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Keynote Speakers
Keynote Speakers
Dr. Sam Sternberg - Columbia University
(Morning )
Samuel H. Sternberg, runs a research laboratory at Columbia University, where he is an assistant professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics. He received his B.A. in Biochemistry from Columbia University in 2007 and his Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley in 2014. He is the recent recipient of the NIH Director’s New Innovator Award, and is a Sloan Fellow, Pew Biomedical Scholar, and Schaefer Research Scholar.
Sam's lab explores the biology of CRISPR-Cas systems and transposable elements, and develops these systems for genome engineering. In addition to publishing his research in leading journals and speaking internationally, Sam remains actively involved in public outreach and ongoing discussions on the ethical issues surrounding genome editing.
Together with Nobel Laureate Jennifer Doudna, he co-authored a popular science book about the discovery, development, and applications of CRISPR technology. Titled A Crack in Creation: Gene Editing and the Unthinkable Power to Control Evolution, their book was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and The New York Review of Books called it “required reading for every concerned citizen.”
Dr. Rina Bliss - Rutgers University
(Afternoon )
Rina Bliss is a professor of Sociology at Rutgers University and award-winning author of Race Decoded and Social by Nature. She is an expert on the social significance of emerging genetic sciences. She is an affiliate of UCSF and the UC Berkeley Center for Social Medicine, and is a consultant to public institutions like the National Academies of Science and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Rina’s upcoming book Rethinking Intelligence tells us what we should know about the new science of intelligence, and how best to use that knowledge. Rina translates the science to give us alternative solutions that work and a completely new outlook on the meaning of intelligence.
Rina speaks to audiences all over the world about the politics of health, technology, education, and equality in the new millennium.
Faculty Speakers
Faculty Speakers
Dr. Bruce Wightman - Muhlenberg College
Bruce Wightman is Professor of Biology at Muhlenberg College, where he teaches genetics, molecular biology, and biochemistry.
His research interests are focused on how genes control the development of the nervous system. His lab is currently focused on how neuroendocrine pathways control sleep and arousal.
Dr. Peter Gildenhuys - Lafayette College
Peter Guildenhuys is a Professor of Philosophy at Lafayette college, where he teaches courses including introduction to philosophy, bioethics, and environmental ethics.
Hi research in philosophy of science focuses on evolutionary theory. His work is has been published in a number of academic journals including Philosophy of Science, Studies in History and Philosophy of Science, and the British Journal for Philosophy of Science.
Dr. K. Joy Karnas - Cedar Crest College
K. Joy Karnas is a Professor of Biological Sciences at Cedar Crest College where she has taught upper-level undergraduate and graduate courses in molecular genetics since 2001.
Research in her laboratory focuses on gene expression, examining genetic alterations that lead to triclosan resistance in bacteria and the use of epigenetics in identifying bodily fluids in crime scene analysis.
In her tenure at the college, she has served as both the Director of the Genetic Engineering Program and Chair of the Department of Biological Sciences. She currently serves as the Director of the college’s Honors Program. In addition, she is the co-chair of the Da Vinci Science Center’s WISE Executive Advisory Council and Chair of the Board of Trustees for the Pocono Environmental Education Center. She served a term as President of the Pennsylvania Academy of Science and currently represents the Academy at the National Association of the Academy of Sciences.
Dr. Justin Hines - Lafayette College
Justin K. Hines is Professor of Chemistry at Lafayette College, where he teaches general chemistry and biochemistry courses and conducts education and NIH-funded laboratory research on protein misfolding with undergraduates.
He received both his B.S. and Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Iowa State University, where he studied the structure and regulation of the enzymes of central metabolism with Richard B. Honzatko and Herbert J. Fromm. He then completed a postdoctoral fellowship with Elizabeth A. Craig in Biochemistry at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
He has won numerous awards for teaching and research, including being named a Cottrell Scholar by the Research Corporation for Science Advancement and a Henry-Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar by the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation. He is also the author of the case-studies series for Macmillan Learning’s three biochemistry textbooks and the newest coauthor on the upcoming 10th edition of the “Stryer” textbook: Biochemistry, by Berg et al.
Dr. Neha Vora - Lafayette College
Neha Vora is Professor of Anthropology in the Department of Anthropology & Sociology at Lafayette College.
Her research and teaching interests include diasporas and migration, citizenship, higher education, gender, liberalism, political economy, and human-nonhuman encounters, in the Arabian Peninsula region and in the United States.
She is the author of Impossible Citizens: Dubai’s Indian Diaspora (Duke University Press, 2013) and Teach for Arabia: American Universities, Liberalism, and Transnational Qatar (Stanford University Press, 2018). She has also published a co-authored book with Ahmed Kanna and Amelie Le Renard, Beyond Exception: New Interpretations of the Arabian Peninsula (Cornell University Press, 2020).
Student Speakers
Samantha Ganser '23- Lafayette College
Samantha is a rising senior majoring in Biochemistry (B.S) and pursuing a minor in Anthropology and Sociology. She is involved in many activities across disciplines at Lafayette. She conducts biochemistry research on yeast prion-chaperone interactions in the Hines lab, has been involved in education research, is a Kaleidoscope social justice peer educator, a general chemistry teaching assistant, and also, the President of Events and Outreach for Refugee Action, a refugee resettlement organization.
Swati Pandey '23 - Lafayette College
Swati is a rising senior majoring in Biology (B.S). She has been involved in research with Prof. Daniel Stroembom and at the Kurt Lab. She is an active member of the campus community in her roles as the Student Leadership Intern, Interpersonal Violence Peer Educator, Resident Advisor, Supplemental Instructor, and an occasional free-lancer for organizing events on campus that "need our attention".
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