Chris is a Ph.D. candidate in the Molecular and Cell Biology program at UC Berkeley. He received his B.S. in biochemistry from Ohio State University where he worked on DNA mismatch repair. He then completed a M.S. in pharmacology and toxicology from UC Irvine where he studied neural mechanisms of negative affect in chronic pain. Prior to Berkeley, he worked at UCSF investigating inflammatory skin diseases and developing leukemia vaccines. His thesis research in the Bautista lab is focused on understanding the role that sensory neurons play in regulating airway inflammation and immunity during coronavirus infection. Besides research, he enjoys playing piano, poker and backgammon.