Michael Berberoglu

I was born in Reno, NV and have lived there until now.  I have fond memories of San Francisco, as my family and I visited almost every summer when I was young.  I have always had a passion for science and understanding why things are the way they are.  I also began playing the clarinet in the 6th grade and was able to keep up with it through high school and college.  In my undergraduate studies at the University of Nevada, Reno, I was torn between Biology and Music and had to make a big decision as to what I would do the rest of my life.  After taking courses in both fields, I decided that a career in Science would be best for me, as my musical aspirations could be fulfilled as a hobby.  As I progressed through college, I knew that I wanted to go to graduate school, and I starting working in a Developmental Neuroscience lab to gain research experience.  I started to really enjoy what I was doing and became more and more fascinated with the brain and how it works.  I thus decided to apply to Neuroscience programs and chose UCSF because of the great program as well as the exciting city life.  I look forward to joining the UCSF Neuroscience community!

Chris Bohlen

I was raised in a small town in central Ohio—a pretty standard Midwestern type of place. I stuck around for a biochemistry degree at Ohio State, but now I’m ready for a trek to the Far West.  My previous/current labwork (using NMR to study protein interactions) has not been particularly brain-related, but I am of course interested in applying my understanding of biochemical fundamentals to the molecular mechanisms of the brain. I’m also looking forward to applying my previous/current hobbies (music, philosophy,  hiking) to life in a new city and a new school

Maggie Carr

I grew up in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania before heading to Williams College in western Massachusetts. I've spent the past four years studying math, neuroscience, & religion, coxing for the Williams Crew team, and spending any free moment running around outside. I'm excited about moving out to the west coast, exploring San Francisco, and meeting all of you!

Anita Devineni

I grew up in St. Louis, Missouri for 18 years until I decided it was time to finally get out of the midwest.  I moved to California to attend Stanford, where I recently got my degree in biology and fell in love with neuroscience research.  My parents initially weren't thrilled about my decision to go to grad school since they've been trying to convince me to go to medical school for the last 20 years of my life (literally), and they still haven't given up.  However, I couldn't be more excited to start grad school and to live in such an amazing and diverse city as San Francisco.  In my free time I enjoy running, hiking, reading, and baking things involving ridiculous amounts of chocolate.

Erica Korb

I grew up in center-city Philadelphia and went to Yale for undergrad.  I've always been a science geek at heart and as a kid planned on becoming an astronaut but eventually decided that studying the brain would be even cooler.  I started doing research in college, got hooked, and spent this past year working in DC in a neuroscience lab at the NIH.  I'm totally a city lover but appreciate being able to get outdoors so I think San Francisco will be perfect for me (though I suspect that come December the lack of snow might be a bit disorienting.)  While I'm not in the lab I'm usually either fencing, which I've been doing competitively for years, cycling, or occasionally playing chamber music with friends.

Abe Langseth

I was born and raised in Minnesota, and I just finished a Biochemistry degree at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, MN.  I have been interested in science since high school, and originally thought that I might study genetics or molecular biology for my doctorate.  However, my research experience as an undergrad convinced me that I would like to combine these interests with the broader field of neuroscience.  During my undergrad (for the last four years) I worked for Dr. Dwight Nelson studying whole-organism circadian rhythms in mice at the University of St. Thomas and studying circadian protein expression rhythms in mouse hypothalamus with Dr. Paulo Kofuji at the University of Minnesota.

This summer I am working in a molecular biology lab at Guidant Corp. (recently acquired by Boston Scientific).  I am planning to move to San Francisco in the middle of August.

Jill Larimore

Hi everyone!  My name is Jill Larimore and I was born and raised in Manteca, California, a small town that is typically known for it’s famous waterslides and that’s about it.  From the age of four I thought I was destined to be a classical pianist and was preparing to attend the music conservatory in San Francisco.  However, after an unfortunate event with my piano and a moving truck I decided to take some time off and to discover what I wanted to really do with my life.  During the three years after high school I enrolled in a biotechnology program at a local community college.  It was here that I discovered my love for science and hunger for knowledge.  Eventually I made my way to UCSD where I have recently graduated with a degree in biochemistry.  My interest in neuroscience grew steadily during the last four years while working at the Salk Institute in a neuroscience lab.  While I am sad to be leaving sunny San Diego I am very much looking forward to my adventures waiting for me at UCSF and in the city of San Francisco.  I look forward to meeting you all.  See you soon!!!

Paul Larkin

Whenever I go home to North Carolina, I stop by Bojangles for the fried chicken, biscuits and sweet tea that I can't get elsewhere.  I was there recently and noticed the caption on a sign advertising their Famous Fried Chicken as, "Southern born and breaded."  I thought, mmm just like me!  (If puns were deli meat, I'd like the wurst)  I grew up in a small town in eastern North Carolina, but eventually I decided to experience winter, so I went to Amherst College and studied Chemistry and Ultimate Frisbee.  Since graduating I've been working at the NIH in Washington DC and I've had a great time doing neuroscience and living in such an exciting city.  I think UCSF and San Francisco will give me the opportunity to do more of both of those things, so I'm looking forward to driving cross country, and I s'pose I can continue to make my own sweet tea for the next few years.

