People

Laurel Kinman

Laurel grew up in Fresno, California, before defecting to the east coast for college. She received her undergraduate degree in biological sciences and mathematics from Wellesley College, then moved straight into her PhD with Joey Davis at MIT, where she focused on developing methods to study the assembly and regulation of large protein complexes by structural and high-throughput approaches. In doing so, she became interested in long-standing questions around how the cell uses multi-site phosphorylation to perform complex calculations, and is excited to start her lab at UCSF applying the experimental and computational methods she developed to start to answer some of these questions. She also has long-standing interests in mentorship, teaching, and outreach. Outside the lab, Laurel likes to spend her time walking the dog and tackling ambitious baking and knitting projects.

Athalee Aguilar

Athalee graduated from UC Berkeley in 2019 where they studied Molecular and Cell Biology with an emphasis in Biochemistry. Athalee then moved to the University of Michigan for her initial gap years where she used high-throughput CRISPRi profiling to study enhancer regulation in B-Cell malignancies using cancer cell lines and primary models. Excitedly, Athalee continues her scientific journey at UCSF as an Assistant Specialist in the lab visualizing dynamic protein complexes in autophagy biogenesis using state of the art structural biology tools such as heterogeneous cryo-EM, high throughput proteomic approaches, and computational techniques. Additionally, Athalee is a part of the UCSF PROPEL Post-Bacc research training program and leads a learning organization for students with learning and mental health dysfunctions. Outside of the lab, she can be found running, cycling, or swimming around the bay with her triathlon team.

Justin Sim

Justin grew up in Ottawa, Canada, before moving to UC Santa Cruz to pursue a Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Degree with a minor in Bioinformatics. Following undergrad, he continued at UCSC as a junior specialist in the Ares lab, working on a novel sample preparation method to capture and barcode non-polyadenylated RNAs for nanopore sequencing. Following this, he joined Interdict Bio, a small-scale startup targeting the human ribosome as a new therapeutic modality. Eager to learn more and develop skills as a structural biologist, he joined the UCSF Biophysics PhD program and is currently in his second year. In the Kinman lab, he is studying how stress-dependent multisite phosphorylation regulates translation initiation. Outside of the lab, Justin can be found surfing, climbing, or snowboarding.

Michelle Kwong

Michelle is an administrative assistant in the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, supporting multiple labs including the Kinman Lab. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her dog and indulging her love of good food.

Nova

Nova is also a coastal transplant, born and raised in the central valley of California before finally moving to a location better suited to her thick double coat when Laurel brought her to Boston. Unfortunately for her, she has now returned to California and can most often be spotted lying and panting on the closest piece of furniture. Nova’s particular interests include squirrels, squeaky toys, new friends, and treats.