Lab Members

 
 

Qianna Wilson

Lab Manager

 

Ph.D. Columbia University, B.S. UT Tyler

She develops new yeast biosensors for infectious diseases.

In her free time, she enjoys oil painting.

Davida Rios

Postdoctoral Researcher

 

Dr. Rer. Nat. University of Tuebingen (Germany), M.Sc. University of Pavia (Italy)

She develops yeast biosensors with a focus on environmental applications. 

In her free time, she enjoys exploring the city and traveling to new places.

Adriana Di Nanni

Postdoctoral Researcher

 
 

B.S., M.S. Indian Institute of Technology Bombay

Ph.D. University of Alabama at Birmingham

He is focused on developing yeast biosensors for environmental sensing.

In his free time, he enjoys adventure, hiking, and creative writing.

Parmanand Ahirwar

Postdoctoral Researcher

 

M.A. M.Phil. Columbia University, B.Sc. Nankai University & Scripps Research

He is focused on developing an oral yeast vaccine platform.

In his free time, he enjoys biking, singing and playing multiple instruments. 

Brian (Jiaming) Qi

6th Year Graduate Student

 

M.D./Ph.D. Columbia University (in progress), M.S. UCSF, M.S. UC Berkeley, B.A. UC Berkeley

He is applying protein engineering techniques for the development of novel therapeutics.

In his free time, he enjoys biking, hiking, and reading.

Kiavash Garakani

4th Year Graduate Student

 
 

B.S. Tsinghua University

She is focused on directed evolution.
In her free time, she enjoys reading and skiing.

Yiwen Wang

1st Year Graduate Student

 

Msci. Glasgow University (Current 4th year undergraduate) with placement at Columbia University,

Focused on developing yeast biosensors for environmental sensing 

In his free time he enjoys playing guitar, cooking, and hiking 

Gabriel Sandu Valencia

Visiting Student Intern

 

Ph.D. Columbia University (In progress), B.A. Skidmore College

He is working on metabolism-targeting therapeutics development and asymmetric catalysis.

In his free time, he enjoys hiking and music.

Thomas Tao

Rotation Student

 

Matthew Dennen

Rotation Student

 

Aryaman Saksena

Rotation Student

 

Alexander Yuen

Undergraduate Student

 
 
 

Christopher Seizmore

Undergraduate Student

Harshini Sadanala

Undergraduate Student

 

Irene Ghobriel

Undergraduate Student

 
 

B.A. Columbia University

He is focused on Genetic Code Expansion in E. coli. 

In his free time, he enjoys martial arts, video games, and the outdoors.

Evan Jones

Undergraduate Student

 

Ingrid Wu

Undergraduate Student

 

Rohan Raghavan

Undergraduate Student

 
 

B.A. Candidate at Columbia University

She is investigating yeast biosensors sensitive to environmental factors.

In her spare time, she enjoys drawing in writing.

Teresa Xiao

Undergraduate Student

 

B.A. Candidate at Columbia University

He is interested in the intersection of protein engineering and data science.

He is also a guitarist who enjoys jazz and classical music.

Maurice Chakour

Undergraduate Student

 

B.A Candidate at Columbia University

She is interested in utilizing yeast engineering techniques to develop affordable vaccines, hence improving global health. 

In her free time, she enjoys orchestra, art and photography. 

Lucky Kituyi

Undergraduate Student

 
 

Feride Cosar

Undergraduate Student

 

Daniela Alvarez

Undergraduate Student

 

B.A Biochemistry Candidate at Columbia University


He is interested in applying synthetic biology to develop low-cost, programmable therapeutics.


In his free time, he enjoys the outdoors, baseball, and playing multiple instruments

Enrique Salazar

Undergraduate Student

 
 

Theresa Yu

Undergraduate Student

 

Raelee D. Hollier

Undergraduate Student

 

Ahmed Hamdan

Undergraduate Student