Meet The Technology Sandbox Team

Uri Manor

Director

Assistant Professor and Goeddel Family Technology Sandbox Faculty Director

Sara Werner

Executive Director of Strategic Programs

slwerner@ucsd.edu

Zhouxin Shen

Mass Spectrometry

Project Scientist

Mariusz (Mar) Matyszewski

Cryo-electron Microscopy

Director, Cryo-EM facility

Peng Guo

Advanced Light Microscopy

Director, Nikon Imaging Center

Wendy Groves

Project Management

Strategic Programs Project Manager

Tomoko Velasquez

Program Management

Academic Program Manager

Mark Herzik

Assistant Professor, Chemistry and Biochemistry 

Lisa Jones

Professor, Chemistry and Biochemistry

Uri Manor

Assistant Professor, Cell and Developmental Biology

Brian Cook

Cryo-electron Microscopy (2022- present)

Brian Cook is a postdoctoral scholar working with Professor Mark Herzik. He is a skilled cryo-EM expert with a strong enthusiasm for research, making him an ideal fellow for the Goeddel Family Technology Sandbox. Cook works closely with the cryo-EM facility team where he is further developing expertise in single-particle cryo-EM data collection, troubleshooting issues, developing methods and establishing best protocols for routine operation of the Titan Krios microscope. Cook is pushing the limits of what is achievable in cryo-EM, and is committed to sharing his knowledge with the greater cryo-EM community. His continued engagement in training and support ensures optimal microscope operation and enables users to access this highly specialized technology.

Fulin Jiang

Mass Spectrometry (2023- present)

Fulin Jiang facilitates high-end quantitative mass spectrometry initiatives within the Technology Sandbox and participates in a variety of research projects with his faculty mentor, Professor Eric Bennett. Jiang’s doctoral degree from Sun Yat-sen University in China focused on mass spectrometry and peptide chromatography methods development and application. He has utilized a diversity of mass spectrometry platforms, including the operation and maintenance of current instrumentation, and is involved in ongoing efforts to apply and develop quantitative mass spectrometry approaches to investigate the mechanisms of ubiquitin ligases. As a Technology Sandbox fellow, Jiang assisted with the onboarding and installation of the Thermo Fisher Orbitrap Eclipse Tribrid mass spectrometer in the Technology Sandbox. He oversees methods development, instrument maintenance and optimization, and contributes to the educational goals within the Technology Sandbox through user training and workshop development.

Haoming (Howard) Wang

Light Microscopy (2025- present)

Haoming (Howard) Wang was awarded the Goeddel Family Technology Sandbox Fellowship in October 2025, bringing expertise in utilizing advanced light microscopy in genetically encoded metabolite sensor imaging, organelle trafficking analysis and protein localization via total internal reflection fluorescence (TIRF) microscopy. In addition, Wang’s expertise and interests expand to live cell imaging, data analysis and cross-functional collaboration. Wang received his Ph.D. from UC San Diego in 2023, and continued on as a postdoctoral scholar in the laboratory of Professor Gülçin Pekkurnaz. He looks forward to advancing the mission of the Nikon Imaging Center and the Technology Sandbox through contributions in technical expertise, mentorship and collaboration, and aspires to develop into a future leader in biological imaging technology.