Courtney Rundio, MS
Staff Research Associate/Lab Manager

Courtney completed her Bachelor’s of Science in Biology at Point Loma Nazarene University in 2020, then completed her Master’s of Biomedical Sciences in 2021. Her interest in science and medicine led her to the Alperin lab where she is enjoying learning about pelvic floor disorders, birth injury, and muscle cell physiology. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with friends, reading, and traveling.

Alyssa Kobayashi, BS
Staff Research Associate/Lab Manager

Lindsey Burnett, PhD, MD
Assistant Professor, K12 RSDP Scholar

Lindsey is a Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery Fellow. She completed her PhD in Molecular and Cellular Biology prior to medical school and most recently completed her residency training in Obstetrics and Gynecology at UC San Diego. When she’s not in the lab or the clinic she enjoys spending time with her husband and two daughters.

Emma Zelus

Emma has a B.S. in Bioengineering from UC San Diego. She completed her PhD in the UCSD Bioengineering Department, with her dissertation research focused on the development and application of ECM hydrogels in translational research models of stress incontinence and menopause. She enjoys running, hiking, and going on adventures throughout San Diego. 


Master’s Student

Danna obtained her B.S. in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Virginia. She is currently a Master’s student in the UCSD Bioengineering Department. Her research is focused on using minimally invasive injectable biomaterials as a regenerative therapeutic for stress urinary incontinence. In her free time, she likes to hang out with friends, watch movies, and make/drink boba.

Julie Suyama, PhD, MD
Clinical and Post-Doctoral Fellow

Julie Suyama, MD, PhD is a clinical and post-doctoral fellow in Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery at UCSD/Kaiser San Diego. She is a “West Coast soul” who loves the outdoors and finally made her way to San Diego with her husband, daughter, and Bernadoodle for fellowship after spending her entire early life on the East Coast. Julie attended UNC Chapel Hill for college, where she double majored in Biology and Romance Languages. She then trekked northward, first to Virginia where she attended a combined MD-PhD program at Virginia Commonwealth University and then to Pennsylvania where she completed residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. Julie’s research expertise is in Neuropharmacology, and her doctoral thesis investigated the abuse-related behavioral and neurochemical effects of synthetic psychostimulant drugs. Her current research interests lie in central mechanisms of bladder and pelvic floor dysfunction, particularly as it relates to bladder pain syndrome and overactive bladder. Julie is an eternal optimist and extrovert who loves connecting with other people – colleagues, patients, and researchers alike. She is passionately dedicated to empowering and improving the lives of women, one pelvic floor at a time!

Kelsey Gallo, MD
Resident Physician

Kelsey is a resident in Urology at UC San Diego Health. She completed medical school at Rush Medical College in Chicago, where she is from. She plans to pursue a career in Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery upon graduating residency. Her research interests include the effects of radiation on bladder mechanics and antifibrotic therapy for the bladder.

Trinh Woolridge, BS
Laboratory Assistant

Trinh earned her B.S. in biomedical engineering from Washington University in St. Louis. Her interest in Women’s Health Engineering led her to the Alperin Lab, where she utilizes computational skills to investigate the effects of pregnancy and birth on pelvic floor muscles and expands her knowledge on pelvic floor disorders and reproductive health. In her free time, she enjoys cooking, dancing, playing pickleball, and spending time outdoors!

Saya French
Volunteer Lab Assistant

Saya is an undergraduate student at UCSD, majoring in Human Biology with a minor in Accounting. She is interested in learning about women’s health, specifically pelvic floor disorders following childbirth. In her free time, she loves to spend time with her daughter and teach her about the things her mom learned in lab and in class.

Pamela Duran, PhD

Pamela has a B.S. in Bioengineering from Universidad Autónoma de Baja California, México. She completed her PhD in the UCSD Bioengineering Department, and is interested in developing novel biomaterials for the treatment of pelvic floor disorders. She likes to go to the movies with her family and enjoys doing handcrafts and working out with her friends.

