Team:NYU Abu Dhabi/Team
Team members
Adrienne Chang
Major: Biology Year: 2018 Where are you from: US/Taiwan Something interesting about yourself: My spirit animal is a sloth. Why do you want to participate in iGEM? I’ve always been interested in engineering and was curious to see how I could combine both passions.
Alex Cho
Major: Biology Year: 2020 Where are you from: South Korea Something interesting about yourself: I’m a South Korean soldier next year. Why do you want to participate in iGEM? You don’t say no to these things.
Daniel Watson
Major: Computer Science and Mathematics Year: 2020 Where are you from: Panama Something interesting about yourself: I am doing research in deep learning. Why do you want to participate in iGEM? I want to put my skills to use to help my university be well represented around the world.
Diego Kleiman
Major: Biology Year: 2020 Where are you from: Argentina Something interesting about yourself: I am interested in exploring what can be learnt at the interface between biology and other disciplines. Why do you want to participate in iGEM? I think that iGEM is a great opportunity to develop an interdisciplinary project that draws upon biological knowledge to solve a real-world problem.
Fathurur Said
Major: Electrical Engineering Year: 2020 Where are you from: Indonesia Something interesting about yourself: I was 5 days away from getting struck by Tsunami (Huge tidal wave). Why do you want to participate in iGEM? Who says engineers can’t join Biology competition?
Jonah Joughin
Major: Computer Science Year: 2020 Where are you from: USA Something interesting about yourself:I traveled around the world this past summer. Why do you want to participate in iGEM? To help a friend in need.
Khairunnisa Mentari Semesta
Major: Biology Year: 2018 Where are you from: Indonesia Something interesting about yourself: In my life I’ve survived multiple earthquakes and volcanic eruptions… #Indonesian Why do you want to participate in iGEM?My synthetic biology class introduced me to iGEM - I couldn’t wait to get hands-on experience in my final year!
Laura Karpauskaite
Major: Biology Year: 2020 Where are you from: Lithuania Something interesting about yourself: Went to a 30km cross-country skiing marathon without knowing how to ski Why do you want to participate in iGEM? It seemed like a great opportunity to learn more about synthetic biology.
Lukas Zapolskas
Major: Computer Science Year: 2020 Where are you from: Lithuania Something interesting about yourself: I am step-ladder certified by the American Ladder Association. Why do you want to participate in iGEM? I was intercepted by opportunity, and simply could not refuse.
Muhammad Shehryar Hamid
Major: Civil Engineering Year: 2020 Where are you from: Pakistan Something interesting about yourself: I have lived at ten different houses, each for at least more than a year, throughout my life. Why do you want to participate in iGEM? To acknowledge myself with the meeting grounds of biology and engineering, and to learn how to integrate this knowledge in designing bioengineering systems.
Pratik Maisuria
Major: Mechanical Engineering Year: 2019 Where are you from: Fiji Something interesting about yourself: Not many people can find Fiji on the map. Why do you want to participate in iGEM? I get to work with machines and organisms, experimenting and creating a hybrid of life and automata.
Saad Sultan
Major: Mechanical Engineering Year: 2019 Where are you from: Pakistan Something interesting about yourself: Snorkelled with Sharks, sea turtles and dolphins at three different reefs in the Maldives. Why do you want to participate in iGEM? I’ve always had a love for biology and, well, biology and engineering together just sound irresistible so I couldn’t hold myself back.
Sampanna Bhattarai
Major: Mechanical Engineering Year: 2020 Where are you from: Nepal Something interesting about yourself: I haven’t seen snowfall yet (I’m from Nepal). Why do you want to participate in iGEM?The array of experiences required for iGEM, not only confined synthetic biology, instigated me to work on this project.Faculty and Instructors
Kourosh Salehi-Ashtiani
Kourosh Salehi-Ashtiani received his Ph.D. in Cell and Molecular Biology from Northwestern University (Evanston, IL, USA). His group aims to define the metabolic potential of eukaryotic genomes and use this information to identify strategies for improving bioproduct production in algal systems, as well as to remediate metabolic perturbations associated with human disease states. He currently serves as an Associate Professor of Biology and as the Principal Investigator of the Laboratory of Algal, Synthetic, and Systems Biology at NYUAD.
Yong-Ak (Rafael) Song
Rafael Song received his Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from RWTH Aachen University (Aachen, Germany) and has worked at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology as a Senior Research Scientist. His lab is focused on applying microfluidics and nanofluidics to a broad range of bioscience challenges, targeting the interface between biology, physics and engineering. He is currently an Assistant Professor of Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering and as the Principal Investigator of the Micro- and Nanoscale Bioengineering Lab at NYUAD.
Mazin Magzoub
Mazin Magzoub received his Ph.D. in Biophysics from Stockholm University (Stockholm, Sweden) studying the biophysical properties of cell-penetrating peptides. His lab focuses on drug delivery strategies, amyloid diseases, and cancer therapeutics. He currently serves as an Assistant Professor of Practice in Biology and as the Principal Investigator of the Biophysics Lab at NYUAD.
Ibrahim Chehade
Ibrahim Chehade received his M.Sc. in Integrative Biology at Wilfrid Laurier University (Waterloo, Ontario, Canada) in the field of Environmental Toxicology and Endocrinology. He currently serves as an Associate Instructor of Biology at NYUAD.
Mona Kalmouni
Mona pursued her M.Sc. in Biotechnology at McGill University in Montreal, Canada where she worked on assessing the effect of gold nanoparticles on glioblastoma cell viability and autophagy. She also received her M.Ed. from the Institute of Education UCL in London, UK while running an education center and carrying out various teaching duties. Due to her passion in teaching and science, she joined NYU Abu Dhabi as an Associate Instructor of Biology for the Foundations of Science courses. She is also involved in a research project that focuses on cell-penetrating peptides as a potential therapeutic strategy in cancer.
Ashley Isaac
Ashley Isaac received his M.Sc. in Microbiology from the University of KwaZulu-Natal (Durban, South Africa) and has served as the LIMS Administrator at the HIV Prevention Research Unit. He currently serves as an Associate Instructor of Biology at NYUAD.
