Meet The Team
Katja Lamia, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Dr. Lamia has a bachelor's degree in Physics from UC Berkeley and a Ph.D. in biophysics from Harvard University. She did postdoctoral research in circadian biology with Dr. Charles Weitz at Harvard Medical School and in regulation of gene expression and metabolic physiology with Dr. Ronald Evans at the Salk Institute. She has been recognized with a Searle Scholars Award from the Kinship Foundation, a Sidney Kimmel Cancer Research Scholars Award, and the Aschoff's Rule award in recognition of outstanding contributions to circadian biology research.
Rebecca Mello
Graduate Student
Rebecca Mello has a bachelor's degree in biology from Arizona State University, where she did research in bacteriology and science education as an NSF-funded LEAP scholar. Rebecca's PhD thesis research addresses the impact of circadian clocks on renal cell carcinoma. Rebecca supplements her research training by working as a teaching assistant in the Scripps graduate course in Molecular Biology in the fall semester.
Sicong (Derek) Wang, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Scholar
Dr. Wang earned bachelor's degrees in biopharmaceuticals from the Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine and in Biomolecular Science (Honours Class I) from Griffith University in Australia. He holds a Ph.D. from the Griffith Institute for Drug Discovery, where he worked with Drs. Kathryn Tonissen and Giovanna di Trapani. Derek is studying mechanisms linking circadian disruption to enhanced lung tumor formation in the Lamia Lab.
Eanuel Irizarry
Graduate Student
(co-mentored with Dr. R. Luke Wiseman)
Mr. Irizarry has bachelor's degrees in biology from Universidad Adventista de las Antillas and in chemisty from the University of Puerto Rico: Mayaguez. Emanuel’s undergraduate research included work on explosives, dental adhesives, and cancer biology and was conducted at the University of Puerto Rico and in several external internships, including a Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship in the Lamia lab. Emanuel’s PhD research at the intersection of circadian disruption and drug dosing time is under the joint supervision of Dr. Lamia and Dr. R. Luke Wiseman.
Judy Valecko
Lab Administrative Coordinator
Judy has over 25 years of experience in administration for scientific and research focused organizations including >15 years at Scripps Research and prior work with UCSD, Qualcomm, Wylie Construction, and Humphrey (a military defense company). Judy’s favorite parts of her work include supporting grant applications, publications, and graduate students’ completion of Ph.D. theses after years of hard work and dedication. She enjoys the opportunity to work with several wonderful Professors and their diverse trainees at Scripps, many of whom have become close friends.