Payton Zarceno, BS

Associate Research Specialist

I am excited to be joining the Tsai Lab as an Associate Research Specialist. I was raised in the San Gabriel Valley and received my B.S. in Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology from the University of California, Los Angeles. At UCLA I worked in the Lowry Lab to investigate the pathology of intellectual disabilities, focusing on neuronal senescence. My most recent project looked specifically at characterizing molecular stress phenotypes including DNA damage and PARP1 activity in Arboleda-Tham, Bohring-Opitz, and Down syndrome. Over the course of my undergraduate studies I also worked in the lab of Dr. Valerie Arboleda, looking at applications of clinical sequencing to identify novel pathogens.

Research interests: I'm broadly interested in uncovering molecular mechanisms behind drivers of disease, especially in the context of molecular signaling and gene activation. More recently I've become interested in immune responses to cancer and how it plays a role in developing the tumor microenvironment. I'm also interested in how we can apply NGS to find therapeutic targets in cancer biology! 

Favorite food: Probably Chile Pasado or a good California burrito.

Beverage of choice and protocol for preparation: Iced latte sweetened with honey; two shots of any light or dark roast espresso bean brewed over one tsp of honey and poured over whole milk. 

Favorite lab technique: Comet Assay!

Hobbies: Knitting, SoulCycle-ing, any type of group workout class, and documentary watching.