Joshua Bagley

I grew up on the eastern side of Washington State where I took up mountain biking and snowboarding until attending the University of Pittsburgh for neuroscience.  After graduation, I moved to the Washington DC area and continued full-time research at the NIH for two years studying postnatal neurogenesis in the mouse olfactory bulb.  I greatly look forward to moving back out west where there are real mountains to entertain my outdoor hobbies, especially the biking in Marin County.  I am excited to experience the mixture of city and outdoor life that the bay area has to offer. 

Joseph Donovan

Joe Donovan graduated Caltech this year with a double major in Biology and Business/Economics/Management. He's an avid photographer and particularly enjoys nature and landscape photography. He enjoys hiking/backpacking, cooking, computer games, and plays electric guitar. His favorite bands are 311, Zebrahead, Incubus, Third Eye Blind, and RHCP. He's originally from the suburbs of Chicago, a city which he enjoys quite a lot. Some of his previous research includes: fMRI work on charity in humans, fruit fly memory, and autonomous vehicles (that drive themselves).

Caitlyn Gertz

I grew up just outside Albany, NY before moving to Ann Arbor, MI to attend college. After graduating from the University of Michigan in 2005, I spent a year doing a fellowship at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, MD. Because I missed Midwest winters, I moved back to the lovely state of Michigan and have since been a lab technician characterizing scaffolds for neural regeneration. I look forward to pursuing my studies at UCSF and being able to play outdoor soccer all year round.

Cody Locke

I grew up in a rural Alabama community, called Boaz, and studied biology and computer science at The University of Alabama. As an HHMI intern and, later, as a technician, I primarily conducted research on the cytoskeletal control of neuronal excitability in a C. elegans model of epilepsy. I have also dabbled in computational biology and other C. elegans research projects, which are most relevant to neurodegenerative disorders, such as Parkinson’s. When I don’t have my “nose to the grindstone” in the lab, I enjoy reading comics, exercising, and baseball. I believe that UCSF is unrivaled in its capacity to train new generations of leaders in science. Indeed, I am eager to seize the synergistic opportunities afforded me by UCSF and life in the beautiful and diverse San Francisco Bay Area.

Kathryn Lovero

I grew up in Chicago and then moved out to California, where I attended UCSD for college.  As an undergrad, I studied neuroscience, worked in a couple of labs, and learned to love all that California has to offer - from the beaches to the mountains and everything in between.  I like to spend my non-science time enjoying (and sometimes taking a stab at making my own) art, music, food, and festivities.  This summer I'm traveling to Peru to volunteer at a children's community center, hike the Inca Trail, and generally wander an unknown place before settling into an exciting future in San Francisco.  Can't wait to meet you all and explore neuroscience and San Francisco together!

Eirene Markenscoff-Papadimitriou

I grew up in San Diego, and I attended Harvard where I majored in English literature, though I spent my summers learning about biology in Berkeley.  After graduation I worked in a molecular genetics lab in Geneva, Switzerland and traveled around Europe, returning dutifully back to Boston where I have been working in a neuroscience lab since. I like to spend my free time in the pursuit of good live music, movies, and coffeeshops.  I'm looking forward to moving back to California and starting my studies in the fall! 

Shanni Silberberg

I was born in Jerusalem, Israel but have spent half of my life in the US. I have lived in Houston, Miami, Potomac MD, College Park MD, as well as three cities in Israel. Bring on the next move! I recently graduated from the University of Maryland where, after detours through art history, architecture, and theater, I obtained a B.S. in Physiology and Neurobiology. For the past two years, I have been working on protein purification in a Caenorhabditis sex determination lab (affectionately termed "the palace of worm sex"). I am shamefully addicted to Grey's Anatomy, xkcd, sushi, and jigsaw puzzles. Looking forward to spending the next few years at UCSF!

Peter Sohn

I was born in Huntsville, Alabama, but grew up in South Korea since I was very young. I have lived in the city Daejeon where major science research institutes are clustered and Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), where I have studied biology, is located. I enjoy playing sports like soccer, futsal, and table tennis. After my graduation in this summer, I plan to go on a mission trip to Japan. I am looking forward to coming to San Francisco to get to know the beautiful city and excited to study at the UCSF. I am very happy to meet you all.

Jason Tien

I grew up in New York City and completed my undergraduate degree at Johns Hopkins University concentrating in neuroscience, mathematics, and statistics. After graduating, I joined the Peace Corps and am currently serving as a mathematics/physics/computer high school teacher in Ghana. I enjoy sleeping on cool concrete floors, sitting in front of electric fans, and hiding from direct afternoon sunlight. I can't wait to move to SF where room temperature is 25 degrees and the sun is not always directly overhead! In addition, I'm looking forward to cooking, eating, working out, hanging out with friends -- all the things I haven't done well in the past two years.