Sara Sameni, Ph.D. Email & Phone Number

I am a scientist with two wings, competence in both experimental and wet-lab settings as well as computational biology and cell modeling. I am currently leading a state-of-the-art project in discovering the molecular origins of Huntington’s disease (a fatal form of neurodegeneration) at UCSD/ Salk Institute for biological studies by using experimental values and developing a mathematical model using a detailed molecular tracker in MCell and data analysis in python. Prior to that, I earned my Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from UC Irvine in the laboratory of Dr. Michelle Digman and Dr. Enrico Gratton Lab of Fluorescent Dynamics(LFD). The focus of my Ph.D. work was to apply advanced imaging techniques for detecting new biomarkers in Huntington's disease. My project involved using fluorescence lifetime imaging (FLIM) and hyperspectral imaging technique coupled with phasor analysis to use as a diagnostic tool and to detect new biomarkers in Huntington's Disease (HD). During my PhD, I was a recipient of multiple prestigious awards and fellowships including President's Dissertation Year fellowship (PDY), NSF BEST IGERT fellowship, Public impact award at UC Irvine and multiple travel awards.