News
October 2024
Congratulations to Xian for obtaining the Cure Alzheimer's Fund Grant
September 2024
Welcome to Elena Coley-O'Rourke, who is joining the lab as a Postdoc
July 2024
Welcome to Wenyuan Shao, who is joining the lab as Junior Specialist
June 2024
Welcome to Alicia Thurber, who is joining the lab as Junior Specialist
Welcome to Zeina Msheik, who is joining the lab as a Postdoc
January 2024
Congratulations to Dr. Rodrigues for receiving her Newborn Brain Research Institute Pilot Grant.
August 2023
Welcome Yuyao Tian and Arantzazu Belloso to join the lab as Postdoctoral Fellows!
July 2023
Congratulations to Santi for obtaining the diversity supplement!
June 2023
Welcome Rose Zhou who is joining the lab as PhD student!
Congratulations to Beika for an amazing score of 19 for her K99 grant application!
Congratulations to Santi for successfully passing the PhD qualifying exam. He is now officially a PhD candidate!
January 2023
Congratulations to Stacy for successfully obtaining the ImmunoDiverse SRA Fellowship!
November 2022
Congratulations to Dr. Li for his Glia paper. GPR56 S4 variant is required for microglia-mediated synaptic pruning
July 2022
Welcome Stacy, who is joining the lab as Jr. Specialist!
Congratulations to Stacy for successfully obtaining the NIH NINDS Diversity Supplement!
June 2022
Congratulations to Dr. Rodrigues who is now a Fellow of the Pediatric Scientist Development Program (PSDP)!
May 2022
Congratulations to Dr. Yu for his Sci Adv paper. Microglial GPR56 is the molecular target of maternal immune activation-induced parvalbumin-positive interneuron deficits.
April 2022
Welcome Santiago Gonzalez who is joining the lab as a graduate student!
January 2022
Congratulations to Dr. Jain for receiving the Newborn Brain Research Institute Pilot Grant.
September 2021
Congratulations to Dr. Li for his second EMBO J paper. Phospholipid-flippase chaperone CDC50A is required for synapse maintenance by regulating phosphatidylserine exposure.
July 2021
Welcome Carol, who is joining the lab as our shared lab manager with Dr. Molofsky's lab!
Welcome Dr. Wangzhou, who is joining the lab as a postdoc fellow!
Congratulations to Dr. Zhu for receiving her Bright Focus grant.
May 2021
Welcome Rachael to join the lab as SRA!
Congratulations to Dr. Jain for her J Pediatr. paper. Association of Maternal Immune Activation during Pregnancy and Neurologic Outcomes in Offspring.
December 2020
Congratulations to Dr. Xianhua Piao for the successful renewal of her R01.
September 2020
Congratulations to Dr. Brian Chiou for his Glia paper. Cell type specific evaluation of ADGRG1/GPR56 function in developmental central nervous system myelination.
August 2020
Congratulations to Dr. Xianhua Piao for her P01 grant.
April 2020
Congratulations to Dr. Tao Li for his EMBO J paper. A splicing isoform of GPR56 mediates microglial synaptic refinement via phosphatidylserine binding.
December 2019
Congrantulations to Dr. Beika Zhu, Dr. Rong Luo, Dr. Peng Jin for their JBC paper. GAIN domain mediated cleavage is required for activation of G protein coupled receptor 56 (GPR56) by its natural ligands and a small-molecule agonist.
July 2019
After a difficult, but rewarding transition, the lab is now completely settled at UCSF and welcoming interested graduate students! See the opportunities and contact pages.
July 2019
Dario Tejera joined the lab as a new postdoctoral fellow. Originally from Uruguay, Dario obtained his B.S (Neuroscience) at the Universidad de la Republica. His thesis was focused on the beneficial effect of natural products in an ischemia model. Following this, he moved to Germany to conduct his doctoral studies. He obtained his Ph.D. at the University of Bonn. The focus of his doctoral thesis was on the role of microglial cell activation in Alzheimer's disease. He has a longstanding interest in the contribution of glial cells to brain health and disease. In his free time, he enjoys playing soccer and bouldering.
