Dr. Elijah Spina, Ph.D.

Education

• B.S. Biological Sciences with a minor in Chemistry, SUNY Oneonta, 2009
• Ph.D. Molecular, Cellular, Developmental Biology. UC Santa Barbara, 2018

Bio

I graduated in 2009 from the State University of New York, Oneonta with a B.S. in Biological Sciences and a minor in Chemistry. I earned numerous distinctions including Magna Cum Laude and Honors in Biology. Early in my time at Oneonta, I conducted research in green chemistry and organic synthesis, specifically looking for solvents that enabled difficult chemical reactions to occur under low energy conditions with almost no unwanted byproducts. My interests later shifted toward genetics and biomedical research, so I became involved in another research project where I learned to clone bacterial genes.

After graduation I moved to Manhattan where I volunteered as a lab assistant at Columbia University Medical Center, while also working as a consultant at New Hope Fertility Center. I was soon able to take on a full-time position as a tech in a bone pathology lab at Columbia, which further developed my research skills and solidified my desire to apply for PhD programs. In 2011, I started the MCDB doctoral program here at UCSB and after a year of rotations I ended up in William Smiths laboratory. My research focused on answering the question, why can some animals (e.g. salamanders) regenerate damaged limbs while others (e.g. humans) can’t? To answer this broad question, I compared gene expression in several model organisms using RNA sequencing and bioinformatics.

I dream big while seeking to inspire those around me. After graduating from UCSB, I founded Delta Leaf Labs, which conducts plant genetic testing and research for a wide variety of applications with an emphasis on emerging specialty crop markets.

As you can see, I’ve gone down a long and windy path to land where I am today. If you want some advice choosing whether to pursue a research or medical degree, potential job options after graduation, what it’s like to live on two coasts, or even about a particular lab or research project, feel free to drop me a line and I’ll be glad to give you my perspective on things.