People

Katrine Whiteson
Associate Professor, Dept of Mol. Bio & Biochem

katrine at uci.edu
CV
Biosketch

Research Statement (2019 tenure package)

Dr. Sage Dunham

Mirjam Zund, PhD

Dr. Mirjam Zuend’s research has focused on understanding the impact of extrinsic and intrinsic modulators on the intestinal microbiota. During her doctoral thesis at the ETH Zurich, she established and experimentally validated methods based on DNA sequencing data to locate inducible prophages in bacterial genomes and quantify their relative activity. She joined the Whiteson Lab and Wiles Lab as a shared postdoc in 2022 to study how inducible prophages drive the assembly and function of microbial communities that inhabit the gut microbiome by combining reductionistic and sequencing approaches. 

E-mail: mzund at uci.edu

Twitter LinkedIn

Gina Faraci, PhD
During her doctoral thesis at USC, Dr. Gina Faraci developed genomic surveillance platforms for chronic and emerging pathogens. She started her position as a shared postdoc between Dr. Katrine Whiteson and Dr. Mark Mapstone in 2023, transitioning from the study of infectious diseases to the study of neurodegenerative disease. Her current research is focused on investigating the relationship between Alzheimer’s disease (AD) pathology, metabolism, and the gut microbiome in late-onset AD model mice.

Email: gfaraci at uci.edu

LinkedIn Google Scholar

Amit Lavon, PhD
I have always enjoyed solving puzzles, and computational biology offers an endless supply! During my PhD at the Weizmann Institute of Science, I developed new methods for scalable analysis of microbiome data, capitalizing on my tendency to turn every problem into a coding challenge. At the Whiteson lab I study wastewater metagenomics, looking to understand what’s in it and how we can use it to learn about public health. I am a strong advocate for free software and free education. My code and tutorials can be accessed on GitHub: https://github.com/fluhus/

Alisha Monsibais
PhD Student | amonsiba at uci.edu

Bio: My main interests are in Phage Biology, Bioinformatics and Clinical Microbiology. I would like to contribute to research that would transition bacteriophage from laboratory use to clinical treatment options. In my free time I enjoy hiking and spending time with family. 
Links: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alisha-m-18a1aa162

Kayla Raygoza
PhD Student | krraygoz at uci.edu

Hi! I received my undergraduate degree in microbiology from CSULB adn then became a research technician in the microbiology dept. at the Sourthern California Coastal Water Research Project (SCCWRP). Started out in the Whiteson Lab as a Junior Specialist in August 2023. Research interests include clinical phage therapy, synergy and bacterial-phage evolution! When I’m not in the lab, I teach acroyoga at a local climbing gym and go on adventures with my dog!

Joe Kapcia
Lab Assistant and GC-MS wrangler! First joined the Whiteson lab in 2017, star of our recent GC-MS volatiles method video, and a member/co-author of the COVID wastewater crewage team.