AWIS Officers

Committee Chairs

Norazizah Shafee, Ph.D. is a scientist at UC San Diego and a Professor of Cell and Molecular Biology at the University Putra Malaysia. Nora began her journey in the study of cells and their signal transduction pathways during her undergraduate work at the University of Arizona. She then continued her graduate studies to investigate the mechanism of cellular responses to viral infections at the University of Malaya. Intrigued by the way certain cells self-destruct upon sensing potential virus attack, she decided to investigate why these cellular responses were de-regulated in some cancer cells. She pursued this interest during her post-doctoral training at UC Irvine, where she helped develop a mouse model of breast cancer and provided initial evidence of cancer stem cells as a potential cause of chemoresistance. This training was funded by the American Association for Cancer Research and the Avon Foundation. Combining her background in anti-viral responses and cancer cell biology, Nora is currently focused on characterizing cellular responses towards oncolytic virus infections.

In-between her scientific explorations and community service adventures, Nora loves exploring the beauty of nature through hiking and traveling with her family. Nora joined AWIS and became a co-chair of the Academia-2-Industry committee in January 2019.

Shanna Newton Lavalle is a Ph.D. candidate in the Biomedical Sciences Ph.D. program at the University of California San Diego. She joined the laboratory of Dr. Pamela Mellon in July 2015 where she is currently using a combination of cell culture and genetic mouse models to study the roles of several homeodomain transcription factors within kisspeptin neurons. Her research was supported by the NIGMS-funded Genetics Training Grant from 2016 to 2018. She is currently funded by the NIH Research Supplements to Promote Diversity in Health-Related Research. In 2018, she completed the Rady’s School of Management MicroMBA program and was accepted into the Future Leaders Advancing Research in Endocrinology (FLARE) program. She was an active member of the Endocrine Society’s Trainee and Career Development Core Committee from 2018-2020 and served as Chair of the society’s Summer Research Fellowship program in 2019. She is a recipient of several awards including Endocrine Society’s Early Career Travel Award in 2018, Association for Women in Science UCSD Extension Award in 2019, and the Endocrine Society’s Outstanding Abstract Award in 2020.

Sameera Bilgrami, PhD. is a scientist at Aethlon Medical, a medical device company designing cancer diagnostic devices. Her career as a cell biologist started in India at the National Centre for Biological Sciences, TIFR Bangalore, where she studied protein-lipid interactions in live cell membranes. She was a postdoctoral fellow in Late Dr. Gary Bokoch’s lab at The Scripps Research Institute before moving to UCSD. Her research focused on organelle movement, angiogenesis, and cancer cell movement. Due to visa issues and family responsibilities, she had a career break of 7 years. She is back in the workforce after struggling to find a job for 3 years. She would like to use her experience in helping others identify their strengths, goals, and career objectives. She would like to help scientists in similar situations navigate their way in the job market. Sameera likes to cook, spend time with kids and volunteer at AWIS-SD.

Courtney Benson, Ph.D. earned her B.S. and M.S. at SDSU in cell and molecular biology, and her Ph.D. in neuroscience from the University at Buffalo. Courtney is currently working at BlueNalu, Inc. as a scientist and is excited to help generate a sustainable food product that will be of value to humans and for our oceans. When Courtney joined AWIS San Diego in October of 2017, she immediately joined the Outreach Committee and then joined the AWIS San Diego Board as a Member at Large. She then served as the President of AWIS-SD from February 2018 through January 2020. Courtney is currently the Past President and co-chair of the new committee, Career Advancement (Early to Mid-Career). To email, click This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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Angela Macia is a Postdoctoral Researcher at UCSD working in Dr. Alysson Muotri laboratory. She received her Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences from the University of Granada, Spain in 2015. Angela has a strong background in transposable elements, and a broad range of experience in both human pluripotent and adult stem cells. Her research focuses on modeling neurological diseases, such as Autism Spectrum Disorders, investigating how transposons contribute to the disease by using patient-derived neurons and 3D organoids. She is passionate about how AWIS-SD creates opportunities for women and girls in STEM and she has been part of the Corporate Sponsorship committee since 2017. Besides volunteering for AWIS-SD, Angela enjoys traveling, reading and cooking. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Kayal Madhivanan is a Postdoctoral Researcher working at UC San Diego. She earned her PhD in Biological Sciences from Purdue University. Her research focuses on understanding the mechanism of neurodegenerative diseases utilizing neurons from mice and C. elegans. She became a member of the Corporate Sponsorship Committee in 2019, after an enriching experience at the WIST conference organized by AWIS. She is passionate about engaging and creating more opportunities for women in science. In addition to volunteering with AWIS, she loves to bake and travel. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Cynthia Kuan oversees business and clinic operations for the Sanford Stem Cell Clinical Center at UC San Diego Health. She is a founding member of the clinical center and has helped secure over $70 million funding from grants, contracts, and philanthropy for regenerative medicine research projects, ranging from basic science, translational medicine, to clinical research. She has over 13 years of experience in building/managing innovative programs and is seasoned in alliance management, strategic planning, program development, and financial oversight. Prior to joining UC San Diego Health, she helped build a Chinese immersion public charter school in Washington DC and a social service program in Los Angeles. In her free time, she enjoys traveling, trying new restaurants, and listening to audio books/podcasts. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Kim's bio will be available soon.

