Paul Muchowski Ph.D. pmuchowski@gladstone.ucsf.edu I was born in Montreal, Canada. I obtained my Ph.D. in Biological Structure at the University of Washington in Seattle in 1998, where my thesis focused on protein folding and molecular chaperones. Subsequently I moved to Martinsried, Germany where I was a post-doctoral fellow with Ulrich Hartl at the Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry. In the Hartl lab I began to characterize the role of molecular chaperones in Huntington's disease, and developed a yeast model to study polyglutamine aggregation, and was exposed to high throughput genetic approaches in yeast to study biological phenomena on a genome-wide scale. I next returned to Seattle for a second post-doctoral stint with Stanley Fields in the Department of Genome Sciences at the University of Washington, where I was exposed to gene targeting approaches using mouse models. My research in the Fields' lab was centered on understanding basic cellular mechanisms that regulate polyglutamine aggregation. In 2001 I was appointed as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pharmacology, also at the University of Washington. In 2005 I moved my laboratory to the Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease, where I was appointed as an Associate Investigator. I also hold an appointment as Professor in the departments of Biochemistry and Biophysics, and Neurology, at the University of California, San Francisco.

Chemistry Consultant Joseph M. Muchowski Ph.D.  joseph.muchowski@gladstone.ucsf.edu I received my Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from the University of Ottawa in 1962 where my thesis was on Heterocyclic Nitrogen Compounds. I subsequently worked on the Total Synthesis of Vitmain B12 as a postdoctoral fellow at the Eidg. Technische Hochschule in Zurich, Switzerland, under Professor A. Eschenmozer. I began my career in medicinal chemistry research  with  Bristol Research Labs in Candiac, Quebec.  In November 1971 My family and I immigrated to México where I  worked for Syntex Research Labs in México City as Director of Research with a group of 35 chemists and associated personnel.  After six years in México we moved to the San Francisco Bay Area in 1977, where I was Assistant Director of Research, with continued responsibility for the Syntex México research group.  I worked for Syntex Research until it was purchased by Hoffman La Roche in 1994.   I then consulted for Roche and a half dozen other pharmaceutical companies in the Bay Area and the East coast of the USA for 13 years. I and my group developed several drugs that are currently on the market, among them Toradol, a non-addictive powerful analgesic for treatment of post operative pain and pain due to trauma. Other drugs that came out of my research groups are Cellcept (prevention of organ transplant rejection), Palonsitron (treatment of nausea due to cancer chemotherapy), and Synchrocept (cattle feed lot abortifacient). Neurology Resident & Post Doc  Eric Johnson M.D. Ph.D. erik.johnson@gladstone.ucsf.edu I'm currently a resident in neurology.  My project is focused on trying to understand the nature of the toxic alpha-beta species in Alzheimer's disease.  Outside of work and lab I enjoy the outdoors, hiking, skiing, music and playing guitar. Graduate Students

Austin Chou, B.Sc. Austiin.Chow@ucsf.edu I grew up in SoCal and Taiwan more or less simultaneously. I proceeded to attend and graduate from UC Berkeley as a Chemical Biology major and made the long journey to UCSF afterwards to study Neuroscience. My current interest is the intricate entanglement between the brain and the peripheral immune system. If free time existed, I would be home 'cooking', eating, fiddling with my guitar, exploring alternate realities of videogames and books, attempting to develop any semblance of appreciation for wine, and eating. On the rare occasion when I decide to stop being a homebody, I enjoy watching musicals and caterwauling during karaoke. Most of all, I love exploring the culinary topography offered by the city. By eating.

Wanda Kwan, B.Sc. Wanda.Kwan@ucsf.edu I received a B.Sc in Pharmacology from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. I'm currently a graduate student in the Biomedical Sciences Program at UCSF. I like to cook, eat, and shop! I also love animals, so I volunteer at the SPCA every weekend. My project studies the effects of mutant huntingtin (the protein mutated in HD) in microglia in vitroro and in vivo.

Ana Osório Oliveira, B.Sc. ana.osorio.oliveira@gmail.com I am a graduate student originally from Portugal. I graduated from the University of Minho (UM) in 2008 with a B.S. in Applied Biology. During my undergrad internship I had the chance to work (Erasmus Program) for almost one year in the Academic Medical Center (AMC) of University of Amsterdam (UvA), in the Neurogenetics Laboratory under supervision of Wiep Scheper. I am currently a Neurosciences graduate student from the Institute of Molecular Medicine (IMM) – Faculty of Medicine (FMUL) - in Lisbon in colaboration with the Gladstone Institute for Neurological disease – University of California San Francisco (UCSF), under supervision of  Tiago Outeiro and Paul Muchowski. I had the great chance to join this lab in October 2010. My project is to decipher the role of a small heat shock protein, called alpha-B-crystallin, in Huntington’s disease. During the time I am not “running” in the lab, I have hard time to organize my hobbies, because I love to do many different things, which includes, dance, figure skating, photography, scuba-diving, theater, cinema, walking around the city and exploring the beautiful parks, biking, getting together with friends, music festivals, street fairs...well, basically everything San Francisco has to offer…recently, one of my crazy activitiy was to do… skydiving! Also, I must say I love to travel and to cook, especially tasty mediterranean food (which means you will never regret inviting me for a potluck J)!

