Nelly Escalante and Annie Li join TKL

MBI PhD student Nelly Escalante joins TKL for a rotation during the summer. Summer volunteer Annie Li also joins. Welcome!

Nelly is a Molecular Biology PhD student who is part of the Immunity, Microbes, and Molecular Pathogenesis home area at UCLA. She received her B.S. in Molecular and Medical Microbiology at UC Davis where she studied the role of a macrophage associated protein (NRAMP1) in protecting against infection by Salmonella Typhimurium. She is generally interested in host-pathogen interactions and understanding basic biology of pathogens in order to develop more accurate diagnostics and effective treatments. Beyond research, Nelly enjoys reading books, watching horror movies, and trying new coffee shops.

Annie is a first-generation student who is passionate about making equitable preventive measures, diagnostics, and treatments for infectious diseases. She also wants to play a role in making the research field diverse and inclusive to all. Annie received her B.S. in Biomedical/Medical Engineering from the University of Michigan where she assessed immune cell migration through hydrogels to analyze the immune response to islet grafts.