Lab Members

Jimenez graduated from California State University, Los Angeles (CSULA), with a master’s in biological sciences. During her master’s, Jamie worked on creating an inflammation model using a secondary microglial cell line. Jiminez joined the Martins Lab in 2022 working on the regulation of gene expression that specifies immune cell function.

Brian Larkin graduated from Oberlin College with a bachelor of arts in neuroscience. As an undergraduate, he worked in Gunnar Kwakye’s Lab studying neurotoxicology. He focused on elucidating pathogenic gene x environment interactions between genetic risk factors and Multiple System Atrophy (MSA), with environmental pesticides and metals such as endosulfan and iron. Currently, in the Martins Lab he is managing the mouse colony used for research purposes and assisting in lab maintenance and with a variety of experiments.

Samantha Nadeau graduated from the University of California, San Diego with a bachelor of science in physiology and neuroscience. As an undergraduate, she worked in the Hampton Lab where she studied components of endoplasmic-reticulum (ER)-associated protein degradation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, focusing on substrate-induced ER stress and phenotype suppression analysis. She is currently investigating the mechanisms of Blimp-1 regulation in T cells.

Jessica Santos, PhD, received her doctorate in basic and applied immunology from the University of Sao Paulo in Ribeirao Preto, Sao Paulo, Brazil. Santos’ PhD thesis focused on neuroinflammatory and behavioral changes associated with cancer in experimental mice models, and included a one-year extended rotation in the laboratory of Leah Pyter, MD, (Institute for Behavioral Medicine Research, Departments of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health and Neuroscience, Ohio State University Medical Center). Jessica’s current work in the Martins Lab investigates effector and regulatory pathways regulated by Blimp-1 in intraepithelial lymphocytes.