About UPLIFT Mentorship

UPLIFT Scholars are mentored by UCLA research faculty, CSULA faculty, and UCLA program leadership. UCLA research mentors are identified during the application period. CSULA faculty, who will serve as teaching mentors, are identified following the interview process. Teaching mentors support UPLIFT Scholars in applying what they are learn in the teaching development training courses and workshops to the classroom.  They also provide UPLIFT Scholars feedback during their teaching practicum to help enhance their skills as effective teachers.

UCLA UPLIFT Research Mentors

Most UCLA faculty members in the Biosciences are eligible to become a research mentor for UPLIFT fellows. The list below represents only a subset of approved faculty.

For more information about research opportunities at UCLA or with inquiries about specific UCLA faculty as prospective mentors, applicants should email the UPLIFT Program Director, Michael Carey.

Faculty Rank Dept Research Interest
Adams, John S Full MCDB Biology of Nucleic Acid Binding Proteins
Banerjee, Utpal Full MCDB Signaling and Metabolic Control of Development
Berk, Arnold J Full MIMG Molecular Mechanisms Regulating Transcription
Black, Douglas L Full MIMG Neuronal Gene Expression Through Alternative Pre-mRNA Splicing
Bowie, James U Full Biochem Protein Structure/Signal Transduction
Bradley, Peter Associate MIMG Host Cell Invasion & Host-Pathogen Interaction in Toxoplasma gondii
Carey, Michael F Full BC Eukaryotic Gene Regulation, Chromatin Remodeling, Co-Activators
Chanfreau, Guillaume Full Biochem RNA Processing and RNA-Protein Interactions
Cheng, Genhong Full MIMG Molecular Mechanisms in Immune Responses and Cancer Therapy
Clark, Amander Associate MCDB Human Embryonic Stem Cells and Lineage Differentiation
Clarke, Cathy Full Biochem Biosynthesis and Function of Coenzyme Q
Clarke, Steve Full Biochem Biochemistry of Aging and Posttranslational Modifications of Proteins
Clubb, Robert T Full Biochem Macromolecular Recognition, Structural Biology
Courey, Albert J Full Biochem Spatial Control of Transcription in Development
DeRobertis, Edward M Full BC Molecular Biology of Development in Mice and Frogs
Eisenberg, David S Full BC Protein Structure, Folding and Design
Ernst, Jason Assistant BC Computational Regulatory Genomics and Epigenomics
Fan, Gouping Full HG DNA Methylation in Brain, Neurons and ES Cells in vitro
Feigon, Juli Full Biochem Nucleic Acid Structures and Complexes
Guo, Feng Associate BC Molecular Mechanism of MiRNA Biogenesis
Hallem, Elissa Assistant MIMG The Neural Basis of Parasitic Nematode Behavior
Hartenstein, Volker Full MCDB Neuronal Precursors in Drosophila
Hill, Kent Full MIMG Molecular Cell Biology of African Trypanosomes
Houk, Ken Full Biochem Structures and Properties of Organic Materials, Biological Catalysis
Hsiao, Elaine Assistant IBP Effects of Microbiota on the Nervous System and their Relations to Disease
Hubbell, Wayne L Full Biochem Structure and Function of Proteins
Iruela-Arispe, Luisa Full MCDB Vascular Biology / Tumor Angiogenesis
Jacobsen, Steven Full MCDB Mechanisms of Epigenetic Gene Regulation by DNA Methylation
Johnson, Patricia Full MIMG Evolution, Pathogenesis & Cell Biology of A Human Parasite
Johnson, Reid C Full BC Gene Expression and Chromosome Biology in Bacteria and Yeast
Johnson, Tracy Associate MCDB Co-Transcriptional mRNA Processing
Jones, Leanne Associate MCDB Stem Cell Behavior and Control
Koehler, Carla Full Biochem Mitochondrial Biogenesis/Protein Import Into Mitochondria
Kurdistani, Siavash K Full BC Genomic Studies of Chromatin Biology
Lin, Chentao Full MCDB Signal Transduction of Plant Photoreceptors
Lin, Shuo Full MCDB Hematopoiesis, Organogenesis and Functional Genomics
Loo, Joseph Full BC Proteomics
Lusis, Aldons J Full HG The Analysis of Complex Genetic Diseases
Martin, Kelsey Full BC Cell Biology of Learning-Related Synaptic Plasticity
Maynard, Heather Full Biochem Chemical Biology
Merchant, Sabeeha Full Biochem Metal Metabolism for Membrane Biogenesis
Miceli, M Carrie Full MIMG Molecular Basis of T Cell Activation and Inactivation
Miller, Jeff F Full MIMG Sensory Transduction in the Control of Bacterial Virulence
Morrison, Sherie L Full MIMG Genetic Engineering and Gene Transfection of Antibodies
Payne, Gregory S Full BC Genetics and Cell Biology of Intracellular Protein Transport
Pellegrini, Matteo Associate MCDB Computational Methods to Interpret Genomic Data
Plath, Katherine Full BC Epigenetic Regulation of Stem Cell Differentiation
Pyle, April Assistant MIMG Human Embryonic Stem Cell Fate, Survival and Transformation
Quinlan, Margot E Assistant Biochem Dynamics of the Actin Cytoskeleton
Rowat, Amy Assistant IBP Mechanics and Physiology of Biological Materials
Schiestl, Robert H Full Path Molecular Mechanism of Carcinogenesis
Smale, Steven T Full MIMG Transcriptional Regulation in the Immune System
Tamanoi, Fuyuhiko Full MIMG Signal Transduction
Teitell, Michael Full Path Signaling Rheostats & Epigenetics in Immune System Development
Tontonoz, Peter Full Path Regulation of Gene Expression by Nuclear Hormone Receptors
Torres, Jorge Z Assistant Biochem Microtubule Spindle and Misregulation During Cell Division
Vallim, Thomas Assistant Biochem/Medicine Identifying Molecular Regulators of Pathways that Control Lipid Metabolism in Health and Disease
Van der Bliek, Alexander M Full BC Cell Biological Studies of Mitochondria in Health and Disease
Weiss, Shimon S Full Biochem Single Molecule Biophysics
Witte, Owen N Full MIMG Hematopoietic and Epithelial Cancers and the Immune Response
Wohlschlegel, James A Associate BC Proteomic Studies of Ubiquitin and SUMO-Regulated Networks
Yeates, Todd O Full Biochem Protein Crystallography and Computational Molecular Biology
Young, Stephen G Full HG Pathogenesis of Hypertriglyceridemia, Diseases of Nuclear Lamina
Zipursky, S Lawrence Full BC Mechanisms Regulating Neuronal Connection Specificity

