Photo by James Vaughen

John Vaughen
Principal Investigator

​John obtained a bachelor’s degree in Biology from the University of Chicago, was a MEXT research scholar at Kyoto University, completed his Ph.D. in Developmental Biology with Tom Clandinin at Stanford, and is now a Sandler Faculty Fellow at UCSF. He unexpectedly fell in love with brain lipids and is studying how specific fats influence brain cell function across neurons and glia.  
 
John is an avid cyclist, atrocious pianist, and pastry fanatic fueled by exogenous insulin. Leaving lab is hard for this degenerate labrat, but you might find him visiting friends in Kyoto or family in Illinois. 

Adriana Bibo
Junior Specialist

Adriana is a PROPEL scholar at UCSF. She found her passion for Drosophila research at the University of Utah and hopes to work with flies forever. Outside of lab, Adriana enjoys testing the limits of her balance through longboarding and roller skating. ​

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Arianna Doss
Administrative Officer

I graduated from San Francisco State University with a B.S. in Public Health. I joined the Villeda Lab in 2023 as a Faculty Assistant for the UCSF Bakar Aging Research Institute (BARI). Outside of the lab I enjoy cooking, reading and finding new ways to stay active.

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Drosophila Melanogaster
Principle Researcher Organism

​Flies are fast and powerful. Their conserved genes, lipids, and cell type functions, combined with rapid genetic access, gives this tiny arthropod an oversized impact on biology. 
 
Outside of lab, D. melanogaster is very happy to escape lobotomization and peacefully consume fermenting fruits

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You?

Anyone interested in research is encouraged to Contact us! We are actively looking for rotation students!!

John cares deeply about teaching and has mentored three graduate students, one high school student, two community college students, two post-bacs, and two Amgen scholars.

If you have any questions about working with John, contact:
Emma Theisen, PhD student ([email protected])
Ryan Lee, high school student ([email protected])
Tasha Nguyen, community college student ([email protected])
Andrew Berger, computer technician ([email protected])
Arnaldo Carriera-Rosario, postdoc ([email protected])

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You have the ability to infect others with so much passion, curiosity, and inspiration when you talk science- it’s irresistible. I love it- Ryan Lee

"God your edits are so good. Thank you...Some real god tier edits on Clandinin synaptic sparse coding blurb here”-  Andrew Berger

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"Thank you for always considering my crazy ideas and gently explaining where my reasoning went wrong… I can say (>99% confidence interval) that you will be an amazing PI for all your trainees. Anyone and anywhere would be lucky to have you. All of this is to say, thank you for your kindness, patience, time, energy, and generosity. You’ve shown me what good science looks like, why it’s important, and how to have fun with it”-  Ryan Lee

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