Dr. Joy Xiang is an assistant professor in the Biomedical Sciences Division of the School of Medicine at UC Riverside. She is a member of the RNA Center at UCR, and a cooperating faculty in several Graduate Programs including Genomes Genetics and Bioinformatics (GGB), Cellular, Molecular and Development Biology (CMDB), Bioengineering (BIG). She is passionate about all things RNA, RNA viruses and synthetic biology. In her free time, she likes to play racket sports and watch women soccer.

Karen is a PhD student in the Biomedical Sciences graduate program ('28). She is passionate about RNA molecular biology and its potential for development into personalized medicine. Her achievements include the Mary Galvin Burden Pre-Doctoral Fellowship in Biomedical Sciences, and a Best Pizza Friday presentation award. In her free time, she likes to build computers, win plushies at the arcade, and force herself to go to haunted houses and watch horror movies. 

Neil is a PhD student in the Biomedical Sciences graduate program ('30). He completed his Master's project on snRNA therapeutics and is continuing his passion for RNA in the Xiang lab. Outside of the lab, Neil enjoys trying new foods, drinking coffee, and playing video games.

Carlos is a second-year medical student and an aspiring physician-scientist. His clinical interests revolve around perioperative care (anesthesia), hemodynamics, and military medicine. His research interests are in molecular biology, he is specifically interested in the signaling pathways involved in hypoxia. He is a sojourner in the Dr. Joy Xiang and Dr. Erica Heinrich labs, where he studies RNA binding protein interactions in the HIF signaling pathway. What is “free time”? –Carlos 

Ben is a first-year master’s student in the Biomedical Sciences graduate program (‘27). He is passionate about RNA-protein interactions in viral infections, particularly hijacking mechanisms of host transcription and evasion of the immune response. In his free time, he likes to hike, hang out at the beach with friends, and add to his bucket list of travel destinations.