Vasundhra Bahl is a fifth year Ph.D student in the Environmental Toxicology Graduate program at UCR. She completed her B.Sc. Honours degree from Panjab University at Chandigarh, India in 2007. She then pursued M.Sc. Honours at Panjab University with thesis titled "Differentiation of C3H10T1/2 cells into Adipocytes: Identification of Molecular Markers". Her present research deals with the toxicological evaluation of thirdhand cigarette smoke (THS) through the use of in-vitro models representing prenatal and adult stages. The main emphasis is on end points such as cell survival, cell morphology, mitochondrial health and DNA damage using cell based assays like MTT, live cell imaging, fluorescent labeling, biochemical assays, single cell gel electrophoresis and PCR.

This study is one of the pioneers of toxicological screening of THS and will provide valuable insights into how THS could potentially affect cellular physiology. It will serve as a basis upon which experiments with animal models can be later designed to get a comprehensive understanding of THS health effects. Data from this study has the potential to form the foundation for framing policies on indoor smoking, regulating exposure to THS, and establishing criteria for remediation.

Dr. Nikki Weng received her PhD in the Cell, Molecular, and Development Biology from University of California, Riverside. She has a broad background in cell, molecular, and developmental biology, with specific training and expertise in stem cell biology. She has more than ten years of experience on cell culture (NPC, T cells, mouse fibroblasts, human embryonic stem cells, induced pluripotent stem cells, mouse and human/mouse neural stem cells, A549, and human pulmonary fibroblasts). She is also experienced in cellular and molecular biology techniques such as immunochemistry, MTT/Comet assays, PCR, qPCR, Western blotting, flow cytometry and transient transfections. Nikki has more than five years’ experience collecting and analyzing video data. In 2011, she was selected to become a NSF Integrated Graduate Education Research and Training Fellow (IGERT) in Video Bioinformatics in UCR. She has been working with engineers from DR-Vision and graduate students from Electrical and Computer Engineering program on developing programs that can be used for different purposes.

Jackie Whitehead is a second year Ph.D student in the Bioengineering graduate program and was recently awarded a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship. She received her Bachelors of Science degree in Bioengineering with minors in Chemistry and Math from California Lutheran University, where she graduated with university and departmental honors. Since entering UCR she has worked with mouse neural and human embryonic stem cell culture and various image analysis software. Currently she is working on a project studying and quantifying biomarkers of metal exposure in humans who use electronic cigarettes.

Sabrina Lin, Ph.D.

Lauren Antrim 

Antonio Loza

Jessia Miranda Bustamante

Eriel Datuin

Jessica Toledo

Julian Hartzel

Victor Camberos

Lily Cordova

Jennifer Dao