Current Lab Members
Joshua Robinson, PhD is an Associate Professor in the Center for Reproductive Sciences and the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences at UCSF. In addition, he currently serves as the Director of the Center to Advance Toxicology and Chemical Hazard Assessment (CATCHA). His background includes a MS and PhD in Toxicology (University of Washington) and postdoctoral training at the National Institute of Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) in the Netherlands and UCSF.
Lin Li, MD, PhD is a Postdoctoral Fellow (since 2023) in Dr. Robinson’s Lab. She received her MD and PhD in maternal-fetal medicine from Sun Yat-sen University in China. Her research focuses on the effects of infectious agents and environmental chemical exposures on human pregnancy. She is currently investigating the impact of retinoids, azoles, and other chemicals on early organogenesis using a whole rat embryo culture model and transcriptomics.
Mengjing Wang, PhD is a Postdoctoral Fellow in Dr. Robinson’s Lab (since 2023) and a former PhD graduate in Toxicology from Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore. His research focuses on uncovering developmental toxicities linked to environmental pollutants, utilizing a combination of multi-omics approaches, in vitro models, and computational methodologies.
Emilia Basilio, MD joined the Robinson Lab as a Clinical Fellow in 2021 and recently was appointed Assistant Professor in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences. Her background includes a MPH from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health with a concentration in Women’s and Reproductive Health, a MD from UC Irvine where she was part of the Program in Medical Education for the Latino Community and a residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology and a fellowship in Maternal-Fetal Medicine at UCSF. Her research goal is to understand how environmental exposures contribute to adverse pregnancy outcomes by way of altered placental function. She is currently leading two projects: 1) establishing a rat embryo culture model to study placental toxicity and 2) determining the health effects of wildfire smoke on human pregnancy.
Amanda Gutierrez, a recent graduate from California State University-Chico, joined Dr. Robinson’s Lab in 2023. As a Staff Research Associate, she provides both wet-lab and computational support to multiple projects investigating the effects of environmental chemical exposures on human pregnancy.
Jessica Chen is a Staff Research Associate in Dr. Robinson’s Lab (since 2022), earned her doctorate in medicine from Nanjing Medical University in China. She is also a former graduate of the CIRM Biotechnology Program at City College of San Francisco (CCSF). Jessica currently supports several projects, including in vitro environmental chemical screening and development of methods to identify molecular targets important for human developmental neurotoxicity.
Bryan Ramirez is a second-year medical student at UCSF. He is interested in serving underrepresented communities especially pertaining to maternal and fetal health. In the Robinson Lab (since 2023), he is examining relationships between environmental chemical exposures and inflammation in the context of adverse pregnancy outcomes (preterm birth) using exposomics and cytokine profiling approaches.
Trisha Sengupta is an undergraduate researcher (since 2024) and a student at UC Berkeley pursuing a major in Public Health and Data Science. She is pursuing a medical career that intersects medicine, environment and health. In the Robinson Lab, she is gaining experience in developmental toxicology and environmental health, exploring how chemical exposures impact human pregnancy and reproduction.
Matthew Shear, MD is a clinical fellow in Maternal-Fetal Medicine and Medical Genetics working in Dr. Robinson’s Lab (since 2023). He received his MD at the University of Vermont and completed his residency in Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center/Harvard Medical School. He is interested in genetic and environmental factors that lead to pregnancy loss, birth defects and developmental disorders. His current projects use a rat whole embryo culture model and spatial transcriptomics to identify cell-specific gene-environment interactions that contribute to teratogenic outcomes.
Former members (in order of their joining date)
Jacob Perez worked as an undergraduate assistant (2023-24). After completing his senior year at UC Berkeley majoring in Nutritional Sciences with an emphasis in Toxicology and a minor in Education, plans to pursue medical school.
Romane Person joined the Robinson Lab (2022-23) as a visiting scholar while attending the Univerisite de Paris as a Master’s student. She is currently pursuing a PhD in toxicology.
Sofia Valenzuela is a former undergraduate research intern (2022-23) and recent graduate from UC Berkeley. She is currently working for the UCSF California Preterm Birth Initiative.
Eric Connelly is a former Children's Hospital of Oakland's Research Institute's (CHORI) summer research intern (2022). He is currently finishing his undergraduate degree at Vanderbilt University.
Sena Aksel, MD is a former postdoctoral researcher in Dr. Robinson’s Lab (2022-24). He is currently working as a medical researcher.
Raymond Zhang is a former Children's Hospital of Oakland's Research Institute's (CHORI) summer research intern (2021-23) and recent graduate from UC Berkeley.
