Palmer Lab Members
Abraham A. Palmer, PhD
Principal Investigator
Professor & Vice Chair for Basic Research
Department of Psychiatry
University of California San Diego
UCSD Profile | Curriculum Vitae
ORCID: 0000-0003-3634-0747 | PubMed | Google Scholar
aap@ucsd.edu
Office: Israni Biomedical Research Facility (BRF-2), 3A24
Faculty
Riyan Cheng, PhD
Associate Project Scientist
ORCID: 0000-0002-8670-795X | Google Scholar
ric025@health.ucsd.edu
Lab: Israni BRF-2, 3217 - Bay ii
Postdoctoral Fellow at Palmer Lab 2008-2012.
Joined the Palmer Lab in March 2017.
Daniel Munro, PhD
Assistant Project Scientist
ORCID: 0000-0002-0724-218X | Google Scholar
dmunro@health.ucsd.edu
Joined the Palmer Lab in March 2020.
Oksana Polesskaya, PhD
Associate Research Scientist
ORCID: 0000-0003-3024-114X | Google Scholar
opolesskaya@health.ucsd.edu
Office: BRF-2, 3A32
Joined the Palmer Lab in January 2015.
Thiago Missfeldt Sanches, PhD
Assistant Project Scientist
Bioinformatics Team Lead
ORCID: 0000-0001-6962-9569 | Google Scholar
tsanches@health.ucsd.edu
Office: BRF-2, 3A32
Joined the Palmer Lab in October 2022.
Postdoctoral Fellows
Montana K. Lara, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow
ORCID: 0000-0001-5810-4425 | Google Scholar
mklara@health.ucsd.edu
Lab: BRF-2, 3217 - Bay gg
Joined the Palmer Lab in May 2023.
Zachary Tatom, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow
ORCID: 0000-0003-1115-0314 | Google Scholar
ztatom@health.ucsd.edu
Office: BRF-2, 3A07-d/e
Joined the Palmer Lab in October 2024.
Graduate Students
Denghui Chen, BS
PHD STUDENT (BISB)
ORCID: 0000-0002-6541-3418 | Google Scholar
dec037@health.ucsd.edu
Lab: BRF-2, 3217 - Bay hh
Joined the Palmer Lab in March 2020.
Entered graduate program in September 2022.
Apurva S. Chitre, MS
PHD STUDENT (BISB)
ORCID: 0000-0003-1709-9214 | Google Scholar
aschitre@health.ucsd.edu
Office: BRF-2, 3A07-m
Joined the Palmer Lab in January 2015.
Entered graduate program in September 2022.
Jean Gonzalez, BA
GRADUATE STUDENT RESEARCHER (BISB)
ORCID: 0009-0009-4944-9523 | Google Scholar
jeg035@ucsd.edu
Office: BRF-2, 3A21
Joined the Palmer Lab in April 2024.
Jonah Pacis, BA
PHD STUDENT (BISB)
ORCID: 0009-0009-6518-9741
jopacis@ucsd.edu
Office: BRF-2, 3A07-d/e
Spring 2026 rotation.
Undergraduate Students
Bioinformatics and Genomics
Gracie Ang, MS
DATA SCIENTIST
ORCID: 0009-0007-9202-2168
g1ang@health.ucsd.edu
Lab: BRF-2, 3217 - Bay hh
Joined the Palmer Lab in January 2024.
Benjamin B. Johnson, PhD
BIOINFORMATICIAN
ORCID: 0000-0001-7269-5145
bbjohnson@health.ucsd.edu
Office: BRF-2, 3A07-d/e
Joined the Palmer Lab in March 2023.
Robert W. Vogel, PhD
BIOINFORMATICIAN
ORCID: 0000-0001-5400-5024
rmvogel@health.ucsd.edu
Joined the Palmer Lab in May 2023.
Laboratory Technicians
Rodolfo (Rudy) Avila, BS
Lab Manager
r6avila@health.ucsd.edu
Lab: BRF-2, 3217 - Bay ii
Joined the Palmer Lab in August 2024.
Mohammad Sadegi, BS
Lab/Animal Assistant
m1sadegi@health.ucsd.edu
Lab: BRF-2, 3217 - Bay gg
Joined the Palmer Lab in June 2025.
Nina Suzuki, BS
Lab/Animal Assistant
nisuzuki@health.ucsd.edu
Lab: BRF-2, 3217 - Bay ff
Joined the Palmer Lab in July 2024.
Administrative Staff
April Jones
Research Project Assistant
Joined the Palmer Lab in November 2022.
