Faculty Member
Professor
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
College of Life Sciences
University of California, Los Angeles
Faculty Member
Assistant Professor
Department of Integrative Biology & Physiology
College of Life Sciences
University of California, Los Angeles
4365A Life Science Building
621 Charles E Young Dr S,
Los Angeles, CA 90095
Research Interests
Dr. Valerie Tornini is a developmental biologist who investigates the cellular and molecular mechanisms of cell specification and specialization in development, particularly of the brain. Her work focuses on understanding the evolving roles of chromatin regulators (including those implicated in autism) and of micropeptides (or sORF-encoded proteins) in vertebrate development. By using zebrafish and other comparative animal models, she is taking candidate and discovery approaches to investigate the gene regulatory networks that establish the cellular diversity of the developing brain. This includes the application of genome engineering, single-cell technologies, behavioral analyses, and pharmacological approaches. Her lab’s current work spans multiple areas, including identifying roles for novel micropeptides in neurodevelopment; chromatin regulators in vertebrate development and behavior; non-neuronal regulation during development and aging; the evolution of vertebrate brain cell states; and bioethics, neuroethics, and genetics.
Faculty Member
Assistant Professor
Department of Medicine
David Geffen School of Medicine
University of California, Los Angeles
Biography
Dr. Videlock grew up in Philadelphia and earned a BS in chemistry from Yale University. She studied medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. Dr. Videlock began her research career in the field of the gut-brain axis during medical school under the mentorship of Dr. Lin Chang in the UCLA G. Oppenheimer Center for Neurobiology of Stress and Resilience.
She then trained in internal medicine at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. Dr. Videlock returned to UCLA for her gastroenterology fellowship as a Specialty Training and Advanced Research (STAR) fellow. Through the STAR program, Dr. Videlock completed a PhD in the laboratory of Charalabos “Harry” Pothoulakis with co-mentorship from Dr. Chang. Her doctoral research used translational and cell culture approaches to study peripheral molecular changes in IBS.
Dr. Videlock joined the UCLA Vatche and Tamar Manoukian Division of Digestive Diseases faculty in 2019. Her laboratory is within the UCLA Center for Inflammatory Bowel Diseases.
