Group Members

Riley joined the Avalon Lab after earning his B.S. in Chemical Biology from UC Berkeley’s College of Chemistry. As an undergraduate researcher in Professor Jay Keasling’s lab, he worked at the intersection of synthetic biology and metabolic engineering, developing microbial platforms in both bacterial and yeast hosts for the production of complex natural products. His prior research includes microbial pathway engineering to produce steroidal alkaloid precursors toward the biosynthesis of the anticancer natural product cyclopamine, as well as bacterial production of high-energy polycyclopropanated fatty acids for sustainable biofuel applications. In the Avalon Lab, Riley aims to accelerate the discovery of novel marine natural products with promising therapeutic bioactivities through genome-mining approaches.

Jeremiah joins the Avalon Lab after spending five years as a scientist at Neurocrine Biosciences and PassPort Technologies. During his time in industry, he contributed to the development of several early- and late-stage clinical drug candidates targeting CNS and neurological indications and is the co-inventor on two patents. Prior to that, he earned a B.S. in Biology-Chemistry from Point Loma Nazarene University, where he conducted research under the mentorship of Prof. Katherine Maloney. His work focused on the isolation and structure elucidation of natural products from an endophytic fungi. Jeremiah's research interests lie at the intersection of marine natural product isolation/structure elucidation and neurotherapeutic drug discovery. 

Adelynne rotated through the Avalon Lab after finishing her B.S. and B.A. in Chemistry and Psychology at UC Merced. During their undergraduate career, she contributed to multiple fields of study with their most recent being under the mentorship of Dr. Jason Sello. Their work focused on the structural importance and discovery of potential drugs to be used as anesthetics and analgesics. Adelynne’s research interests lie in neurotherapeutic drug discovery and development.