Aga was born and raised in Poland, where she studied Chemistry at the University of Wroclaw. She continued her education after moving to Denver by obtaining an M.S. in Chemistry and a Ph.D. in Structural Biology and Biochemistry from the University of Colorado Denver. As a graduate student, she became fascinated by the cell biology of intracellular transport and moved to the University of California San Diego to pursue a postdoc in the lab of Dr. Sam Reck Peterson, where she studied how dynein molecular motor is regulated. Outside the lab Aga loves hiking, running, and exploring the outdoors.

Ankita joined the Kendrick lab a postdoctoral fellow after completing PhD from Washington University in St. Louis where she studied the activation of DNA helicase UvrD1 in Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb). Ankita got interested in structural biology of motor proteins when she obtained the cryo-EM structure of UvrD1 helicase dimer. In Kendrick lab she is interested in studying mechanism of bidirectional transport by dynein and kinesin motors using both structural biology and single molecule approaches. Outside of lab Ankita enjoys hiking, running and free style dancing.

(Funded by: NINDS T32 fellowship)

Álvaro was born and completed his studies in Madrid, except for a year in the UK, which first triggered his yearning to live abroad. After obtaining a B.S. in Biochemistry and a M.S. in Biotech he was drawn to learn cryo-EM doing his PhD in the Arias-Palomo Lab (CIB-CSIC). There, he studied how dedicated ATPases remodel their transposases to perform the strand-transfer reaction. An interest to keep learning cryo-EM of dynamic systems and single-molecule techniques drew him to a postdoc in the Kendrick lab, where he hopes to unveil how adaptors of cellular motors impact signaling networks in the cell. Besides skiing, his greatest passion outside the lab, Álvaro loves cooking, reading, and enjoying time outdoors with friends.

(Funded by: Catarina Foundation fellowship)

Pinky recently moved from Princeton, NJ. She loves reading novels and enjoys spending time with her family and rescue dog.

Delaney was born and raised in San Diego. Growing up, she attended a French immersion school, and from a very young age adored math and science. She earned her B.A. in French and B.S. in Biology at Point Loma Nazarene University, then studied to pursue medical school until she decided to take a year off. She began to miss learning science and felt called to come back into biology research. One day, she hopes to earn her PhD and become a professor. For her future career, she’s interested in studying neurodevelopmental diseases and how neurons interact with the rest of the body. In her free time, she enjoys pottery, cooking, yoga, surfing, and biking.

Ryan is from Denver, Colorado where he grew up with a passion for nature and science. He completed his undergraduate studies in Biochemistry at the University of Colorado Boulder before working as a postbac at the National Institute of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. As a graduate student in the Kendrick Lab, he is excited to apply biochemical, biophysical, and structural techniques to explore the interplay between microtubules, actin, and dynein. Outside the lab, he enjoys hiking, learning how to surf, and relaxing at the beach.

Funded by: PiBS NIH T32 fellowship

Jonathan Diaz Zarco was born and raised in San Diego. He became interested in STEM with a calling to research after being influenced and mentored by a closer teacher in high school. As a transfer student he wishes to pursue research with the goal of trying different fields. In his free time, he enjoys photography, reading, and learning about cars.

Aurelia was born and raised in San Diego and is a rising junior at Caltech majoring in Bioengineering. After graduating she hopes to pursue a PhD and become a professor. In her free time, she loves to read, play soccer, run, and hike.

Emily Vang is a fourth-year undergraduate at Fresno State majoring in Speech-Language Pathology and minoring in Asian American Studies and Creative Writing. After obtaining her bachelor’s degree, she hopes to attend a graduate program to conduct research on neurodegenerative diseases. In her free time, she loves to volunteer with her cultural club (Hmong Student Association), read, and write.