Miriam Lepiz

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Miriam Lepiz is a rising senior at UC Irvine conducting research in the Rodriguez Verdugo lab in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. Her project is focused on increasing the realism and diversity of a three-strain synthetic microbial community representative of the Loma Ridge site in Irvine Ca. As a UCLA Amgen scholar, Miriam is conducting research in Dr. Hong Zhou’s lab in the Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics and the Electron Imaging Center for Nanomachines. The Zhou lab focuses on 3D structural studies of biological complexes using Cryo-EM and Cryo-ET. For the summer, she has focused on constructing an atomic model of the Mammalian Reovirus (MRV) using a cryo-em map. MRV is a segmented dsRNA virus with two capsid layers, belonging to the Reovirdae family. It is known to be a gastrointestinal virus capable of infecting all mammals but has low pathogenicity towards humans. This virus is studied due to its oncolytic function and to be used as a model for more pathogenic viruses that belong to the Reovirdae family. An atomic model of MRV will provide a high enough resolution to study the interactions within the intermediate particles of the virus during viral replication and assembly. Miriam would like to thank Dr. Hong Zhou and Dr. Xiaoyu Liu for their incredible mentorship and extensive support. She would also like to thank the Amgen Foundation for providing her with the opportunity to grow as a researcher.

Miriam Lepiz is a rising senior at UC Irvine conducting research in the Rodriguez Verdugo lab in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. Her project is focused on increasing the realism and diversity of a three-strain synthetic microbial community representative of the Loma Ridge site in Irvine Ca.

As a UCLA Amgen scholar, Miriam is conducting research in Dr. Hong Zhou’s lab in the Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics and the Electron Imaging Center for Nanomachines. The Zhou lab focuses on 3D structural studies of biological complexes using Cryo-EM and Cryo-ET.

For the summer, she has focused on constructing an atomic model of the Mammalian Reovirus (MRV) using a cryo-em map. MRV is a segmented dsRNA virus with two capsid layers, belonging to the Reovirdae family. It is known to be a gastrointestinal virus capable of infecting all mammals but has low pathogenicity towards humans. This virus is studied due to its oncolytic function and to be used as a model for more pathogenic viruses that belong to the Reovirdae family. An atomic model of MRV will provide a high enough resolution to study the interactions within the intermediate particles of the virus during viral replication and assembly.

Miriam would like to thank Dr. Hong Zhou and Dr. Xiaoyu Liu for their incredible mentorship and extensive support. She would also like to thank the Amgen Foundation for providing her with the opportunity to grow as a researcher.