Team

Anna grew up in Campdevànol, a small town in the Catalan Pyrenees, North of Barcelona. She is the proud daughter of a long line of bakers.

She earned a PhD in Neuroscience from the University of Barcelona under the mentorship of Dr. Eduardo Soriano and Dr. Jesús Ureña, studying central nervous system development and tyrosine kinase signaling pathways. From Jesús, she not only learned science but also how to think critically and appreciate the joy of discovery.

She later moved to Seattle to work with Dr. Tom Reh, where she became fascinated by eye development. During her postdoc, she also applied stem cell technologies to study different aspects of neurogenesis and cell fate specification. From Tom, she learned to always follow the data, and that curiosity and optimism take you a long way, even in the rain.

Since joining UC Davis in 2014, Anna has led a research program focused on understanding retinal development and degeneration. The most rewarding part of her work is mentoring trainees and seeing them develop their own ideas and independence.

Outside the lab, she enjoys traveling, spending time in the mountains, and photography, especially when her son Marc still agrees to be in the frame.

Miranda is originally from San Diego, CA, and decided to try out the small-town experience for her undergraduate degree at UC Davis, where she received her Bachelor’s degree in Biotechnology. She enjoyed it so much that she is continuing her graduate studies at Davis, where she is now investigating the molecular mechanisms involved in early retinal patterning in both in vivo mouse models and in vitro retinal organoids. She has a particular fascination with spiky creatures, especially Sonic hedgehogs. When she’s not in the lab, Miranda loves spending time outdoors, getting creative with paints, and cooking for friends and family. And yes, she’s a cat person.

Steven is originally from Castro Valley, CA, and received his Bachelor’s degree in Biology from San Diego State University. He decided to move back to NorCal for graduate school and is now working to understand how microRNAs regulate cortical development. Outside of the lab, he enjoys spending time outdoors camping, rock climbing, and shredding gnar in Lake Tahoe (AKA skiing). He holds the unofficial title of being the fastest person in the world to master in utero electroporations, at least in our lab.

Daniela is originally from Costa Rica and holds a Bachelor's degree in Biotechnology from the Costa Rica Institute of Technology. She later moved to Germany to pursue a Master’s in Molecular and Cellular Biology at the University of Heidelberg.  She now uses mouse models to explore the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying Retinal Ganglion Cells loss, with the aim of identifying novel therapeutic strategies for optic nerve degeneration. Her retina flat-mount preparations are legendary. When not peering into retinas, Daniela enjoys watching movies, reading books, and pretending not to think about experiments while doing either.

Keiko Hino is originally from Osaka, Japan, and earned her Bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at UC Davis. She discovered her passion for neuronal development while working in the lab. She became instantly renowned for her impressive technical skill and efficiency at the bench, all while somehow never uttering a single swear word. Outside the lab, Keiko can usually be found watching movies or playing sports.

Raenier Reyes joined the lab as an undergraduate volunteer, and it didn’t take long for everyone to realize the lab couldn’t function without him. A maestro of surgical procedures, he keeps experiments and genotypings on track and quietly makes sure the team doesn’t fall apart in the process. Soon he’ll be off to nursing school, but in the meantime, the lab is lucky to have his skill, precision, and steady presence.

Named after the tyrosine kinase, Fyn doesn’t phosphorylate anything, but he is a very good boy.