Samelson Lab Members

Avi is originally from Berkeley, CA. He was an undergraduate at Northwestern University where he worked with Dr. Alfonso Mondragón. During the summers he worked in the lab of Dr. Tom Alber with Dr. James Fraser to study how to access protein conformational ensembles using room temperature x-ray crystallography.

He began graduate school in 2011 to do his Ph.D. in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology at UC Berkeley. There, he worked with Dr. Susan Marqusee and created new methods to characterize the thermodynamics, kinetics, and folding trajectories of ribosome nascent chains.

In 2017, Avi started his postdoc in Dr. Martin Kampmann’s lab at UCSF in the Institute for Neurodegenerative Diseases. There, he created new technologies for antibody-based genetic modifier screens in differentiated cell types with a focus on understanding how neurons control the protein aggregation trajectory of tau. Avi discovered new principles of tau proteostasis in neurons, including a new tau E3 ubiquitin ligase and a connection between oxidative stress and tau proteasomal (mis)processing. He also led a project that discovered novel regulators of the SARS-CoV-2 host receptor ACE2. Avi started his lab at UCLA as an Assitant Professor in the Department of Neurology with a secondary affiliation in Biological Chemistry in January of 2025. The lab is focused on characterizing protein aggregation trajectories and how cells control those trajectories.

Sandra recently earned her Bachelor’s degree in Pharmacology from UCSB. During undergrad, she worked in drug development and quality control at Vascular Biosciences. There, her research focused on developing and optimizing a peptide-conjugated liposome for targeted drug delivery. In the Samelson lab, Sandra is responsible for lab management and molecular and cell biology experiments, and is currently working on a project involving a gene expression system for human iPSC-derived neurons. Outside of the lab, Sandra likes hiking, going to concerts, cooking, and sewing.

I graduated from UC San Diego in 2023 as a Biochemistry major and Bioethics minor. My love for neurodegeneration research began as an undergraduate in the Debelouchina Lab where I studied the protection ability of nuclear tau. After graduating, I spent a year in industry at Biolegend on the western blot quality control team. Now, I’m a PhD student in UCLA’s Molecular Biology Institute in the Biochemistry, Biophysics, and Structural Biology (BBSB) program. I’m excited to integrate my interests of structural and molecular biology to answer key biological questions. My work in the Samelson Lab is focused on gaining a structural and mechanistic insight into a novel tau E3 ubiquitin ligase that regulates neuronal tau levels. I hope to leverage this system to promote total tau clearance in neurons and develop early intervention strategies for Alzheimer’s disease. Outside of the lab, I love cooking and baking, visiting national parks, trying out new crafts, going to the beach, and gardening!

I grew up in Kathmandu, Nepal, and earned my BS in Microbiology from St. Xavier’s College. As an undergraduate, I worked on projects characterizing the antimicrobial properties of medicinal plants and conducted a study on the physicochemical and microbial analysis of the Bagmati River in Kathmandu valley. After graduating, I interned in the pathology department at Shahid Gangalal National Heart Center before beginning my PhD in Molecular and Cellular Life Sciences at the University of Wyoming in 2019. For my doctoral research in Dr. Thomas Boothby’s lab, I studied how the chemical environment influences the ensemble-function relationships of intrinsically disordered proteins during desiccation. Broadly, I’m interested in protein aggregation in the context of disease and development. As a postdoctoral scholar in the Samelson Lab, I will investigate how sequence and cellular factors drive the aggregation of amyloid-forming proteins, using biophysical and biochemical approaches both in vitro and in iPSC-derived neuronal models. I’m excited to work at the interface of protein biochemistry, biophysics, cell biology, and functional genomics. Outside the lab, I enjoy traveling, hiking, reading, watching soccer and cricket.

I attended University of California, Berkeley for my undergraduate studies, where I majored in Molecular and Cell Biology with an emphasis in Neurobiology. I was an honors undergraduate student researcher at the Noah Whiteman Lab, where I completed my honors thesis. Upon graduation, I moved to Boston, MA to study the role of DNA methylation in promoting carcinogenesis in a pre leukemic model under the mentorship of Drs. Bradley Bernstein and Alba Rodriguez-Meira as a research technician at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Now, I am in the Molecular Biology Interdepartmental Doctoral Program at University of California, Los Angeles, rotating in the Samelson Lab to study the cell-specific selective vulnerabilities of neurons in neurodegenerative disorders, such as Parkinson’s disease. In my free time, I love to dance, check out new restaurants and bars, and spend time outdoors.

I am a junior who transferred to UCLA from Modesto Junior College, and I am majoring in Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology. I was an undergraduate research volunteer on the Design2Data project under UC Davis Siegel Labs, where I focused on performing assays and point mutations on amino acids to optimize the β-Glucosidase B gene’s function and stability. My current research focus is an emphasis on neurodegenerative diseases and I hope to pursue an MD/PhD in the future. In the Samelson lab, I will be helping support numerous projects in the lab, as well as cell culturing, building mutant libraries, and working with iPSC-derived neurons. In my free time, I enjoy going to the gym, playing cards, and listening to music!

I graduated from the University of Maryland, College Park with a double major B.S. in Biochemistry and Psychology. After graduation, I worked in Dr. Hui Zhang’s lab at Johns Hopkins University, where my research focused on developing new bottom-up mass spectrometry workflows and computational platforms for proteoform quantification. I am currently a Ph.D. candidate in the Molecular Biology Interdepartmental Doctoral Program at the University of California, Los Angeles. During my Winter 2026 rotation in the Samelson Lab, I am investigating how methionine oxidation influences tau fragmentation, seeding, and aggregation in neurodegenerative disease. Outside the lab, I enjoy playing video games, golfing, and composing music.