Chase Garcia is a 5th year PhD student in the Molecular, Cellular, and Integrative Physiology (MCIP) Graduate Group. Chase is also a veterinary student and a member of the Veterinary Scientist Training Program (VSTP) at UC Davis. Chase is finishing his PhD and returns to veterinary school in Fall 2024. Chase has been studying metabolic hypotheses for Alzheimer's disease during his PhD ranging from the interaction of Apolipoprotein E genotype and insulin signaling, to the effect of beta-Hydroxybutyrate (BHB) on microglia, whose dysregulation is heavily implicated in Alzheimer's pathophysiology. In the past, most recently, Chase has investigated the physiology of pancreatic islet endo- and paracrine cell types in dogs, cats, and mice using confocal microscopy in Mark Huising's lab at UC Davis. Chase also investigated the efficacy of soluble epoxide hydrolase inhibitors in the UC Davis type 2 diabetes rat model in Dr. Peter Havel's lab in collaboration with Dr. Bruce Hammock's lab. Chase also studied the mechanisms behind the life-extension effect from caloric restriction using a novel tandem mass spectrometric method in Dr. Mark Hellerstein's lab at UC Berkeley, which culminated in his honors thesis there. In his free time, Chase likes to get outdoors and hang out with friends and family. During long weekends or breaks he will often plan trips to travel, backpack, hike, camp, get in the water in summer, or hit the slopes in winter.
Ariana is a recent UC Davis graduate with a B.S in Neurobiology, Physiology, and Behavior with a minor in Psychology. She has been a part of the Cortopassi lab since 2023 working as an Undergraduate research assistant funded by the NIH Advancing Diversity in Aging related Research (ADAR) program. Her research focuses on the effects of Beta-Hydroxybutyrate (BHB) modulation of aging-related markers in mouse and human microglia!
Outside of the lab, Ariana enjoys playing tennis, cooking, and volunteering in the community!
Garrett is a undergraduate student studying Neurobiology, Physiology, and Behavior. He is the mouse husbandry expert and our assistant colony manager, as He mainly works in Meyer hall with the colony.
His interests includes traveling, hiking, and trying out new technology.
Jordan is currently researching Shc inhibitors using Q-RT-PCR to measure the change in Shc mRNA expression in HEK cells dosed with various drugs. His main research interest is aging, with his primary project in the lab focusing on the Ketogenic Diet. He also specializes in the automation of biological protocols, such as cDNA synthesis, using the Opentrons OT-2 liquid handler robot.
As of June 2024, Jordan is an NPB graduate from UC Davis with a minor in Spanish. Outside of work, he enjoys rock climbing and participating in triathlons.