Hi, everyone! My name is Dean, and I am a Bioengineering PhD student here at UCSD. In spring 2024, I completed my B.S. in Engineering Physics at Belmont University in Nashville, TN, where my passion for research was ignited in the lab of Dr. Becky Adams, studying interactions between nuclear membrane proteins. During my undergraduate, I also had the opportunity to participate in the Physics Research Opportunity REU in my hometown at Boston University, where I worked with Dr. Shyam Erramilli’s ultrafast imaging group.
Here, in the Obara lab, I am able to drive discovery in this bridge between cell biology and innovative imaging technology. Specifically, my research focuses on two topics: (1) the dynamic organization of peroxisome biogenesis, and (2) the differential landscapes of endoplasmic reticulum-mitochondria contact sites. I am also grateful to be a part of the Interfaces Program here at UCSD, supported by the NIBIB training grant in Multi-Scale Analysis of Biological Structures and Function.
If I am not in the lab, you can most likely find me playing volleyball, listening to music, beating my friends in board games, or frolicking at the beach – often, some combination of the four.
