Dr. Giusti-Rodriguez earned her BS in Biology at the University of Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras. She completed her PhD in Cell and Developmental Biology at Harvard University, where her doctorate research focused on studying the molecular basis of neurodegeneration. Her postdoctoral research was conducted at UNC Chapel Hill, where she studied antipsychotic side effects through mouse populations.

Dr. Porras obtained her PhD in Genetics at the University of Barcelona-Spain, where she focused on programming and machine learning, developing pathogenic predictors. Her focus has been on experimental laboratory, particularly in molecular and cell biology. One of her contributions in the lab include the standardization of protocols for bioinformatic genetic analysis.

Curtis is from Chattanooga, Tennessee. He was a part of the Post-Baccalaureate Research Education Program at Vanderbilt University working with genetics and most recently finished his second graduate rotation in Dr. Sai Zhang’s lab exploring the intersection between genomics and AI. Curtis currently works as the Giusti-Rodriguez Lab's main research assistant, handling new protocols and facilitating a lot of the hands-on research in the lab. 

Adrian is a third year undergraduate student double majoring in Biology and Sociology on the Pre-Med track. He is the lab's hazardous waste manager and is working on several lab projects, including the COVARIS Pilot, cell culturing and differentiation into neurons, and the RDT project with mice. After graduating, he plans to go to medical school and specialize in cardiothoracic surgery. 

Elizabeth is a 4th-year undergrad at UF majoring in behavioral and cognitive neuroscience with minors in bioinformatics and statistics. Prior to joining the Giusti-Rodriguez Lab in January 2024, she worked with Dr. Padilla-Coreano and Dr. Saxena utilizing machine-learning methods to understand the neural circuits governing social behavior. In the Giusti-Rodriguez lab, Elizabeth develops and implements bioinformatics tools to examine RNA-seq and Hi-C data. She plans to pursue a PhD in neuroscience starting in Fall 2025. 

Christian Williams is a second-year Health Science major on the Pre-Med track. He is currently involved with some of the lab's significant projects, one being single-cell split pool recognition. In addition to being a researcher, he is part of the University of Florida's competitive Speech and Debate team, traveling to places such as Nashville, Tennessee, and Rome, Georgia, to compete in national tournaments. After completing his undergraduate degree, he plans to get admitted into top medical schools through an MD or MD/Ph.D. program, with neurology as a top specialty choice. 

Alicia is a Biology student at the University of Florida in her second year. She is also involved in another research project with Lilian Hendrick currently using metabarcoding to analyze biodiversity in Gainesville's microlepidoptera. She is maintaining some of the social media presence of the lab, as well as helping with general upkeep and wet-lab duties. This semester, she is taking a central role in one of the lab's main projects focusing on intron deletions. 

Laura is a second year undergraduate student studying Biochemistry on the pre-med track. She is working on multiple projects at the lab including the COVARIS pilot, cell culturing, and the RDT project. She plans to become a Gynecologist/Obstetrician.

Catia is a senior biology major minoring in bioinformatics at UF. She is from Hollywood, Florida, and transferred from Broward College. Her role in the lab is to assist with utilizing bioinformatics to process data for the lab. She plans to pursue a career in research, especially in neuroscience and human microbiomes.

Alex is a first year undergraduate student double majoring in Biochemistry and Computer Science. He plans to use computational methods to analyze how structural variants impact the 3D structure of the genome, which can lead to neurological conditions. Ultimately, he hopes to contribute to building a model to predict which structural variants should be prioritized in experimentation. Beyond research, Alex is on the Underwater Hockey Club and the Honors Chords singing ensemble at the University of Florida. 

Vivek is a 2nd- year undergrad at UF majoring in Biology with a Minor in Anthropology. He hails from Georgetown, Guyana and works with two non-profits when he's not working with bioinformatics in the lab. He also works on the lab's social media presence among his other lab duties. He plans to pursue a career in medicine and hopes to specialize in pediatric surgery.