Fabian Rivera-Chávez (he/him/el)
Assistant Professor – Principle Investigator
Dr. Fabian Rivera-Chávez completed his B.S in Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology at the University of California, Santa Cruz and received his Ph.D. in Microbiology from the University of California, Davis under the supervision of Prof. Andreas Bäumler. He went on to pursue postdoctoral research at Harvard Medical School in the laboratory of Prof. John Mekalanos before starting his lab at UCSD in 2020.
Sedelia Dominguez (she/her)
Postdoctoral Research Scholar
Sedelia Dominguez is a postdoctoral scholar who joined the Rivera-Chávez lab in 2022. She completed her B.S. in Biology with a minor in Chemistry at St. John’s University. She received her Ph.D. in Molecular Biosciences from Washington State University under Dr. Tom Kawula where she worked with Francisella tularensis and investigated how host metabolism, specifically AMPK-regulated pathways, impact bacterial replication.
Claire Chapman (she/her)
Biological Sciences PhD Student
Claire Chapman is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Biological Sciences and joined the Rivera-Chavez lab in 2022. She received her B.S. in Global Disease Biology with minors in Public Health and Medical Entomology from the University of California, Davis, where she graduated summa cum laude and as a Regents Scholar. She previously conducted research in the lab of Prof. Chris Barker at UC Davis and completed her honors thesis on the behavioral thermoregulation of Aedes aegypti.
Andrew Kapinos (he/him)
Biological Sciences PhD Student
Andrew Kapinos is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Biological Sciences who joined the Rivera-Chavez lab in 2022. Andrew graduated magna cum laude and with highest departmental honors from UCLA in 2019, where he double majored in Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics (MIMG) and Human Biology and Society (HBS), with a minor in Public Health. He has previously conducted research in the lab of Dr. Jordan Moberg Parker and Dr. Amanda Freise at UCLA, where he characterized novel actinobacteriophages and investigated phage genetic diversity
Phillip Doan (he/him)
Research Assistant
Phillip Doan is a Research Assistant who joined the lab in 2021 as an undergraduate student. Phillip graduated from the University of California, San Diego with a bachelor’s of science in Human Biology with a minor in Sociology. He went on to complete his Masters in the contiguous BS/MS program of the School of Biological Sciences at UCSD.
Iris Sun (she/her)
Undergraduate Researcher
Iris Sun is an undergraduate sophomore at the University of California, San Diego, currently studying Molecular and Cellular Biology with a minor in Chemistry. After graduation, she plans to apply to UCSD’s BS/MS program before applying to either graduate or medical school. In her free time she enjoys listening to music, going on random food trips with her family, pigging out on spicy instant noodles, and binge-solving Sudokus for hours on end.
Brooke Johnson (she/her)
Undergraduate Researcher (McNair Scholar)
Brooke Johnson is a first-generation undergraduate student majoring in Global Health and minoring in General Biology at the University of California, San Diego. Brooke joined the Rivera-Chávez lab during her third year. She previously worked under the Dutton Lab, where she helped characterize novel jumbophages within cheese microbiomes. Brooke is interested in microbiology and immunology and plans to pursue an MD/Ph.D. specializing in phage therapeutics and infectious diseases.
Lab Alumni
Cinthia Garcia – PhD student Weill Cornell
Elizabeth Billings – PhD student Tufts University