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Vivian Dolina is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California. She works in Dr. Wiseman’s lab investigating how stress-signaling pathways can be therapeutically targeted to ameliorate toxic protein aggregation that is involved in a variety of neurodegenerative diseases.

Vivian is from Brazil and got her Ph.D. degree in Biosystems in 2016. She joined AWIS in November 2019 and is current one of the events committee co-chair at the San Diego chapter. She is very excited about joining AWIS and promoting women in science through different activities.

Besides her work in the lab, Vivian enjoys going to the gym, hiking and spending her time at the beach. She also loves travelling and baking.

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Jean Spence earned a Ph.D. from the University of Utah in microbial genetics. Subsequently, she did several (too many) postdoctoral fellowships at M.I.T., Harvard Medical School, UCSD and the University of Rochester. She pursued her interest in systems biology by developing a novel platform and publishing 3 manuscripts and a book chapter as communicating author. She has been a reviewer for the AWIS newsletter since 2014 and became a co-chair this year. She was also a co-chair of the former Back to Work group in AWIS.

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Bridget Kohlnhofer, Ph.D. is a Neuroscience Postdoctoral Fellow at Janssen, a Pharmaceutical Company of Johnson & Johnson. Bridget utilizes human genetics and induced pluripotent stem cells to uncover new biology related to neuropsychiatric disorders. Bridget holds a BS in Cell and Molecular Biology from the University of Wisconsin- La Crosse, a PhD in Cell Biology from the Medical College of Wisconsin, and was a postdoc at UCSD in the department of Cell and Molecular Medicine.

Since joining AWIS in 2016, Bridget has been on the Outreach Committee. In her free time, she enjoys yoga, gardening, cooking, and going to Del Mar Dog Beach with her pup Eddie! Click This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to email her.

Michelle Muldong is a Research Associate at the University of California San Diego’s Moores Cancer Center. She works in Dr. Christina Jamieson’s lab studying bone-metastatic prostate cancer performing in vivo and in vitro experiments utilizing patient derived samples.

Michelle obtained her B.S. from the University of California San Diego with a degree in General Biology. She has been involved in AWIS since September 2019 and is passionate about teaching the next generation about STEM.

Outside of lab Michelle enjoys hot yoga, hiking, snowboarding, iced coffee & hanging out with her French bulldog/Boston Terrier mix pup- Stitch! Click This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to email her.

Robyn Wygal, joined AWIS San Diego in 2011. She is the current Public Relations Chair and Outreach Community Engagement Chair and works to highlight and expand our AWIS San Diego network. She has also held positions such as the AWIS SD Outreach Co-Chair and STEM Career Conference Co-Director. In her professional career Robyn is a research data analyst with a BS in biology and a minor degree in business and 10 + years of experience managing projects and data communication with multi-level & multi-departmental interfaces and collaborations. She brings both a scientific & business mindset to the discovery and communication of data insight in attaining strategic outcomes. Her passions include the intersection of data science, research, genomics, and healthcare, and she enjoys the challenge of communicating insight through the lens of human perception, behavior, and connection. Fundamentally, she is a biologist, captivated by discovery and novel data play. Her scientific research interests (and challenges) include understanding and interpreting the diverse layers of genetic and epigenetic influence on regulatory networks in the context of immunity, chronic disease, and cancer progression through bioinformatics and data visualization. When not exploring the latest data tools and techniques, or reading publications by amazing STEM innovators, she can be found running, hiking, or biking all over San Diego.

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"Surl-Hee (Shirley) Ahn is a postdoctoral scholar advised under Prof. J. Andrew McCammon and Prof. Rommie Amaro in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at UCSD. She is a computational/theoretical chemist and focuses on developing methods for computer simulations and using them to study proteins and biomolecules. Prior to moving to UCSD, she was at Stanford working on her Ph.D. in Chemistry (Chemical Physics). In addition to research, she was a teaching assistant for eleven different classes at Stanford, ranging from undergraduate/graduate-level chemistry to parallel computing. She loves chemistry that enables her to study matter at the atomic level and math that enables her to know the language that describes phenomena. Outside of work, she enjoys training for marathons, visiting national parks, drawing, and trying out new restaurants in San Diego.”

Alex is a postdoc at UCSD in the Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine studying host-viral interactions during Zika Virus and Human Cytomegalovirus infections.

Alex obtained a B.S. in Biology from Purdue University and a Ph.D. from the UCSD Biology Department studying the interplay between Cytomegalovirus and the host cell cycle. Outside of the lab, Alex enjoys photography, running, and all things sci-fi.

Alex became a member of AWIS in 2014 and has been a co-chair since 2015 and also served on the WIST 2015 Committee. Click here to contact via This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.