Team:Delaware/members

Meet Our Team

Advisor: Karen Hoober, Ph.D.

Advisor: Amy Biddle, Ph.D.

Advisor: William Cain, Ph.D.

Advisor: Cathy Wu, Ph.D.

Adam Faranda

Graduate Advisor Adam Faranda is PSM student in the Bioinformatics Department at the University of Delaware.

Carissa Walkosak

I am a sophomore Biological Sciences major and Spanish for Healthcare minor. After my undergraduate studies, I hope to attend medical school to become a physician, specifically an oncologist. I not only assist the UD iGEM team in lab experiments and protocols, but I also manage all the purchases the team makes, as well as several other tasks regarding money as a sort of treasurer. I am so excited to be a part of the first iGEM team on Delaware’s campus, and am happy that this project has introduced me to the world of research.

Ian Pierce

I recently joined Igem last spring as part of a developing interest in synthetic biology. My background in Biomedical Engineering provided a basis for the basics of biological lab practice, but working with our Igem team I've been able to broaden my lab experience.

Yianni Zerefos

I am a Sophomore student at the University of Delaware, majoring in Biology and Bachelor of Arts and Liberal Studies with a minor in Spanish. I'm interested in iGEM because our project focuses on microbiome therapeutics, and as an aspiring physician, I find that this new field has a very promising role in the future of medicine. In addition to biology, I also have large interest in foreign languages and cultures, and think it's amazing that iGEM is international!​​ 

Maddie Callahan

I am an undergrad student at the University of Delaware. I’m a major in Biology and have a minor in Global studies. With my studies I am taking a pre-med route and hope to one day become a doctor. I joined the iGem team at the end of my freshman year. As part of the team I help out with the in-lab research aspect. In addition I am currently an officer of the program helping with the website, team organization, and designing the logo. I’m passionate about the project and see that our research is truly a step in the right direction to help those who can’t be helped with everyday antibiotics. It’s an honor for me to be part of the first iGem team at the University of Delaware and I can’t wait to see where this summer and fall take us! 

Kira Dzedzy

I am an undergraduate student and I am majoring in biology. In the future I am hoping a become a genetic counselor. I joined the iGem team during the spring semester of my freshmen year.  As a member of the team I work in the lab. I am very excited to be part of this incredible opportunity and hope that in the future our work will be able to help many people.

Sarah Wenyon

I will be entering my sophomore year this coming fall. I am majoring in biology and minoring in Spanish. Once I complete my undergraduate career, my goal is to attend medical school in hope to become a physician. This is the first year that the University of Delaware has created an iGEM team and I am very excited to be one of the first members. I am currently involved in working with my fellow team members inside the lab. Additionally, I have taken an officer position to further develop our collaboration efforts with fellow iGEM teams and inform the public about the research that we are completing inside of the lab.

Jessica McAnuity

I am a senior studying Biological Sciences with a strong interest in research. During the academic year, I conduct research supporting my senior thesis in Dr. Roth's Epigenetics lab on campus. Over the past two summers, I worked on three separate projects as an intern at Merck. Although I couldn't be present during the summer months to participate in most of the iGEM team's experiments, I helped present our project at the Mid-Atlantic Meetup at UVA and cataloged reagent orders. Once I'm back on campus I hope to contribute more!