Brittni Baynes, MS

Britta earned her B.S. from UCSD in Physiology and Neuroscience and her M.S. in Biomedical Science from LSU Health Sciences Center. Her research focused on the neuroscience of drug addiction and stress disorders. She is currently interested in investigating the effects of pregnancy on pelvic floor muscles. In her free time, Britta enjoys spending time in the outdoors with her two children. 

Mary Rieger, MD

Mary is a female pelvic medicine and reconstructive surgery fellow at the University of California, San Diego – Kaiser San Diego program. Prior to starting her fellowship, she went to medical school at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston and completed residency training in OB/GYN at Dell Medical School at the University of Texas in Austin. Her research interests include studying the effects of mechanical load of pregnancy on the pelvic floor muscles. In her free time, Mary enjoys spending time at the beach with her husband and her son.

Emmy Do

Emmy began research in the Alperin lab as an undergraduate student at UCSD majoring in Biochemistry and Cell Biology. She recently completed her Masters and is interested in pursuing a career in biological research related to immunochemistry and women’s health issues. When not in lab, she enjoys cooking, being with family, and watching TV shows/movies with her dog.

Varsha Rajesh

Varsha is an undergraduate student at UCSD, majoring in Biochemistry and Cell Biology. She is interested in learning biochemical techniques and how they apply to various fields such as women’s health, forensics and astrobiology. In her free time, she likes doing art and watching movies.

Manali Shah

Manali is an undergraduate student at UCSD majoring in Bioengineering. She is interested in learning about women’s health and how medicine and engineering go hand-in-hand. In her free time she enjoys being outdoors playing frisbee, skiing, going to the beach, and traveling. 

Michelle Wong, BS

Michelle earned her B.S in Biology from California Institute of Technology in 2017. Her research interest lies in the pathophysiology of pelvic floor dysfunction, and she currently studies the impact of age on pelvic floor muscles. She is currently attending medical school where she hopes she can continue addressing clinical problems through basic science research. In her free time, she enjoys basketball, hiking, and cooking.

Tatiana Catanzarite, MD MS

Tatiana completed her undergraduate studies at Stanford University and then medical school at University of California at Davis. She then pursued residency training in OB/GYN at Northwestern University in Chicago, IL, followed by fellowship training in Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery (FPMRS) at the University of California, San Diego – Kaiser San Diego program, after which she joined the FPMRS faculty at UCSD. During fellowship, she was delighted to have the opportunity to work in the Alperin lab studying mechanisms of muscle injury at the time of vaginal birth and hopes that this work will ultimately contribute to deeper understandings of the contribution of muscle injury/recovery in the development of pelvic floor disorders in women.

Amanda Artsen, MD

Amanda completed Ob/Gyn residency at the University of California, San Diego, where she studied the muscle architecture of rhesus macaque pelvic floor muscles and the human external anal sphincter. She is now at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center pursuing her FPMRS fellowship and is studying the immunology of polypropylene mesh complications. She loves long distance running and singing and dancing with her toddler.

Tim Kaddis, BS

Tim is currently a medical student at UCLA School of Medicine, He first got involved with the Alperin lab during his senior year at UC San Diego, and over the next couple of years he had worked on multiple projects designed to further understanding of the composition & physiology of the pelvic floor muscles. Through these projects, he was able to perfect a variety of laboratory techniques, learn a framework for effective research, and ultimately, contribute to the growing body of knowledge in the important field, such as female pelvic medicine.

Neil Aiad, BS

Neil graduated from UCSD with a B.S degree in Bioengineering. While in the Alperin Lab, he studied biomechanics with regards to active force generation in pelvic floor muscles. He enjoys running and listening to music in his free time.

Ashley Kelly

Ashley is a third year Human Biology major at UCSD. She is interested in understanding the mechanisms that lead to pelvic floor disorders. In her free time, she likes to go to the beach and spend time with her family and friends.