Torsten Wittmann, PhD
Director
Phone: (415) 476-4550
Fax: (415) 502-2932
Email: [email protected]
Torsten received his Ph.D. from the University of Heidelberg, completed a postdoctoral fellowship at The Scripps Research Institute, and joined the faculty of Department of Cell and Tissue Biology in the UCSF School of Dentistry in 2005. Torsten is a member of the Biomedical Sciences, Tetrad, Biophysics and Bioengineering, and Oral and Craniofacial Sciences Graduate Programs and the Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center. His research interests include molecular mechanisms of mitosis, microtubule dynamics, and high precision optical control of protein activities inside cells. He has extensive expertise in designing, building, and operating advanced optical imaging systems.
Austin Edwards
Bioinformatics Programmer
Phone: (415) 476-4550
Fax: (415) 502-2932
Email: [email protected]
Austin received his B.S. in Bioengineering from Rice University in 2011. Following undergrad, Austin researched neural mechanisms of social and vision-related behavior in adult Drosophila Melanogaster using thermogenetic, optogenetic, and computer vision techniques at the HHMI Janelia Research Campus in Ashburn, VA. At UCSF, Austin is currently investigating patterns of spatial organization of immune cells within and proximal to the tumor microenvironment in multiplexed immunofluorensce images. As a core member of the BIDC, Austin trains and assists researchers in confocal and two-photon microscopy and image analysis. Outside of work, Austin enjoys seeing live music and hiking the beautiful trails around the San Francisco Bay Area.
Mohammad Naser, PhD
Microscopy Specialist
Phone: (415) 476-4550
Fax: (415) 502-2932
Email: [email protected]
Mohammad Naser enjoys working at the cross-section of biology, optics, and imageprocessing. He takes a multi-disciplinary approach to provide project-specific imaging workflow. He facilitates multiplexed immunohistochemistry panel development using the Ventana platform. He earned a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering and holds a Bachelor's degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering.
Harrison Wismer
Bioinformatics Programmer
Phone: (415) 476-4550
Fax: (415) 502-2932
Email: [email protected]
Having graduated from UC Santa Cruz in 2022 with a B.S in Bioinformatics, Harrison is interested in all things data. As an undergraduate, Harrison worked to analyze scRNA-Seq data taken from cortical organoids in an effort to elucidate the effects of the gene NOTCH2NL on neurodevelopment. At UCSF, Harrison utilizes his multi-disciplinary background in the fields of statistics, computer science, and biology to develop custom computational-analysis pipelines to uncover meaningful results from a multitude of imaging contexts. Harrison is most excited to work more and more with data from the ever-growing field of spatial transcriptomics; a modality that sits at the absolute intersection of his skills and interests. Outside of work, Harrison enjoys playing guitar, discovering new music, and learning how to speak Italian.