Christian Vaisse, M.D., Ph.D., is an Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine and the Diabetes Center at the University of California San Francisco.
He is a graduate of the University of Paris, France, and completed his training as a post-doctoral fellow at the Rockefeller University in New York. The overall goal of his research is to identify genetic defects implicated in the onset and progression of multi-factorial metabolic diseases such as obesity and diabetes. His research research focuses in particular on the molecular mechanisms implicated in the hypothalamic effects of the adipocyte secreted, weight regulating hormone, leptin.
Hélène Favre, Ph.D- Post-Doc
An essential role for microRNAs in the fate of POMC neurons ?
I’m working on a small class of RNA called MicroRNAs.. I’ve been doing a tissue-specific deletion of Dicer to determine the role of microRNAs in Proopiomelanocortin (Pomc) expressing neurons. I’m also working on two other projects associated with energy homeostasis and obesity. UCSF is a great place for science come join us !! The rest of the time I’m having a lot of fun with my friends doing some outdoor activity like biking, running, hiking, gardening or going to the museum or going to the theater, San Francisco is an amazing city and I’m enjoying the full aspect of it.
Inma Valle, Ph.D- Post Doc
Hi! My full name is Maria Inmaculada Valle Asencio, or Inma for everybody who knows me. I’m from Spain, to be more precise from a little town in the south of Seville. I studied Biology in Seville and then I moved to Madrid to got my PhD in Molecular Biology. At the beginning of this year (2007), new year, new life…, so I moved again, this time to San Francisco and I started my postdoc in this lab. I like running, and Golden Gate Park is a great place to do it, there is always a lot of people jogging, reading, dancing… whatever, especially on Sundays. I also like to listen to music, to draw, although I’m not a good painter, and I really enjoy chatting with friends while having a glass of wine.
Jennifer Wade, Ph.D- Post-Doc
Before I was a scientist, I grew up in Amherst, MA and then got a B.A. in Slavic Languages & Literature from the University of Chicago. After college, I worked in the publishing industry in Boston for two years and started taking undergraduate science classes in the evenings. I then worked as a lab technician for several years during which time my interest in the field of energy balance regulation was piqued. I eventually went to graduate school at UCSF, where I worked in Larry Tecott's lab studying the effects of serotonin on the regulation of glucose homeostasis. I got my Ph.D. earlier this year and decided to stay at UCSF for my postdoc. In my spare time, I enjoy running, cooking, playing music, and trying to keep my plants alive, all of the aforementioned with mixed success.
Ivy Aslan, MD- Pediatric Endocrinology Fellow
Baran Ersoy, Ph.D Candidate- PSPG Graduate Student
After the giant leap from Istanbul, I received my BS degree in genetics with
a hint of chemistry from the University of Kansas. I moved to San Francisco
in 2003 to pursue a PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences. I entertain myself with
three projects in the lab: obesity causing rare human mutations, functional
studies of G protein-coupled receptors, and a transgenic mouse model of
obesity. Outside of the lab, I enjoy having picnics with my wife or small
get-togethers with friends, playing tennis, skiing, reading or watching
fiction. I don’t enjoy chasing golf balls in the ditches, but that doesn’t
seem to discourage me….and…. who builds houses right next to a tee anyway?
Melissa Meucci, Ph.D Candidate- PSPG Graduate Student
I enjoy the smell of autoclaved pipette tips and a freshly poured agarose gel. I dislike contaminated tissue culture flasks, missing lab supplies, and the biohazard trash. I received my undergraduate degree in Biology from Missouri State University. I then worked as a lab technician for three years at Washington University School of Medicine in St.Louis, MO in the field of cancer pharmacogenetics. I came here to UCSF to start my PhD in the fall of 2005 in the graduate program of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Pharmacogenomics and joined the Vaisse Lab in June 2006. I like to knit, crotchet, cook (no I am not a grandma), and read . I also play softball in city leagues and enjoy walks with my dog; his name is Shamus and he is definitely cool.
Jacqueline Siljee- Ph.D Student
I’m Jacqueline, a coffee-addicted grad student from the University of Amsterdam, doing half of my PhD in sunny (?) California.
When not in the lab, I like running, hiking, taking in the sun or the fog, and hanging out with as many friends and alcohol as possible.
My project focuses on the melanocortin 4 receptor, an important player in the field of obesity. As the latter is such a large problem in the U.S., I thought this would be a good market for my licorice dealings. Who said were trying to prevent obesity?
Sumei Zhang- Staff Research Associate II
Before joining the Vaisse lab, I lived in exotic places like China and Japan. I have been in the US for more than eight years now, and love every minute of it. I really enjoy doing cloning, and that’s good because all the students and post-docs keep me really busy! In my spare time I like to play golf, go dancing, and cuddling with my dog, Arby.
Jimmy Chen- Administrative Assitant
Jimmy is the administrative assistant of Vaisse Lab. He mildly enjoys work, and thoroughly enjoys not being at work. He helps Christian Vaisse with his calendar, travels, expenses, grants, and other typical administrative capacities. His role as sommelier for one of many alcohol-themed ‘team-building’ lab events was cut short after he procured ‘Demi-Sec’ Champagne, rather than ‘Brut’—the former being too sweet for Dr. Vaisse’s dry sensibilities. Jimmy, not the most inter-national of men, thought Demi-Sec was a region of France.
ALUMNI
Noelle Huskey- Ph.D Graduate Student, UCSF
Sayali Ranadive, M.D.- Oakland Children’s Hospital
Mehdi Skhiri, M.D.- Oakland Hospital
PEOPLE
Sand Do
