Natalie Chavarria

Research Interests

• OMV Vaccines
• Biomimetic Nanosponges
• Micronbrane Medical

At the Bench

Natalie is a Mexican-American San Diego (SD) native, who received her B.S. in Human Biology with a minor in Global Health from UCSD. She began working in an on-campus lab the summer before entering her undergrad at the UCSD Skaggs School of Pharmacy with the Ballatore Lab, investigating CNS drug candidates treatments for neurodegenerative diseases (i.e Alzheimer’s disease). In 2020, she was accepted into the Initiative for Maximizing Student Develop (IMSD) program at UCSD where she was matched with the Nizet Lab under the mentorship of Alex Hoffman. During her time as an undergrad, she worked under mentorship investigating macrophage biomimetic nanoparticles as an anti-inflammatory therapy in bacterial sepsis. In conjunction with her involvement in the IMSD program, Natalie also led a public health research project in SD, and was awarded the Triton Research Education Leadership Award Scholarship (TRELS) twice. In June of 2023, she officially joined the Nizet lab as a Staff Resource Associate, and currently serves as a resource for a number of research projects including membrane vesicle-coated nanoparticle vaccines, and a novel diagnostic method for pathogen identification in sepsis patients (Micronbrane Medical).

Out of Lab

Natalie enjoys long distance running, bachata/salsa dancing, and making drawings for people.

Academic Appointments

Education

Honors