Team:UCSF/Team

Advisors/Buddies

James Onuffer
This is my second year of involvement and the second year the Cell Propulsion Lab has hosted the team. It was quite an experience to set up the program this year, especially since this is a subject area that we had not begun working on in the Cell Propulsion Lab. The immune response to cancer is a challenging topic to take on (especially coupled with synthetic biology) and required an intensive two week bootcamp to teach the students basic concepts and endogenous systems/parts that they should be aware of. We challenged the students to come up with designs for synthetic cytotoxicity logic gates and increasing the cytotoxic response. It was quite rewarding to see them propose various devices during their team challenge and to see them take charge of getting them prioritized, made , and tested. Things did not always go smoothly, after all this goes with the territory. They had to learn to be organized, think on their feet, and be problem solvers.......quite a growth opportunity that I’m sure will stay with them for the rest of their lives.

Russell Gordley
I majored in Biochemistry at Swarthmore College, and performed my graduate studies with Carlos Barbas at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, CA. I am interested in using synthetic biology to understand and enhance the evolvability of biological systems.

After my freshman year in college, I took a summer internship with Jim Stivers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology. The practice of research turned out to be far more complex and interesting than I could have imagined--an intellectual marathon whose path is revealed with each new data set and disproven hypothesis. I am happy to participate in a program that immerses high school students in the research process. For anyone interested in a life of science, this is a great time to join the pursuit!

Jesse Zalatan
I got started in science research with a summer internship after my junior year in high school and I was hooked! I majored in Biochemical Sciences at Harvard and went on to get my Ph.D. in Chemistry at Stanford, where I studied how enzymes speed up chemical reactions that are otherwise incredibly slow. My current research at UCSF is focused on cell signaling, where enzyProxy-Connection: keep-alive Cache-Control: max-age=0

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s plays an important role. I am trying to understand how signaling enzymes maintain specificity for the correct targets and avoid signaling mixups. Being introduced to science research in high school inspired me to pursue science in college and beyond, and I got involved with the iGEM team to help share that experience with new students.

Super Buddies

Ryan Liang
This is my second year of iGEM and I must say that I am excited to do this for a second round! I am a student in City College of San Francisco with an intent on transferring to UC Davis. Early on I had a passion for the arts and pursued it up until high school where I was introduced to biotechnology and science as an industry. This is when I realized that science is more than just reading and memorization - it is life and the most basic fundamentals of each and every one of us. iGEM allowed me to bring forth my passion for creativity in correlation with synthetic biology. iGEM has encapsulated synthetic biology into such a fun and innovative experience that getting the opportunity to participate once again is truly a blessing.

Ethan Chan
IGEM has always been such a great opportunity for all the teams to come up with project ideas are that out of the ordinary. The idea of developing a project that has never been done before is the most exciting part for me. I believe that the work done by iGEM teams have impacted the field so much that it will only get better. I am currently working towards attaining a Biotechnology degree at City College of San Francisco. I am hoping to transfer to UC Davis afterwards. After finding out UCSF's project for the 2010 year, I knew I wanted to come back. Throughout this summer, I have learned to work with mammalian cells. Before the iGEM experience, I was only familiar with prokaryotic cells. iGEM has expanded my skills and knowledge in so many ways. All the skills that i have learned will definitely help me in the future. With all these great pharmaceuticals that are being produced, the field of synthetic biology have proven its effectiveness and its future applications. I am looking forward to being a part of this field in the near future.

Eric Wong
Good Afternoon, my name is Eric Wong and i am a graduate of Abraham Lincoln High School class of 2009. I am current pursuing my education in CCSF hoping to transfer into the UC system with the intended major of Molecular Cell Development. I was apart of the iGem team last year and in the time span of 4 months i have learned so many various things from running Assays, Cloning, Troubleshooting and analyzing Experiments and Data. SProxy-Connection: keep-alive Cache-Control: max-age=0

much so that i decided to come back this year as a mentor for this year's team. I view this and last years iGem experience as something more than just a competition, I has given me the necessary education experience to prepare me for this filed of study and allow me to learn about different project from various teams.