About Us

Emily Manoogian, Ph.D.  is a Senior Staff Scientist at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, studying the intricate interaction between our body’s biological rhythms and the timing of our daily habits, including when and how much we sleep, eat, and exercise. She also manages the development, deployment, and use of novel mHealth tools and wearable devices to monitor and intervene in lifestyle both on a large scale open to the public and in focused clinical trials. Emily’s research focuses on how lifestyle interventions (independently or in combination with drug therapy) can improve a variety of age-related diseases, including pre-diabetes, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer, mental health, and cognitive decline.

Kyla Laing, B.S.,  is a Clinical Research Coordinator in Dr. Panda’s lab. Initially joining as an undergraduate student in 2020, Kyla has been instrumental in maintaining and improving the myCircadianClock app, alongside engaging with participants of the open research study utilizing the app. In her current role, she helps to facilitate the lab’s ongoing clinical trials and contributes significantly to data analysis efforts.

Shweta Varshney, M. Pharm serves as a Research Assistant in Dr. Panda’s lab. In her current role, she diligently oversees the enhancement and routine maintenance of the app and website for the myCircadianClock (mCC) platform. Furthermore, she supports the team by gathering, organizing, and analyzing data for on-site clinical research projects.

Jason G. Fleischer, Ph.D. is an Assistant Teaching Professor in the Department of Cognitive Science at the University of California San Diego. He uses machine learning and statistical modeling to analyze relationships between human health, behavior, aging, and various biomarkers. He is also interested in computational models that investigate the neural processes underlying episodic memory, working memory, and consciousness.

Tyler Tran is a Data Analyst currently working in Dr. Panda’s lab. As a graduate of the Halıcıoğlu Data Science Institute at UC San Diego he specializes in data science and analytics, working carefully to translate data into actionable insights through statistics and visualizations. Tyler first joined Dr. Panda’s lab as an undergraduate, motivated by his broad interest in how data can be applied towards the real-world. Now a member of the myCircadianClock team, his work supports the lab’s mission to understand how circadian rhythms are influenced by individual lifestyle choices, providing data pipelines and analytics for the lab and its collaborators.