Jeff Perry Lab

Dr. Genevieve Baker is a senior Postdoctoral Fellow in Dr. Perry's lab with expertise in structural biology and fragment-based drug design. She completed her PhD at the University of Bristol, UK, where she became experienced in X-ray crystallography and several complementary biophysical techniques, including SPR and ITC. Her current research centers around the development of therapeutics for cancer and diabetes using small molecule and fragment-based drug discovery approaches. Dr. Baker’s particular interest lies in utilizing X-ray crystallography as a primary fragment screen to identify novel therapeutic sites that offer increased selectivity. Under Dr. Perry’s guidance, she aims to translate promising fragment hits into clinically relevant leads. In addition to her research, she enjoys surfing, CrossFit, and reading.

Wenjie Chen has a B.Sc. in Biomedical Science, and a Ph.D. in Drug Discovery that was completed at University College London, UK. His Ph.D. studies were focused on fragment screening and structure-based drug design by protein X-ray crystallography. He continued with this area research against various drug targets during his previous post-doctoral and Biotech-based research efforts. Wenjie is now embarking on several early-stage drug discovery projects in Dr. Perry’s lab together with collaborators at the City of Hope, which are focused on developing novel cancer chemotherapeutics.

Dr. Jennifer Jossart is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Molecular Diagnostics and Experimental Therapeutics working under the guidance of Dr. Jeff Perry at the City of Hope Medical Center. She earned her Ph.D. in the study of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the University of California, Riverside. Her graduate research was focused on utilizing structural biology techniques, such as X-ray crystallography, in the application of rational-based drug discovery. Her postdoctoral research expands upon these methods to integrate structural based-and fragment-based drug design in the development of novel anti-cancer therapeutics.

Currently, Dr. Perry and Dr. Jossart are collaborating with both the Malkas and Hickey research groups at City of Hope to develop anti-breast cancer therapies under the DOD Breast Caner Research Program (BCRP).

In addition to her research, she enjoys hiking, rock climbing, and creating art in various mediums.

Lucia Laorden is a visiting international Biotechnology undergraduate student from the University Francisco de Vitoria, Madrid, Spain. She is performing research on a novel epigenetic cancer chemotherapeutic target, under the guidance of Dr. Jeff Perry in the Department of Molecular Diagnostics and Experimental Therapeutics. Her goal during these research studies is to gain exposure to early-stage drug discovery techniques, as part of her scientific career advancement. In addition to her research, Lucia likes to play basketball and soccer.

Cristina Villalobos is an international student and is currently studying Biotechnology and Pharmacy at Universidad Francisco de Vitoria, Madrid. She is working with Dr. Perry and Dr. Jossart on a protein crystallography project for the next couple of months, as part of her in her Biotechnology degree. In addition to her research, she loves spending time with her family and friends, cooking and listening to music.

Jenna Xu is a Ph.D. candidate in the Cellular, Molecular and Developmental Biology Department at the University of California, Riverside. She is performing her Ph.D. research at City of Hope, under the guidance of Dr. Perry. Xu graduated from California State University, Los Angeles with a M.S. degree in Biological Science.

Her research interests focus on using early-stage structure-based drug discovery approaches--which includes macromolecular crystallography and biochemistry studies--to target cancer-related proteins.

In addition to her research, Xu likes to cook and bake.