VUJKOVIC-CVIJIN LAB
TEAM
IVAN VUJKOVIC-CVIJIN, PH.D.
Assistant Professor
Ivan obtained his Ph.D. from the University of California, San Francisco where he pioneered the study of the gut microbiome in HIV-associated inflammation. He performed a postdoctoral fellowship at the National Institutes of Health, where he advanced IgG-seq and other tools to assess causality in the host-microbiota relationship as it pertains to immune diseases. Ivan has a pretty wild last name so here is a pronunciation guide for the daring:
(Ee-vahn Vooy-ko-veech Tsvee-yeen)
ALICE LO, B.S., M.S.
Research Associate
Alice Lo graduated from the University of California, Irvine with a Master of Science in Pharmacology. Her previous research at UCI in Dr. Olivier Civelli’s lab was focused on elucidating the biological significance of neuropeptides, specifically Melanin Concentrating Hormone (MCH) and its role in maternal instincts and behaviors. Alice’s current work in the Vujkovic-Cvijin lab involves exploring the diverse world of gut microbial communities and their impact on human health.
ELENA IVLEVA, M.D.
Ph.D. Student
Elena received medical degree in biophysics from Pirogov Russian National Research Medical University, Moscow. She gained experience in the immunology field investigating the role of tumor microenvironment in pancreatic cancer progression. Her work with the Vujkovic-Cvijin Lab is devoted to elucidating the role of gut microbiota in normal development and autoimmune diseases.
DAOSHENG WANG, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow
Daosheng completed his undergraduate and graduate training at Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, earning his Ph.D. in 2024 with a background in Medical Laboratory Science. His graduate research focused on the immunoregulatory roles of gut microbiota and their metabolites in acute pancreatitis, inflammatory bowel disease, and C. difficile infection. In the Vujkovic-Cvijin Lab, he studies translocating microbes and host immune responses, with the goal of understanding how gut–liver axis interactions drive disease pathogenesis.
CHRISTINE SHIMAHARA, B.S.
Research Associate
Christine graduated from the University of California, Berkeley in 2024 with a bachelor of science in molecular environmental biology and a concentration in the environment and human health. As a student, she wrote and instructed an undergraduate course on climate science and psychology, focused on emphasizing the importance of science communication. In the Vujkovic-Cvijin Lab, she aims to develop a better understanding of the diet-gut microbiome relationship and its role in human health and inflammatory disease.
JINGWEN LI, B.S.
Visiting Scholar
Jingwen Li is a medical student at Tsinghua University in Beijing. She has clinical research experience in Helicobacter pylori eradication therapy. In the Vujkovic-Cvijin lab, her work focuses on identifying biomarkers relevant to IBD treatment and investigating how gut microbes shape immune responses using mouse models.
