Our Team
Meet the dedicated researchers, faculty, and staff who make our groundbreaking work possible. Our diverse team brings together expertise from multiple disciplines.
Principal Investigators
Armando Villalta
Lab Director
Education: Ph.D. in Physiology, UCLA
The overall goal of the research in the Villalta laboratory is directed towards understanding how immune cells contribute to tissue injury and repair in degenerative and autoimmune diseases. During these pathological conditions immune cells contribute to disease pathogenesis by promoting altered cellular states of chronic stress and inflicting injury on the target tissue through cytolytic mechanisms. Specialized subsets of immune regulatory cells also exist that are critical in orchestrating the resolution of inflammation and tissue repair through the suppression of effector immune cells and direct interactions with the tissue that promote regeneration. Although several studies have characterized immune cell subpopulations in muscle that possess either pro-injury or pro-reparative functions, little is known about the signals regulating these distinct functional programs. To address this lack in understanding our laboratory uses the mdx mouse model of Duchenne muscular dystrophy, which has provided the field an excellent system to investigate the role of immunity in muscular dystrophy and how immune cells contribute to muscle injury and repair.
armando.villalta@uci.eduPost-doctoral Researchers
John Doe
Post-doctoral Researcher
Education: Ph.D. in Computational Biology, Harvard University; M.S. in Bioinformatics, UC Berkeley
Dr. Johnson's research focuses on developing machine learning algorithms to predict protein folding structures. During his doctoral studies, he developed a novel approach that reduced computational requirements by 40% while maintaining accuracy. He is motivated by the potential for computational methods to accelerate drug discovery and personalized medicine. He joined our lab to explore the intersection of quantum computing and biological simulations.
ajohnson@university.eduGraduate Students
Philip Farahat
Ph.D. Student
Education: Bs.C. in , UCI
Philip's research adresses the issue...
@uci.eduLisa Park
Ph.D. Candidate
Education: M.Eng. in Robotics, Carnegie Mellon University; B.S. in Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Tech
Lisa's doctoral research focuses on reinforcement learning for robotic control systems. She previously worked in industry for three years developing autonomous navigation systems. Her motivation stems from witnessing how robots with adaptive learning capabilities can transform industries and improve human safety in hazardous environments. Lisa leads the lab's robotics study group and has mentored five undergraduate researchers.
lpark@university.eduUndergraduate Students
Patricia Brown
Lab Manager
Education: M.S. in Laboratory Science, University of Illinois; B.A. in Business Administration, Ohio State University
Patricia brings over a decade of experience in research lab management. She oversees daily operations, coordinates equipment maintenance, manages lab safety protocols, and facilitates collaboration between research teams. Her organizational skills have been instrumental in streamlining lab procedures and securing competitive grants. Patricia is motivated by creating an environment where researchers can focus entirely on their scientific pursuits.
pbrown@university.edu