Craig Lab

Our Team

Dr. David Wesley Craig, Ph.D.

Professor and Chair, Department of Integrative Translational Sciences
Deputy Director of Translational Sciences in Beckman Research Institute of City of Hope
Associate Director of Data Science, Comprehensive Cancer Center

Dr. Craig’s work utilizes computational and genomic approaches to study genetic variation and its role in human disease. His research spans rare diseases, neurodegenerative disorders, and cancer, with an emphasis on integrating large-scale data to improve patient care. At City of Hope, he continues to explore how genomics and bioinformatics can drive new discoveries and advance treatment strategies.

John Lee

Ph.D. Student

John is a graduate student who joined the Craig lab in 2023. His work focuses on integration of multi-omic data (bulk exome/RNA, scRNA-seq, spatial transcriptomics) to decode the tumor microenvironment of glioblastoma. In his free time, he picks up heavy objects and puts them back down, plays basketball, and goes surfing.

Nina Song

Ph.D. Student

Nina is a Ph.D. student who joined the Craig lab in 2022. She develops deep learning models that integrate histology and spatial transcriptomics to study tumor heterogeneity in glioblastoma and other aggressive cancers. She holds a Master’s in Biomedical Informatics from USC and a Bachelor’s in Biochemistry from UCLA. Outside the lab, she enjoys powerlifting and freediving, and hopes to bench 100kg one day.

Rayyan Aburajab

Ph.D. Student

Rayyan joined the Craig lab in 2024. She completed her bachelor’s at UC Berkeley before gaining industry experience and later earning her master’s degree at USC. Her research focuses on adapting and integrating spatial transcriptomic technologies for broader applications. Rayyan is a passionate home cook and loves spending time with her husband and cat, Mango (yes, he’s orange).

Bohan Zhang

Ph.D. Student

Bohan joined the Craig Lab in 2022 as a graduate student at USC. Before joining City of Hope as a Ph.D student, he worked as the bioinformatician at the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center Molecular Genomics Core. His research focuses on developing algorithms to analyze spatial transcriptomics data. Outside the lab, he enjoys gaming and magical realism novels.

Dr. Yonatan Amzaleg, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Fellow

Yonatan joined the Craig Lab as a Post Doctoral fellow in 2023. He received his PhD in Craniofacial Molecular Biology from USC in 2022 with Dr. Min Yu as his advisor. His research focuses on how integrating somatic data modalities can help interpret germline variants of uncertain significance. During his spare time he enjoys playing ball and hanging out with his family.

Kayla Xu

Associate Bioinformatics Specialist

Kayla is a staff bioinformatician, and joined the Craig Lab in 2021 as an undergraduate student at USC. Her research work focuses on computational transcriptomic analysis of Parkinson’s Disease using both short and long-read sequencing data. Outside of the lab, she’s an avid knitter and writer.

Past Members

Graduate Students

Sophia Manjarrez (2024-2025)

  • Rotating Ph.D. Student
  • Currently: Ph.D. Student in the Enrique Velazquez Villarreal Lab

Michelle Webb, M.S., Ph.D. (2018-2023)

  • Ph.D. Student
  • Thesis: Identification of sub-clonal heterogeneity in gliomas through loss of heterozygosity analysis of spatial transcriptomics
  • Currently: Post-doctoral fellow at Genetech

Mackenzie Postel, Ph.D. (2019 – 2023)

  • Ph.D. Student
  • Thesis: Molecular and clinical correlates of genetic ancestry in a diverse, admixed cancer dataset.
  • Currently: M.D./Ph.D. Candidate at USC Keck School of Medicine

Szabolcs Szelinger, Ph.D. (2010-2015)

  • Ph.D. Student
  • Thesis: Methods in the Assessment of Genotype-Phenotype Correlations in Rare Childhood Disease Through Orthogonal Multiomics, High-throughput Sequencing Approaches
  • Currently: Associate Laboratory Director at Exact Sciences

Alexis Christoforides, M.S. (2012-2014)

  • M.S. Student
  • Thesis: Identification of somatic mutations in cancer through Bayesian-based analysis of sequenced genome pairs
  • Currently: Software Engineer at Microsoft

Brooke Hjelm, Ph.D. (2009-2014)

  • Ph.D. Student
  • Thesis: In vitro-differentiated neural cell cultures progress towards donor-identical brain tissue
  • Currently: Assistant Professor at USC Keck School of Medicine

Nils Homer, Ph.D. (2006-2010)

  • Ph.D. Student
  • Thesis: Computational Challenges in Genomic Analysis for the Discovery of the Genetic Basis of Human Disease
  • Currently: CEO of Fulcrum Genetics

Post-Doctoral Fellows

Rebecca Halperin, Ph.D. (2014-2015)

  • Currently: Bioinformatic Scientist at Solvuu

Sara Nasser (2008-2011)

  • Currently: Computational Biologist at Resolution Bioscience

Michael Kruer, M.D. (2007-2008)

  • Currently: Neurogeneticist at Phoenix Children’s Hospital

Staff

Ivo Violich (2016-2023)

  • Bioinformatician

Ramiyapriya Sivakumar (2020-2023)

  • Data Scientist

Jessica Aldrich (2010-2016)

  • Bioinformatician

Tyler Izatt (2008-2016)

  • Bioinformatician

Ahmet Kurdoglu (2008-2015)

  • Bioinformatician

Waibhav Tembe, Ph.D. (2012-2014)

  • Bioinformatician

Shripath Sinari (2010-2012)

  • Bioinformatician

Hollie Benson (2007-2009)

  • Research Associate

Jill Gerber (2008-2009)

  • Research Associate

Elizabeth Salomon (2007-2008)

  • Research Associate

Sotirus Mitropanopoulos (2006-2008)

  • Bioinformatician

Undergraduate Students

High School Students

Corrie Panginiban (2003-2007)

Aswin Sekar (2006-2009)

Abe Itty (2005-2007)

David Hilgers (2010)

James Long (2007-2008)

Iviana Malencia (2006-2007)

Shobana Seker (2008-2009)

Daniel Enriquez (2014-2016)

Merideth Sanchez (2007-2008)

Gregory Frantzen (2014-2015)

Carmel McCullough (2017-2019)

Albert Shieh (2004-2005)

Anne Lee (2004-2006)