Chris Richardson

Chris Richardson is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology at UC Santa Barbara. His research focuses on understanding DNA repair mechanisms and their roles in genome integrity, gene editing outcomes, and organismal biology. He joined the faculty in 2019 after completing postdoctoral research at UC Berkeley and a PhD at UCSF.

Education: B.S. Bioengineering (UC San Diego), PhD in Genetics (UCSF, Li Lab), Postdoc in Jacob Corn’s lab (UC Berkeley).

Research Interests:

• Regulation of DNA double-strand break (DSB) repair pathways
• Role of Fanconi Anemia proteins in repair
• Tissue-specific repair variability
• DSB repair during DNA replication
• CRISPR-Cas9 optimization for therapeutic applications

Labs & Affiliations:

• Richardson Lab at UCSB
• Neuroscience Research Institute
• Center for Aging and Longevity Studies (CALS)

Advising & Training: Supervises graduate students (MCDB program), undergraduate researchers, and postdoctoral fellows. Emphasizes inclusive, collaborative lab culture.