In May of 2005, Omar S. Akbari received a B.S./M.S. in Biotechnology from the University of Nevada, Reno.
In December of 2008, he received a Ph.D. in Cell and Molecular Biology from the University of Nevada, Reno where he studied the role cis-regulatory modules play in cellular identity along the anterio-posterior axis in developing Drosophila melanogaster embryos. In May of 2009, he joined the laboratory of professor Bruce A. Hay at the California Institute of Technology as a Postdoctoral Scholar to innovate synthetic biology of disease vectors. In summer of 2015, he became an Assistant Professor of Entomology in the Center for Infectious Disease Vector Research (CIDVR) at the University of California, Riverside. In fall of 2017, he joined the faculty as an Assistant Professor in the Cell and Developmental Biology Section, within the Division of Biological Sciences, and an active member of the TATA institute for Genetics and Society at the University of California, San Diego. In 2018 he co-founded and became a scientific advisor for Agragene a biotechnology based startup in San Diego, CA. In 2019 he was promoted to Associate Professor in the Cell and Developmental Biology Section, within the Division of Biological Sciences at the University of California, San Diego. |
Principal Investigator
Omar S. Akbari, Ph.D. Associate Professor Division of Biological Sciences Cell and Developmental Biology Section University of California, San Diego Link to UCSD Profile Link to Linkedin Profile Link to ResearchGate Profile Link to Twitter Profile Link to ORCID Link to Google Scholar Mailing Address University of California, San Diego 9500 Gilman Drive La Jolla, CA 92093-0335 Office Phone +1 (858) 246-0640 Email Address oakbari@ucsd.edu Office Location: 5101 Tata Hall Lab Location: 5th floor Tata Hall Click here for current CV |
Robyn Raban, Ph.D.
Research Project Manager
Robyn Raban recieved her B.S. in Environmental Science/Ecology from UC Berkeley. She also received an M.S. in Entomology from the University of Florida and a Ph.D. in Microbiology, Immunology and Pathology from Colorado State University. Before joining the Akbari lab in 2017, she worked in industry and academia as a project manager, scientist and grant writer.
Contact: rraban@ucsd.edu Phone: (858) 246-2066 Google Scholar Click here for current CV
Robyn Raban recieved her B.S. in Environmental Science/Ecology from UC Berkeley. She also received an M.S. in Entomology from the University of Florida and a Ph.D. in Microbiology, Immunology and Pathology from Colorado State University. Before joining the Akbari lab in 2017, she worked in industry and academia as a project manager, scientist and grant writer.
Contact: rraban@ucsd.edu Phone: (858) 246-2066 Google Scholar Click here for current CV
Nikolay Kandul, Ph.D.
Assistant Project Scientist
Dr. Kandul grew up in Russia, was educated in Russia and USA, and received his Ph.D. from Harvard University. As a student, he was interested in evolution and was studying the role of chromosomal rearrangements in origins of new butterfly species. Later Dr. Kandul became interested in engineering genetic tools in model organisms with an ultimate goal to address applied biological questions and societal challenges. At Caltech, he developed an innovative approach to engineer specific mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) mutations in a fraction of mtDNA, and showed that irreplaceable muscle fibers have a capacity to selectively remove mutant mtDNA, rejuvenate themselves, and slow aging at the cellular level. Now, at the UC San Diego, he is developing novel technologies to suppress or replace insect populations, such as the precision guided Sterile Insect Technique (pgSIT) and CRISPR-mediated gene drives, to tackle insect threats to food security and spread of vector-borne diseases.
Contact: nkandul@ucsd.edu Google Scholar Click here for current CV
Dr. Kandul grew up in Russia, was educated in Russia and USA, and received his Ph.D. from Harvard University. As a student, he was interested in evolution and was studying the role of chromosomal rearrangements in origins of new butterfly species. Later Dr. Kandul became interested in engineering genetic tools in model organisms with an ultimate goal to address applied biological questions and societal challenges. At Caltech, he developed an innovative approach to engineer specific mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) mutations in a fraction of mtDNA, and showed that irreplaceable muscle fibers have a capacity to selectively remove mutant mtDNA, rejuvenate themselves, and slow aging at the cellular level. Now, at the UC San Diego, he is developing novel technologies to suppress or replace insect populations, such as the precision guided Sterile Insect Technique (pgSIT) and CRISPR-mediated gene drives, to tackle insect threats to food security and spread of vector-borne diseases.