Jill Larimore, B.Sc. Jill.Larimore@ucsf.edu I graduated with a B.S. in Biochemistry: Cell Biology from the University of California, San Diego in 2005. I am currently a graduate student in the Neuroscience program at UCSF.  When I'm not busy in lab I like to play the piano, go running, cook elaborate dinners (my dad is a chef), and going to jazz clubs. The goal of my project is to better understand the transcriptional regulation of genes in the Kynurenine pathway and Alzheimer's disease in microglia.

Paul Larkin, B.Sc. Paul.Larkin@ucsf.edu I grew up in North Carolina and when I go home I always stop by Bojangles for the sweet tea that I can't get elsewhere. I was there recently and noticed the caption on a sign advertising their Famous Fried Chicken as, “Southern born and breaded.” I thought, “mmmm just like me!” (If puns were deli meat, I'd like the wurst.) After high school I decided to experience winter, so I went to Amherst College and studied Chemistry and Ultimate Frisbee. After graduating I worked at the NIH,NIMH (yes, I got to work with the Rats of NIMH!) and then at a small biotech in Washington, DC. Those experiences convinced me that I wanted to go to grad school for Neuroscience, so now I'm happy to be here at UCSF studying the role of microglia,and especially the kynurenine pathway,in neurodegeneration. I'm interested in interactions between the brain and the immune system during neurodegenerative disease. Specifically, I'm studying how the immune inducible enzyme indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO) contributes to production of both neuroprotective and neurotoxic tryptophan metabolites.

Angela Sia, B.S. Angela.Sia@ucsf.edu I graduated from the University of Tampa (FL) in 2005 with a B.S. in Biology. I am currently a Biomedical Sciences graduate student at UCSF. I grew up in Northern Kentucky, the home for Cincinnatians who live on the southern banks of the Ohio River. For this reason, I am not only a UK Wildcats fan, but also a fan of the Bengals, the Reds, and Skyline Chili. I love to travel, hike, play sports, soak up the sun when it's not foggy, and watch bad TV. Also, it must be said that I have an obsession with pandas. My project is to develop and study yeast models for misfolded proteins associated with Alzheimer's disease.

Post-doctoral Fellows

Rebecca Aron, Ph.D. raron@gladstone.ucsf.edu I received a Ph.D. in Biomolecular Chemistry from the University of Wisconsin, Madison and joined the Muchowski lab in March '07. My research interests involve studying the contribution of protein misfolding to the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative disease.  When not in the lab, I enjoy spending time outdoors.  Some of my interests include cycling, rock climbing, skiing, and playing team sports, especially ultimate frisbee.

Daniel Zwilling, Ph.D. dzwilling@gladstone.ucsf.edu I received a MSc degree and PhD from the University of Goettingen at the International Max Planck School for Molecular Biology. I am a rock guitarist and an instructor for Wing Chun Kung Fu. I also teach my 1 1/2 year old son how to head bang and dance to heavy metal and I enjoy learning from my wife how to cook authentic cuisine from Trinidad and Tobago. Some people say I look like Adrien Brody in “Summer of Sam”. I am investigating the role of the kynurenine pathway in Alzheimer's disease.

Sheena Yao, Ph.D. sheena.yao@gladstone.ucsf.edu I am originally from Taiwan, moved down under when I was 17th where I obtained MSc in Molecular Biotechnology and PhD in Medicine (Molecular Hepatology) from University of Sydney, Australia. I popped into the Muchowski lab in a wet, hazy spring of 2011 and am currently investigating the roles of the enzyme, KMO, in mitochondrial biology, especially in the context of Huntington’s disease in which KMO activity is significantly upregulated. Apart from playing with cells and reagents, I am into hiking, swimming, wild life, traveling, exploring new places, movies, silly TV series, live music, and most importantly enjoying great food and sweet laughs with families and friends.  Research Associates

Jennifer Troung, B.S. jtroung@gladstone.ucsf.edu I recently joined the Muchowski lab after graduating from UC Davis majoring in NPB (Neurobiology, Physiology, and Behavior) and psychology. I assist the other RAs, graduate students, and post-docs with genotyping and breeding mice. On my free time I like to shop, play the piano, and trying new restaurants.

Che-Ping Ng, B.S. cng@gladstone.ucsf.edu I received a B.S. in Biochemistry from Iowa State University in May 2006. I like going out with friends and doing some outdoor sports such as hiking, camping and cycling. I love to eat and I am adventurous, so I like to try out new restaurants in SF. I study the roles of molecular chaperones in neurodegenerative diseases.

Shao-Yi (Lily) Huang shuang@gladstone.ucsf.edu I grew up in Taiwan, but went all the way to Iowa State University for my MSc in Genetics. Upon finishing my degree, I moved to CA and joined Muchowski lab at the Gladstone Institutes. So, as you can see, I love traveling and appreciate cultural variety. I really like watching movies, but have only been in a movie theater once….twice….oh, well, maybe three times per year, so I am currently investigating the possibility of subscribing to Netflix. Also, few people have noticed that Karaoke is actually my favorite hobby. Oh, yes, right, project assignments….I am the mouse-keeper in the lab and actively involved in making and analyzing mutant mice. By the way, I am a heavy chocoholic.