Iliana Battaglia

Iliana received her B.S. in Biology from San Diego State University. During her undergraduate studies, she served as a laboratory assistant in an entomology lab. Iliana received the Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) student grant to support her phylogenetic research, and presented her paper “Exploring New Nuclear Markers for Phylogeographic Study in Beetles” at the Entomological Society of America Annual Meeting.

Previously, Iliana served as a research assistant in the Denchi lab at the Scripps Research Institute in San Diego. There, she worked on projects that involved identifying proteins and their role in telomere end protection by preventing the activation on the DNA damage response pathway and suppression of end-to-end chromosomal fusions. Most of her work involved tissue culture, cloning, and lab management.

While working at the Scripps Research Institute, Iliana published in Nature, titled: “A Two-Step Mechanism for TRF2-Mediated Chromosome-End Protection”. She also published in Cell Reports, titled: “Isolation of Chromatin from Dysfunctional Telomeres Reveals an Important Role for Ring1b in NHEJ-Mediated Chromosome Fusions.”

When not at work, Iliana enjoys spending time with her family, traveling, and hanging out at the beach. She is excited to be working with a company that has a vision to protect the environment by creating sustainable food.