Wilson Liao, MD (Principal Investigator)
Dr. Liao is Professor and Vice Chair of Research in the UCSF Department of Dermatology. Dr. Liao received his undergraduate degree in biochemistry from Harvard College, his medical degree from Harvard Medical School, and completed his dermatology residency at UCSF. He serves as the Director of the UCSF Psoriasis and Skin Treatment Center and Chair of the National Psoriasis Foundation’s Scientific Advisory Committee. The Liao laboratory studies genetics and molecular pathogenesis of inflammatory skin diseases such as psoriasis, atopic dermatitis, and hidradenitis suppurativa. The lab employs bioinformatic and computational approaches to analyze large-scale genetic, epigenetic, transcriptomic, microbiomic, and proteomic datasets. Dr. Liao has contributed to the identification of over thirty novel psoriasis susceptibility genes, including deletion of the late cornified envelope genes LCE3B/C, common variants in UBE2L3 and LILRB2, copy number changes in KIR and NKG2C, and rare variants in IFIH1 and CARD14. The lab has also characterized the skin and gut microbiome in psoriasis and used single-cell RNA-seq to identify novel psoriatic immune cell populations and biomarkers. The Liao lab has published its work in journals such as Nature Genetics, Nature Communications, Science, PLoS Genetics, American Journal of Human Genetics, PNAS, and the Journal of Investigative Dermatology.
Gian Carlo Baldonado, BS
Gian Carlo is an Agent of Change SF BUILD Merck fellow and a master’s student in Data Science and Artificial Intelligence at San Francisco State University. At SF State, he is engaged in projects leveraging machine learning for educational and computational biology research, including drug resistance prediction of E. coli and cultural capital theme identification in student-reflective journals. Previously, Gian earned a B.S. in Computer Science and a Minor in Asian American Studies from SF State. In the Liao lab, Gian focuses on leveraging bioinformatics and machine learning to study psoriasis and atopic dermatitis patients using exposome data. In his free time, Gian is learning French and wants to learn how to play tennis. He enjoys movies, Duolingo, Formula 1, and strolling down Valencia Street in the city.
Audrey Bui, BS
Audrey is a rising 2nd-year medical student at Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine. She received her undergraduate degree at St. Bonaventure University in New York where she received multiple awards for her research with the biochemistry department on alternative splicing and immunology in Arabidopsis thaliana. In the Liao lab, she has focused on investigating genetic drug targets for psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis as well as exploring the genetic risk scores of psoriatic patients. In her free time, she enjoys traveling, baking, and pilates – which is much needed after enjoying the products of her culinary efforts.
Jenny Fang, MD, MS
Jenny is a research specialist who received her MD and MS degrees from Shanghai Medical University, Shanghai. She previously worked on the pathogenesis and therapeutic treatment of pulmonary diseases, mainly focused on pneumonia, acute lung injury and ARDS. In her free time, Jenny enjoys hiking, traveling, and learning folk dance.
Sugandh Kumar, PhD
Sugandh comes from the Institute of Life Sciences (ILS), India where he worked on miRNAs-based biomarker development of Head and Neck Cancer. Currently, he is focusing on the development of skin disease biomarkers based on multi-omics data such as scRNA Seq, CITE Seq, and SNPs using machine learning with deep learning. In his spare time, he likes to explore the city as well as play table tennis and billiards.
Ernesto Llamado, BA, Lab Operations
Ernesto received a communications degree from San Francisco State University. He was formerly in the entertainment business and worked with artists such as N.W.A, Ice Cube, and Seal. Currently, he runs the day-to-day operations for the UCSF Dermatology labs at the Mt. Zion campus. In his spare time, this native San Franciscan likes to climb the hills of SF on his bike and is still trying to learn the fundamentals of golf after 20 years of playing the sport.
Faye Orcales, BS
Faye received her undergraduate degree from San Francisco State University (SFSU) where she majored in Cell and Molecular Biology. At SFSU, she used machine learning to conduct research on the fitness costs of the hepatitis C virus and antibiotic resistance in E. coli. In the Liao lab, she is studying the complex pathogenesis of hidradenitis suppurativa using spatial transcriptomics and proteomics. In her free time, she loves to explore the diverse restaurants San Francisco has to offer. She also enjoys playing tennis and video games.
Bobby Shih, PhD
Bobby is a computational biologist who received his Ph.D from Columbia University where he studied the genetic and molecular basis of T-cell lymphomas, specializing in single-cell data analysis and high-throughput technologies. In the Liao lab, he is applying his experience in systems biology, machine learning, molecular biology and immunology to understand the underlying genetic and molecular factors driving inflammatory skin diseases using cutting edge single-cell and spatial transcriptomic technologies. In his free time, he enjoys rock climbing (both indoors and outdoors), playing tennis, and going on hikes with his dog.
Jonathan Suh
Jonathan is currently an undergraduate from the University of California, Berkeley majoring in Molecular Environmental Biology with an emphasis on Human Health. In the Liao lab, he assists in the purification of DNA samples. In his free time, Jonathan enjoys playing basketball, volleyball, and going surfing.