Principal Investigator
Biswa Ramani (he/him/his)
Lab Personnel
Kean Ehsani (he/him/his)
Rotation Students
Venus Hagan (she/her/hers)
Hi! I was born and raised in Pomona, CA. Not going too far, I attended UCLA for undergrad, where I earned a B.S. in Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology with a minor in Biomedical Research. After graduation, I came up to the Bay and joined the lab of Martin Kampmann as an SRA/PROPEL post-bac scholar. Broadly, I am interested in the cellular and molecular mechanisms of the brain, with a particular interest in those relevant to neurological diseases. Outside of the lab, I am perpetually listening to music, baking a sweet treat, crocheting amigurumi, or have my head in a book :)
Adam Kazerounian (he/him/his)
My name is Adam Kazerounian and I grew up in the East Bay, went to community college for 2 years, then finished up my degree at UC Berkeley in Molecular & Cell Biology. As an undergrad, I began my scientific journey investigating the genetic drivers of energy dissipation mechanisms in Photosystem II for single-celled algae. Although plants remain fascinating to me, I was very curious about how cell-cell interactions in multicellular organisms work to orchestrate development of complex structures. During my senior year and after graduation, I began teching at UCSF with Tomasz Nowakowski to develop methods for single-clone lineage tracing of neural stem cells and their progeny in order to elucidate the dynamics of fate programming decisions during neurodevelopment. Going forward, I am open-minded and broadly interested in neuroscience, and I’d like to investigate the mysteries of the brain from multiple angles. Alongside professor Ramani, I'm keen to explore the in vivo dynamics of proteostasis and establish some valuable toolkits for modeling neurodegeneration!In my free time, I love plants (orchids, carnivorous plants, everything tropical), backpacking and hiking, origami, and I’m learning some screen printing techniques. I also love EDM, neo-soul, and indie concerts. I also really love movies, especially weird horror cinema!