People

Jay Sharma MS, Lab Manager

I have received two MS degrees in Biological Sciences from California State University Channel Islands and State University of New York at Buffalo. I have over 5 years of experience in the field of translational research and regenerative medicine. I have worked in the Cherqui lab for 2.5+ years as an MS candidate (CIRM research fellow) and Staff Research Associate. My MS thesis was mainly focused on investigating the mechanisms in hematopoietic stem cell-mediated therapy in the treatment of Cystinosis. In addition, I have been involved in conducting toxicology and pharmacology pre-clinical studies for autologous stem cell transplantation to cure Cystinosis, as per GLP compliance.

Anne Sawyers BS, CCRP, Clinical Research Coordinator

As the newest clinical research coordinator in the Cherqui Lab, she assists Dr. Cherqui on Stem Cell and Genetics studies. Anne has been working as a Clinical Research Coordinator for the last 15 years at UC Irvine and UCSD and comes with a variety of experience in both industry and investigator initiated Clinical Trials.

Imama Ahmed BS, Assistant Clinical Research Coordinator

Imama received her BS in Physiology & Neuroscience from UC San Diego in June 2020. Previously she has worked at the Department of Surgery and at the Tuszynski lab at UCSD. At the Tuszynski lab she worked on spinal cord injury research which focused on repairing spinal cord injury through stem cell treatment. She joined the Cherqui Lab in March 2021 and will be working as both lab and clinical research support. She will be contributing to the development and implementation of a clinical trial in the area of confocal microscopy for subjects with cystinosis.

Alexa Allen, Administrative Assistant

Alexa received her BS in Kinesiology from Seattle Pacific University in 2020. She recently moved to San Diego from Seattle, Washington, and joined the Cherqui lab in April 2024. Her hobbies include soccer, video games, and skiing. Alexa provides support to the lab team through administrative duties.

Anusha Sivakumar Ph.D., Project Scientist & Project Manager

Dr.Anusha Sivakumar's doctoral work focused on understanding the role of mitochondrial structure-function relationship in the development and progression of cardiac diseases, with particular focus on oxidative stress induced injuries. She was a Senior Scientist at ThermoFisher Scientific Inc., in Research & Development where she worked on commercial antibody development & validation and exosome sample preparation programs. Currently, her research focuses on the safety and efficacy profile of gene-edited HSPC transplation for Friedreich's Ataxia.

Veenita Khare Ph.D., Research Associate 3

Veenita received her PhD from CSIR- Indian Institute of Chemical Biology (CSIR-IICB) (Kolkata) India in June 2021, where she studied the involvement of an RNA helicase p68 (DDX5) in oncogenic signaling pathways. She joined Dr. Shannon Lauberth's lab, UCSD in January 2021. In Dr. Lauberth's lab, she tried to decipher the role of enhancer RNAs (eRNAs) in cancer. After receiving her PhD, she joined Dr Cherqui's lab in June 2021 to pursue her keen interest in the field of hematopoietic stem cells and translational research. Her project is focused on studying the molecular mechanism behind the link between cystinosis and renal disorder. Novel findings from this study may open new therapeutic avenues in cystinosis treatment.

Rafael Badell Ph.D.,Post-doc Fellow

Rafael received his MRes and PhD from Cardiff University in the UK where he investigated the cellular pathology of neurodegenerative diseases such as Huntington and lysosomal storage diseases with a specific focus on different forms of Batten disease and Niemann Pick disease for the purposes of drug screening. During his PhD he also carried out multiple drug screening projects to identify potential small molecule therapies for lysosomal storage diseases. During his MRes he was awarded a letter of commendation as well as the Best Student Award for the best performance overall in his cohort. His PhD was funded by the Batten Disease Family Association and the Life Science Research Network Wales. Rafael strives to increase our understanding of lysosomal storage disease pathogenesis and find ways to treat these. In June 2021 Rafael joined the Cherqui lab as a Postdoc to continue developing therapeutic approaches for lysosomal storage diseases with a focus on stem cell transplantation and gene therapy using mouse models.

Rola Chen, Graduate Student Researcher

Rola Chen received her BS degree here at UCSD in March 2023 and continued as a BS/MS student in Dr. Cherqui's lab for learning the therapeutic effects of hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs) on genetic disorders. She has an interest on studying neurodegenerative diseases.

Kasra Pakravesh, Graduate Student Researcher

Kasra has recently graduated from UCSD sixth college with his Bachelor's in General Biology and a minor in Psychology. He has worked as a volunteer in the lab since January 2022 and assisted in some of the ongoing projects in the lab such as MPSIIIC. He is currently pursuing his Master's in Biology and investigating the disease: Niemann Pick Type C (NPC). His project is focused on the potential therapeutic use of Hematopoietic and Progenitor Stem Cell transplantation and gene therapy in treating the disease.

Sol Diaz, Graduate Student Researcher

Sol received her Bachelors in Neuroscience and minor in Cognitive Science from University of California, Los Angeles in June 2023. She is currently pursuing her Master's degree in Biology at San Diego State University. She joined the Cherqui Lab as a Bridges to Stem Cell California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) intern in October 2023. Her project is focused on studying the potential therapeutic use of Hematopoietic and Progenitor Stem Cell transplantation and gene therapy in treating Alzheimer’s Disease.

Frankie Son, Graduate Student Researcher

Frankie is currently pursuing a Master's in Biology here at UC San Diego and joined the Cherqui Lab in June 2023. She also received her B.S. in Molecular and Cell Biology at UCSD in 2023. She focuses on translational research regarding lysosomal storage disorders, especially Mucopolysaccharidosis Type IIIC (MPS IIIC), and aims to better understand its pathogenesis and help develop an effective gene therapy. She and her collaborators utilize stem cell transplantation for gene therapy in mouse models to explore innovative therapeutic approaches for these rare genetic disorders.