Galia Debelouchina

Assistant Professor

Office: Natural Sciences Bldg 4322
Email:  gdebelouchina-at-ucsd-edu

Postdoctoral scholar, Princeton University, 2012 - 2017
Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry, MIT, 2005 - 2011
B.A. in Chemistry and Mathematics, Colby College, 2005

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Galia completed her Ph.D. at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology under the supervision of Prof. Robert Griffin. There, she worked on the development of sensitivity-enhancement methodologies for solid-state NMR, including dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP). She subsequently used DNP-enhanced solid-state NMR to study the structural basis of amyloid disease. For her postdoctoral training, Galia joined the lab of Prof. Tom Muir at Princeton University where she used NMR spectroscopy, protein semi-synthesis and other biophysical and chemical biology approaches to investigate the role of histone post-translational modifications in the regulation of chromatin structure. In July 2017, Galia joined the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at UCSD as an assistant professor. Outside of lab, Galia loves hiking and recently completed a "52 peaks in 52 weeks" hiking challenge.

Graduate students

Nesreen Elathram

6th year
nelathram-at-ucsd-edu

Nesreen received her B.S. in Chemistry at UNC Charlotte in 2018. She conducted research in nanoscale material science where her undergraduate research project entitled “Earth-Abundant Nano Materials for Future Energy Storage” was completed under the tutelage of Dr. Jordan Poler. Nesreen is currently a Ph.D. student at UCSD’s Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, under the chemical biology track. She is interested in studying the regulation of chromatin compaction by using NMR spectroscopy tools. Outside of lab, she does photography and plays the piano.

Sam Cay

5th year
kcay-at-ucsd-edu

Cayk received their B.S. in Pharmacological Chemistry at UC San Diego where they worked in Jeff Rinehart’s lab studying the tunability of the electronic structures of mesoionic carbon cobalt single-molecule magnets by modulation of halide coordination. They continued in the Rinehart lab to receive their M.S. in Chemistry studying the local electronic structure of metal-doped synthetic melanin nanomaterials characterized by magnetometry. Cayk is currently a Ph.D. student in the Chemistry and Biochemistry department at UCSD in the Debelouchina Lab. They are interested in studying the structural and dynamic properties of chromatin using solid state NMR. Outside of the lab, Cayk enjoys spending time with their partner and cats, building and designing LEGO models, writing music, and chatting over a cup of tea.

Cheenou Her

5th year
cher-at-ucsd-edu

Chee earned his B.S. in Chemistry and M.S. in Chemistry at Fresno State (CSU Fresno). He did both his undergraduate and graduate research on enzyme kinetics and solution-state NMR of peptides under the supervision of Dr. Krish Krishnan. In the Debelouchina lab, he is interested in developing DNP-enhanced NMR methodologies for structural biology in cells. Outside of lab, he enjoys hiking, watching The Office and reading memes.

Lannah Abasi

5th year
labasi-at-ucsd-edu

Lannah received her B.S. in Biochemistry at CSU Northridge in 2019. As an undergraduate, she worked in Dr. Karin Crowhurst's laboratory, where she used NMR to study the activation mechanism of the acid-stress chaperone HdeB. Lannah is currently a Ph.D. student at UCSD's Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, under the Biochemistry and Biophysics track. She is interested in using NMR to better understand intrinsically disordered proteins and protein phase separation. Outside of lab, she enjoys reading and running.

Sam Marchant

3rd year
smarchant-at-ucsd-edu

Sam received his B.A. in Chemistry-Biochemistry and Physics with a minor in Mathematics at Colby College in 2021. As an undergraduate he worked in Dr. Kevin Rice’s lab, studying the chemotherapeutic potential of the experimental anticancer drug laromustine. Sam is currently pursuing his Ph.D in UCSD’s new Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics graduate program. He is interested in understanding how protein structure translates to unique dynamics and properties relevant to the protein’s biological purpose. He is also interested in the way in which such knowledge can be leveraged for societal uses that ameliorate global problems. Outside of lab, he enjoys working in lab, running marathons, and when the weather is cool (a rarity in San Diego), sitting outside sipping coffee with his dog Buddy.

Alex Plonski

2nd year
aplonski-at-ucsd-edu

Alex received his B.S. in Chemistry from CU Denver, where he worked in Dr. Scott Reed’s lab developing computational methods to assess protein structure predictions. Alex joined as a PhD student in Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, where he is interested in using chemical biology tools and NMR spectroscopy to tackle complex biological problems. He is currently working on understanding the ectopic calcification process in age-related macular degeneration. Outside of the lab, he enjoys working out, listening to music, and watching reality TV.

Rushabh Bhakta

2nd year
rubhakta-at-ucsd-edu

Rushabh received his B.S. in Biochemistry/Chemistry from UC San Diego in 2021 and worked on bacterial riboswitches in Dr. Tatiana Mishanina’s lab for a year afterwards. Rushabh is currently a PhD student in UCSD’s Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics program. He is interested in studying the interactions involved in the phase separation of proteins that participate in gene regulation. Outside of lab, he enjoys playing video games and watching movies.

Undergraduate students

Drake Jimenez

Junior

Drake is a junior working towards a B.S. degree in microbiology. He is interested in learning more about heterochromatin, DNP NMR, and inteins. Outside of the lab, Drake likes listening to music and reading.

Former lab members

Raymond Berkeley, Ph.D. - graduate student, 2017 - 2023
Bryce Ackermann, Ph.D. - graduate student, 2017 - 2022
Sirish Narayanan, M.S. - graduate student, 2018 - 2021
Marc Sprague-Piercy, Ph.D. - postdoc, 2021 - 2023
Byung Joon Lim, Ph.D. - postdoc, 2018 - 2020
Maryam Kashefi, Ph.D. - postdoc, 2019 - 2020
Artur Lozovoi, Ph.D. - postdoc, 2018
Carolina G. Bravo, B.S. - UCSD undergraduate, 2017 - 2018
Maryam Yaghmour, B.S. - UCSD undergraduate, summer 2018
Brysa Alvarado, B.S. -  UCSD STARS program, summer 2018
Evan Clark, B.S. - UCSD undergraduate, 2019 - 2022
Elanor Sievers, B.S. - UCSD undergraduate, 2019 - 2022
Manasi Movva, B.S. - UCSD undergraduate, 2021 - 2023
Shelby Dunn '24 - UCSD undergraduate, 2022 - 2023
Raine Zimmerer - UCSD ENLACE program, high school student, summer 2023
Mariana Romo - UCSD ENLACE program, high school student, summer 2023

Galia Debelouchina - University of California, San Diego - Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry - © Debelouchina Lab 2024