Talia Lerner

Many people have encouraged me to combine my two great interests - science and art - and have suggested that I pursue an exciting career in architecture, science textbook illustration or dictionary editing, but there are many reasons I have not chosen those paths. It may be due to lack of imagination (how dictionary editing combines science and art continues to elude me) but it may also be due to the fact that I have no desire to water down or compromise either of my passions. And so, I’m excited to involve myself deeply in science at UCSF, and to paint your portrait sometime, if you like. I’ll be arriving in San Francisco from New Haven by bike this summer, taking 9 weeks to ride about 4000 miles across the country, as part of a benefit for Habitat for Humanity. When I finally arrive on the west coast, I’ll be looking forward to exploring the city (after a quick shower).

Helen McLendon

I was born in Memphis, Tennessee.  I spent my earliest years digging around in my backyard for bugs, climbing trees, and, at a nearby lake, catching turtles, old shoes, and the occasional catfish.  My love of the outdoors brought me to sunny California, and Stanford University, where I fell in love with Big Sur and the Monterey coastline.  I impetuously decided to become a marine biologist, and set out for the South Pacific to do research on a sailboat.  Unfortunately, after that quarter, the mere sight of a boat made me green and woozy, so I decided to spend the next summer in the desert, doing fieldwork on harvester ant colony behavior.  While in the Arizona desert, I became fascinated with the relationship between the behavior of individual ants and the functioning of the colony as a whole.  After graduation, I was not ready to leave Stanford, and took a position as a technician in a neurobiology lab studying fruit fly visual behavior.  While there, I became even more interested in the neurobiological mechanisms underlying the behavior of single organisms than I had been in the functioning of an ant colony.  I look forward to exploring my new interests at UCSF, and finding out all San Francisco has to offer.

Elizabeth Steinberg

I spent the first 18 years of my life in Buffalo, New York. Fortunately, I managed to dig my way out of the snow in time to move to Manhattan and attend college at Columbia University, where I studied neuroscience and philosophy. After graduating in 2004 I was keen to spend some time overseas so I packed up and left for New Zealand. I spent two very happy years mountain biking, sailing and hiking all over the country while working as a technician in a gene therapy lab at the University of Auckland. I'm looking forward to continuing my studies at UCSF and plan to take advantage of the great city of San Francisco and all of the outdoor attractions that Northern California has to offer.

Sandy Toh

Born and bred on the tropical island-state of Singapore I had the
benefit of a rich Asian upbringing and good exposure to the rest of the world.  During my undergraduate studies at Penn State,
Pennsylvania became a second home as I fell in love with the very different culture, environment and climate in the States. Upon graduation, by some fortune I found an enriching job with great colleagues at a cell biology lab back in Singapore, with my craving or (the excellent) Singaporean food as an additional temptation to return. When I can tear myself away from my yeast cultures, this self-confessed science fiction 'geek' loves cycling for recreation, going to the theater and exploring new experiences, most recently mangling the lindy hop and tap dance styles!  But my itch to explore further has not been quelled, so I am excited at the opportunity to continue my intellectual growth in the Neuroscience graduate program at UCSF, while experiencing San Francisco's rich cultural scene!

Doris Wang (MSTP)

I was born in Beijing, China and lived there until I was eleven. My family moved to Golden, Colorado out of all places and that is where I learned English, skiing, and Coors (Golden is home of Coors Beer). I attended Golden High School and got very interested in science, medicine, and the brain through a fetal pig dissection. When I went off to college at Yale, I became an even bigger brain nerd through four years of neuroscience research and following neurosurgeons around. When I couldn't decide between medicine and science, I decided to pursue both through the MD/PhD program. I couldn't resist the sunny California weather (San Francisco sure fooled me during my interview) and the idea of living in the last C state (after Colorado and Connecticut). So here I am, status post 2 years of med school, during which I learned more about science, medicine, brain, skiing, and surfing. I'm very excited to start the next phase of my life and continue my adventures in the best city ever!

David Young (MSTP)

My parents birthed four children, myself the fourth and final.  My siblings taught me much, and when it came time to pick a college, I had little choice or desire but to follow in their and our parents' examples by attending UC Berkeley.  There I finally got to branch out by pursuing my interest in software design, starting a small business named Text Flex that produced a strategy-based football simulator for fantasy football analysis.  But alas, my family history caught up with me, and I majored in molecular biology, the same major my older brothers chose.  Confronted with picking an emphasis within the major, neuroscience appealed to me when a friend told me that between editions of his neuro textbook, the later edition didn't merely update the previous edition's material, but flatly contradicted it.  Just like the broad swaths of progress inherent in software design, neuroscience seemed ready to take me to new horizons.  As I applied to MD/PhD programs in neuroscience, I hoped and dreamed to break out of the Bay Area, but then UCSF had the audacity to accept me.  Here I am, and happy because of it!