From top left: Sydney, Kota, Ardalan, Menghao, Hayley
Federico, Andrew, Tiffany, Mizuki, Philips
Principal Investigator
Kota Mizumoto (2015~)
I like: benchwork
I don’t like: deskwork
I’m good at: microinjection
I’m not good at: politics and social
Graduate students
Mizuki Kurashina (2021~) Ph.D. program in Cell & Dev Biology
Awards: UBC 4-year graduate fellowship, CIHR-CGS-D
Hello! I am a PhD student currently studying the mechanisms underlying synapse formation. I would like to think I am good at explaining and teaching others in a clear manner. I also have the knack to think about experiments logically and I love to brainstorm possibilities. They are the biggest reasons I enjoy grad school! However, being successful in your grad studies requires you to be very organized and timely. I’m not very good at scheduling or organizing but I am working on it! Aside from being a graduate student, I am a coffee enthusiast and I enjoy trying different beans from around the world. I also like brewing coffee/espresso as I find the whole process very relaxing. Feel free to ask me to brew you a cup whenever! I also enjoy playing tennis and cycling when the weather is nice!
Menghao Lu (2021~) Ph.D. Program in Cell & Dev Biology
Awards: UBC 1-year affiliated fellowship
I like: Exploration (both scientific and daily life); learn new things
I’m good at:Brainstorming; troubleshooting; resolving puzzles
Not good at: (I am hoping to improve…)Planning and time management; social networking
Hobbies: Mixology, cooking, videogame
Andrew Snow (2021~) Ph.D. Program in Cell & Dev Biology
Awards: UBC 1-year fellowship, Alzheimer’s Society Doctoral Award
I like: Cooking, board games, pipetting
I don’t like: Cilantro, raw apples, games of pure chance, highly variable data
I’m good at: Reading bedtime stories, teaching microinjection
I’m would like to improve: Story telling, baking
Sydney Ko (2023/09-)M.Sc. Program in Cell & Dev Biology
Awards: CIHR CGSM, NSERC USRA
Postbac students
Federico Pini (2021/09-) UBC Biology program/Work Learn
Awards: NSERC Undergraduate Student Research Awards (USRA)
Hi! I’m currently an undergraduate student studying the mechanisms behind synapse formation. I’m good at troubleshooting when experiments aren’t going to plan, and I excel at being the party planning committee of the lab. I strive to keep my ongoing experiments organized, but this is definitely an area I need to improve on. I enjoy doing microinjections (when they work) and day-to-day molecular work like PCR. Outside of the lab, I love to bake, read, and probably spend too much time on Netflix and Tiktok.
Undergraduate students
Sophia Yevlash (2024-) UBC Co-op
Andy Lim (2024-) UBC Neuroscience
Hannah Kullmann (2024-) UBC Biology honours
Olivia McCurry (2024-) UBC Biology
Kevin Lu (2024-) UBC Neuroscience
Anna Xhao(2024-) UBC Neuroscience
Anika Zhang (2024-) UBC Neuroscience
Charlotte Lee (2024-) UBC Neuroscience
Manpreet Kaur (2024-) UBC Biology
Ryan Dhesa (2024-) UBC Integrated Sciences
Teagn Richman-Taylor (2024-) UBC Biochemistry and computer science
Lab technician
Lisa Fernando (2015/01-)
Past lab members
Graduate students
Hayley Ding (2022-2024) M.Sc. Program in Cell & Dev Biology
Ardalan Hendi (2017-2023) Ph.D. (Zoology)
Awards: UBC 4-year graduate fellowship, NSERC CGS-D
Current Position: Postdoctoral fellow (Ruvkun lab at Massachusetts General Hospital)
Ethan Fortes (2017-2019) MSc (Zoology)
Kelly Xi Chen (2015-2017) MSc (Zoology)
Undergraduate students
Jolie Wu (2023-2024)UBC Work Learn
Ilham Hakim (2023-2024) Directed Studies
Amreen Aulakh (2023-2024)
Julie Liu (2023-2024) UBC Biology honor
Philips Lam (2022-2024) WLIUR