Meet Our Team

Jiyo S. Athertya, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow
Jiyo is a Postdoctoral Research Scientist specializing in quantitative MRI physics and computational imaging pipelines. Her research focuses on the optimization and clinical translation of advanced quantitative MRI methods, with core expertise in ultrashort echo time techniques, multi-parametric relaxation mapping, and accelerated acquisition and reconstruction strategies.

Allison Bang
Undergraduate Researcher
Allison is an undergraduate bioengineering student at UCSD. She is interested in the intersection of technology, medicine, and women’s health.

Summer Joyce Batasin
Graduate Student Researcher
Summer is a Bioengineering graduate student at UCSD. Her research focuses on improving ovarian cancer detection and screening using advanced MRI techniques and quantitative imaging methods.

Yesenia Covarrubias
Senior Clinical Coordinator
Yesenia is an experienced Clinical Research Analyst who supports clinical research operations, participant coordination, and regulatory and study administration. Her work focuses on helping advance innovative imaging research while ensuring studies are conducted efficiently, safely, and in accordance with regulatory requirements.

Gavin Hamilton, PhD
Physicist
Gavin is a Scottish Physicist who joined UCSD in May 2006. He has working in MRI for over 25 years with his main area of research being in magnetic resonance spectroscopy.

Stephan Jordan
Research Coordinator
Stephan is a researcher and certified MRI operator for the Women’s Imaging Lab, the Center for Translational Imaging (CTI), and the Center for Functional MRI (CFMRI), with nearly 20 years of experience in advanced imaging. He oversees MRI safety protocols and provides technical training to researchers to ensure safe and effective use of imaging technology.

Stephane Loubrie, PhD
Postdoc
Stephane is a French postdoctoral researcher in UC San Diego’s Women’s Imaging Lab specializing in quantitative MRI, diffusion-weighted imaging, and AI-based methods for breast cancer detection. His work focuses on developing high-resolution, non-contrast imaging techniques to improve lesion detection and clinical decision-making.

Lorena Pineda
Clinical Research Coordinator
Lorena is a Clinical Research Coordinator at UC San Diego with a BS in Biology from UC Riverside. Her experience spans gastroenterology, endocrinology, and radiology studies.

Ana Rodriguez-Soto, PhD
MR Scientist
Ana is a bioengineer with an image-processing and MRI physics background. She is currently a project scientist interested in improving women’s healthcare. Her work focuses on the development of women-specific cancers screening methods and risk models to predict pregnancy outcomes in patients with congenital heart disease.

Alexandra Schlein
Lab Manager
Alex joined the Women’s Imaging Lab in 2018, partnering with Rebecca to help shape the research group from the ground up. Over the years, she has played an integral role in building the lab into what it is today. Alex now serves as the WIL Manager, continuing to champion the lab’s growth and drive its research forward.

Cassandra Stoffer
Graduate Student Researcher
Cassie is a recent graduate of the Bioengineering master’s program at UCSD. Her research focuses on applying artificial intelligence to medical imaging, where she is developing machine learning methods to generate interpretable cervical cancer probability maps.

Samantha Tsang
Research Coordinator
Samantha assists with patient screening and enrollment for clinical studies, along with various administrative tasks. She also performs clinical research and data analysis.

Hon J. Yu, PhD,
Physicist
Hon is a Project Scientist with 20+ years of experience in medical imaging research, specializing in quantitative MRI techniques, including DCE-MRI and diffusion-weighted imaging. He earned his PhD in Physics from UC Irvine in 2003 and is a member of ISMRM and Sigma Pi Sigma.
Research Collaborators

Maryana Alperin, MD

Pratibha S. Binder, MD

Fanny Chapelin, PhD

Christine Chung, MD

Anders Dale, PhD

Ahmed El Kaffas, PhD

Ramez N. Eskander, MD

Oluwole Fadare, MD

Soudabeh Fazeli, MD

Moti Freiman, PhD

Tyler Hillman, MD PhD

Ahman Khuran, MD

David Klein, MD

Asona Lui, MD,PhD

Jyoti S. Mayadev, MD

Michael McHale, MD

Daniell Nassar, DO MPH

Haydee Ojeda-Fournier, MD

Dominique Rash, MD

Cheryl Saenz, MD

Cynthia Santillan, MD

Adam Searlman, MD

Tyler Seibert, MD PhD

Dwayne Stupack, PhD

Shira Varon, MD

Christopher R. Weil, MD

Jingjing Zou, PhD
Lab Alumni
Undergraduate Students
- Lauren Fang (2019-2022)
- Michelle Tong (2019-2022)
- Bushra Rajput (2019-2020)
- Tara Maronesy (2020-2021)
- Thien Truong (2022-2023)
- Bethany Yuan (2022-2024)
- Jayden Sawhney (2024-2025)
Graduate Students
- Omkar Bhope (2023-2024)
Medical Students
- Boya Abudu (2015-2016)
- Nicholas Kroesing-Albino (2016-2017)
- Claire Meriwether (2017-2020)
- Andrew Park (2017-2019)
- Helen Park (2018-2020)
- Nawal Siddiqui (2018-2022)
- Grace Sora Ahn (2019-2020)
- Natalie Bialostosky (2019-2020)
- Maren Andreassen (2019-present)
- Katherine Price (2019-2020)
- Star K Huynh (2020-2022)
- Nichole Gamboa (2023-2024)
- Nicole Howard (2023-2024)
- Cora Chun (2025-present)
- Benjamin Lacombe (2025-2026)
- Jacqueline Loh (2025-present)
Postdoctoral Fellows
- Elin Lundstrom (2022-2025)
- Ana Rodriguez-Soto (2017-2021)
Residents
- Amy Maduram (2017– 2020)
- Ghiam Yamin (2017-2019)
- Alexandra Besser (2018 – 2021)
- Ashley Mendez (2020-2023)
- Claire Meriwether (2020-2022)
- Aida Haddad (2023-2024)
- Kassandra Tulenko (2025-present)
Lab Contact Details
We’re here to answer your questions and listen to your suggestions.
Altman Clinical and Translational Research Institute
9452 Medical Ctr Dr
La Jolla, CA 92037

