About

We use chemical biology to probe the mysteries of multicellularity.

Research topics

• Social Science
• Sociology
• Biology
• Gender studies
• Genetics
• Environmental ethics
• Cancer research
• Evolutionary biology
• Medicine
• Computational biology
• Mechanical engineering
• Internal medicine
• Criminology
• Engineering ethics
• Social psychology
• Engineering
• Psychology
• Anthropology

Selected publications

• Looks can be deceiving: discordances in phylogeny and morphology within loricate choanoflagellates

  Open Biology · 2026-02-25

  articleOpen access

  Choanoflagellates are heterotrophic holozoans that are classified into two groups based on their morphology: loricates, which possess silica-based extracellular structures, and craspedids, which do not. Loricate choanoflagellate taxonomy has historically been based on selected aspects of their lorica morphology and on their division mode, either tectiform or nudiform. Here, we characterize two new loricate strains, BEAP0094 and BEAP0360, that display unexpected morphological features when compared to their closest genetic relatives. The ribosomal gene sequence of BEAP0094 closely matched Pseudostephanoeca paucicostata, but its lorica lacked the characteristic anterior ring found in all Stephanoeca species. Instead, its lorica resembled the Acanthocorbis genus, raising the possibility of the existence of either multiple lorica morphologies in closely related species or multiple species sharing the same ribosomal 18S gene. In contrast, BEAP0360 presented a morphological match to Stephanoeca cauliculata, but its sequence did not, suggesting that different species could share the same lorica architecture. BEAP0360, here described as Cepoeca plumata (n. gen. n. sp.), possesses a key phylogenetic placement, potentially as the earliest-branching nudiform loricate. Our findings are inconsistent with a strict classification based on lorica morphology and support the usage of genetic data as primary criterion for genus-level taxonomic assignment.

  PublisherDOI

• An accessible transfection protocol for choanoflagellates

  bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · 2026-03-11 · 1 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding

  Abstract Choanoflagellate genetics has undergone rapid and impactful developments in the last decade. Currently, the primary method for genetic modification of choanoflagellates relies on proprietary nucleofection reagents to deliver transgenes for ectopic expression or CRISPR-Cas9 ribonucleoprotein complexes for targeted genome editing. The acquisition of proprietary buffers required for nucleofection can hamper advances in choanoflagellate research due to costs, shipping limitations, and restrictions that prevent buffer components from being optimized for understudied organisms. Therefore, we test whether a low-cost in-house electroporation buffer developed for other systems can replace the proprietary buffer currently used for choanoflagellate transfection. Here, we present an in-house buffer with transfection efficiency comparable to that of the previously established proprietary buffer. This work increases the accessibility of choanoflagellate genetics and can broaden research participation in investigating animal origins.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Supplementary Figures 1, 2 and 3 from Looks can be deceiving: discordances in phylogeny and morphology within loricate choanoflagellates

  Figshare · 2025-01-01

  articleOpen access

  Supplementary Figure 1. BEAP0094 portraying tectiform division. Supplementary Figure 2. BEAP0360 portraying nudiform division. Supplementary Figure 3. Phylogeny of Acanthoecida based on nucleotide (18S and 28S rRNA) gene sequences.

  PublisherDOI

• A stress-responsive p38 signaling axis in choanoflagellates

  RSC Chemical Biology · 2025-01-01 · 2 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  . This finding reveals a conserved p38 function between choanoflagellates, animals, and fungi. Moreover, this study demonstrates that existing kinase inhibitors can serve as powerful tools to examine the ancestral roles of kinases that regulate modern animal development.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Looks can be deceiving: discordances in phylogeny and morphology within loricate choanoflagellates

  bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · 2025-07-23

  preprintOpen access

  ABSTRACT Choanoflagellates are heterotrophic holozoans that are classified into two groups based on their morphology: loricates, which possess a silica-based extracellular structure, and craspedids, which do not. Although the craspedid versus loricate morphological separation is currently supported by their phylogenetic relationship, recent evidence has suggested inconsistencies between morphology and phylogeny within each group. Loricate choanoflagellate taxonomy has historically been based on selected aspects of their lorica morphology, and on their mode of cell division, in which tectiform daughter cells emerge into a lorica synthesized by their mother cell following division, and nudiform daughter cells do not. Here, we characterize two new loricate strains that display unexpected morphological features when compared to their nearest genetic relatives. The strain BEAP0094 very closely matched the 18S ribosomal gene of the tectiform Pseudostephanoeca paucicostata , but its morphology clearly differed, due to the absence of the characteristic anterior ring found in all Stephanoeca species. Instead, its features resembled more closely those of the Acanthocorbis genus, raising the possibility of the existence of either multiple lorica morphologies within the same or very closely related species, or multiple morphological species sharing the same 18S ribosomal gene. The second strain we investigated, BEAP0360, presented a morphological match to Stephanoeca cauliculata , but its 18S ribosomal sequence did not, suggesting that different species could share the same lorica architecture. BEAP0360, here described as Cepoeca plumat a (n. gen. n. sp.), possesses a key phylogenetic placement, potentially as the earliest branching member within nudiform loricates, which would be informative for investigating the evolution of the nudiform lifestyle. Our findings are inconsistent with a strict classification based on currently defined aspects of lorica morphology and support the usage of genetic data as primary criterion for genus-level taxonomic assignment.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Supplementary Video 2 from Looks can be deceiving: discordances in phylogeny and morphology within loricate choanoflagellates

  Figshare · 2025-01-01

  otherOpen access

  BEAP0360 portraying nudiform division (see Supplementary Figure 2 for annotated individual frames).

