President's Postdoctoral Fellowship Program Recipients 2006-07

Life Sciences  

Nathaniel Dudley

Education: B.A., Hampshire College, Molecular Biology; Ph.D., University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Biology

Dissertation: Understanding the Molecular Mechanisms of RNA interference in C. elegans

Thesis Advisor: Bob Goldstein, Professor of Biology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Research Topic: Investigations into the non-nuclear modes of nuclear hormone receptor function in C. elegans

Mentor: Joel Rothman, Professor of Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara

Galit Fuhrmann Alpert

Education: B.S., Hebrew University , Biology and Computer Science; M.S., Hebrew University, Neural Computation; Ph.D., Hebrew University, Neural Computation

Dissertation: Information Flow in Neocortical Pathways

Thesis Advisor: Misha Tsodyks, Professor of Neurobiology, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot , Israel

Research Topic: Functional Connectivity and Information Flow in the Human Brain: Multimodal Neuroimaging and Electrophysiological Studies.

Mentor: Robert T. Knight, Professor of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley

Vicente Garcia

Education: B.S., University of Washington, Botany; Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley, Integrative Biology

Dissertation: Phylogenetic Research of the Genus Piper (Piperaceae): Implications on Classification and Biogeography Monographic Revision of Macropiper

Thesis Advisor: Brent Mishler, Professor of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley

 Research Topic: Piper Systematics and the Evolution of Dioecy.

Mentor: Chelsea Specht, Professor of Plant and Microbial Biology, University of California, Berkeley

Amanda Lewis

Education: B.S., California State Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo, Biological Sciences; Ph.D., University of California, San Diego, Biological Sciences

Dissertation: Discovery, Characterization, and Pathologic Relevance of Sialic Acid
O-Acetylation in Group B Streptococcus

Thesis Advisor:  Ajit Varki, Professor of Cellular & Molecular Medicine, University of California, San Diego

Research Topic: The Role of Sialic Acids in Bacterial Pathogenesis

Mentor: Victor Nizet, Professor of Pediatrics, University of California , San Diego

Matthew Milnes

Education: B.S., University of Florida , Wildlife Ecology and Conservation; Ph.D., University of Florida, Zoology

Dissertation: Effects of Environmental Contaminants on Development, Sexual Differentiation, and Steroidogenesis in Alligator Mississippiensis

Thesis Advisor: Louis J. Guillette, Jr., Professor of Zoology, University of Florida

 Research Topic: Nuclear Hormone Receptor Mediated Chemical Stress Response

Mentor: Bruce Blumberg, Professor of Developmental and Cell Biology, University of California, Irvine

Heather Van Epps

Education: B.S., University of Illinois, Urbana, Biochemistry; Ph.D., University of Washington, Biochemistry

Dissertation: Synaptojanin's role in vision and photoreceptor ribbon synaptic architecture

Thesis Advisor: James B. Hurley and Susan Brockerhoff, Professors of Biochemistry, University of Washington

Research Topic: Molecular Mechanisms of Synapse Specification

Mentor: Yishi Jin, Professor of Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology, University of California, Santa Cruz

Sacha Vignieri

Education: B.A., University of California, Berkeley, Integrative Biology; Ph.D., University of Washington, Zoology

Dissertation: Dispersal, disturbance, and distance: the connection between ecological processes and spatial genetic patterns in the Pacific jumping mouse (Zapus trinotatus)

Thesis Advisor: G. Jim Kenagy, Professor of Biology, University of Washington

Research Topic: The influence of behavior, habitat, and landscape on adaptive coat coloration in the endangered Choctawhatchee beach mouse (Peromyscus polionotus allophrys)

Mentor: Hopi Hoekstra, Professor of Biological Sciences, University of California, San Diego

Louie H. Yang

Education: B.A., Cornell University, Biology (Ecology and Evolution); Ph.D., University of California, Davis, Population Biology

Dissertation: Periodical Cicadas (Magicicada spp.) and the Ecology of Resource Pulses

Thesis Advisors: Richard Karban, Professor of Entomology and Judy Stamps, Professor of Ecology and Evolution, University of California, Davis

Research Topic: Resource Pulses, Thresholds and Environmental Change:  Understanding the Ecology of Temporal Variation

Mentors: Jonathan Levine, Professor of Ecology, Evolution & Marine Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara and Mary Power, Professor of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley