Irena Roy

Wagner Lab Project: Investigated how BMP signaling coordinates neurogenic progenitor fate during spinal cord regeneration. Responsibilities: • Independently designed and established the first in vivo spinal cord injury and regeneration platform at UCSF, enabling reproducible, longitudinal analysis of progenitor and neuronal fate dynamics. • Designed longitudinal experimental workflows spanning development, injury, and regeneration to resolve dynamic progenitor and neuronal fate transitions. • Developed novel enrichment and isolation strategies to recover spinal cord progenitors and neurons across developmental and post-injury stages for downstream analysis. • Planned and executed scRNA-seq experiments, including tissue dissection strategy, FACS design, and biological interpretation of high-dimensional datasets. • Integrated scRNA-seq data with quantitative confocal microscopy, in situ labeling and immunofluorescence, and behavioral assays to link molecular state changes to functional locomotor recovery.

• EVEXIA Bio Fund is a San Francisco-based life science investment collective founded in 2014 by Bay Area graduate students and postdocs. • Analyzed clinical trial data and performed scientific and financial due diligence to identify value biotech investment opportunities.

Teitell Lab Project: Investigated how cellular metabolism, with emphasis on glutamine utilization, regulates pluripotent stem cell fate decisions. Combined experimental metabolic perturbation studies with cross-disciplinary literature synthesis to define mechanisms linking nutrient state to pluripotency, differentiation bias, and lineage commitment. Responsibilities: • Designed and executed metabolic perturbation experiments to test how glutamine availability and mitochondrial function influence pluripotent stem cell fate and survival. • Generated and interpreted molecular, metabolic, and phenotypic datasets linking nutrient state to differentiation outcomes, contributing to peer-reviewed publications. • Co-first authored a comprehensive review in Cell Metabolism synthesizing mechanisms by which metabolism and nutrient sensing regulate pluripotent stem cell identity and lineage specification.

Teitell Lab • Identified tumor drug resistance by deciphering differences in biomass accumulation patterns using a live cell interferometer (LCI) system, a unique quantitative phase microscopy technology designed to track live cell activity. • Predicted fates of mitotically inhibited cancerous cells using the LCI's quantitative phase imaging capabilities.

• Spearheaded the optimization and management of the placement process for hundreds of learning assistants across more than 30 undergraduate science courses at UCLA. Led the seamless integration of learning assistants into all core lower-division life science courses at UCLA. • Recruited and supervised a leadership team of exceptional learning assistants, fostering a collaborative environment to support incoming assistants, students, and faculty, ensuring the effective facilitation of academic success.

• Facilitated and promoted active group thought and collaboration as a learning assistant in lower division undergraduate life science course: LS2 (Cells, Tissues, and Organs), LS3 (Molecular Biology), LS4 (Genetics).

Assessed the role of pH-sensitive epigenetic modifiers in driving and determining early germ lineage specification.

Investigated the role of BCL11A in regulating the switch from fetal to adult hemoglobin under Dr. Swee Lay Thein.

Summa Cum Laude