  PublisherDOI

• Supplementary material from "Looks can be deceiving: discordances in phylogeny and morphology within loricate choanoflagellates"

  Figshare · 2025-01-01

  otherOpen access

  Choanoflagellates are heterotrophic holozoans that are classified into two groups based on their morphology: loricates, which possess silica-based extracellular structures, and craspedids, which do not. Loricate choanoflagellate taxonomy has historically been based on selected aspects of their lorica morphology, and on their division mode, either tectiform or nudiform. Here, we characterize two new loricate strains, BEAP0094 and BEAP0360, that display unexpected morphological features when compared to their closest genetic relatives. The ribosomal gene sequence of BEAP0094 closely matched Pseudostephanoeca paucicostata, but its lorica lacked the characteristic anterior ring found in all Stephanoeca species. Instead, its lorica resembled the Acanthocorbis genus, raising the possibility of the existence of either multiple lorica morphologies in closely-related species, or multiple species sharing the same ribosomal 18S gene. In contrast, BEAP0360 presented a morphological match to Stephanoeca cauliculata, but its sequence did not, suggesting that different species could share the same lorica architecture. BEAP0360, here described as Cepoeca plumata (n. gen. n. sp.), possesses a key phylogenetic placement, potentially as the earliest-branching nudiform loricate. Our findings are inconsistent with a strict classification based on lorica morphology and support the usage of genetic data as primary criterion for genus-level taxonomic assignment.

  PublisherDOI

• A stress-responsive p38 signaling axis in choanoflagellates

  Figshare · 2025-01-01

  datasetOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  Raw data for "A stress-responsive p38 signaling axis in choanoflagellates" including flow cytometry fcs files, genotyping, image segmentation output files, sequence alignments, raw counts and cell densities for figures, mass spectrometry peptides, raw western blot images and blot cropping.

  PublisherDOI

• Juneteenth in STEMM and the barriers to equitable science

  UNC Libraries · 2025-03-19

  articleOpen access
  PublisherDOI

• Supplementary material from "Looks can be deceiving: discordances in phylogeny and morphology within loricate choanoflagellates"

  Figshare · 2025-01-01

  otherOpen access

  Choanoflagellates are heterotrophic holozoans that are classified into two groups based on their morphology: loricates, which possess silica-based extracellular structures, and craspedids, which do not. Loricate choanoflagellate taxonomy has historically been based on selected aspects of their lorica morphology, and on their division mode, either tectiform or nudiform. Here, we characterize two new loricate strains, BEAP0094 and BEAP0360, that display unexpected morphological features when compared to their closest genetic relatives. The ribosomal gene sequence of BEAP0094 closely matched Pseudostephanoeca paucicostata, but its lorica lacked the characteristic anterior ring found in all Stephanoeca species. Instead, its lorica resembled the Acanthocorbis genus, raising the possibility of the existence of either multiple lorica morphologies in closely-related species, or multiple species sharing the same ribosomal 18S gene. In contrast, BEAP0360 presented a morphological match to Stephanoeca cauliculata, but its sequence did not, suggesting that different species could share the same lorica architecture. BEAP0360, here described as Cepoeca plumata (n. gen. n. sp.), possesses a key phylogenetic placement, potentially as the earliest-branching nudiform loricate. Our findings are inconsistent with a strict classification based on lorica morphology and support the usage of genetic data as primary criterion for genus-level taxonomic assignment.

  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Kevan M. Shokat

  University of California, San Francisco

  28 shared

• Kevan M. Shokat

  University of California, San Francisco

  20 shared

• Nicole King

  Howard Hughes Medical Institute

  12 shared

• Jeffrey S. Glenn

  VA Palo Alto Health Care System

  8 shared

• Raymond Hui

  Toronto General Hospital Research Institute

  8 shared

• Christina M. Termini

  Fred Hutch Cancer Center

  8 shared

• John E. Burke

  University of Victoria

  8 shared

• Antentor Hinton

  Vanderbilt University

  7 shared

Labs

• FUNR LabPI

Education

• Postdoctoral Fellow, Molecular and Cell Biology

  University of California, Berkeley

  2022

• Interim Postdoctoral Researcher, Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology

  University of California, San Francisco

  2017

• PhD Chemistry & Chemical Biology , Chemistry & Chemical Biology

  University of California San Francisco

  2016

• B.S. Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

  University of California Davis

  2010

Awards & honors

• 2025 Dr. Laure Aurelian Biomedical Research Award
• Hypothesis Fund