Past Lab Members
Lab Staff
Elaine Keung, BS
Bioinformatician, 2023-2026
ORCID: 0009-0003-4833-4093
Yizhi Wang, BS
Lab Assistant, 2023-2025
ORCID: 0009-0004-4010-6536
Khai-Minh H. Nguyen, BS
Research Assistant, 2019-2025
ORCID: 0000-0003-3939-7773
Clara Ortez, BS
Lab Assistant,2021-2024
ORCID: 0009-0000-7352-0646
Beverly P. Peng, BS
Bioinformatician, 2021-2023
ORCID: 0009-0001-1511-3089
Kendra Shae Ziegler, BS
Bioinformatician, 2022-2023
ORCID: 0009-0005-6006-2996
Elizabeth Alcantara, MS
Lab Technician, 2021-2023
ORCID: 0009-0009-8295-6375
Katarina Cohen, BA
Lab Assistant, 2021-2023
ORCID: 0000-0001-7769-7414
Haoyu Jia, MS
Bioinformatician, 2022-2023
ORCID: 0009-0003-7870-3048
Gabe Barrero, BA
Bioinformatician, 2021-2022
Karina Cerda, MS
Lab Assistant, 2022
Bonnie Lin, BA
Bioinformatician, 2019-2021
ORCID: 0009-0001-4154-2418
Ariana Page, BA
Research Associate, 2018-2021
ORCID: 0009-0000-1482-253X
Jianjun Gao, PhD
Biostatistician, 2014-2019
Alison Sweet, BS
Research Associate, 2019-2021
Hannah Bimschleger, MS
Lab Manager, 2017-2020
ORCID: 0000-0001-6578-7201
Emily Leung, BA
Lab Technician, 2012-2014
Celine St. Pierre, BA
Lab Manager/Technician, 2012-2017
ORCID: 0000-0001-5465-6601
Jungkyun Seo, BA
Biostatistician, 2015-2016
ORCID: 0000-0001-5514-4421
Greta Sokoloff, PhD
Research Associate, 2007-2011
ORCID: 0000-0003-3651-1980
Emmanuel Aryee, MD
Lab Technician, 2012-2013
Garrett Birkhoff, BA
Lab Technician, 2011-2012
Michaelanne Woerner (Munoz), PhD
Lab Technician, 2006-2008
Michael Demeyer, BA
Lab Technician, 2009-2011
Claudia Wing, MS
Lab Technician, 2008-2009
ORCID: 0000-0002-8243-5598
Postdoctoral Fellows
Michelle Doyle, PhD
Postdoc, 2022-2025
ORCID: 0000-0003-4303-2478
Joel D Leal Gutierrez, PhD
Postdoc, 2020-2024
ORCID: 0000-0002-2811-5390
Daniel Munro, PhD
Postdoc, 2020-2023
(promoted to staff in 2023; Assistant Project Scientist appointment in 2025)
ORCID: 0000-0002-0724-218X
Milad Mortazavi, PhD
Postdoc, 2019-2022
ORCID: 0000-0003-2893-3729
Amelie Baud, PhD
Visiting Scholar, 2017-2021
ORCID: 0000-0003-2448-0283
Amanda Barkley-Levenson, PhD
Postdoc, 2016-2019
(Assistant Project Scientist, 2019-2022)
ORCID: 0000-0003-3722-7578
Sandra Sanchez-Roige, PhD
Postdoc, 2016-2019
(Assistant Professor appointment in 2019; Associate Adjunct Professor appointment in 2022)
Sanchez-Roige Lab at UC San Diego
ORCID: 0000-0001-6137-5699
Yu-Yu Ren, PhD
Postdoc, 2016-2019
Kayla Chase, PhD
Postdoc, 2015-2017
April Williams, PhD
Postdoc, 2015-2017
ORCID: 0000-0001-9281-8528
Laura Sittig, PhD
Postdoc, 2012-2017
ORCID: 0000-0001-5912-9528
Shyam Gopalakrishnan, PhD
Postdoc, 2011-2015
ORCID: 0000-0002-2004-6810
Peter Carbonetto, PhD
Postdoc, 2013-2014
ORCID: 0000-0003-1144-6780
Clarissa Parker, PhD
Postdoc, 2009-2013
ORCID: 0000-0002-0361-7095
Camron Bryant, PhD
Postdoc, 2007-2012
ORCID: 0000-0003-4505-5809
Riyan Cheng, PhD
Postdoc, 2008-2012
(Associate Project Scientist appointment in 2017)
ORCID: 0000-0002-8670-795X
Amy Yang, MD
Postdoc, 2008-2010
Jackie Lim, PhD
Postdoc, 2006-2008
Ney Alliey-Rodriguez, MD
Postdoc, 2007
ORCID: 0000-0001-8594-5676
Pei-Chun Chen, PhD
Postdoc, 2006-2007
Graduate Students
Jai Ramchandra, BA
Grad Student, Winter 2026 rotation
Brittany Leger, PhD
Grad Student, 2021-2025
Jean Gonzalez, BA
