Kuangyi completed his BS as Summa Cum Laude in Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics at the University of California, Los Angeles in 2020. He is currently finishing a Master’s program in Immunology at Imperial College London. For his undergraduate research project in the Lazazzera Lab, Kuangyi’s work focused on elucidating the mechanism by which a non-proteinogenic amino acid, meta-tyrosine, interferes with aromatic amino acid metabolism in Escherichia coli. Preliminary data has shown that m-Tyr, likely through its ability to act as a co-repressor of a transcription factor TyrR, shuts down Phe and Tyr biosynthesis in E. coli.

Staff Research Associate

Makayla completed a BS in Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics at the University of California Los Angeles and currently works as a staff research associate in the Lazazzera laboratory. Continuing her undergraduate research project, Makayla’s work revolves around determining the conditions in which the loss of editing by phenylalanine tRNA synthetase (PheRS) in Escherichia coli is required for growth. Makayla is currently in a graduate program.

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mortonmakayla@yahoo.com

Staff Research Associate

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Staff Research Associate

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Undergraduate Researcher

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Undergraduate Researcher

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