Welcome to my landing page and thank you for visiting!

I am an experienced structural and cell biologist with over a decade of expertise in electron microscopy, particularly in the realm of cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM). My passion lies in solving complex biological problems through the application of state-of-the-art high-resolution cryo-EM techniques. With extensive hands-on experience spanning cryo-EM, cryo-electron tomography (cryo-ET), and microcrystal electron diffraction (microED), I am an expert in all facets of the process, from sample preparation to data processing.

I completed my PhD (2013-2016) at the University of Bordeaux under the guidance of Emmanuelle Bayer and Lysiane Brocard, where I explored the ultrastructure of nanopores known as plasmodesmata, which facilitate intercellular communication in plants.

Building upon this foundation, my postdoctoral research (2018-2022) at the California Institute of Technology under the mentorship of Grant Jensen and Elliot Meyerowitz, focused on pioneering methods for vitrifying plant tissues and bacteria, enabling high-resolution cryo-electron tomography (cryo-ET) studies. Throughout these endeavors, I honed my expertise in cryo-correlated light electron microscopy (cryo-CLEM), focused ion beam milling (FIB milling), cryo-sectioning, and cryo-ET methodologies.

Building on this strong cryo-EM foundation and curious to branch out in a pioneering cryo-EM technic called microcrystal electron diffraction (microED), I became cryo-EM facility manager in the Gonen Lab at UCLA. My projects involved the structural study of membrane proteins, GPCRs and Tetraspanins and methods development, mainly fluorescent targeted FIB milling and high-throughput data acquisition and processing, by leveraging machine learning and microscope APIs.

I currently manage the cryo-EM facility at Exelixis, an oncology pharma company heavily leveraging Structure Based Drug Discovery. We have an in-house cryo-EM state-of-the-art facility and my daily occupations include sample preparation, data acquisition, processing and interfacing with other groups in the company to interpret the structures and steer strategic drug discovery decisions.

Aside from work, I am an avid rock climber who enjoys the bounties of California wilderness (Sierras, Joshua Tree and Idyllwild). I also enjoy everything that comes with climbing such as camping, car camping, hiking, running. Unfortunately after a consequent back injury, the climbing is temporarily to a stop and I currently am getting into swimming and open-water swimming, trying to keep it outside for the vitamin D!