OUR RESEARCH

Thomas Desautels is a staff scientist in biomedical machine learning within the Computational Engineering Division.

While at LLNL, Thomas has been a core contributor to the LLNL antibody and vaccine antigen design program. As principal investigator, he led software, HPC workflow, simulation and machine learning efforts to build and mature an antibody/antigen design system. Thomas also co-led the operational protein design efforts that created hundreds of candidate prophylactic and therapeutic antibodies against SARS-CoV-2.

Thomas joined LLNL in 2017 after working in industry on electronic health record monitoring and postdoctoral work in neural decoding. He has a Ph.D. and M.S. in mechanical engineering from the California Institute of Technology, where his thesis addressed spinal cord therapy via active learning for control of epidural electrostimulation. He holds a B.S. in biomedical engineering from the University of California, Davis.

Wei He is revolutionizing medical countermeasure development as part of the Generative Unconstrained Intelligent Drug Engineering (GUIDE) project, a multi-institutional effort aimed at developing rapid-response tools against emerging biothreats. On the experimental side of this ambitious project, Wei leads the immunology assay platform development work in LLNL’s Rapid Response Laboratory, where his team tests computationally designed antibodies against existing threats and potential future pathogens, including those that may not yet affect humans or have the potential for weaponization. “Our mission is to deter and mitigate emerging threats,” Wei says, “even if they haven’t happened yet.”

A recognized expert in membrane biochemistry and nanodisc technologies, Wei has particular expertise in nanolipoprotein (NLP) platforms, membrane protein research and novel drug delivery systems. His groundbreaking work on cationic NLPs for in vivo delivery of self-replicating mRNA has opened new pathways for vaccine development.

Wei earned his B.S. in microbiology from Fudan University in China and his Ph.D. in pharmacology and toxicology from the University of California, Davis. He joined LLNL as a postdoctoral fellow in 2015 and transitioned to staff scientist in 2018. Wei remains active in the broader nanodisc research community, and mentors early-career scientists. Outside the Laboratory, Wei is an avid fencer, bringing the same strategic thinking and precision that he applies to his scientific work.

Crystal Jaing is working to predict and detect future pathogen outbreaks using advanced genomic technologies such as the Lawrence Livermore Microbial Detection Array (LLMDA). In fact, Crystal and her team developed the LLMDA technology, which provides the most comprehensive microbial detection for more than 12,000 species of microbes. The LLMDA won a R&D 100 award in 2017 and the Federal Laboratory Consortium Excellence in Technology Transfer award in 2019. Further applications of the LLMDA include drug safety, food safety, biodefense, public health and the analysis of microbes from the International Space Station — a NASA-funded project in which Crystal served as principal investigator to evaluate the potential for pathogenic microbes that could cause health problems for astronauts.   

As a principal investigator for Global Security’s Biological Science and Security Program, Crystal actively manages and leads collaborations with academia, industry and government agencies to develop and apply genomics and pathogen detection technologies to solve problems in biosecurity, agricultural security, biosurveillance and public health.   

Crystal holds a Ph.D. in molecular biology and biochemistry from the Indiana University School of Medicine and a B.S. in chemistry from Nankai University. 

Kristina Rolison is a staff scientist in the Microbial Systems Biology group in LLNL's Biosciences and Biotechnology Division (BBTD), where her research harnesses microorganisms across multiple biotechnology applications. Kristina studies how algal–bacterial interactions can be used to optimize biofuel production as part of the MicroBiospheres scientific focus area, a research program funded by the Department of Energy (DOE). She maintains a living library of 20 to 30 algae species and designs experiments to study how they interact with bacteria and their environment.

Kristina also leads work on a DOE-funded project that transforms waste cement from demolished buildings into valuable materials. She uses diatoms — microscopic single-celled algae — to process ground-up waste cement. The diatoms scavenge nutrients from the cement while producing silica shells that can replace coal fly ash in new cement production, and their biomass can be extracted for biofuel.

Kristina earned her undergraduate degree in biological science from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and her master’s degree in biological oceanography from Florida State University, where her thesis focused on growing microalgae on treated wastewater. She joined LLNL in 2018 after working at a biotech startup.

Kristina is a dedicated mentor who regularly trains LLNL’s summer students and other early-career scientists at the Lab. In addition, she is a member of the organic gardening networking group, where she enjoys cultivating giant pumpkins. She has achieved 50-pound specimens and is aiming to top 100 pounds in a future harvest.

As a young person, Carlos Valdez excelled in art and soccer. But his first love was science. He says, “Science gave me a rational explanation for everything and a solution for every problem.” Today, Carlos is a synthetic chemist at the Laboratory’s Forensic Science Center (FSC).   

Carlos serves on a specialized team to identify unknown chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosive threat substances. Because FSC chemists work with real-world samples from around the globe — often from environments where groups of people may have been exposed to the substance — acting quickly and accurately has a significant impact on human lives. Carlos’s role is to synthesize a sufficient amount of the sample material so his colleagues can use it for analysis and identification tests. In addition, Carlos leads a multidisciplinary team of scientists who discovered the first nerve-agent antidote that can cross the blood-brain barrier. Before joining LLNL, Carlos’ scientific career included experience at Florida International University, the National Cancer Institute, the University of California Berkeley, the Scripps Research Institute and Rigel Pharmaceuticals.    

Carlos holds a Ph.D. in organic chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley, and a B.S. in chemistry from Florida International University.  He has been recognized at the lab with many awards, including the 2022 Global Security Directorate Spot Award, the 2021 Global Security Directorate Silver and Gold Awards, the 2020 Physical and Life Sciences Directorate Award and a 2019 LLNL Mid-Career Research Award.

Nekesa Wanjala is a bio-automation engineer in the Materials Engineering Division. In this role, she works on various capability development projects for high-throughput biological experimentation at LLNL, focusing on biosecurity and therapeutics projects in collaboration with various institutions. Recently, she has been involved with the Generative Unconstrained Intelligent Drug Engineering (GUIDE) program — an interdisciplinary effort to accelerate drug development.

She began her career at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in translational cancer research where she developed organoid models for the study and treatment of prostate cancer. Since then, she has led and contributed to developing high-throughput robotic diagnostic platforms for the early detection, diagnosis and treatment monitoring of cancer and other genetic ailments at Grail, Synthego, CareDx and Invitae.

Nekesa completed her master’s in bioengineering innovation and design at Johns Hopkins University and a B.S. in biomedical engineering at Yale University.