Andy obtained his undergraduate degree in 2024 in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from UCSC and now he's our junior lab specialist!

Leila obtained her undergraduate degree in 2024 in Human Biology from UCSC. She is now pursuing a masters at San Jose State!

Mays was a graduate student in the Carpenter Lab from 2018-2023! Mays' main thesis project focused on investigating the role played by hnRNP-A2/B1 in regulating the innate immune response using novel mouse models and human derived immune cells. She also performed a CRISPRi screen to identify novel non-coding RNAs that regulate macrophage response to smoke exposure and characterized the role of lincRNA-Cox2 in regulating immune response to smoke exposure in mice.

Cristina was a postdoc in the Carpenter Lab from 2021-2024. Her work focused on the role of lncRNAs in macrophage viability. 

Haley was a graduate student in the Carpenter Lab from 2016-2023! Haley's main thesis project focused on characterizing LOUP, a multifunctional locus that regulates macrophage differentiation and inflammatory signaling. She also had other projects collaborating with other lab members!

Haley is now a teacher!

Eddie obtained his undergraduate degree in 2023 in Biomolecular Engineering and Bioinformatics from UCSC. 

Owais obtained his undergraduate degree in 2023 in Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology from UCSC. 

Lenaig was the CRISPR Director at UCSC from 2020-2022. She has moved onto a position at Spotlight Therapeutics. 

Danissa obtained her undergraduate degree in 2022 in Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology from UCSC.

Sara obtained her undergraduate degree in 2022 in Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology from UCSC.

Benny obtained his undergraduate degree in 2022 in Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology from UCSC. He is now working as a research assistant in the lab of Dr. D'Juan Farmer at UCLA.

Samaneh obtained her undergraduate degree in Molecular Cell and Developmental Biology at UCSC in 2019. Prior to and following graduation, she worked at the Vollmers lab as an undergraduate researcher studying full-length cDNA sequencing technology by using R2C2 method to improve transcriptome annotation in mammalians. 

Elektra was a graduate student in the Carpenter Lab from 2015-2021. She was the first student to ever rotate in the Carpenter lab! Her main thesis project focused on characterizing noncoding RNA and their roles in regulating inflammation. She worked on lincRNA-Cox2 and its role in regulating immune responses within the lung. She also characterized a new isoform of the protein Aim2 and showed how it is regulated through iron in macrophages. 

Elektra is now a postdoctoral researcher in the Sonnenberg lab at Stanford. 

Apple was a graduate student in the Carpenter Lab from 2016-2021. She was the first Ph.D. student to graduate from Susan's lab! Her main thesis project focused on characterizing a lncRNA called GAPLINC that regulates the expression of pro-inflammatory genes in macrophage cells and affects the susceptibility of mice to endotoxic shock. She also worked on identifying novel NFkB regulators using CRISPR screens and developed an isoform-level transcriptome atlas that identifies full-length isoforms in primary human macrophages.

Apple is now a postdoctoral researcher in the Turley Lab at Genentech in the department of Cancer Biology to study macrophage-fibroblast interactions!

Anastasia graduated from UCSC in 2021. She worked for the CRIPSR Core team regarding lentivirus-mediated CRISPR-Cas9 genome-editing in mammalian cells. She is now pursuing a Pharm.D. degree at UCSF!

Tanya is an undergraduate majoring in Biomolecular Engineering. She worked with Mays Salih on understanding the role of hnRNPA2B1 (an RNA binding protein) in Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) during 2020. She currently works with the iGEM team and Dr. David Bernick. 

Summer worked as the lab manager for 4 years (2017-2021) and is now looking to go into something psychology related. She plans to volunteer in organizations or non-profits that work with individuals who have experienced childhood trauma or are diagnosed with complex PTSD. She also wants to work with these populations in the future either as a researcher or a therapist. Summer hopes to go back to school to get an M.A. in psychology!

Steven was an undergraduate researcher in the Carpenter lab from 2019 to 2021. He worked with Haley Halasz studying the role of Long Noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) in innate immunity and worked on quantifying the expression of lncRNAs and mRNAs in human monocytes. He plans on working a few years in academia before applying to a PhD program.

Michele was an NIH PREP Scholar in the Carpenter Lab (2019-2020). She was awarded an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship (2020) under the direction of Susan. She is currently a PhD student at Keck School of Medicine of UCSC. Her email is ramoscorrea.michele@gmail.com. 

Aaron was an undergraduate researcher in the Carpenter lab for two years (2018-2020). It opened many opportunities for him. Now he does research at the Ragon Institute with hopes of going to medical school in a few years.  

Daisy worked on characterizing the LncRNA GAPLINC and its role in inflammation and sepsis. Daisy worked in lab with Apple Vollmers for over a year and is currently working in the cellular-based meat industry producing more sustainable meats based on science. Her email is daisykuang1@gmail.com

From Nov. 2015 - Feb. 2020, Sergio developed all the CRISPR systems used in the lab. He established the CRISPR screening systems and pipelines that led to the discovery of hundreds of lncRNAs that regulate the inflammatory response. He and Susan founded the CRISPR Core at UCSC, which provides CRISPR services to the general scientific community.

Sergio is now scientist at Biomarin where he is using CRISPR systems for new drug target discovery. He currently lives in Novato, CA and enjoys spending time with his wife and 2 kids.

Barbara worked in the lab from Oct. 2015 - Sept. 2019. She was an Assistant Specialist who was involved in research into the role of lincRNA-Cox2 in host defense. She helped start the Carpenter Lab with Susan in 2015.

Allyson was an undergraduate researcher in the Carpenter lab for three years (2015-2018). It opened many opportunities for her. Now she does research at Weill Cornell Medical College with hopes of going to medical school in a few years.

Simon was an undergraduate researcher at the Carpenter Lab for one and a half years until he graduated (2017-2019). His project focused on developing a cell line, which can produce quality murine GM-CSF which can efficiently differentiate mouse bone marrow cells into dendritic cells. The Carpenter Lab helped him jumpstart into the world of science. Now he is at UCSF working as a Lab Manager, and will hopefully be a graduate student coming 2021.

Justin was an undergraduate researcher in the Carpenter lab during his Senior year (2019). He worked with Apple characterizing GAPLINC and its role in endotoxic shock. Now he is an Associate Scientist at Amgen.  

Aidan volunteered in the Carpenter Lab from 2017-2018 and helped overexpress lncRNAs to better understand their functionality in innate immune cells. He graduated from UCSC in 2018 with a B.S. in Biochemistry. He currently works at Stanford University engineering chimeric antigen receptors to improve potency and specificity of CAR T-cell therapy against various cancers. He ultimately intends on attending medical school to become a Doctor of Medicine.