Roksana Shirazi

Roksana started her undergraduate degree at Irvine Valley College and graduated from UCLA with a BS in Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics. During her time at UCLA, Roksana worked in Dr. Sherie L. Morrison’s, Dr. Thomas Graeber’s, and Dr. Kris Reddi's laboratories. After graduation, she worked as a Staff Research Associate II in Dr. Robert L. Modlin laboratory for three years. Now, Roksana is a PhD student in the Morrison lab. She looks forward to facing new challenges to achieve her goal of becoming a PhD scientist. Her work at the Morrison lab focuses on studying the mechanisms leading to macrophage differentiation related to mitochondria, which have the potential to lead to novel therapies for controlling inflammatory diseases. Roksana enjoys playing jigsaw puzzles and hiking in nature. Also, she loves to spend time in her garden: "I get such a thrill out of watching my plants grow, especially when I have planted them as a tiny seed". Roksana speaks Farsi and English.