Grad Student, Spring 2024 rotation
Sabrina Mi, BS
Grad Student, 2023-2024
Anjali Srinivasan, BS
Grad Student, Winter 2024 rotation
Elizabeth Alcantara, MS
Biology Master’s Program, 2021-2023
Ishita Khatri, BS
Data Science Intern, Summer 2023
Zeljana Babic, MS
PhD Student, 2021-2022
Xinzhu Zhou, PhD
Grad Student, 2015-2020
Alex Gileta, PhD
Grad Student, 2013-2018
Natalia Gonzales, PhD
Grad Student, 2011-2017
Katherine Johnston McMurray, PhD
Grad Student, 2012-2015
Camila Barrios Camacho, BA
Prep Scholar, 2013-2014
Amy Hart, PhD
Grad Student, 2009-2013
Margaret Distler, MD
Grad Student, 2008-2012
Christine Ponder, PhD
Grad Student, 2003-2007
Rathi Suresh, PhD
Grad Student, 2003-2007
Amanda L Yonan, PhD
Grad Student, 2002-2005
Undergraduates
Yixuan (Ivy) Xin - REHU Student, 2025 (ORCID: 0009-0002-6326-9886)
Sakina Muckadam - Undergraduate, 2022-2024 (ORCID: 0009-0002-0717-0507)
Faith Okamoto - Undergraduate, 2022-2024 (ORCID: 0009-0007-4163-6928)
Brandon Krieg - REHU Student, 2023
Mika Okamoto - REHU Student, 2023
Emily Cameron - Undergraduate, 2022-2023
Cristina Comacchio - Undergraduate, 2022-2023
Justin Park - Undergraduate, 2022-2023
Won Choi - Undergraduate, 2022-2023
Viet Nguyen - Undergraduate, 2021-2022
Billy Santoso - Undergraduate, 2022
Owen Tai - Undergraduate, 2022
Alan Lin - REHU Student, 2021
Sammy Myakishev-Rempel - REHU Student, 2021
Cole Stromberg - Undergraduate, 2021 - 2022
Alec Manzer - Undergraduate, 2022
Anne Ilustrisimo - Undergraduate, 2020 - 2022
Nili Farhadi - Undergraduate, 2018-2021
Alejandra Nicanor - Undergraduate, 2017 - 2021
Amy Lee - Undergraduate, 2017-2020
Jazlene Mallari - Undergraduate, 2016-2019
Frances Lagarda - Undergraduate, 2017-2018
Fangchao He - Undergraduate, 2017
John Shin - Undergraduate, 2017
Nishant Mysore - Undergraduate, 2017
Yuya Zhao - Undergraduate, 2017
Yvette Tan - Undergraduate, 2017
Elizabeth Lipschultz - Undergraduate / REHU, 2015-2016
Africa Mcleod - Undergraduate, 2015
Alex Ho - Undergraduate, 2014-2015
Alisha Ho - Undergraduate, 2014-2015
Brittny Bloomenstiel - Undergraduate, 2014-2015
Charissa Newkirk - Undergraduate, 2014-2015
Kate Krauss - Undergraduate, 2013-2015
Kyle Engel - Undergraduate, 2013-2015
Liz Joyce - Undergraduate, 2014-2015
Rachael Maguire - Undergraduate, 2015
Shibani Chettri - REHU Student, 2015
Matt Cheung - Undergraduate, 2012-2014
Phillip Stephens - Summer Student, 2014
Yeonhee Park - Undergraduate, 2011-2014
Emily Tixier - High School / Undergraduate, 2010-2013
Naomi Gorfinkle - Undergraduate, 2009-2013
Alexandra Dattilo - Undergraduate, 2011-2012
Joe Davis - Undergraduate, 2011-2012
Michael Guido - Undergraduate, 2009-2012
Loren Kole - High School / Undergraduate, 2009-2011
Marie Wu - Undergraduate, 2011
Kaitlin Samocha - Undergraduate, 2006-2010, Honors Thesis
Elizabeth Wagner - Undergraduate, 2010
Stacey Kirkpatrick - Undergraduate, 2008-2010
Ben Chang - Undergraduate, 2006-2009
Melissa Graham - Undergraduate, 2006-2009, Honors Thesis
Qian Zhang - Undergraduate, 2008
Andrew Lee Chen - Undergraduate, 2006-2007
Chetan Huded - Undergraduate, 2006
High School Students
Jaxon Leighty, REHU student, 2025
Michael Rempel, 2024
Eden Deng, 2019
Daniel Liu, 2017
Miranda Scarlata, 2014
Emily Tixier, 2010
Colin Walker, 2010
Loren Kole, 2009
Ben Postone, 2008