TEAM
After going to Caltech for undergrad, Eric did a PhD at Cornell with a thesis on the development of near-field optics – the first method to break the diffraction barrier in light microscopy. His work has revolutionized the industry from his Nobel Prize winning PALM technology to his latest work on LLSM and AO applications.
Eric Betzig, PhD
Co-Founder
After going to Caltech for undergrad, Eric did a PhD at Cornell with a thesis on the development of near-field optics – the first method to break the diffraction barrier in light microscopy. His work has revolutionized the industry from his Nobel Prize winning PALM technology to his latest work on LLSM and AO applications.
Originally from Mumbai, India, Neville received his Sc.B. in Chemistry from Brown University and his Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley. During his Ph.D in the Schepartz Lab, he developed small-molecule fluorescent tools for super-resolution and fluorescent lifetime imaging microscopy. His interests lie in a first-principles approach to complex problems and developing tools for the scientific community. Scientific pursuits aside, he enjoys climbing, skiing, scuba diving, Argentine tango, and brewing exceptionally strong cups of chai.
Xavier Darzacq, PhD
Co-Founder
Xavier received his BS at Ecole Normale Supérieure (Paris), his Masters & PhD at Université Paul Sabatier (Toulouse) and performed his postdoctoral research at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, with Robert Singer. Xavier’s enjoys kayaking when not performing research. Tjian + Darzacq group studies transcription, focusing on the role imposed by nuclear architecture on the molecules regulating it. They use a model system of cellular differentiation of human primary dermal fibroblasts into myofibroblasts, which is relevant to wound healing. Among the specificities of this system, they show that the maintenance of the fibroblast state depends on a specialized non-canonical mediator complex, which is becoming one of the central projects of the group.
Read more about his lab’s research here: https://www.tjian-darzacq.mcb.berkeley.edu
Coral received her B.S. in Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology from the University of Washington Seattle. She was an undergraduate researcher in the Abitua Lab of Genome Sciences investigating the stabilization of β-catenin during African Turquoise Killifish embryogenesis. As a member of the ABC, she will be involved with the development of high resolution zebrafish lines and expanding genomic tools with Dave Matus. Future goals of hers include obtaining a PhD and continuing to work in the genomic and molecular field of biology. In her free time she loved to watch and play basketball, cook, and explore places with her friends.
Hugo Hamilton
Graduate Student
Hugo received his Bachelor’s degree in mathematics and biology from Columbia University in the spring of 2024. He has previously worked on applying machine learning to problems in cancer and developmental biology and is excited to be developing deep learning models at the ABC to combine machine learning and cutting-edge imaging systems to accelerate the pace of biological discovery.
Marianne studied English and Social Geography in her undergraduate education at Berkeley but was drawn to the industry of lab management from the start of her professional career. She is the proud mother of 3 children and additionally the whole lab. In essence her work ensures that the researchers are able to perform their tasks with ease and all operations of the lab run smoothly.
Amir Hay, PhD
Postdoctoral Researcher
Velat received his ScB in Electrical Engineering from Brown University, MSc in Optics and Photonics from KIT, and PhD in Electrical Engineering from Johns Hopkins University. During his PhD, under the supervision of Mark Foster, he developed thefastest photon Doppler velocimetry system to date for inertial confinement fusion experiments. After a brief period working as a software developer at Comsol, he joined the lab to push the boundaries of life sciences using tools of physics, engineering and computing.
Dave Kokel received his B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley, and his Ph.D. from the University of Colorado Boulder. He completed his postdoctoral training in zebrafish chemical biology with Randall T. Peterson at Harvard Medical School. Before joining the ABC, Dave worked on large-scale phenotype-based drug discovery in both biotech and academia. He co-founded Teleos Therapeutics and served as an assistant professor at both Harvard Medical School and UCSF. His research focuses on linking molecules to phenotypes, with a particular emphasis on combining large-scale screening with complex in vivo phenotyping. Outside the lab, Dave enjoys walking and biking around Berkeley with his family.
Doug received his bachelors in Chemistry from Harverford College, his PhD at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and performed his postdoctoral research at University of Washington with Leland Hartwell and University of California, San Francisco with Marc Kirschner.
His laboratory uses budding yeast to study fundamental processes in cell biology. Their approach has been to develop novel genetic reagents and cell biological methods to analyze these complex processes in vivo, coupled with the development and exploitation of in vitro assays to reveal underlying molecular mechanisms.
