Alumni of the Blelloch Lab:
Please refer to links in each biography for the most up-to-date information about our alumni.
Joshua Babiarz
Current Position: Senior Molecular Biologist, Lifecode Inc.
Previous Position: Postdoctoral Fellow
Where they are now: Josh was a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Blelloch lab from 2007-2009. He is currently a Senior Molecular Biologist at Lifecode, Inc. LinkedIn
Ryan Boileau
Current Position: Post-Doctoral Fellow, Duke University
Previous Position: Graduate Student, DSCB
Where they are now: As a member of the DSCB graduate program and the Blelloch Lab from 2016-2023, Ryan was interested in the mechanisms of transcriptional regulation that govern cell fate transitions. Outside of the lab he enjoys running, climbing, reading, concert(ing), chips&salsa, and being from Portland, OR, before it was cool. In July 2023 Ryan joined Dr. Emma Chory's research group at Duke University. Linkedin
Amy Chen
Current Position: Principal Scientist, Genentech
Previous Position: Graduate Student - BMS
Where they are now: Amy was a graduate student in the Biomedical Sciences program at UCSF until 2017. She is currently a Principal Scientist at Genentech. LinkedIn
Matthew Cook
Current Position: Executive Director, Strategic Projects Gilead Sciences
Previous Position: Postdoctoral Fellow
Where they are now: Matt was a postdoctoral fellow in the Blelloch lab. He is currently working as an executive director in strategic projects at Gilead Sciences. Check out Matt's LinkedIn page for the most up-to-date information. Linkedin
Brian DeVeale
Current Position: Assistant Professor, University of Windsor
Previous Position: Postdoctoral Fellow
Where they are now: Brian has started his independent career as an Assistant Professor at the University of Windsor in Canada in January 2023. Website | Linkedin
Jacob Freimer
Current Position: Principal Computational Scientist, Genentech
Previous Position: Graduate Student - DSCB Program
Where they are now: Jake was a DSCB Graduate student in the Blelloch lab from 2012-2018. As a post-doctoral fellow he was co-mentored by Dr. Alex Marson at UCSF and Dr. Jonathan Pritchard at Stanford. He joined Genentech as a computational scientist in 2022. LinkedIn
Qi Fu
Current Position: Life Sciences Consultant, IQVIA
Previous Position: Postdoctoral Fellow
Where they are now: Qi was a postdoctoral Fellow in the lab from Summer of 2016 until the Fall of 2018. Linkedin
Tayma Handal MS, BS
Current Position: Graduate Student, UCSF
Previous Position: Junior Specialist
Where they are now: Tayma joined the Blelloch Lab as a Junior Specialist in 2022. Tayma was accepted into a graduate program at UCSF starting in the fall of 2023 and is mentored by Cory Harwell. Linkedin
TJ Hu
Current Position: Partner, The Boston Consulting Group
Previous Position: Graduate Student - BMS Program
Where they are now: TJ was a graduate student in the BMS program from 2012-2017 He had broad interests in the tumor microenvironment as well as membrane trafficking. TJ has risen from Consultant to Partner with Boston Consulting Group in their Healthcare Practice. LinkedIn
Robert Judson
Current Position: Professor, University of Utah and Huntsman Cancer Institute
Previous Position: Graduate Student - BMS
Where they are now: Rob was a BMS Graduate student in the Blelloch Lab from 2007-2012, then a post-doctoral fellow. He was a Sandler Faculty Fellow at UCSF from 2014-2019 when he was hired as an Assistant Professor at the University of Utah. Currently he is a Professor at the University of Utah. Linkedin | website
Raga Krishnakumar
Current Position: Bioinformatician
Previous Position: Postdoctoral Fellow
Where they are now: Raga is currently a Bioinformatician with Sandia National Laboratories. Linkedin
Arthur Liu
Current Position: Post-doctoral Fellow MD Anderson Cancer Center Houston
Previous Position: Junior Specialist
Where they are now: Arthur was an undergraduate volunteer and then Junior Specialist in the lab before heading to graduate school at The University of Texas – Houston. Linkedin
Bryan Marsh
Current Position: Post-doctoral Fellow, Genentech
Previous Position: Graduate Student - DSCB
Where they are now: Bryan Marsh was a DSCB graduate student in the Blelloch lab from 2017-2022. He is currently a Post-Doctoral Fellow at Genentech in San Francisco. Linkedin
Collin Melton
Current Position: Associate Director Bioinformatics and Data Science, Grail Inc.
