequently: Assistant Professor - Wankowicz Lab @ Vanderbilt University
https://wankowiczlab.com/
0000-0002-4225-7459
stephanie-mullane-wankowicz-2657a726
Stephanie’s Citations
@stephanie_mul
stephaniewankowicz
Jen Michaud, Ph.D.
Staff Scientist
she/her/hers
2020 - 2022
Subsequently: Lab Manager and Cell Culture Lead @ Scale Biosciences
0000-0002-0872-0825
jennifermmichaud
Jen’s Citations
@jmmichaud
jmmichaud
Jenna Pellegrino, Ph.D.
Graduate Student, Biophysics (NSF GRFP)
she/her/hers
2018 - 2022
Subsequently: Scientist @ ArrePath
0000-0002-6212-395X
jenna-pellegrino-562ab2190
jepellegrino
Alexis Kelley
PROPEL Scholar
she/her/hers
2021 - 2022
Subsequently: Graduate Student - Johns Hopkins University
alexis-kelley-469881141
@Penguin_Chika
akelley1207
Angelika Arada
Junior Specialist
she/her/hers
2021 - 2022
Subsequently: Graduate Student - UCSF
angelikaarada
Iris Young, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Scholar (F32 NRSA)
he/him/his
2018 - 2022
Subsequently: Scientist @ Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
https://irisdyoung.github.io/
0000-0003-4713-9504
iris-young-1b884a114
Iris’s Citations
@irisdyoung
irisdyoung
José Luis Olmos, Jr., Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow
he/him/his
2020 - 2021
Subsequently: Lecturer of Biosciences at Rice University
https://profiles.rice.edu/faculty/jose-luis-olmos-jr
0000-0001-8400-0822
jose-olmos-120b9a144
José’s Citations
@joseluisolmosjr
joeyolmos
D. John Lee, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Scholar (F32 NRSA)
he/him/his
2017 - 2021
Subsequently: Electron Microscopy Core Manager @ Altos Labs
0000-0002-5132-3243
djohnlee
John’s Citations
djohnlee
Lin Liu, Ph.D.
Staff Scientist
she/her/hers
2011 - 2021
Subsequently: Senior Scientist @ Remegen
0000-0003-1283-1410
lin-liu-bab89028
Lin’s Citations
lliu1234
Erin Thompson, Ph.D.
Graduate Student, Chemistry and Chemical Biology
she/her/hers
2015 - 2020
Subsequently: Scientist @ Octant
0000-0002-6085-3051
erin-thompson-6700a836
Erin’s Citations
@ernpossible
eposs
Michael Thompson, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Scholar (BioXFEL, F32 NRSA, PBBR Fellow)
he/him/his
2014 - 2020
Subsequently: Assistant Professor @ UC Merced
https://thompsonlab.science
0000-0002-6099-2027
michael-thompson-612796ab
Michael’s Citations
@MThompsonLab
miket928
Leah Roe
Junior Specialist
she/her/hers
2019 - 2020
Subsequently: Graduate Student - Schepartz Lab @ UC Berkeley
0000-0002-2487-5587
leahroe
Leah’s Citations
@leahtangroe
Hector Chaires
Junior Specialist
he/him/his
2019 - 2020
Subsequently: Medical Student @ UT Southwestern
0000-0002-8493-4489
hector-chaires-a382b080
@hectorchaires6
hchaires
Alexander Wolff, Ph.D.
Graduate Student, Biophysics (Discovery Fellow, ARCS Scholar)
he/him/his
2015 - 2020
Subsequently: Medical Writer @ Health Interactions; now Specialist - Thompson Lab @ UC Merced
0000-0003-0474-7673
lifehasorder
Alexander’s Citations
@LifeHasOrder
LifeHasOrder
Saulo de Oliveira, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Scholar
he/him/his
2018 - 2019
Subsequently: Bioinformatics Scientist @ Frontier Medicines
saulodeoliveira
Saulo’s Citations
sauloho
Benjamin Barad, Ph.D.
Graduate Student, Biophysics (Discovery Fellow, ARCS Scholar)
he/him/his
2014 - 2019
Subsequently: Postdoctoral Fellow - Grotjahn Lab @ Scripps; now Assistant Professor - Barad Lab @ OHSU
http://benjaminbarad.com
0000-0002-1016-862X
bbarad
Benjamin’s Citations
@benjaminbarad
bbarad
Justin Biel, Ph.D.
Graduate Student, Biophysics (NSF GRFP) (2014-2019),
Staff Scientist (2019-2021)
he/him/his
2014 - 2021
Subsequently: Scientist @ Relay Therapeutics
0000-0002-0935-8362
justin-biel-86a319219
Justin’s Citations
@thebieldeal
bielj
Rahel Woldeyes, Ph.D.