Contact: nkandul@ucsd.edu Google Scholar Click here for current CV
Ming Li, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Scholar
Ming Li received his B.S (2006) and M.S. (2009) in Plant Protection and Insecticide Resistance, respectively, from Southwest University of China, Chongqing. He then moved to the United States to purse his Ph.D in Entomology at Auburn University and graduated in 2014. A postdoctoral scholar in the Akbari lab since January 2016, he is currently developing gene drive and suppression techniques in mosquitoes.
Contact: mingli@ucsd.edu Google Scholar Click here for current CV
Ming Li received his B.S (2006) and M.S. (2009) in Plant Protection and Insecticide Resistance, respectively, from Southwest University of China, Chongqing. He then moved to the United States to purse his Ph.D in Entomology at Auburn University and graduated in 2014. A postdoctoral scholar in the Akbari lab since January 2016, he is currently developing gene drive and suppression techniques in mosquitoes.
Contact: mingli@ucsd.edu Google Scholar Click here for current CV
Ting Yang, Ph.D
Postdoctoral Scholar
Ting Yang received her B.S.(2006) in Plant Protection at Hebei Agricultural University in Baoding, China, and M.S.(2009) in Insect Toxicology at China Agricultural University in Beijing, China. She continued with her doctoral study right after and received her Ph.D (2013) in Entomology at Auburn University in Auburn, Alabama. She then worked as an assistant professor at the Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences in Beijing, China. Ting Yang joined in the Akbari lab in September 2016 as a postdoctoral scholar.
Contact: t1yang@ucsd.edu Google Scholar Click here for current CV
Ting Yang received her B.S.(2006) in Plant Protection at Hebei Agricultural University in Baoding, China, and M.S.(2009) in Insect Toxicology at China Agricultural University in Beijing, China. She continued with her doctoral study right after and received her Ph.D (2013) in Entomology at Auburn University in Auburn, Alabama. She then worked as an assistant professor at the Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences in Beijing, China. Ting Yang joined in the Akbari lab in September 2016 as a postdoctoral scholar.
Contact: t1yang@ucsd.edu Google Scholar Click here for current CV
Elena Dalla Benetta, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Scholar
Elena Dalla Benetta received her B.S (2011) and M.S. (2013) in Molecular Biology at the University of Padova, Italy, and her PhD (2018) at University of Groningen, the Netherlands within the Marie Curie Initial Training Network “INsecTIME”. She is currently a postoctoral research fellow at Claremont McKenna College, in collaboration with the Akbari lab, studying the mechanism of genome elimination by selfish chromosomes in Nasonia vitripennis.
Contact: dallabenetta.elena@gmail.com Google Scholar
Elena Dalla Benetta received her B.S (2011) and M.S. (2013) in Molecular Biology at the University of Padova, Italy, and her PhD (2018) at University of Groningen, the Netherlands within the Marie Curie Initial Training Network “INsecTIME”. She is currently a postoctoral research fellow at Claremont McKenna College, in collaboration with the Akbari lab, studying the mechanism of genome elimination by selfish chromosomes in Nasonia vitripennis.
Contact: dallabenetta.elena@gmail.com Google Scholar
Duverney Chaverra Rodriguez, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Scholar
Duverney Chaverra Rodriguez received his B.S. and his Masters in Biology from the University of Antioquia, Colombia. He obtained his Ph.D. in Entomology from the Pennsylvania State University (2018). During his time at Penn State he optimized the method termed Receptor-Mediated Ovary Transduction of Cargo (ReMOT Control) to produce germ line gene editing by injecting adult females in the mosquito Ae. aegypti. He joined the Akbari lab in June 2019 to develop gene drive and other innovative control systems in insects.
