current research
phd candidate
graduate student researcher
National Science Foundation graduate research fellow
previous research experience
graduate student researcher
(2018 – Present)
Savage lab, Department of Molecular & Cell Biology, UC Berkeley
principal investigator: Dr David Savage
- developing new or modified CRISPR-Cas proteins using directed evolution approaches
- improving delivery of CRISPR gene editors into plant tissue
comprehensive deletion landscape of CRISPR-Cas9 identifies minimal RNA-guided DNA-binding modules
graduate student researcher
(2017 – 2018)
Corn lab, Innovative Genomics Institute and Department of Molecular & Cell Biology, UC Berkeley
principal investigator: Dr Jacob Corn (currently at ETH zürich)
- investigating the pathways and molecular mechanisms of DNA repair
- developing engineered, cell-type specific CRISPR gene-editing reagents for in vivo delivery
rotation student
(2016 – 2017)
Department of Molecular & Cell Biology, UC Berkeley
- David Drubin lab – in vitro reconstitution of endocytic machinery using purified components.
- Dan Fletcher lab – characterization of de novo protein size-markers for protein-protein interactions at cell junctions.
- Susan Marqusee lab – investigating RNAse H folding dynamics using mass spectrometry and circular dichroism.
post-baccalaureate research fellow
(2014 – 2016)
National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland
principal investigator: Dr Thomas B Friedman
- studied the genetic causes for human deafness .
- purified and characterized myosin 15 proteins, mutations of which cause hearing loss.
- performed physical, kinetic, and functional studies of myosin 15.
the ATPase mechanism of myosin 15, the molecular motor mutated in DFNB3 human deafness
structural basis for tunable control of actin dynamics by myosin-15 in mechanosensory stereocilia
undergraduate researcher
(2012 – 2014)
Bell lab, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Southern Mississippi
principal investigator: Dr Anthony J Bell Jr
- investigated methods of modifying DNA junctions to improve nuclease and thermal stability.
- designed and characterized hybrid DNA and synthetic nucleic acid junctions as a substrate against HMG proteins.
supporting data for the characterization of PNA–DNA four-way junctions
Arik Shams 