Nancy McQueen

UPLIFT Advisory Board Member
Professor in Biological Sciences and Associate Dean of the College of Natural and Social Sciences

Office:  ASCB Dean’s Office, ext: 3-2000
E-mail:  nmcquee@calstatela.edu
Web:  http://www.calstatela.edu/faculty/nmcquee

Robert Nissen

CSULA UPLIFT Advisor
Full Professor, Chair of Department of Biological Sciences

Research:  Molecular Mechanisms in Vertebrate Development
Office:  BIOS 143 and ASCL 216, ext: 3-2050 and 3-2039
E-mail:  rnissen@calstatela.edu
Web:  http://www.calstatela.edu/faculty/rnissen

I grew up in the greater Los Angeles area and am a first-generation college graduate. I began my studies at Riverside Community College. My initial interests were not in the sciences, but after taking an invertebrate zoology course taught by an amazing instructor, I chose to major in Biology. After spending a summer at CSU Long Beach taking general chemistry, I transferred to UC Berkeley. While there, I completed my honors undergraduate research project on x-ray crystallography and structure-function studies in the Stevens lab. Given my initial interest in structure-function, I spent most of my first year as a graduate student at UCSF working on x-ray crystallographic projects. My last quarter rotation in the Yamamoto lab exposed me to the fascinating world of gene regulation and convinced me to focus my PhD studies in unraveling transcriptional regulatory mechanisms. While completing my PhD on the anti-inflammatory mechanisms of glucocorticoid repression of NFkB transcriptional activity, I became interested in animal development. Upon finishing my PhD, I left San Francisco to Cambridge where I joined the Hopkins lab to help complete the insertional mutagenesis screen in the zebrafish, Danio rerio. Five winters later, I returned to California with a group of zebrafish mutants exhibiting defects in the formation of the craniofacial apparatus. My research endeavors have been supported by grants from the NIH and NSF. I am additionally involved in administering grants from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, The California Wellness Foundation, and the US Department of Education. My teaching interests are primarily focused in the areas of cell and molecular biology.

Katrina Yamazaki

UPLIFT Program Coordinator & Teaching Mentor
Associate Professor, Department of Biological Sciences

Research:  Cardiovascular Metabolism
Office:  ASCB 323E, ext: 3-2086
E-mail:  kyamaza@calstatela.edu

My research interests are in the area of cardiovascular metabolism. In particular we focus 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 diabetes.My research interests are in the area of cardiovascular metabolism. In particular we focus 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 diabetes.