I am a 5th year graduate student in the lab (as of September 2007). I grew up in Taiwan and came to the United States roughly 10 years ago and completed my B.A. in Molecular Cell Biology at UC Berkeley in 2001. After graduation, I spent 2 years work as a full-time Research Associate in the lab of Professor Mark Schumacher, Department of Anesthesia in UCSF where I studied the gene regulation of Vanilloid Receptor 1 (a.k.a. TRPV1) and expression cloning of novel pain-related mechano receptor. I also worked in Dr. Sylvia Hua's lab in Western Regional Research Center, Department of Agriculture, to search for natural compounds inhibitory to fungal growth and aflatoxin biosynthesis. My projects in the Arispe lab involves several aspects of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) signaling and association of VEGF with the extracellular matrix.

I am a fifth year graduate student in the Arispe Lab as of Fall 2007. I grew up in the Wine Country of Northern California and later attended college at Concordia University in Portland, Oregon, where I graduated summa cum laude in 2001 with a BA in Biology. During that time I participated in the Murdock Undergraduate Research Fellowship at Oregon Health and Science University in the laboratory of Dr. Beth Habecker, investigating the genetic pathway controlling norepinephrine synthesis in neurons. This piqued my interest in pursing a career in science and after joining the Arispe Lab here at UCLA in 2004, I began studying the Notch signaling pathway. In particular, my research is focused on characterizing the role of Notch1 and its ligand Jagged1 in blood vessel development and homeostasis in mice.

Hello, I am a postdoctoral fellow in Luisa's lab. Born and raised in South Korea, I moved to United States after college and received my Ph.D. from USC ( yes, Trojan :-) ), where I studied gene therapy and infection pathway of MoMuLV (Moloney Murine Leukemia Virus) vectors. Currently I am working on VEGF and its seemingly unpredictable role in endothelial biology. My favorite movie is "Fight club" (Also like "Kill Bill" but gave that to Ann Zovein :-) ).

Hello, I am Ana Rivas. I am originally from San Salvador, El Salvador and arrived to the USA 28 years ago. I have been in the lab since 1999 as a Research Assistant. It has been wonderful to witness all the wonderful discoveries that have happened. To me the lab is like being in school (but without the tests), I feel constantly stimulated and excited.

Hi I am Liman, better known as the "Mouse Master". I was born and raised in China and came to the USA in 1997. I have been in the Arispe lab since 2004 contributing to the well-being and progress of all transgenic lines. I love this family of researchers.

I received my undergraduate degree in biomedical engineering, summa cum laude, from Boston University, and then pursued a Medical Doctorate at Boston University School of Medicine. Moving westward, I underwent Pediatric residency training with board certification at UCLA Mattel Children's Hospital. There, I also completed my Neonatology subspecialty training through the Pediatric Scientist Development Program, with the scientific component conducted in the Arispe laboratory. Presently, I'm a fellow in the Arispe laboratory as a California Institute for Regenerative Medicine scholar. My research focus entails the contribution of endothelium to hematopoietic stem cell emergence and maintenance. We hope that by understanding the role of the endothelium in embryonic hematopoiesis, translational applications can be made to allow for optimal hematopoietic stem cell growth and expansion for use in patient transfusions and transplants.

I am currently a postdoctoral fellow in the Arispe laboratory. My career in research began at the University of California, San Diego where I received my BS is Biochemistry and Cell Biology in 2001, and MS in Biology in 2002. At UCSD, I conducted research in the laboratory of Dr. Tama Hasson on the role of the motor protein myosin VIIa in cellular trafficking. I decided to pursue my PhD in Biological Chemistry here at UCLA, where I studied under the guidance of Dr. Ralf Landgraf. My dissertation research focused on signaling by the ERBB family of receptor tyrosine kinases. Specifically, I studied the post-translation control of ERBB3 constitutive turnover and ligand-induced downregulation. In the Arispe laboratory, my project involves characterization of autocrine VEGF signaling in endothelial cells. In addition, I am studying the role of autocrine VEGF signaling pathways in resistance to anti-angiogenic therapy.

I am a first year graduate student in Luisa's Lab. I grew up in South Brunswick, New Jersey, and attended Rutgers University where I received a B.S. in Cell Biology and Neuroscience with a minor in psychology. I worked in the lab of Dr. Shu Chan Hsu for 3 years where I completed my senior thesis on the role of the exocyst complex in plasma membrane addition, and its effects on cultured spinal cord neurons in the presence or absence of the inhibitor NOGO. My current research in Luisa's lab will focus on the role of the progesterone receptor in vascular smooth muscle cells by studying a smooth muscle specific progesterone receptor knockout mouse.

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