Danielle Gantar is a former visiting research scholar (2021). She is currently a medical student at the Alabama College of Osteopathic Medicine.
Stephanie Gee is a former visiting research scholar (2021). She recently completed her medical degree at Arizona College of Osteopathic Medicine- Midwestern University.
Xin Guo was a former research intern (CCSF Biotechnology Program, 2020). She is currently a staff research associate in Dr. Susan Fisher’s Lab at UCSF.
Miku Ogawa was a former research intern (CCSF Biotechnology Program, 2020). He currently works as a Laboratory Technician at Centrillion Technology.
Alizah Ali worked as a visiting scholar (2020-21). She is currently a medical student at Morehouse School of Medicine. She is interested in pursuing a residency in OB/GYN and a PhD in health informatics or reproductive sciences.
Ngantu Le worked as a volunteer in Dr. Robinson’s Lab (2020) while attending medical school at University of Nevada-Reno. After completing her MD, she is working as a resident at Washington University School of Medicine.
Mosana Abraha worked as a volunteer researcher (2020-22) while completing her degree at McMaster University. She is currently pursuing a MD at the University of Toronto.
Rachel Mernoff worked as a researcher (2020-21) as a MD/MPH student at UCSF/Berkeley. She is a clinical fellow at University of California, Los Angeles in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
Lillian Lau is a former research intern (2020-22). After earning her Master’s degree at John Hopkins University, she is working as a Clinical Research Coordinator at Stanford University.
Sarah Siddiqui is a former research intern (2020-21) and recent graduate from UC Berkeley. She currently works at Meta as a data analyst.
Unurzul Jigmeddagva, PT, DPT, MD, worked as a CIRM Stem Cell Intern (CCSF) and Staff Research Associate in Dr. Robinson’s Lab (2019-23). She currently works as a physical therapist in the Bay Area.
Sanah Basrai worked as an undergraduate researcher (2019-22) while completing her undergraduate degree at UC Berkeley. She is currently a medical student at Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine.
Nikita Katukota worked as a volunteer researcher as an undergraduate at UC Berkeley (2019-22). After majoring with a BA degree in Molecular and Cell Biology with an emphasis on Neurobiology, she is working as a Clinical Research Coordinator Associate at Stanford School of Medicine.
Hao Chen, PhD is a former postdoctoral researcher in the Robinson Laboratory (2019-22). During his time, he co-led multiple projects, gaining expertise in human developmental biology/toxicology and omic methodologies. He is an Assistant Director/Toxicologist Director at Ionis Pharmaceuticals.
Rayyan Aburajab volunteered in the Robinson Laboratory (2018-19) as an undergraduate at the UC Berkeley. After working in the biotech industry for a couple of years, she is pursuing a PhD graduate degree in the biomedical sciences at the University of California, Southern California (USC).
Chinomnso Okorie completed part of her research project in the Robinson Laboratory (2018-19) as part of her Master's Degree program at San Francisco State University. For her project, she investigated the link between heavy metal exposures and preterm birth. She currently works as a Data Analyst at Kaiser Permanente.
Nikita Iyer was an undergraduate researcher (2017-19) while attending UC Berkeley. She is currently pursuing a MD/MBA at Temple University.
Kenisha Puckett completed her research project in Dr. Robinson’s lab (2016-18) as part of her CIRM MS program at San Francisco State University. Her research project focused on the impact of flame retardants on human placental development. She is currently pursuing a PhD in Reproductive Biology at Stanford University.
Ibriham (Bibo) Khatib completed his Master's Degree project in Dr. Robinson's Laboratory (2016-17) as part of the CIRM Master's Degree program at San Francisco State University. His research project aimed to develop a human embryonic stem cell model to study the effects of environmental exposures on neurodevelopment. He is currently working as an Associate Scientist at Novo Nordisk in the Bay Area.
Jessica Reliford was a UCSF/Kaiser Permanente Undergraduate Research Intern (2016). She is a Clinical Research Coordinator at UCSF.
Monica Eng worked as a summer volunteer with Dr. Robinson (2016). She received a nursing degree at Simmons Nursing College and currently works as a RN.
Emily Hamilton was an undergraduate researcher and staff research associate (2015-16). She graduated with her PhD in cancer biology at Stanford University (2022). She is currently a Postdoctoral Scholar at Stanford University.
Nicomedes Abello was a City College of San Francisco CIRM Intern (2015-16). He currently works as a Senior Scientist at ThermoFisher Scientific in SF.
Helia Seifikar was an undergraduate researcher in the Robinson Laboratory (2015). She is currently pursuing a PhD at Johns Hopkins University.