President

Forrest Bowling is a student in the Biochemistry and Structural Biology graduate student in Dr. Michael Airola's Lab. His research is focused on the protein structure of lipid signaling enzymes.

Vice President

Sheed Itaman is a member of the Grigori Enikolopov Lab, in Neurobiology and Behavior. He currently studies adult neurogenesis in various contexts and uses new techniques to understand endogenous division dynamics of adult neural stem cells. These techniques can also be used to measure how adult neural stem cells’ division dynamics change in the presence of pharmaceutical compounds or environmental stimulation. After graduation, Sheed aims to inspire others and engage students in populations that have low STEM representation. He hopes a future position as an impactful minority scientist may further inspire others to pursue biomedical research.

Treasurer & Event Coordinator

Phway Sandi San is a PhD student in the Applied Mathematics and Statistics Program, with a focus on Quantitative Finance. She is currently studying for her qualifiers and hopes to start research soon on topics related to survival analysis. Her favorite pastimes are to binge Netflix or paint on a canvas. Through the GCA program, she hopes to connect with other graduate students and help them (and herself) become more aware of the various career choices available.

Secretary

Kafi Belfon is a Biochemistry and Structural Biology Ph.D. candidate in the French lab. Her focus is on the structural characterization of a mouse protein ORF 75C. She is actively learning the single-particle cryo-EM technique to structurally characterize the protein.

Social Media Representative

Annapoorani Kobuvayur Hariharan is a 3rd year Chemistry PhD candidate in Dr. Chris Johnson's group. Her research focuses on cluster catalysis in the gas phase. She is interested in astrochemistry, data science and science communication. In her free time, she loves reading novels, long walks and makes her own mandalas. As GCA's Social Media Representative, she builds the biweekly GCA Newsletter and manages GCA's accounts on different platforms like Facebook and Twitter!

Website Coordinator

Alexandra Weinheimer is a graduate student in the Biochemistry and Structural Biology PhD program, working in the lab of Dr. Hyungjin Kim. She studies the protein SDE2, a newly identified genome surveillance factor implicated in the replication stress response, with a particular interest in its SAP domain, a DNA-binding domain that preferentially binds single-stranded DNA. Her role in GCA is to maintain and update the website (this website!). She also makes the flyers.

Brainstorming

Jennifer Park is a graduate student in the Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology PhD program, working in Dr. Hyungjin Kim’s lab. Her research is focused on exploring how the DNA repair system preserves and regulates genomic stability in order to prevent tumorigenesis. As a first year graduate student, she is elucidating the role of TIMELESS, a component of the Fork Protection Complex, involved in replication fork protection. She has also characterized its interaction with the genome surveillance factor, SDE2. As a part of GCA, she hopes to smoothly coordinate GCA events to help other graduate students looking for career advice and opportunities.

Julie Bettke is a graduate student in the Molecular and Cellular Biology PhD program, working in the lab of Dr. Adrianus van der Velden. Her research is focused on understanding the early immune response to infection with the bacterial pathogen, Salmonella. By being a part of GCA, she hopes to help other graduate students in discovering careers that best fit their goals and aspirations.