John is a graduate student in Biological Systems Engineering. He received his B.Sc. in Biology from Samford University in Birmingham, AL. John joined the Wright Lab in August 2019, and his research objective is to develop predictive models for plant hormone pathways. He wants to predict the outcome of plant development pathways through quantitative analysis of the system. John's goal is to use auxin signaling models in conjuction with molecular biology technology to engineer robust crops. He believes that this is an urgent need due to evolving environmental conditions. Outside of the lab, he is involved with his campus ministry and enjoys spending time hiking, traveling, and swimming.

Pat recieved a bachelor's degree in Pharmacy in Thailand. She is now a graduate student in the Biological System Engineering. Her curiosity surrounding genome editing tools like CRISPR-Cas9, synthetic biology, and diverse scientific disciplines have brought her to the Ph.D. program. She is seeking knowledge and skills to use and develop new biological tools to enhance the production of pharmaceuticals. She is focusing on identifying the variants of chemically activated ubiquitin ligases and engineering a biosensor to enhance biosynthesis of chemicals of interest. Outside the lab, she enjoys drawing, cooking, listening to music, and seeing the world!

Ph.D.Student, Translational Plant Science Center

deisiany@vt.edu 

Deisiany received her B.Sc. in Forest Engineering from Federal University of Goias in Goiania,  GO, Brazil. She joined the Wright Lab in March 2021, and her research objective is to develop resistance within plants targeted by pathogens effector proteins. She wants to unravel the intricacies related to plant-pathogen interaction and to use an engineering approach to create new versions of plant proteins that will confer better resistance to important agricultural crops . She believes that this is an urgent need due to the demand for food production in order to feed the world population, and that billions are lost while fighting plants diseases. Outside of the lab, she is involved with church community and enjoys spending time hiking, running, playing board games, traveling, and cooking.

Steven Kenah hails from Princeton, New Jersey and is a  sophomore in Biological Systems Engineering, with an interest in Biotechnology. In the lab, he has helped to code protocols for restriction enzyme digestion in the Opentrons robot. This summer he has helped develop a biosensor for auxin production by fungi. Outside the lab Steven enjoys skiing, working out, being with friends and family, and traveling around the world.  

Mahbubur received his Ph.D. in Biology and Biomedical Sciences from East Tennessee State University. Prior to Ph.D. he received his MS and B.Sc. in Biochemistry and molecular Bioloy from Dhaka Uniuversity, Bangladesh. He joined in Wright lab on November 2018 and has been working to established a new ratiometric fluorescent protein degradation reporter system in yeast. He is also exploring the functional landscapes of auxin receptors using directed evolution. Mahbub is now a Research Scientist I at Exact Sciences in Madison, Wisconsin!

Spencer is from Akron, Ohio. He studied how oligomerization of different F-box proteins changes the response of the auxin signaling pathway. Outside of the lab he loves to cook, play bass, and workout at the gym. Now he is a PhD student at University of Maryland!