Current MCIP students
The faculty and students of the MCIP program happily welcome five new students into the IDP. We look forward to sharing ideas, experiences and accomplishments with these talented new students as they advance toward completion of the Ph.D.
Dawnis Chow
Dawnis studied biological sciences at Stanford University, from which he received a Bachelor of
Science degree in 2004 and participated in field research in ecology/evolutionary biology. Dawnis
then completed a Masters of Science degree at the Prince of Wales Hospital in Hong Kong, where he
studied the response of cancer patients to ambulatory versus in-house chemotherapy. Dawnis chose to
return to the US to pursue the Ph.D. degree, and entered graduate studies at UCLA in 2006 through the
ACCESS program. Dawnis joined the MCIP program in Fall 2007 where he will conduct his thesis research
in the laboratory of Professor Mark Frye, pursuing studies of olfactory enhancement of visual
reflexes. His work is off to a great start, with a manuscript that will be published in 2007 in the
Journal of Experimental Biology.
Isabella Ferando
Isabella received her M.D. degree at the University of Bologna in 2006 where she was a
recipient of a prestigious scholarship awarded by the Collegio Superiore. During her medical
training, Isabella participated in several research programs. She worked in Neurology at the
University of Bologna in studies of central pattern generators affected by epilepsy. She conducted a
research project at UCLA under the guidance of Professor Jerome Engel in which she investigated the
relationship between hand posture and the localization of the epileptogenic zone for patients with
refractory epilepsy. As a Ph.D. student in the MCIP, Isabella will pursue research that will focus on
understanding the mechanisms that underlie epilepsy and related brain disorders, or mechanisms of
brain repair after acute injury or chronic disease.
Anna Konstorum
Anna studied biology at McGill University, receiving a B.S. with honors in 2005. While an
undergraduate, Anna participated in several research labs, including a project examining the effects
of vitamin D3 on gene regulation, particularly influencing cell differentiation. This work led to her
co-authorship of a research paper in Molecular Endocrinology. Anna also worked as a graduate student
researcher at the University of California, Berkeley on a project focused on analyzing neuronal
response to stress hormones by alternative splicing, before joining the MCIP program to pursue her
Ph.D. Throughout her academic career, Anna has won recognition for her scholarship, including the
Elizabeth E. McNab Scholarship at McGill University and a Certificate of Honor from the Society of
Women Engineers.
Rory Spence
Rory received a B.S. degree in Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior from the University of
California at Davis in 2004. As an undergraduate, Rory became interested in the field of
endocrinology, and began work as an undergraduate researcher on a project concerning the mechanisms
through which prolactin could affect lymphocyte function. Rory then entered an M.S. program in
Physiological Science at UCLA, where he further pursued his interests in epidemiology, under the
guidance of Professor Barney Schlinger. His M.S. research project focused on the effects of estradial
on the cognitive behavior and motor performance of zebra finches. Rory plans to continue research in
neuroendocrinology as a Ph.D. student in the MCIP program, conducting research rotations in the 2007 Ð
2008 academic year.
Akira Watanabe
Akira earned his B.S. degree in Biochemistry at UCLA in 2006. While still an undergraduate,
Akira became interested in studying the relationships between the structure of proteins and their
biological functions. Under the guidance of Professor Jeff Abramson in the MCIP program, Akira worked
on purifying the sodium channel of bacteria so that the crystal structure of the protein could be
described. Akira's fascination with structure-function studies of proteins led to his decision to
pursue a Ph.D. in the MCIP, continuing his work with Dr. Abramson. Those studies will center on the
purification of the sodium dependent glucose co-transporter (SGLT).
We are delighted to have these new students join our student body and wish them well in their pursuits.
| Dawnis Chow | dmchow2004@gmail.com | Mark Frye | Michael Condro | mcondro@ucla.edu | Stephanie White |
| Bo Deng | bodeng@ucla.edu | Jim Tidball |
| Brian Duistermars | bduist@ucla.edu | Mark Frye |
| Isabella Ferando | isalennon@gmail.com | Istvan Mody |
| William Foster | whfoster@ucla.edu | Yibin Wang |
| Jessica Gluck | jmgluck@ucla.edu | Doing rotations |
| Charles Hummel | cshummel@ucla.edu | Ernie Wright |
| Christopher Ko | chrisko211@gmail.com | Doing rotations |
| Sylvia Lopez | mistressyl@yahoo.com | Melissa Spencer |
| Quan Li | liquan@ucla.edu | Doing rotations |
| Roshni Madhvani | roshni29@yahoo.com | Doing rotations |
| Jamie Marshall | jammars@gmail.com | Rachelle Crosbie |
| Gabriel Mercado | gcmercado@mednet.ucla.edu | Jeff Abramson |
| Natali Minassian | nminassian@mednet.ucla.edu | Diane Papazian |
| Anahid Mirzatoni | anahidmirzatoni@yahoo.com | Barney Schlinger |
| Asuka Ota | earthian@ucla.edu | Yibin Wang |
| Jessica Richardson | jlrichar1@gmail.com | Julio Vergara |
| Esther Richler | erichler@ucla.edu | Baljit Khakh |
| Gina Rinetti | grinetti@mednet.ucla.edu | Felix Schweizer |
| Beth Rose | barose_@msn.com | Yibin Wang |
| Analyne Schroeder | aschroeder@ucla.edu | Chris Colwell |
| Rory Spence | rory_spence@hotmail.com | Barney Schlinger |
| John Streicher | jmstre@ucla.edu | Yibin Wang |
| DeAnna Steiger | dsteiger@ucla.edu | Yibin Wang |
| Aya Takeoka | ayata53@hotmail.com | Patty Phelps |
| Diana Tran | diana.x.tran@gmail.com | Alan Garfinkel |
| Rachna Ujwal | rujwal@purdue.edu | Peipei Ping |
| Armando Villalta | villalta@ucla.edu | Jim Tidball |
| Akira Watanabe | akwata@ucla.edu | Jeff Abramson |
| Matthias Ziegler | mdz@ucla.edu | Reggie Edgerton |