Read more about his lab’s research here: http://mcb.berkeley.edu/labs/koshland/index.html
Jason is currently a 3rd-year undergraduate junior transfer from De Anza College down in Cupertino, majoring in Molecular and Cell Biology with an emphasis on cellular and developmental physiology. I’m currently working to attend PA school and hope to specialize in emergency medicine. One thing that truly interests me about working in this lab specifically is the ability to utilize high powered imaging to really see inside the molecular world. Outside of the lab I enjoy climbing, swimming, as well as cooking.
Gaoxiang Liu, PhD
Project Scientist
Gaoxiang obtained his Bachelor in Chemistry at Fudan University, China. He then went to Johns Hopkins University, where he studied gas-phase clusters by photoelectron spectroscopy. After getting his Ph.D in Physical Chemistry at Johns Hopkins University, he decided to transfer from researching the invisible and untouchable gas-phase clusters to studying real-world biological dynamics with the best optical tools. At ABC, he is responsible for pushing the limits of imaging technologies. When not at work, he enjoys going to the gym and photography.
Rodrigo received his Undergrad and PhD at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) in molecular biology where he worked with the genetic expression mechanism of the RNA polymerase III. Then he was appointed to Texas to the UT Health San Antonio where we worked as a Postdoc to work with soft-tissue cancers in children using the zebrafish model. Afterwards, he joined the Uribe Lab at Rice University where he senior as a postdoc studying the development of neural crest cells and derived cells such as the enteric neurons that form the Enteric Nervous System (ENS). By using zebrafish larvae, he identified novel ENS developmental genes via CRISPR screens and generated a 4D (x,y,z, time) cellular expressional network of the developing ENS using spatial genomics. At ABC Rodrigo will be a zebrafish specialist that will help in the development of a foundation AI model capable of extracting biological insights from 4D datasets of subcellular dynamics within physiological contexts and across scales. Outside the lab Rodrigo likes to hang with his family and friends; he also enjoys watching NFL football games and he is very good at RTS video games.
Maile Matubrew
Undergraduate Researcher
Maile is a recent high school graduate who is interested in biology, neuroscience, engineering, and potentially becoming a lawyer after my undergraduate. She will be attending Smith College in the fall.
Dave got his undergrad degree in biology at Wesleyan University and then moved to Hawaii to study marine mammal biology as a post-bac. He did his master’s and PhD research in Mark Q. Martindale’s lab at the Kewalo Marine Lab studying evolution and development (Evo-Devo) of body plan patterning and phylogenomics in marine invertebrates. He fell in love with microscopy and live imaging at the Marine Biological Laboratory Embryology Course, where he met his postdoc mentor, Dave Sherwood. In the Sherwood lab at Duke University, Dave studied how cells become invasive, using the nematode, C. elegans, as a model system. He started his own research group at Stony Brook University where his group worked at the intersection between cell cycle state, gene regulatory network biology and morphogenesis, using a variety of model systems, primarily worms and zebrafish. He also devoted time to building functional imaging tools for the community. After a brief stint in industry, Dave is excited to join the ABC, where he will leverage his knowledge of organismal developmental biology and tool building to help generate transgenic zebrafish lines for high resolution imaging projects. When not at the microscope, Dave enjoys cooking and playing sax in local jazz groups.
Bernardo earned his bachelor’s degree in Bioengineering at UC Berkeley. He works jointly with the Nuñez lab and Prof. Gokul Upadhyayula.
Matthew received his B.S. from the University of California, Irvine. Anything related to computers, you can bet he’ll have a hand in helping out. He joined the lab in January 2021 as part of the computational staff and hopes to make an impact through his expertise in optimization and high performance computing.
Vaishnavi is an undergraduate student pursuing a double major in Molecular and Cell Biology, with an emphasis in Molecular Therapeutics, and Psychology. She aspires to attend medical school and is currently working as an EMT to gain hands-on experience and deepen her understanding of the field. She is especially fascinated by the complexities of the molecular world and how they relate to human health and disease. Outside of academics and work, she enjoys cooking, hiking, and drawing in her free time.
Xiongtao received a B.S. in Biological Sciences from the University of Science and Technology of China and earned a Ph.D. in Computational Biology from Carnegie Mellon University under the mentorship of Dr. Robert F. Murphy. His research focuses on developing novel computational methods for large-scale analysis of biological samples, leveraging the lab’s MOSAIC and other advanced microscopy platforms.