Contact: dchaverrarodriguez@ucsd.edu Google Scholar
Duverney Chaverra Rodriguez received his B.S. and his Masters in Biology from the University of Antioquia, Colombia. He obtained his Ph.D. in Entomology from the Pennsylvania State University (2018). During his time at Penn State he optimized the method termed Receptor-Mediated Ovary Transduction of Cargo (ReMOT Control) to produce germ line gene editing by injecting adult females in the mosquito Ae. aegypti. He joined the Akbari lab in June 2019 to develop gene drive and other innovative control systems in insects.
Contact: dchaverrarodriguez@ucsd.edu Google Scholar
Guan-Hong Wang, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Scholar
Guan-Hong Wang received his Ph.D. at Chinese Academy of Sciences (2011-2016). As a Ph.D. student, he was interested in how the phage WO can co-evolve with an obligate intracellular bacteria known as Wolbachia. Later he became interested in how Wolbachia blocked pathogens in insect vectors. He obtained a fellowship (Joint Doctoral Promotion Program from China) that supported his work on a malaria vaccine project at Yale University (2015-2016). He did his postdoc at Harvard University to explore how the host genome and microbiome interaction with each other under long-term pesticide exposure (2016-2019). In 2019 he joined the Akbari lab at UCSD and will work on understanding the genetic basis of mosquito olfaction and behavior using genome engineering technologies.
Contact: g5wang@ucsd.edu Click here for current CV
Guan-Hong Wang received his Ph.D. at Chinese Academy of Sciences (2011-2016). As a Ph.D. student, he was interested in how the phage WO can co-evolve with an obligate intracellular bacteria known as Wolbachia. Later he became interested in how Wolbachia blocked pathogens in insect vectors. He obtained a fellowship (Joint Doctoral Promotion Program from China) that supported his work on a malaria vaccine project at Yale University (2015-2016). He did his postdoc at Harvard University to explore how the host genome and microbiome interaction with each other under long-term pesticide exposure (2016-2019). In 2019 he joined the Akbari lab at UCSD and will work on understanding the genetic basis of mosquito olfaction and behavior using genome engineering technologies.
Contact: g5wang@ucsd.edu Click here for current CV
Andie Smidler, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Scholar
Andie (Andrea) Smidler received her B.S. in Biology from the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill in 2011, where she completed her honors thesis on the topic of plant cell death. Soon after, she became interested in using GM technologies to control vector-borne disease and began research on the topic at the University of Strasbourg, France. While there she earned her M.Res, and pioneered the use of TAL-endonucleases to create targeted gene knockouts in Anopheles gambiae. After returning to the US, she pursued a Ph.D. at Harvard University jointly between the Flaminia Catteruccia and George Church Labs, and graduated in 2019. Her dissertation research focused on developing transgenic tools for vector control, including CRISPR-based gene drive and genetic sterilization technologies, a line of research she is continuing at UCSD.
Contact: asmidler@gmail.com Google Scholar
Andie (Andrea) Smidler received her B.S. in Biology from the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill in 2011, where she completed her honors thesis on the topic of plant cell death. Soon after, she became interested in using GM technologies to control vector-borne disease and began research on the topic at the University of Strasbourg, France. While there she earned her M.Res, and pioneered the use of TAL-endonucleases to create targeted gene knockouts in Anopheles gambiae. After returning to the US, she pursued a Ph.D. at Harvard University jointly between the Flaminia Catteruccia and George Church Labs, and graduated in 2019. Her dissertation research focused on developing transgenic tools for vector control, including CRISPR-based gene drive and genetic sterilization technologies, a line of research she is continuing at UCSD.
Contact: asmidler@gmail.com Google Scholar
Cody Gilleland, Ph.D.
