Our current interest lies at the intersection of genomic robustness and systems biology. Genomic robustness refers to the ability of an organism to maintain its normal functions despite significant damages to its genetic material. Systems biology considers the interactions and relationships among various components within a complex biological system to make a dynamically robust organism that manages to live within a changing environment.
News
Ray Lab
September 1, 2024
Ray Laboratory secures additional 3 years funding through the Department of Energy
Member
October 2026
- We’re proud to share that our KGI MS and PhD graduate and former postdoctoral research scientist Dr. Tristan Yang in Animesh Ray’s laboratory has been named a Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) Director’s Postdoctoral Fellow, an esteemed recognition of his outstanding potential for contributions to science. LANL Director’s Fellows are selected for their exceptional academic achievements, research accomplishments, and the strength of their proposed work. Tristan will collaborate with LANL scientists on innovative research projects that support fundamental discovery and national mission goals. This honor, bestowed by the Director of LANL, highlights Tristan’s dedication to advancing science and his potential to contribute meaningfully to the Laboratory’s research enterprise. Congratulations, Tristan, on this well-deserved recognition! LANL, a premier US Government research institution, which was founded during WWII, was recently highlighted in the Hollywood blockbuster movie, Oppenheimer, as the place where the first atomic weapon was designed. LANL currently has numerous projects on peaceful uses of nuclear energy, including biological and environmental research. Tristan will be mentored by Dr. Kumkum Ganguly and Dr. Benjamin H. McMahon, both of whom are collaborators of the Ray laboratory on a Department of Energy funded project trying to understand bystander effects of low dose ionizing radiation. https://www.linkedin.com/in/tristanyyang/
- Our laboratory’s former postdoctoral fellow, Dr. Karen Paco, is now a co-founder of Vortex Bio, which aims to bring the power of AI to designing novel enzymes. Congratulations, Karen, on this important endeavor! https://www.linkedin.com/in/karen-paco-434063171/
- Jonathan Felix, former PhD student of the Ray laboratory, has started a new position as Bioengineer at Latch Bio, San Francisco. https://www.linkedin.com/in/jon-felix/
- Our first paper in collaboration with Dr. Stefano Lonardi’s laboratory at UC Riverside has just been accepted (pending a few reformatting issues) in PloS Computational Biology: “An antigen-specific protein language model guides CDR optimization for antibody design”. This publication is the result of several years of collaboration between the UCR computer science research group led by Faisal Bin Ashraf (PhD student of Dr. Lonardi), and our laboratory, led by Karen Paco, Zihao Zhang, Sanaz Zebardast, Ilya Tolstorukov, and our collaborators in Pomona College Department of Chemistry, Dr. Matthew Sazinsky and Dr. Malkiat Johal. Among the coauthors are also the following former students: Ryan Mooney, Christian Ojeda, Mariana Mendivil, Rashid Alam, Eva Chen, Iraneus Ogu, Jordan Lay, and Tristan Y. Yang, and, importantly, our esteemed collaborator from Brazil, Dr. Fernando L. Barroso da Silva. This work enshrines the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration in modern science.
- We are pleased to announce that Peace Olatoyinbo has just completed her PhD dissertation: “B cell Recognition of Flexible SARS-CoV-2 Spike Epitopes Revealed by Single-Cell and Computational Analysis”.