People

current members

Joe Bondy-Denomy

Principal Investigator

joseph.bondy-denomy[at]ucsf.edu

Joe went to the University of Waterloo for his undergrad in Biology (Microbiology specialization) and spent time as a co-op student in labs at Western University (London, ON) and McGill University (Montreal, QC). Joe then attended the University of Toronto to complete his PhD in Alan Davidson's lab where he studied interactions between bacteriophages and their host bacteria, focusing on the effects of lysogeny and the CRISPR-Cas immune system. In the spring of 2015, Joe started his lab at UCSF as a Faculty Fellow. In November of 2017, Joe will continue at UCSF as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Microbiology & Immunology.

The lab is currently focused on studying the roles of CRISPR-Cas immune systems in their host organisms, discovering novel CRISPR-Cas functions and identifying ways in which these systems interact with bacteriophages. When not working, Joe will definitely be found watching baseball.

Adair Borges

PhD Candidate (BMS)

@AdairLBorges

adair.borges[at]ucsf.edu

Adair is a graduate student in the Bondy-Denomy lab. Originally from Montana, Adair graduated from University of Pittsburgh in 2014 with a degree in Microbiology. As an undergraduate, she studied the role of gene duplication and locus expansion in the evolution of Toxoplasma gondii pathogenesis with Dr. Jon Boyle. She is now a BMS grad student, where she continues to study microbial genetics and evolution. Adair is studying all things anti-CRISPR in Pseudomonas, including striving to understand how they work and discovering more! When not in lab, Adair can be found biking around the greater San Francisco area or swimming in the (cold) ocean.

Bálint Csörgő

Postdoctoral Fellow

@BCsorgo

balint.csorgo[at]ucsf.edu

Bálint joined the Bondy-Denomy Lab as a postdoctoral fellow in December, 2017. Bálint comes from Hungary and obtained his MSc in Biochemistry and Microbiology from the University of Szeged. He completed his PhD working on the design, construction, and optimization of E. coli strains for biotechnological purposes in the lab of György Pósfai at the Biological Research Center (BRC) of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences in Szeged, Hungary. He then moved to the lab of Csaba Pál, also at the BRC, where he worked as a research associate developing novel recombineering-based bacterial gene-editing tools, as well as studying various aspects of antibiotic resistance evolution in bacteria. As a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellow in the Bondy-Denomy Lab, he is working on the development and utilization of alternative CRISPR-Cas systems for gene-editing applications. Outside of the lab, Bálint enjoys spending time with his family, as well as a variety of sporting activities including basketball, soccer, swimming, and biking.

Erin Huiting

Rotation Student

Matt Johnson

Graduate Student

matthew.johnson[at]ucsf.edu

Shweta Karambelkar

Postdoctoral Fellow

shweta.karambelkar[at]ucsf.edu

Shweta is a postdoc in the Bondy-Denomy lab, looking at how anti-CRISPRs do what they do. A fascination for phages has brought her here all the way from her home country India. Her interest in microbes, acquired early on as an undergrad in Mumbai grew into a fascination under the aegis of Prof. Valakunja Nagaraja at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, where Shweta completed an integrated Masters-PhD program. Her doctoral work dealt with discovering a new mechanism regulating an unusual DNA modification in bacteriophage Mu and understanding the biosynthesis of the modification. In the Bondy-Denomy lab, Shweta is currently focusing on unraveling novel anti- CRISPR mechanisms. In her free time, she enjoys distance running, especially when combined with exploring the beauty of San Francisco. She loves reading all kinds of books and learning Spanish.

Lina León

Graduate Student (TETRAD)

@LinaMLion

lina.leon[at]ucsf.edu

Lina is a TETRAD graduate student in the Bondy-Denomy lab. She is from Bogota, Colombia and is a graduate of the University of Florida with a degree in Chemistry. Lina joined the lab in 2016 and passed her qual exam to become the second PhD candidate in the lab! Lina is using the minimal Type I-C CRISPR-Cas system to understand how the most common CRISPR effector nuclease in the world (Cas3) does its job.

Yuping Li

Postdoctoral Fellow

@liyuping927

yuping.li[at]ucsf.edu

Yuping joined the Bondy-Denomy lab in October, 2019 as a postdoctoral scholar. Yuping was a graduate student in the Sherlock and Petrov labs at Stanford University. Her Ph.D. work focused on understanding evolutionary processes quantitatively using S. cerevisiae. Originally from China, Yuping got her undergraduate degree in Bioinformatics at Huazhong University of Sci. & Tech., China, where she worked with Dr. Yu Xue on the computational construction of the lysine acetylation network. After her undergraduate, Yuping was interested in learning how to conduct biological experiments and worked as a research technician with Dr. Hong Zhang at National Institute of Biological Sciences, China, to study developmental biology in C. elegans. In the Bondy-Denomy lab, Yuping is eager to develop genetic editing tools in order to understand the biology of phiKZ phage. Outside the lab, Yuping likes climbing rocks, running trails, hiking the wilderness and looking funny in her VR headset trying to master VR games.

Caroline Mahendra

Junior Specialist

caroline.mahendra[at]ucsf.edu

Caroline is a technician in the Bondy-Denomy Lab. She was born and raised in Indonesia, and moved to the United States for college. She attended University of California, Berkeley in Chemical Biology for her undergrad and then spent a year in North Carolina completing a Masters in Engineering at Duke University. Caroline is screening for anti-CRISPR candidates against the widely used Cas9 to discover more and add into the genome editing toolbox. When not in the lab, Caroline can be found at local pop-up fairs and events, or exploring the Bay Area.

Nicole Marino

Postdoctoral Fellow

@Nicole_D_Marino

nicole.marino[at]ucsf.edu

Nicole is a post-doc in the Bondy-Denomy lab identifying novel class II anti-CRISPR proteins. She obtained her undergraduate degree in Biochemistry/Cell Biology and Classical Studies at Rice University in Texas. She completed her graduate work in John Boothroyd’s lab at Stanford University, where she studied how Toxoplasma gondii transports effector proteins into the host cell. In her free time, she enjoys exploring live music and comedy shows in San Francisco and dancing Argentine tango.

Senén Mendoza

Graduate Student (TETRAD)

@Phage_Ghost

senen.mendoza[at]ucsf.edu

Senén Mendoza is a TETRAD graduate student in the Bondy-Denomy lab. He was raised in Miami, Florida where he earned a B.S. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Miami. In the BD Lab, Senen is studying the ways that bacteria regulate their defense systems. His life on the west coast consists of science, food, and music.

Allyson Park

Undergraduate Student

allyson.park[at]ucsf.edu

Allyson is an undergrad at UC Berkeley, working in the Bondy-Denomy lab under the supervision of Adair Borges. Allyson joined the lab in February, 2019, and has been working to find and characterize new Type I anti-CRISPRs. At Cal, she’s studying electrical engineering and computer science. In her free time, Allyson enjoys performing with her improv comedy team and eating breakfast.

Leah Roe

Graduate Student (Joint with Fraser Lab)

@leahtangroe

roeleah[at]bekeley.edu

Leah graduated from UC Berkeley with a degree Molecular Cell Biology with emphasis in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. During undergrad, Leah worked under the guidance of Ron Zuckermann at LBNL studying peptoids, a class of peptide mimics. Her research focused on controlling structure through side chain to main chain hydrogen bonding. At UCSF, Leah is working collaboratively with the Fraser and Bondy-Denomy Labs on crystallography of anti-CRISPR proteins. When not in lab, Leah enjoys hikes and trying new activities.