Staff

The mission of the laboratory staff is to collaborate with the faculty members and fellows in the identification of genes and mechanisms that affect disease susceptibility and progression. We work independently and as part of small teams.

Robin R. Lincoln, B.S.

Lab Manager

Phone: (415) 476-3279
E-mail:

Robin received her Bachelor of Science from the State University of New York in 1985 in Biology and Chemistry. She has eighteen years experience within the MS Genetics Group- joining the team in Boston in 1988 prior to moving to UCSF in 1992. For almost two decades Robin has functioned as the laboratory manager and is responsible for the bio-specimen repository and all endeavors related to human subjects research protection.

 

 

Joanne Wong, Ph.D.

Senior Statistician

Phone: (415) 502-4567
Email:

Joanne has a B.Sc. in Public Health from China Medical University, Taiwan, an MPH from UCLA, and a PhD from Biola University in Southern California. Joanne has a wealth of experience in bio-statistics and has been involved in many large projects in the private and public sectors. She joined our lab in September 2005 and is leading the statistical analysis for many of our projects, including all-genome association studies.

 

 

Adam Santaniello

Database Manager

Phone: (415) 476-3136
Email:

Adam has a B.S. in Engineering Science with Tau Beta Pi honors from Tufts University in Medford, MA. His prior experience includes software development and project management for consulting and financial services firms. He joined our lab in November 2007 and is leading the integration and enhancement of the lab's data sources.

 

 

Stacy J. Caillier, B.S.

Molecular Genetics

Phone: (415) 476-3136
Email:

Stacy started working with the MS Genetics Research Group in July of 1998, after graduating from the University of California, Santa Cruz with a bachelor degree in Neuroscience and Behavior. In addition to heading up the DNA genotyping projects, she works in quantitative PCR, and SNP/expression chips. More recently, Stacy is leading the application of immunological assays to assess the functional role of genetic variants associated with MS susceptibility and progression.

 

 

Pouya Khankhanian, B.A.

Bioinformatics

Phone: (415) 476-3136
Email:

Pouya graduated in 2003 from UC Berkeley with a bachelor's degree in Applied Mathematics with an emphasis in Quantum Mechanics. He joined the MS Genetics group in August of 2006. His non-reductionist approach is to analyze multiple data sets simultaneously (genome-wide genetic studies, mRNA expression arrays, exon arrays, and protein arrays) while incorporating protein interaction information, looking for patterns that don't emerge when the data is considered separately.

 

 

Pamela Qualley, B.A., M.A.

Clinical Research Coordinator

Phone: (415) 514-2496
Email:

Pam received her undergraduate degree from Carroll College in 1971 and a MA degree from Mills College in 1985. Prior to joining the MS Genetics Research Group in June of 2004, she spent 12 years at UC Berkeley coordinating vision research projects funded by the National Eye Institute. Pam serves as a senior coordinator for genotype/phenotype association studies of MS. These patients and a subset of controls are scheduled for annual study visits, blood draws, and MRIs.

 

 

Cuquita Gomez, B.S.

Clinical Research Coordinator

Phone: (415) 502-4567
Email:

Cuquita graduated in 2002 from UC Davis with a degree in Biological Sciences with an emphasis in Neurology, Physiology, and Behavior. She joined the MS Genetics group in August of 2004. She interfaces with patients, physicians and nurses for the recruitment of subjects for our studies and manages the flow of biological specimens from the point of their collection to their storage at out laboratory. She assimilates clinical and epidemiological information from many sources, verifies the integrity of the data, and then incorporates the data into our large database system.

 

 

Abigail Pablico, B.A.

Clinical Coordinator

Phone: (415) 514-2497
Email:

Abigail graduated from San Francisco State University with a degree in Liberal Studies. She came on board the summer of 2007 and is a clinical coordinator and data manager for the GeneMSA study. Abigail's role includes assisting with patient recruitment and follow up and overseeing collection of clinical data for the project.

 

 

Elise Taylor

Clinical Coordinator

Phone: (415) 514-3100
Email:

Elise graduated from Yale University in 2008 with a degree in Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology and a concentration in Neurobiology. She became a clinical coordinator for the MS Genetics group in the fall of 2008. Her responsibilities include the recruitment of subjects, collection of genetic samples, and the acquisition and management of the clinical and epidemiological data associated with each sample.

 

 

Jessica Bautista

Clinical Coordinator

Phone: (415) 514-2497
Email:

Jessica received a BA degree in Psychology with an emphasis in Research from Mills College in 2004. Prior to joining the MS Genetics group in April 2008, Jessica worked for 2 years in Kaiser Permanente’s Division of Research where she recruited, enrolled and interviewed patients for a number of studies. Jessica is the MRI coordinator for the MS Genetics EPIC Study. In addition to her MRI duties at China Basin, Jessica assists with conducting study visits, administering patient assessments, and data entry/quality control of clinical research data.

 

 

Hourieh Mousavi

Bio-specimens Repository

Phone: (415) 476-3136
Email:

Hourieh worked with us from 1999-2000 and rejoined the group in April 2004. She holds a bachelors of Science degree in Biology from the National University of Iran, Tehran. Hourieh's responsibilities include preparing DNA, whole genome amplification, cell culture as well as sample allocation for ourselves and collaborators world-wide.

 

 

Rosa Guerrero

Bio-specimens Repository

Phone: (415) 476-3136
Email:

Rosa started working with the group in July of 2004 after working at the UCSF DNA Bank. Rosa primary responsibility is the isolation of high quality nucleic acids from blood samples received from across the United States and abroad for genetic studies in MS.

 

 

 

Melinda Gorospe

Administrative Support

Phone: (415) 476-1136
Email:

Melinda has been at UCSF since early 1999 and joined our laboratory in March 2005. Melinda is responsible for all pre- and post-award management for many Federal and private accounts. A few complex and highly visible multi-center NIH grants highlight her portfolio. Melinda also handles crucial human resources duties, which includes post-doctoral appointments.

 

 

Janet Yau

Administrative Support

Phone: (415) 502-1956
Email:

Janet came to us with a Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration and her position covers a wide variety of responsibilities related to purchasing and funds management. She also plays a key role in assuring smooth daily lab operations.