Dr. Alvarado trained as a graduate student in cancer stem cell biology. He studied the glioblastoma tumor microenvironment by analyzing the role of junction adhesion molecules as well as how cancer stem cells are able to thrive despite the presence of damage associated signals in the laboratory of Dr. Justin Lathia at CCF. He currently studies glioblastoma tumor heterogeneity, dysregulated pathways, and tumor-immune interactions. He has developed a pathway enrichment analytical pipeline to study tumor heterogeneity based on pathway utilization as well as a mass cytometry panel and established the methods for the analysis of GBM samples from different tumor locations. He identified a new tumor population that can be associated with disease progression and immune populations.

Michael C. Condro, Ph.D., holds a doctorate in Molecular, Cellular & Integrative Physiology from UCLA. His graduate work focused on using a songbird model to study the effects of human language-related genes on vocal learning, in particular with a focus on autism-related gene CNTNAP2. He then went on to complete a postdoc studying the effects of neuropeptides in mouse models of neurodegenerative disease. Currently, he works on several projects in the Kornblum lab investigating potential therapies to treat glioblastoma.

Soniya Bastola is a 2nd-year postdoctoral researcher who joined Dr. Kornblum’s and Dr. Stephanie Seidlits’ s lab (Department of Bioengineering at UCLA) in September 2020 after receiving her Ph.D. in Cancer Biology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Her projects involve elucidating the role of the vascular microenvironment in promoting aggressive phenotype in glioblastoma (brain tumor). When she isn’t in the lab, she enjoys exploring California beaches and hiking trails.

Lubayna is a fifth-year graduate student interested in both neurodevelopment and cancer biology. Lubayna is currently working on understanding epigenetic and metabolic regulation in IDH mutant gliomas. In addition, she is also working on a project to understand the impact of heterozygous PTEN mutation in patients with autism and macrocephaly. Lubayna’s long-term goal is to pursue a career in academia.

Kunal is a neurosurgery resident and current neurosurgical oncology fellow at UCLA. He has worked with Dr. Kornblum studying the spatial landscape of glioma using functional MRI and single cell RNA sequencing. He has been awarded funding through the Eli and Edythe Broad Center for Regenerative Medicine Fellowship, the Jonasson Cancer Center Fellowship, and Burroughs Wellcome Fund Fellowship. Upon completion of his fellowship, will continue his research as an academic neurosurgeon-scientist with an specialization in neurosurgical oncology.

Janel Le Belle is a neuroscientist who studies basic mechanisms of stem cell biology, how the brain develops, and how it repairs itself after injury. Dr. Le Belle’s work was among the first to identify a novel stem cell signaling pathway in the brain where reactive oxygen species, which are normally considered damaging to cells and to health, are required for normal neural stem cell functions such as cell division and the generation of new neurons. She has focused how these normal processes can be disrupted by maternal immune activation and has developed novel mouse models and methods to understand the cellular, molecular, and behavioral impact of this common environmental risk factor for neurodevelopmental disorders. Finally, Dr. Le Belle seeks to understand the contribution of injury-induced immune responses and the production of new neurons on the brain’s ability to repair itself after traumatic brain injury and stroke. It is hoped that this knowle

Shane is a 2nd year undergraduate from South Pasadena, California, majoring in Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology and minoring in Film, TV, and Digital Media. He is interested in exploring various neurodegenerative diseases and finding solutions to them on the molecular level. He believes studying stem cells and organoids willshine more light on molecular pharmacology. He also hopes to bring his interest into the clinical setting by pursuing an M.D. in the future. Photography is his major hobby as he works as a photojournalist in
Daily Bruin.

Haocheng is an undergraduate student majoring in Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics (MIMG) at UCLA. He joined the Kornblum Lab in April of 2022. Haocheng works with Deepthi Muthukrishnanon on discovering the effect of the tumor microenvironment on Glioblastoma and focuses on how the tumor endothelial cells change the phenotype of the microglia in glioblastoma. Besides research and classes, Haocheng is a big fan of MMORPG, TRPG, and novels. He is very welcome for anyone to talk about ACGN with him.