Daanyal recently graduated from UC Berkeley with a degree in Statistics and Applied Math. He isinterested in deep learning and computer vision, and how they can be used to develop novel solutions to biological problems. Outside of the lab, he enjoys playing tennis, trying new food, and watching movies.
Sayan received his Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and Technology from IIEST Shibpur, India and MS in EECS from UC Berkeley in Summer 2022. Sayan has a keen interest in deep learning, image processing, and computer vision. Currently,he is working on developing deep learning models appropriate for sensorless adaptive optics for advanced light sheet microscopy. He also works on analyzing different biological data using point detection and tracking. In his free time, he loves traveling, hiking, sketching and reading novels.
Tejveer Singh
Intern, Undergraduate UC Berkeley
Tejveer interested in the intersection of cell biology and bioimaging, especially how they connect to veterinary medicine. I’m also curious about how understanding cellular processes and therapeutics can improve healthcare for both animals and humans. In my free time, I love watching and playing sports. I’m a big fan of the LA Lakers and LA Rams. When I’m not caught up in sports, you can usually find me building a Lego set.
Robert Tjian, PhD
Co-Founder
Tij received his BA at University of California, Berkeley, PhD from Harvard University, and performed his postdoctoral research at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory with James D. Watson. Tij as an avid fly-fisherman. Tjian + Darzacq lab studies biochemistry of transcription and chromatin transactions, and has identified, isolated and characterized a large number (~100) of essential drosophila and human transcription factors. These regulatory proteins include enhancer/promoter recognition factors, core RNA pol II initiation factors and co-activators that form large multi-subunit complexes at promoter DNA to mediate transcription initiation and decode the genome.
Read more about his lab’s research here: https://www.tjian-darzacq.mcb.berkeley.edu
Gokul Upadhyayula, PhD
Scientific Director
Gokul received his BS at University of California, Irvine; his Masters & PhD at University of California, Riverside and performed his postdoctoral research at Harvard Medical School with Tomas Kirchhausen. Gokul’s research interests bridge applied engineering with basic science. His earlier work includes studying the charge transfer properties of cyanine dyes and bioinspired electrets using ultra-fast femtosecond spectroscopy during his time at University of California, Riverside; and using lattice light-sheet microscopy (LLSM) with high temporal and spatial resolution at the molecular level during his postdoctoral research at Harvard Medical School / Boston Children’s Hospital. Gokul is interested in mechanistic questions addressed at a molecular level by fluorescence microscopy imaging acquired with high temporal and spatial resolution. As the scientific director at UC Berkeley’s Advanced BioImaging Center (ABC), Gokul’s vision is to provide state-of-the-art microscopy, and dedicated human and hardware resources capable of handling terabyte to petabyte scale projects. In addition to this, his mission is to develop robust, open source computational workflows that allow scientists to extract biologically meaningful insights.
Read more about his lab’s research here: http://mcb.berkeley.edu/faculty/cdb/upadhyayulas
Kelly is currently a 3rd-year undergraduate at The University of Hong Kong, majoring in Biological Sciences. She is really passionate about exploring how biological systems work, especially at the molecular level or disease-associated, and hope to keep pursuing research-related opportunities down the line. Outside of classes and lab work, she like to swimming and traveling as she enjoy discovering new places and cultures.
Read more about his lab’s research here: http://mcb.berkeley.edu/faculty/cdb/upadhyayulas
Meet our team of driven and passionate scientists who are dedicated to providing the world with a closer look into the biological world. Finding our roots from all different walks of life, we work together to provide microscopy solutions for all your needs. We believe in the philosophy work hard and play hard, so you can often find us socializing over dinner or rock climbing after a long days of work.
Alumni
Postdoctoral Researchers
Valetina Ferro – Postdoc 2019-20, Experimental Physicist & Research Scientist, EOSpace Inc. 
