Natural Sciences
Showing 781-800 of 1,952 Results
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Joe Kesler
Ph.D. Student in Biology, admitted Autumn 2024
BioI am a Ph.D. student studying evolutionary ecology and biogeography in the Daru Lab. My research focuses on how species assemblages evolve and shift with changing environments across temporal and spatial scales. My current project integrates biogeographic analyses and phylogenetic data to understand the evolutionary and ecological forces shaping the biodiversity of the world's marine life.
In June 2023, I received a B.S. in Ecology, Behavior, and Evolution from UC San Diego, where I worked primarily with Professor Elsa Cleland, researching the demography of the California poppy (Eschscholzia californica) and how its traits vary across different climates within the state. I also participated in two other labs, broadly investigating plant-pollinator interactions and plant genetics respectively. After graduating, I assisted the Green Biome Institute at CSU East Bay by collecting DNA samples of endangered California plant species, followed by work as a habitat restoration technician for Recon Environmental in the marshes around the San Francisco Bay Area.
In the Daru Lab, I am excited to investigate how marine species respond to environmental changes over varied timescales, with the ultimate goal of informing habitat restoration management and conserving biodiversity worldwide. -
Chaitan Khosla
Wells H. Rauser and Harold M. Petiprin Professor and Professor of Chemistry and, by courtesy, of Biochemistry
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsResearch in this laboratory focuses on problems where deep insights into enzymology and metabolism can be harnessed to improve human health.
For the past two decades, we have studied and engineered enzymatic assembly lines called polyketide synthases that catalyze the biosynthesis of structurally complex and medicinally fascinating antibiotics in bacteria. An example of such an assembly line is found in the erythromycin biosynthetic pathway. Our current focus is on understanding the structure and mechanism of this polyketide synthase. At the same time, we are developing methods to decode the vast and growing number of orphan polyketide assembly lines in the sequence databases.
For more than a decade, we have also investigated the pathogenesis of celiac disease, an autoimmune disorder of the small intestine, with the goal of discovering therapies and related management tools for this widespread but overlooked disease. Ongoing efforts focus on understanding the pivotal role of transglutaminase 2 in triggering the inflammatory response to dietary gluten in the celiac intestine.