June 2019
After completed his work at Boston Children's Hospital, Tao, one of the longest standing members of the lab made a move to UCSF to continue as a postdoctoral fellow. Welcome!
May 2019
Beika Zhu joined the UCSF team as a new postdoctoral fellow. Beika got her B.S. in Ecology from the Sun Yat-Sen University in China. She joined Professor Karl Herrup's lab in Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) for her Ph.D., focusing on developing new drugs from marine bacteria in order to treat neurodegenerative diseases. In her spare time, Beika enjoys reading and listening to music.
January 2019
Brian Chiou joined the lab at UCSF as a new postdoctoral fellow. Brian obtained a B.A. in Molecular and Cellular Biology from the University of California - Berkeley (2014). Following his undergraduate work, Brian worked at Genentech focusing on developing a novel cell line for targeted therapeutics and working on blood-brain barrier transport. He completed his Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences at Penn State College of Medicine (2018). He has a longstanding interest in myelination and neurodegenerative disorders, choosing to focus specifically on developing novel treatments for multiple sclerosis. In his free time, Brian enjoys playing soccer, tennis, and singing as a part of an on-campus a capella group. Welcome!
January 2019
Diankun Yu moved from Boston Children's Hopsital to UCSF to continue as a postdoctoral fellow. Diankun got his B.S. in Medical Biotechnology from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC). He joined Dr. Laura Schrader's lab afterwards and was involved in investigating the role of ion channels in neuronal physiological properties and mouse behaviors. He obtained his Ph.D. in Neuroscience from Tulane University in the year of 2018. Diankun loves card games, especially bridge, and he also enjoys camping and fishing. Welcome!
December 2018
Caitlyn Oak moved from Boston Children's Hospital to UCSF to continue as a research associate. Caitlyn received her B.S. in Brain and Cognitive Sciences from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. As an undergraduate researcher in Kwanghun Chung's lab, she studied a novel, whole-brain mapping technique called SHIELD. In her free time, Caitlyn likes to cook, play basketball, and sing. Welcome!
November 2018
Priya Kishore joined our lab as a research associate. Priya was awarded a B.S. in Human Biology and a minor in Human Development from the University of California, San Diego in 2018. She has an undergraduate research background in neuroscience, immunology and biochemistry, with most of her research hours spent in Dr. David Feifel's Lab, where she investigated the neurological underpinning of schizophrenia and related psychiatric disease. Outside of lab, Priya loves to spend time with her dog, Lucky, and enjoys partaking in outdoor activities such as hiking, kayaking, and camping. Welcome!
August 2018
Khalida Sabeur became the first member of the UCSF team during the lab's transition from Boston Children's Hospital to UCSF. Welcome!
December 28 2016
Xian was promoted to Associate Professor! Congratulations!
August 8 2016
Jean-Christophe Delpech joined our lab as a Postdoc. Welcome!
June 6 2016
Casey Gilman joined our lab as a Research Assistant. Welcome!
October 19 2015
Karan Malik joined our lab as a Research Assistant. Welcome!
October 1 2015
Tao Li joined our lab as a Postdoc. Welcome!
September 2015
Congratulations to Xian for successfully obtaining her R01 grant!
July 6 2015
Tatsuhiro Koshi joined our lab as a Research Assistant. Welcome!
July 2015
Stefanie obtained the National Multiple Sclerosis Society Postdoctoral Fellowship! Congratulations!
July 2015
Congratulations to Xian for successfully obtaining her NMSS grant!
June 2015
Congratulations to Xian for the successful symposium proposal entitled gFrom Ligands to Signaling: Recent Advances in Adhesion GPCR Pharmacology and Biologyh for the next Experimental Biology Annual Meeting at San Diego, April 3, 2016 (co-chairing with Randy Hall)!
April 2015
Mayumi obtained the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Postdoctoral Fellowship! Congratulations!
March 2015
Congratulations to Xian for successfully obtaining her R56 grant!
February 18 2015
Congratulations to Rongs for her co-first author paper at Neuron! This paper featured the cover article and represents a great collaborative effort between our lab and the Monk and Schöneberg labs. Great Job, Rong, Sarah, and Ines!
January 21 2015
Congratulations to Stefanie for her paper published at Nature Communications!