Potter Wickware
I manage Eukaryotic Cell, the American Society for Microbiology's newest journal, of which C. C. is Editor-in-Chief. When not working on the journal I also write for Nature, Nature Medicine and other publications. My degrees are in English (BA, UC Berkeley) and molecular biology (MS, San Francisco State). I live in Marin County with my wife, Abby, and enjoy biking, skiing and indulging my seven grandchildren.
Yan Li
I did my PhD work in Prof. Lianghu Qu's lab at Sun Yat-Sen University, where I mainly focused on small non-coding RNAs in the primitive eukaryote Giardia lamblia. The Anaphase-promoting complex (APC), also called cyclosome, is a complex of several proteins which is activated during mitosis to initiate anaphase. Seven core subunit homologs of APC/C have been identified in the T. brucei genome database, far fewer than those in budding yeast and human. As a postdoc in Prof. Wang's lab, I aim to find other subunits of APC/C and explore their biological functions by using PTP tagging and other techniques. When not in the lab, I enjoy reading and taking photos of beautiful San Francisco. It's great fun to be here.
Ziyin Li
I work on the cell cycle regulation in Trypanosoma brucei. Using techniques of genetics, cell biology and biochemistry, I try to dissect the molecular mechanisms of mitosis and cytokinesis in T. brucei by investigating several protein kinases such as aurora-B kinase and Tousled-like kinase.
After receiving my Ph.D from the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, I came to UCSF, detoured to Singapore for a year in 2003, then returned to UCSF in early 2005. When not working in the lab, I enjoy playing games with my kid, telling stories and teaching Chinese language.
Takashi Umeyama
I did my PhD work in the Lab of Fermentation at the University of Tokyo, where I looked at triggers of secondary metabolism and antibiotic production in Streptomyces. As a post-doc at Japan's National Institute of Infectious Diseases I studied Candida and other fungi, and developed a PCR-based diagnostic for coccidiomycosis, a dangerous airborne fungal pathogen. At the Wang lab I explore the role of Polo-like kinase in the cell cycle of T. brucei.
When not in the lab I enjoy exploring the Bay Area with my family.
Zhi Li
I did my PhD at the Center for Parasitic Organisms at Sun Yat-Sen University in Guangzhou. Under Prof Zhao-Rung Lun I studied the ability of rat macrophages to resist infection by Toxoplasma. Here at UCSF I'm working on control of the cell cycle in Trypanosoma. When I'm not working in the lab I enjoy playing basketball. Watch out Yao Ming and Houston Rockets!
Srinivas Garlapati
I work on Giardiavirus, which specifically infects the most primitive protozoan parasite, Giardia lamblia. I am trying to understand the mechanism of Internal Ribosomal Entry Site (IRES) mediated translation of the viral transcript. IRES of Giardiavirus is unique compared to other eukaryotic viral IRESs in that it consists of the 5' untranslated region plus 264 nucleotides of the capsid coding region. This unusual feature is probably a reflection of the translation initiation process that occurs on cellular mRNAs with unusually short (1-14nt) 5'UTRs.
I come from Hyderabad City, in India, and I got my PhD from Madurai Kamaraj University, Madurai, India. When not in the lab I enjoy reading, traveling, and photography.
Stephane Gourgechon
Using the yeast-two hybrid system, I'm working to identify novel cyclin-interacting proteins in T. brucei. I'm glad to be in sunny California after four years in stormy Dundee Scotland, where I did my PhD. When I'm not in the lab I enjoy soccer and badminton.
Sin-Fu Tzeng
Along with Peng Wu I work on our group's T. vaginalis project. I'm purifying the purine nucleoside kinase enzyme and hope to find an inhibitor of this key metabolic checkpoint in the parasite.
Before joining the Wang lab I started the biotech company BioCheck, which makes test kits for diagnosing heart disease, colon and breast cancer.
Peng Wu
As a protein chemist I'm measuring the activity of a battery of T. vaginalis purine nucloside phosphorylase mutants that I've created. By screening these mutants I hope for a better understanding the mechanism of the enzyme, leading to better drug treatments against the parasite.
I came to the group from USC, where I specialized in using the electron paramagnetic resonance technique to analyze protein structure. When not in the lab I enjoy photography and playing weiqi, also known as go.
Praveen Kumar
I study the role of the subunits of the Anaphase Promoting Complex in T. brucei using RNAi and tandem affinity protein purification. I come to UCSF from Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi, and when not in the lab enjoy movies and travel.
Lei Li
I study the role of the 5' mRNA cap structure in translation initiation in Giardia. I came to UCSF from Beijing University. When not in the lab I enjoy playing with my son Lucian, who is 17 months old and the apple of my eye.
Arti Gupta
I work on the purine nucleoside kinase system in the parasite Trichomonas vaginalis. I want to clone the enzyme and find an inhibitor of this key metabolic checkpoint. I did my PhD research on isoprenoid metabolism in the malaria parsite P. falciparum at the Central Drug Research Institute in Lucknow.
My hometown is Bijnor, in Uttar Pradesh State. When I'm not in the lab I enjoy drawing portraits and reading.