Frederik Görlitz – Postdoc 2021 – 22
Thayer Alshaabi – Postdoc 2021 – 23, Machine Learning Researcher Howard Hughes Medical Institute Janelia Research Campus
Ana Milunovic Jevtic, Ph.D. – Postdoc 2024 – 2025
Staffing
Melanie Freeman – 2020 – 21, Lab manager. Scientist at Infinimmune
Adam Zimmerman – 2019 – 2021 Computational Staff and Volunteer, Graduate Student University of San Francisco
Jason Hong – 2024 – 2025 Jr. Specialist
Kemal Achour – 2023 -2025 Assistant Specialist
Graduate Students
Cyna Shirazinejad, Ph.D. – 2019 – 23, Affilated Graduate Student. Biological Data Scientist at Eikon Therapeutics
Undergraduates, Interns and Volunteers
Aaron Sun – 2019 – 22, Undergrad Researcher & Staff, CS PhD Student at UMass Amherstst
Aseem Doriwala – 2019 – 2021 High School & Ungraduate Volunteer, Project Engineer, Scale AI
Nathanael Harrison – 2019 – 2024 High School Volunteer, MIC, Berkeley
Aaron Chu Yi Herr – 2022 – 2023, Undergrad Researcher & Staff
Fanliu (Jason) Kong – Summer 2019 Volunteer, Undergraduate Cornell University
Ira Horecka – 2020 Computational Volunteer, Graduate Student University of Toronto
Shawn Hua – Summer 2020 Computational Volunteer, Undergraduate UC Berkeley
Yiu (Rice) Ching Siu – Fall 2020 Study-Abroad Undergraduate Researcher. DPhil Candidate in Neuroscience, University of Oxford
Krishna Koka – 2020 – 21 Volunteer, Undergraduate Penn State
Clinton Huynh – 2021 (Summer) Intern, Eikon Therapeutics
Mukul Natarajan – Summer 2021 Volunteer
Benjamin Purnell – 2021 Undergrad Researcher & Staff, City of Hope Graduate Student
Zeeshan Patel – 2021 – 22 Undergraduate Computational Volunteer, Technical Staff, xAI
Tayeba Chowdhury – 2022 Undergraduate Volunteer, UC Berkeley
Kamesh Ayyagari – 2022 – 23 High School Volunteer, UC Irvine
Shreya Ganti – 2022 (Summer) High School Volunteer, U.T. Austin
Mo Zhou – 2022 (Summer) Study-Abroad, Xi’an Jiaotang University Exchange Student
Ranveer Singh – 2022 –23 SJSU Undergraduate Volunteer
Akhil Gantii – 2024 (Summer) High School Volunteer
Sonya Hong – 2024 (Summer) Undergraduate Volunteer, UC San Diego
Shirou Jing – 2024 Summer Undergraduate Intern, Institute of Computing Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Ethan Tam – 2023 – 2024 Undergraduate Volunteer, UC Berkeley
Lucas Yeung – 2024 & 2025 (Summer) High School Volunteer
HyoJung (Hazel) Heo – 2022 – 2025 Undergraduate Volunteer & Staff, Deceased 1/21/2025
Helen Xia – 2025 (Summer) High School Volunteer
Owen Xia – 2025 (Summer) High School Volunteer
Yiu (Rice) Ching Siu
Undergraduate Researcher
Rice is a senior biochemistry student at The Chinese University of Hong Kong. This year, she has the chance to study at Berkeley as an HSBC Overseas Scholar and she feels honored to be a member of the ABC. She aspires to be a neuroscientist in the future, hoping to utilize the latest technology to solve multiple unanswered neuroscience problems. At ABC, she is responsible for expansion microscopy. She enjoys singing and baking in leisure time.
Adam Zimmerman
Adam is a Master’s student at University of San Francisco, Eagle Scout and professional problem solver working on bioinformatic solutions to age-related diseases. He joined the lab in the fall of 2019 as a computational intern, spent time as our Research Data Analyst before graduate school
Melanie Freeman
Staff Researcher
Melanie is the lab’s cell culture maven. Melanie received her Bachelor in Biology at Randolph College, Virginia. Melanie loves working hands-on in the lab, teaching and learning from others. She is especially interested in stem cells and their many applications in studying development and modelling disease. She loves animals and outside of the lab she can be found hiking with her dog or volunteering at animal shelters.
Krishna Koka
Volunteer
Krishna is a senior at Hemet High School who has been a member of his high school’s Mock Trial Team, President of student chapter of Habitat for Humanity Community Service, and Comminissioner of Community Serivce for the Associated Student Body. Extracurricular activities include Track & Field, Cross Country, and Choir. Krishna volunteered this summer and fall as a computational intern.
Clinton Huynh
Undergraduate Researcher
Mukul Natarajan
Volunteer
Mukul is a senior at Dublin High School who is very passionate about the technology field and wants to major in Computer Science. Outside of ABC Mukul’s interests include working on other ventures like his sneaker bot company, attending hackathons with friends, and building PCs. Outside of computers and coding he also plays basketball, supports his hometown sports teams and loves to travel.