Previous Position: Graduate Student - BMS
Where they are now: Collin was a graduate student in the Blelloch Lab from 2005-2011. After completing a Post-Doctoral Fellow at Stanford University in Michael Snyder's lab, Collin join the bioinformatics team at Grail, Inc. Linkedin
Alireza Paikari
Current Position: Pathologist, The Julius Maximilians University of Würzburg
Previous Position: Postdoctoral Fellow
Where they are now: After receiving his MD from Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Arash entered the pathologist fellowship at the same university. He studied the role of mir-290 in development of mouse extra-embryonic tissue as a post-doctoral fellow in the Blelloch Lab from 2014-2017. He is currently a Research pathologist at the Julius Maximilioans University of Wurzburg in Germany. Linkedin
Ronald Parchem
Current Position: Assistant Professor
Previous Position: Postdoctoral Fellow
Where they are now: Ronald Parchem was a Postdoctoral fellow in the Blelloch Lab from 2009-2015. He is currently an Assistant Professor at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. Ron has a profile in LinkedIn. Linkedin
Mauro Poggio
Current Position: Scientist
Previous Position: Graduate Student, Postdoctoral Fellow
Where they are now: Mauro joined the lab in the winter of 2017; after receiving his PhD he stayed on as a Postdoctoral Fellow. Mauro left the lab in the Fall of 2019 to explore opportunities in the biotechnology industry. Linkedin
Carolyn Sangokoya
Current Position: Assistant Professor, Pathology & Institute for Regeneration Medicine, UCSF
Previous Position: Adjunct Instructor, Pathology | [email protected]
Where they are now: Carolyn was a clinical instructor and research fellow in the UCSF Pathology Physician-Scientist Program pathway. While in the Blelloch Lab, Carolyn focused on her interest in stem cell biology and mapping post-transcriptional RNA-binding regulatory networks in dynamic cell states, specifically within the embryonic stem cell fate transition. She accepted a position as an Assistant Professor at UCSF in 2022 Profile | Pathology | Research | Linkedin
Archana Shenoy
Current Position: Bioinformatics, Grail Inc.
Previous Position: Graduate Student - Neuroscience Program
Where they are now: Archana Shenoy transferred to the Blelloch Lab in 2009 to study the role of microRNAs in differentiation. She defended her thesis in May 2014 and stayed on in the capacity of a Post-doctoral fellow leading the analysis of a number of microRNA sequencing projects. Archana received a Master's degree in biomedical informatics at Stanford University in 2018 and is now working for Grail, inc. as a Bioinformatics Scientist. Linkedin
Mayya Shveygert
Current Position: Senior Regulatory Writer, Amgen
Previous Position: Postdoctoral Fellow
Where they are now: Mayya was a postdoctoral fellow in the lab studying the role of microRNAs in beta-cell differentiation and diabetes from January 2013 until November 2015. In 2015 she took a position at Amgen as a Senior Regulatory Writing Associate. Linkedin
Jason Mark Soriano
Current Position: Research Associate II, City of Hope
Previous Position: Junior Specialist, PROPEL scholar | [email protected]
Jason was a Junior Specialist in the Blelloch Lab and a post-baccalaureate scholar and Advisory Council member in the UCSF PROPEL Program from 2021-2023. Linkedin
Deepa Subramanyam
Current Position: Principal Investigator
Previous Position: Postdoctoral Fellow
Where they are now: Deepa was a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Blelloch lab from 2006-2011. She is now a Principal Investigator in at the National Centre for Cell Science in Pune India. Linkedin | Website
Monica Venere
Current Position: Assistant Professor
Previous Position: Postdoctoral Fellow
Where they are now: Monica was a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Blelloch Lab from 2006-2009. She is currently an Assistant Professor at Ohio State University in the Department of Radiation Oncology. Monica has a LinkedIn profile where you can read more about her current interests. Linkedin
John Vincent
Current Position: Scientist
Previous Position: Postdoctoral Fellow
Where they are now: John was a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Blelloch Lab from 2013-2014. He is currently a Scientist at Guardant Health. Linkedin
Yangming Wang
Current Position: Professor, Principal Investigator
Previous Position: Postdoctoral Fellow
Where they are now: Yangming was a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Blelloch Lab from 2006-2010. He is currently a Professor at Peking University. Linkedin | Website
Jiuling Yang
Current Position: Post-doctoral Fellow, Oh Lab
Previous Position: Post-doctoral Fellow, Blelloch Lab
Where they are now: Jiuling was a postdoctoral fellow in the Blelloch lab from 2019-2025. She is currently a Post-doctoral Scholar at UCSF in Dr. David Oh's laboratory. Check out her LinkedIn page for the most up-to-date information. Linkedin
Julia Ye
Current Position: Assistant Clinical Professor of Pathology, UCSF
Previous Position: Graduate Student - MSTP, BMS Programs
Where they are now: Julia is currently a Breast Pathologist at UCSF. Julia was an MD/PhD student at UCSF from 2010-2019. She joined the Blelloch lab as a Biomedical Sciences graduate student in 2012, defending her thesis in 2017. Linkedin
Betty Zhao
Current Position: Scientist
Previous Position: Technician
Where they are now: Betty joined the lab in 2015 in technical support. She has moved on as a scientist in a local biotech firm. Linkedin
Xin Zhou
Current Position: Postdoc/Resident at Department of Pediatric Dentistry, West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University
Previous Position: Graduate Student - Visiting Student
Where they are now: Xin was a visiting scholar from Sichuan University where she was a PhD candidate in a DDS/PhD program. She studied miRNA control of pancreatic beta cell biology for her doctoral thesis in the Blelloch Lab from 2013-2017. She returned to Sichuan University where she is now a Post-doctoral fellow and Resident at the West China Hospital of Stomatology. LinkedIn