Lab Members

Wet lab phone: (831) 459-1014

Sofie Salama portrait

Sofie Salama
Acting Professor, Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology,  Director of Genomics Institute Diversity committee

David Haussler 

Scientific Director, UC Santa Cruz Genomics Institute, Scientific Co-Director, California Institute for Quantitative Biosciences (QB3)

Alondra Figueroa Olivo, Administrative Assistant

Kristof Tigyi,

Lab Manager

Claudia Paz Flores,

Jr. Specialist

Trainnees

Alex Bagi

Alex Bagi

Grad Student

“My name is Alex Bagi and I am a 5th year graduate student with Sofie/David. I am co-advised with Todd Lowe so I mainly work on joint projects between tRNAs and human/primate brain organoids.”

Quinn Brail

Quinn Brail

“My research is focused on unveiling the interplay between pediatric brain tumors, and the patient’s developing brain. My main approach is through the development of organoid based models. In my free time I grow food, explore mountain ranges, and practice Qi Gong.”

Kivilcim Doganyigit

Kivilcim Doganyigit

“I work on control systems and reaction ware to make highly parallelized cell culture without the constraints of bulky equipment and human labor. I am studying the effects of microglia-like cells in cerebral cortex organoids.”

 

Matt Elliot

Matt Elliot

PhD Student

Matthew is interested in studying the neuronal dynamics that underly computation in the brain. His research focuses on computational analysis and experimental automation through the Internet of Things. Matthew is the lead engineer of WetAI, a web portal that serves as an online laboratory for neuroscience and AI research.

Ryan Hoffman

Ryan Hoffman

Grad Student

Ryan is a senior graduate student in the Salama Lab and a California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) fellow. His work is focused on developing an organoid model for understanding the composition of embryonic cerebrospinal fluid and the role the choroid plexus (the structure of the brain that generates cerebrospinal fluid) may have on the developmental patterning of the cerebral cortex. He is particularly interested in how the serotonin receptor HTR2C contributes to the function of the choroid plexus. Outside of lab, Ryan spends his time making music, painting, and throwing frisbees – usually with a good hazy IPA nearby.

Jax Maya

Jax Maya

Undergrad

“I’m Jax and I am currently a third year biochemistry and molecular biology major. I am an undergraduate researcher in the Haussler-Salama lab! I work with Kristof and his research with retrotransposons.  In my free time I like playing chess and swimming.”

Christopher Nguyen

Christopher Nguyen

Grad Student

“I am a first-year master’s student, and I primarily research organoid electrophysiology. I am interested in neuronal network states and behavior, like synchronous bursting or slow-wave oscillations. When I’m not in lab, I enjoy eating new foods.”

 

Demir Ozcakir

Demir Ozcakir

Undergrad

“I am an Undergrad studying Biochemistry. I am the Lab Assistant for Sofie’s wet lab and a research assistant working with Ryan Hoffman. I am also an avid homebrewer.”

 Ivana Pačar

Ivana Pačar

PhD student

“First-year PhD student interested in using organoids as a model to investigate the complexities of stem cell behavior and how it interconnects with NOTCH2NL to influence human brain development. Outside the lab, I love everything related to sports, especially biking, and taekwondo.”

David Parks

David Parks

Spencer Seiler

Spencer Seiler

PhD Student

Ph.D. graduate student of Biomolecular Engineering in the Haussler-Salama Lab. Spencer specializes in microfluidic automation technologies specialized in supporting the growth and maintenance of human cerebral organoid cultures. Spencer is responsible for system designs and architecture, microfluidic fabrication, automation software, stem cell culture protocol development, RNA sequencing, and RNA bioinformatics. The projects Spencer is pursuing are: the development of multiplexed automated organoid control platforms (Autoculture), the generation of a non-disruptive exosomal liquid biopsy, the integration of microfluidics in electrophysiology recordings for drug studies, and optimizing the metabolic state of the cerebral organoid model.

Jessica Sevetson

Jessica Sevetson

PostDoc

“I study the emergence and maintenance of network activity in stem-cell derived brain, and lead the electrophysiology team of the Braingeneers.
Outside of the lab: Salsa (the dance and the sauce), poetry, & kickboxing.”



Taylorlyn Stephan

Taylorlyn Stephan

PhD Student

“My advisosrs are Sofie Salama and Ed Green. My Project: Ancestral Cerebral Organoids: Genetic Editing of Neanderthal and Denisovan Alleles into Human Stem Cell Models”



Kateryna Voitiuk

Kateryna Voitiuk

PhD Student

Kateryna Voitiuk (Kate) is a Ph.D. candidate in Bioinformatics. She is curious about how the brain processes information from the bottom up. Kate engineers hardware, software, and microfluidic devices to study neural activity in 3D stem-cell-derived organoid and connectoid models.

Viktor Yurevych

Viktor Yurevych

Graduate Student

“Hi, my name is Viktor and I’m a graduate student at the Haussler-Salama Lab and Braingeneers. My work revolves around transcriptomics of the organoid systems we use in our research and development of liquid biopsy approaches to investigate cell differentiation and metabolism.”