Current Scholars

Brittany Crown (UCSD)

Predoctoral Candidate

Undergraduate institution: University of Alabama at Birmingham   

Graduate Institution: UC San Diego

Bio:  I am a doctoral student in the Li Lab at the Rebecca and John Moores Cancer Center. My research focuses on understanding the mechanisms underlying hematopoietic stem cell engraftment and healthy hematopoietic reconstitution following hematopoietic cell transplantation. By studying the biology of normal hematopoietic stem cells and their ability to establish long-term engraftment, my work aims to identify strategies to improve transplantation outcomes for patients with blood disorders.

Why Research?:  I love the challenge of finding and developing ways to answer questions no one has asked before or taken the time to investigate. It’s hard work but extremely rewarding.

What I like about my work:  The science is interesting and rewarding, but people are what make science fun. I am constantly learning new things from others and passing that knowledge down to the next generation of scientists. Not only do I enjoy working alongside my lab mates in the Li Lab, but I also enjoy meeting other scientists and learning about their passions. I love how much diversity there is in science, whether that’s people working in wildly different fields or coming from different parts of the country/world. Despite our differences, the thing that always connects us is our passion to advancing science and sharing knowledge.

Interests:  Outside of lab I enjoy cooking, running, hiking, camping and trying new hobbies.

Dr. Nishta Krishnan (UCSD)

Postdoctoral Researcher

Undergraduate Institution:  UC San Diego

Graduate Institution:   UC San Diego

Bio:  I am a biomedical and nanomedicine researcher developing biomimetic technologies for therapeutic delivery, vaccination, and immune modulation. I completed my doctoral training in Chemical and Nano Engineering at UC San Diego, where I developed cell membrane-coated nanoparticle platforms for cancer therapy and prevention, intracellular delivery, and infectious disease applications. Currently, as a postdoctoral fellow in Professor Victor Nizet’s lab at UC San Diego, I am expanding this work into urology, with a particular focus on chronic urinary tract infections (UTIs). This research combines nanotechnology, microbiology, and immunology to better understand persistent infections and develop new therapeutic approaches for urinary tract disease.

Why research?  Research gives me the opportunity to combine engineering and biology to address problems that can have a tangible impact on human health. I am especially motivated by developing technologies that move beyond fundamental discovery and can ultimately lead to more precise, effective, and broadly applicable approaches to treating and preventing disease.

What I like about my work:  I enjoy working at the intersection of engineering, immunology, and medicine, where ideas from different fields can come together to solve complex biomedical problems. I especially like designing biologically inspired nanoparticle systems, collaborating with researchers from different disciplines, and seeing how engineering decisions at the nanoscale can translate into meaningful improvements in delivery, immune responses, and therapeutic performance.

Interests:  Biomimetic nanomedicine, cell membrane-coated nanoparticles, drug delivery, cancer immunotherapy and prevention, vaccines, infectious disease, immunology

Ben Liebman (UCSD)

Predoctoral Candidate

Undergraduate Institution:  Hampshire College

Graduate Institution:  UC San Diego

Bio:  I was born and raised in Massachusetts and happily moved to San Diego in 2023 to begin my MD/PhD training at UCSD. Before medical school, I worked at Samba Biologics, an early-stage biotechnology company developing growth factor-immunoglobulin biologics to treat ischemic tissue injury. Currently, I am a second-year graduate student in the Biomedical Sciences program, where my research focuses on developing new therapies for acute kidney injury and biomarker-based approaches to track kidney disease progression and improve patient outcomes.

Why Researchz?   I fell in love with the lab as an undergrad and have felt at home at the bench ever since. Research is the perfect avenue to ask deep questions and then dive in with both feet to unravel them and better understand disease— which I think is the best part of any day.

What I like about my work:  I get to work with and learn from great people every day. I am also lucky that my project brings together many of my interests— renal physiology, pharmacology, and translational science— each of which informs the questions we can tackle. These different perspectives keep me busy but never bored.

Interests:  Outside of the lab, I enjoy cooking, woodworking, gardening, and spending time outdoors. I have also dabbled in making homemade cheese, albeit with mixed but usually edible results.

Sintra Stewart (UCSD)

Predoctoral Candidate

Undergraduate Institution:  California Polytechnic University at Humboldt

Graduate Institution:  UC San Diego

Bio:  I matriculated in 2024 to UC San Diego’s MD/PhD program. Prior to that, I was living in Seattle, working at the University of Washington since 2021, where my primary research area was clonal evolution in myeloid malignancies. My interest in medicine dates back to 2016, but during my time in Seattle, I became especially interested in hematology and its intersection with stem cell biology and hematopoiesis. My project focuses on hematopoietic cell behaviors, with the goal of improving outcomes for children with blood disorders.

Why Research:  Disease-focused research is the best way I have found to cope with the limitations and difficulties of clinical medicine. Despite our best efforts, the known science and proven treatments only get us so far, and we still face bad outcomes. The obvious response, to me, when facing that reality is to do the work to discover the next cure.

What I like about my work:  I enjoy the collaborative nature of research, where people from diverse backgrounds and specialties combine their strengths to answer a question. Research also aligns with my personal values of not settling with a suboptimal situation when there is motivation and capacity to strive for something better. 

Interests:  Outside of the lab, I help run a Harm Reduction group operating in downtown SD, and I love baking and spending time at the beach.

Dr. Hannah Tam (Scripps Research)

Postdoctoral Researcher

Undergraduate Institution:  Northeastern University

Graduate Institution:  Harvard University

Bio:  I am a postdoctoral fellow in Ardem Patapoutian’s lab at Scripps, where I study how sensory nerves adapt during physiological transitions. My current work focuses on how sensory nerves remodel in the prostate during puberty, with the goal of understanding how the sensory nervous system influences urologic health and disease. I completed my undergraduate degree at Northeastern University and received my PhD from Harvard University.

Why Research?  I love research because it lets curiosity drive the questions I ask. I enjoy following the science wherever it leads to uncover fundamental principles of biology. 

What I like about my work:  I like to study things that anyone can relate to. We've all gone through puberty before and can remember the changes we experienced during that time. I find it exciting to use this familiar physiological transition as a window into how the nervous system and our organs adapt. 

Interests:  Running, classical music, birdwatching, backpacking