CSULA UPLIFT Teaching Mentors

Jamil Momand

UPLIFT Teaching Mentor
Professor of Biochemistry
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
Cal State Los Angeles

Office Location: La Kretz Hall, Annenberg, Wallis Integrated Science Complex 270
Laboratory Location: La Kretz Hall Annenberg, Wallis Integrated Science Complex 247 & 248
Email: jmomand@calstatela. edu
Ph: (323) 343-2361

I have taught Chemistry, Biochemistry, and Bioinformatics courses at Cal State LA. I run a laboratory that investigates how protein activities are controlled by oxidation and reduction (redox). We are interested in how the tumor suppressor protein p53 is redox regulated and the effect of oxidation on p53-mediated transcription. We use bioinformatics and web lab techniques to uncover new sites of redox regulation on p53 and other proteins.

Paul Narguizian

UPLIFT Teaching Mentor
Department of Biological Sciences
College of Natural and Social Sciences
Cal State Los Angeles

Office Location: ASCB 323C
Email:
pnargui@calstatela.edu
Ph: (323) 343-2054

I am a professor of biological sciences and science education at California State University, Los Angeles. I joined the faculty of Cal State L.A. in the summer of 2002, after eight years of teaching elementary/middle school general science and high school biology and chemistry in Los Angeles, CA. During this time, I also completed a Master of Science degree in Cell & Molecular Biology at California State University, Northridge. My research at CSUN involved taking a closer look at the role of cell membrane structures (i.e. amino acids) and cancer. Realizing the dual importance of science content and science pedagogy in being a more effective science educator, I continued with my graduate education at the University of Southern California where I received a Doctorate in Science Education. During my tenure at USC, I became interested in the Nature and History of Science (i.e. the processes and mechanisms involved in science) and as a result made it the focal point of my dissertation. My university teaching experience prior to CSULA included a position as an adjunct professor of science education at California State University, Long Beach. In May and June, 2007, I served as a Visiting Professor of Biology Education at the American University of Armenia in Yerevan, Armenia.

I have research and publication interests in animal behavior, the role of natural history collections in understanding evolution, evolution education, and the nature, philosophy and history of science. There is a critical need for effective evolution education. Our lab investigates some of the evidence that demonstrates that need and analyzes several aspects of the nature of science and how it can be illustrated during the course of evolution instruction, primarily at the high school and college level. Biological evolution is a critical component to understanding the biodiversity of life on earth. Teachers and students of science alike, address the topic of evolution as a series of facts which tend to focus greatly on definitions and descriptions about life on earth while missing the underlying nature of science (NOS) which was and is currently being used to explain how living things have evolved over time.

Katrina Yamazaki

UPLIFT Teaching Mentor and CSULA UPLIFT Program Coordinator
College of Natural & Social Sciences
Department of Biological Sciences
Cal State Los Angeles
Office Location: ASCL 312
Email: Katrina.Yamazaki@calstatela.edu
Ph: (323) 343-2086

I received my PhD in 2009 from the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) and joined the faculty at CSULA in 2001.  I’m now an Associate Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences conducting research in Cardiovascular Medicine. My current focus is on the protection of mitochondrial structure and function in the setting of heart disease.  Current projects involve the use of in vivo and in vitro models to study how various pharmacological agents protect mitochondrial structure and function in the setting of ischemia-reperfusion injury and Friedreich’s Ataxia.