Collaborator
Cody Gilleland is founder of Hive Biosystems Inc., a company focused on solving experimental bottlenecks in gene editing and drug discovery. He received his S.M. (2009) and Ph.D. (2014) in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from MIT. He spent more than 12 years at MIT as a graduate student, research scientist and principal investigator where he developed robotic and microfluidic systems to enhance the speed, precision and scale of biological discovery. He joined the Akbari Lab in Fall 2019 to provide new instrumentation to accelerate the design-build-test cycle for creating transgenic mosquitoes to mitigate vector-borne diseases.
Contact Cody at: hivebiosystems.com Google Scholar
Cody Gilleland is founder of Hive Biosystems Inc., a company focused on solving experimental bottlenecks in gene editing and drug discovery. He received his S.M. (2009) and Ph.D. (2014) in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from MIT. He spent more than 12 years at MIT as a graduate student, research scientist and principal investigator where he developed robotic and microfluidic systems to enhance the speed, precision and scale of biological discovery. He joined the Akbari Lab in Fall 2019 to provide new instrumentation to accelerate the design-build-test cycle for creating transgenic mosquitoes to mitigate vector-borne diseases.
Contact Cody at: hivebiosystems.com Google Scholar
Stephanie Gamez, B.S.
Graduate Student
Stephanie Gamez received her B.S. in Biology at the University of California, Riverside (2015).
She worked as a research assistant in the lab of Dr. Bradley White studying the population genomics of mosquitoes of the Anopheles gambiae complex from 2013-2016. In fall of 2016, she joined the Akbari lab with an interest in developing genetic control strategies for pathogen-transmitting mosquitoes. Currently, she is a Ph.D. candidate developing anti-pathogen effectors, alternative conditional systems in fruit flies, and furthering the understanding of Aedes albopictus mosquito development. Stephanie's research interests include synthetic, mosquito, and vector biology, and gene drives.
Contact: sgamez@ucsd.edu Google Scholar Click here for current CV Link to ResearchGate Profile Link to ORCID
Stephanie Gamez received her B.S. in Biology at the University of California, Riverside (2015).
She worked as a research assistant in the lab of Dr. Bradley White studying the population genomics of mosquitoes of the Anopheles gambiae complex from 2013-2016. In fall of 2016, she joined the Akbari lab with an interest in developing genetic control strategies for pathogen-transmitting mosquitoes. Currently, she is a Ph.D. candidate developing anti-pathogen effectors, alternative conditional systems in fruit flies, and furthering the understanding of Aedes albopictus mosquito development. Stephanie's research interests include synthetic, mosquito, and vector biology, and gene drives.
Contact: sgamez@ucsd.edu Google Scholar Click here for current CV Link to ResearchGate Profile Link to ORCID
Michelle Bui, B.S.
Graduate Student
Michelle Bui received her B.S. in Entomology at the University of California, Riverside (2016). Following her undergraduate research in the Bradley White Lab (2015-2016), she joined the Akbari Lab. She is interested in developing novel vector control tools and methodologies as well as further understanding arthropod biology using genetic and molecular approaches.
Contact: mpbui@ucsd.edu Google Scholar Click here for current CV
Michelle Bui received her B.S. in Entomology at the University of California, Riverside (2016). Following her undergraduate research in the Bradley White Lab (2015-2016), she joined the Akbari Lab. She is interested in developing novel vector control tools and methodologies as well as further understanding arthropod biology using genetic and molecular approaches.
Contact: mpbui@ucsd.edu Google Scholar Click here for current CV
Dan Brogan, B.S.
Graduate Student
Dan Brogan received his B.S. in Neuroscience at Ursinus College (2016). He then worked at Johns Hopkins University under Dr. Bin Wu (2016-2018) exploring genetic differences of microvascular endothelial cells susceptible to bacterial invasion using fluorescence microscopy. Dan joined the Akbari lab in 2018 and is interested in applying and improving gene editing technologies to combat the spread of vector-borne diseases.
Contact: djbrogan@ucsd.edu
Dan Brogan received his B.S. in Neuroscience at Ursinus College (2016). He then worked at Johns Hopkins University under Dr. Bin Wu (2016-2018) exploring genetic differences of microvascular endothelial cells susceptible to bacterial invasion using fluorescence microscopy. Dan joined the Akbari lab in 2018 and is interested in applying and improving gene editing technologies to combat the spread of vector-borne diseases.