Graduate Student, Chemistry and Chemical Biology (NSF GRFP)
she/her/hers
2012 - 2018
Subsequently: Postdoctoral Fellow - Chiu Lab @ SLAC/Stanford
0000-0003-0737-8383
rahel-woldeyes-1178773a
Rahel’s Citations
@rahelwoldeyes
rahelwoldeyes
Brandi Hudson, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow
she/her/hers
2016 - 2018
Subsequently: Scientist @ Relay Therapeutics, Principal Scientist @ Remix Therapeutics
http://brandimhudson.com
0000-0003-2288-9157
brandimhudson
Brandi’s Citations
bmhudson
Daniel Keedy, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow (A.P. Giannini Foundation)
he/him/his
2012 - 2017
Subsequently: Assistant Professor @ City University of New York
https://keedylab.org/
0000-0002-9184-7586
danielkeedy
Daniel’s Citations
@DanielKeedy
dkeedy
David Mavor, Ph.D.
Graduate Student, Biophysics
he/him/his
2011 - 2017
Subsequently: Postdoctoral Fellow - Bolon Lab @ UMass Medical School; now Adjunct Teaching Professor @ Worcester Polytechnic Institute
0000-0002-8281-1493
David’s Citations
mavord
Andrew Van Benschoten, Ph.D.
Graduate Student, Biophysics
he/him/his
2012 - 2015
Subsequently: Senior Data Scientist - Oracle; now Senior Manager, Data Science - Ovative Group
0000-0002-7944-6237
andrewhvbs
Andrew’s Citations
@vanben11
vanbenschoten
Lillian Kenner, Ph.D.
Specialist
she/her/hers
2011 - 2014
Subsequently: Graduate Student, Biophysics - Frost Lab @ UCSF; now Postdoctoral Fellow - Dueber Lab @ Genentech
0000-0002-8004-9730
lillian-kenner-707846b8
Lillian’s Citations
Khanh Vuu
Assistant Specialist
she/her/hers
2012 - 2013
Subsequently: Research Associate @ JBEI/LBL
khanh-charlee-vuu-80407230
Avi Samelson, Ph.D.
Technician
he/him/his
2011
Subsequently: Graduate Student, Molecular and Cell Biology - Marqusee Lab @ UC Berkeley; now Postdoctoral Fellow - Kampmann Lab @ UCSF
avi-s-39081a39
Maria Solache - SRTP Student
she/her/hers
2024
Idan Kashani - PUMAS Intern
he/him/his
2024
Bella Boshernitsan - Undergraduate Intern
she/her/hers
2024
Martina Boga De Teresa - UC Berkeley Undergraduate Intern
she/her/hers
2023 - 2024
Zachary Ryan - SRTP Student
he/him/his
2023
Nhi Nhi Ly - PUMAS Intern
she/her/hers
2023
Samantha Martinez - USF-UCSF Undergraduate Intern
2023
Esmeralda Mendoza - SRTP Student
she/her/hers
2022
Sophia Staggers - BioXFEL Intern
she/her/hers
2021
Joanna Maddela - SRTP Student
she/her/hers
2021
Mario Rodriguez - SRTP Student
he/him/his
2019
Subsequently: Graduate Student @ Scripps
Jiahui Fu
2024
she/her/hers
Abhimanyu Ghosh
2023
he/him/his
Vanessa Zhu
2018 - 2019
she/her/hers
Subsequently: Undergraduate @ UC Los Angeles
Ralp Basilio
2016 - 2018
he/him/his
Subsequently: Undergraduate @ San Jose State University
Saul Cortez
2015 - 2017
he/him/his
Subsequently: Undergraduate @ San Francisco State University
Jennifer Li
2014 - 2017
she/her/hers
Subsequently: Undergraduate @ UC Davis
Jessica Calderon
2011 - 2012
she/her/hers
Subsequently: Undergraduate @ City College of San Francisco
Hiroki Yamamura - Visiting Scholar
from JSR Corporation
2022 - 2024
Flip Jansen - Visiting Technician
from TU Delft
2024
he/him/his
Rocco Caliandro, Ph.D. - Visiting Professor
from National Research Council of Italy Institute of Crystallography
2020
Roberto Chica, Ph.D. - Visiting Sabbatical Professor
from University of Ottawa
2018
Kazutaka Ito, Ph.D. - Visiting Scientist
from Asahi Kasei
2017 - 2018
Tomas Lazarou - Visiting Technician
from McMaster University
2016
he/him/his
Dan Bolon, Ph.D. - Visiting Sabbatical Professor
from University of Massachusetts
2014