Kristen J. Wade, PhD, Postdoctoral Scholar
Kristen Wade obtained her Bachelor’s of Science in Bioinformatics at Virginia Commonwealth University and her PhD in Human Medical Genetics and Genomics at CU Denver-Anschutz. Her research involves characterization of genomic variation within the major histocompatibility locus, performing disease association within this region to describe sites that may influence risk of Multiple Sclerosis and in silico functional predictions. In addition to her research, she is interested in exploring the intersection of art, science and community. She spends her free time salsa dancing, running, hiking and camping.
Email: [email protected]
Anshika Srivastava, PhD, Postdoctoral Scholar
Anshika obtained her Bachelor’s of Science in Zoology at University of Delhi and her PhD in Zoology at Banaras Hindu University, India. Her research primarily focuses on studying role of HLA (Human Leucocyte Antigen) variation in COVID-19 and and deciphering the interplay between random genetic drift, natural selection, and host-pathogen interaction on a local scale in the context of demographic histories of populations. Apart from doing science she is interested in spending her free time in reading, painting, singing and playing chess and table tennis.
Email: [email protected]
Avik Bhattacharya, PhD, Postdoctoral Scholar
Avik Bhattacharya earned his Master's in Biomedical Engineering from Jadavpur University and his PhD in Computer Science at Tulane University. Avik's research interests primarily revolve around structural bioinformatics, particularly focusing on class II antigen processing pathway, peptide-HLA interactions, and immunogenetics. At the Hollenbach lab, he is currently exploring the immunogenetics of multiple sclerosis, with a special emphasis on the LILR genes. Beyond research, his curiosity extends to geopolitics and linguistics. When not working, Avik enjoys cooking.
Email: [email protected]
Juliano André Boquett, PhD, Specialist
Juliano obtained his BSc in Biological Sciences, his Master’s and PhD in Genetics and Molecular Biology at Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. His research involves human and medical genetics, population genetics, congenital anomalies, recurrent pregnancy losses, among others. In addition, his current research focuses on HLA variation of populations and genetic variants as risk factors for Congenital ZIKA Syndrome. In his free time, Juliano enjoys playing basketball, ride a bike, strives on electric guitar, good pasta and wine.
Email: [email protected]
Jacqueline Williams, PhD student
Jacqueline earned her Bachelor’s degree in Human Biology and Society from University of California Los Angeles in 2017, and a Master’s degree in Human Genetics and Genomic Data Analytics from Keck Graduate Institute in 2021. Her current research projects focus on exploring variation of the complement component 4 (C4) gene, and characterizing the variation of natural killer (NK) cell receptors, both in the context of multiple sclerosis. In her free time Jacqueline likes to crochet, watch anime, go wine tasting, and explore the food scene in the Bay Area.
Email: [email protected]
Kerry Kizer, Research Associate
Kerry Kizer earned her Bachelor’s degree in biochemistry with an emphasis in chemistry at the University of California, San Diego in 2020. Her professional experience is in microbiology and she is currently sequencing KIR, HLA, and other MHC genes in patients. In her free time, Kerry enjoys live music, painting, and exploring Golden Gate Park.
Email: [email protected]
Rayo Suseno, Bioinformatics Programmer II
Rayo earned his Bachelor's and Master's degree in Bioengineering from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with an emphasis on biomedical data science in 2021 and 2023 respectively. His work to support the lab's diverse ongoing research is driven by his curiosity on the field of bioinformatics. He is especially interested in bioinformatics pipeline development, maintenance, containerization, and deployment. Outside of his work, Rayo enjoys producing music, running, and hunting vinyls.
Email: [email protected]
Sean Lin, MPH Student
Sean Lin earned a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from National Taiwan University in 2021. He is currently a Master’s of Public Health student with a concentration in Infectious Diseases and Vaccinology at UC Berkeley, and his current project is to understand associations between common health outcomes from the National Marrow Donor Program and HLA variability. Besides work and school, he enjoys music, magic, stand-up, both as an audience and a performer.
Email: [email protected]
Abena BakenRa, MPH Student
Abena BakenRa earned her Bachelor’s degree in Public Health with an emphasis in Public Policy in 2022, and a Master’s degree in Epidemiology and Biostatistics in 2023 from the University of California, Berkeley. She is currently researching comorbid associations of diseases and common health outcomes and their link to HLA variations. In her free time, Abena enjoys rock climbing, backpacking, reading, and watching live jazz.
Email: [email protected]
Former Lab Members
Karoline Guthrie, MPH
Christine Shen
Danillo Augusto, PhD
Wesley Marin, PhD
Tasneem Yusufali, MS
Jackson Alga-Sheriff, Undergraduate Student
Grace Ramey, BS
Rodrigo Francisco, PhD
Kirsten Anderson, PhD
Leonardo Amorim, PhD
Vincent Damotte, PhD, MBA
Maneesh Misra, PhD
Ravi Dandekar, MS
Chao Zhao, MS
Brenda Ho, BS
Chris Lin
Yvonne Zhou
Samba Njie
Xuewei Du