Marlène Ketelaar

While completing my undergraduate degree at UC Berkeley, I worked as an undergraduate research assistant in the Isacoff Lab in the Department of Neuroscience headed by Dr. Ehud Isacoff, which focused on increasing the understanding of vital molecular mechanisms for the functioning of neurons. For my honors thesis, I aimed to validate the expression of PlexinB, a protein that has been associated with presynaptic homeostatic plasticity, at the Drosophila Melanogaster neuromuscular junction and to determine its association with two other proteins associated with this mechanism, Mad and CaMKII. 

I am excited to start working in the Okada lab and contribute to the development and testing of novel CAR-T cell therapies against Glioblastoma Multiforme. 

Outside the lab I enjoy being running, hiking, and cooking.