Contact: djbrogan@ucsd.edu
Judy Ishikawa
Insectary Lab Specialist
Judy Ishikawa joined the Akbari Lab in 2016 and is currently the head Lab Technician of the Akbari mosquito insectary space. Her work is the maintenance and rearing of wildtype and transgenic Aedes and Anopheles mosquitos.
Contact: mishikawa@ucsd.edu
Judy Ishikawa joined the Akbari Lab in 2016 and is currently the head Lab Technician of the Akbari mosquito insectary space. Her work is the maintenance and rearing of wildtype and transgenic Aedes and Anopheles mosquitos.
Contact: mishikawa@ucsd.edu
Junru Liu, B.S.
Lab Specialist
Junru Liu received her B.S. in Human Biology from the University of California, San Diego (2018). She worked as a student researcher in the lab of Dr. Newmeyer in La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology studying the apoptosis cascade in liver cancer cells (2017-2018). Junru joined the Akbari Lab in 2018 and is currently focusing on developing gene-editing technologies for vector-borne disease and pest control.
Contact: JUL217@ucsd.edu Click here for current CV
Junru Liu received her B.S. in Human Biology from the University of California, San Diego (2018). She worked as a student researcher in the lab of Dr. Newmeyer in La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology studying the apoptosis cascade in liver cancer cells (2017-2018). Junru joined the Akbari Lab in 2018 and is currently focusing on developing gene-editing technologies for vector-borne disease and pest control.
Contact: JUL217@ucsd.edu Click here for current CV
Lenissa Alcantara, B.S.
Lab Specialist
Lenissa Alcantara received her B.S. in General Biology from University of California, San Diego (2019). She initially joined the Akbari Lab as a volunteer undergraduate researcher in November 2018 assisting with the lab's molecular biology procedures. As a lab specialist, Lenissa is now currently focusing on the development of gene-editing technologies to prevent the spread vector-borne diseases and pest control.
Contact: lmalay@ucsd.edu
Lenissa Alcantara received her B.S. in General Biology from University of California, San Diego (2019). She initially joined the Akbari Lab as a volunteer undergraduate researcher in November 2018 assisting with the lab's molecular biology procedures. As a lab specialist, Lenissa is now currently focusing on the development of gene-editing technologies to prevent the spread vector-borne diseases and pest control.
Contact: lmalay@ucsd.edu
Tyler Wise, B.S.
Lab Specialist
Tyler Wise graduated from UC San Diego with a B.S. in Biochemistry and Cell Biology in 2019. He volunteered as an undergraduate researcher for the Akbari lab, before joining in 2020 as a lab specialist. He is interested in developing gene-editing technologies for vector borne diseases and pest control.
Contact: trwise@ucsd.edu
Tyler Wise graduated from UC San Diego with a B.S. in Biochemistry and Cell Biology in 2019. He volunteered as an undergraduate researcher for the Akbari lab, before joining in 2020 as a lab specialist. He is interested in developing gene-editing technologies for vector borne diseases and pest control.
Contact: trwise@ucsd.edu
Undergraduate Researchers
 Hoa Nguyen
Joined: February 2018 Major: Molecular Biology (Exp. Grad. 2020) Contact: hqn015@ucsd.edu  Spencer Louie
Joined: July 2018 Major: Biochem/Cell Biology (Exp. Grad. 2020) Contact: smlouie@ucsd.edu  Maryana Saoor
Joined:
October 2019 Major: Human Biology Minor: Human Development (Graduation 2020) Contact: msaoor@ucsd.edu |
 Swapnil Mittal
Joined: November 2018 Major: Molecular Biology (Exp. Grad. 2021) Contact: swmittal@ucsd.edu  Tiffany Yu
|
Link to Lab Alumni
Akbari Lab UCSD - 8/2/18
La Jolla, CA
