Caroline Mrejen, PhD
Imaging Specialist and Core Manager
Trained as a biologist, Caroline earned her Ph.D. in France, studying the metabolic regulation of gene expression before joining UCSF as a postdoctoral fellow in the Diabetes Center during which she became an early adopter of DNA microarray technology. She went on to co-build and lead a cDNA microarray core facility at UCSF, supporting research across campuses, while continuing her own investigations into beta cell differentiation. After a period as a metabolism scientist at Entelos, a predictive bio-simulation company, she came back to Academia and joined the Gladstone Institute for Cardiovascular Disease as a Senior Research Associate, where she studied lipid droplet biology. It was during her time at Gladstone that she developed a strong interest and expertise in light and electron microscopy.
Over the following decade, Caroline held specialist roles with Technical Instruments, Olympus, and Akoya Biosciences, working closely with the Bay Area scientific community on microscopy and spatial biology applications. In 2022, she returned to UCSF as an imaging specialist, managing the Advanced Light Microscopy Core Facility (Innovation Core) of the Weill Institute for Neurosciences, where she has been supporting UCSF researchers in leaning about and applying cutting-edge light microscopy technologies to advance their biomedical research.
Alyssa Bonillas
Imaging Specialist
Before becoming an imaging specialist at the Advanced Light Microscopy Core, Alyssa worked at the CA National Primate Research Center at UC Davis, where her primary focus was investigating SARS-CoV-2 neuroinvasion and subsequent neuroimmune response in rhesus macaque models of COVID-19. She was also involved in the development of Alzheimer’s disease and HIV-associated neurocognitive disorder monkey models. She briefly explored a career in data science/analytics but ultimately decided that professional fulfillment was more important than financial gain, so back to the lab she went. Alyssa has extensive experience in histological processing and confocal imaging of mammalian brain tissues and enjoys supporting UCSF researchers with their imaging projects while broadening her skills in imaging modalities and image analysis.