Team:GeorgiaTech/Team/Bios

From 2014.igem.org

Team Members

Troy von Beck

Troy von Beck, Wiki Czar, Handyman, and genuine otaku. I study biomedical engineering for my major, but my ultimate goal is to become a pathologist and contribute to the development of new vaccines. My speech patterns favor interjections and statements such as "Aye", "That is most unfortunate", and "Oh My Glob". I prefer the beat of music to the meaning of its lyrics, and my absurdity knows no bounds. I can cook minute rice in 58 seconds and my proudest achievement is level 99 charizard.

Coleen Tran

Hello readers,
The lovely and sophisticated lady, Coleen Tran can't write her bio right now. She's busy riding a horse backwards with me. Listening to me reading romantic poetry while I make a bouquet of paper flowers from each read page. Ingesting my delicious Old Spice man smell. Being serenaded on the Moon with a view of the Earth, while surviving off the oxygen in my lungs via a passionate kiss.
This bio is now diamonds.
Swan dive.

EDIT:With my last few breaths, I finally decided to write my bio. My name is Coleen Tran. I am the Lab Magistrate who makes sure that everything is in order. I am majoring in Biology and Biomedical Engineering. When I’m not on the Moon, I like to watch movies, read, and feast on pastries. My crowning achievement in life thus far has been defeating level 605 of Candy Crush, but I hope to one-day use synthetic biology to develop a successful gene therapy treatment.

Jennifer Zhang

Georgia Tech iGEM’s resident rainbow, Jennifer Zhang is usually seen running away from people asking for a pot of gold. With just a single hair flick, she can stop a baby from crying while showering fortunate pedestrians with starbursts and skittles. A strand of her hair has the potential to create a wand far more powerful than the Elder Wand. When not studying Biomedical Engineering, she is hopelessly devoted to theatre, spending her free time 20 feet in the air hanging lights.

Katie Fitton

My name is Katie Fitton. I am the president of the iGEM team, making sure everything that we are doing gets recorded. I am currently studying biochemistry and hope to go to pharmacy school after I graduate. In my free time in lab, I like to plan parties with glowing bacteria and food on petri dishes. Hopefully one day one of these parties will actually happen, and all my time planning will not go to waste.

Tashfia Chowdury

Hey! My name is Tashfia Chowdhury, and I’m the Secretary, Gel Master and lab rat for our iGEM team. I basically make sure that whatever we do is recorded both in and out of the lab. I am also the main point of contact between the faculty and students for our team. Currently, I’m a third year Biomedical Engineering student minoring in Chemistry, and pursuing a pre-med track. After graduation, my plan is to attend medical school whilst doing simultaneous research in a field of my own choice. In the time that I’m not tending to my iGEM duties, I like making gels. I believe our unique iGEM way of making agarose gels are highly therapeutic, requiring a certain degree of precision and patience. So far, my greatest achievement in life was performing CPR without breaking the patient’s sternum. Yaaay!

Stefan Tassoulas

My name is Stefan Tassoulas, from the live music capital of the world, Austin, TX. I grew up under two cultures, American and Greek. Every other summer, I would go to Greece and live with my relatives and then come back to America and go to school. I took interest in biochemistry in my ventures in olive fields of my village, riding my bike around, pondering about how the olives grow and what makes them so delicious. Now, at Georgia Tech, I followed my interests and I am now a Biochemistry student and I am now an iGEMer

Lambros Tassoulas

My name is Lambros Tassoulas. Born in the great country of Texas, I am a worldly person who takes interest in a wide variety of cultures. If someone tells me, “It’s all Greek to me” I would tell them “no” because I know Greek but that doesn’t mean I will be able to understand your experience. My interests academically are biochemistry and specifically protein engineering. When I am not using the pipet, I play football and crush waves on the concrete with my longboard.

Jenny Boothby

Hey! I'm Jenny, and I am a fifth year Biomedical Engineering major with a minor in Biology from Bradenton, FL. I joined the GT iGEM team in 2012, and I am back for more this year! I am heavily involved in Atlanta-area volleyball, and I love to read! I will be graduating in December, and I hope to pursue a PhD in Global Health Engineering after working full time for a couple years.

Anirudh Joshi

My name is Anirudh Joshi and I am a second year undergraduate majoring in biomedical engineering and minoring in computer science. I have lived in two different 'Silicon Valleys'; 9 years in San Jose, California and 9 years in Bangalore, India. When I am not learning about new technology, I spend my time cheering on my favorite European soccer team Arsenal. After graduating I hope to pursue my interests in medical devices and neuroengineering.

Tanvi Rao

My name is Tanvi Rao and I am a second year undergraduate studying biomedical engineering. I was born in India, raised in Mississippi, and now reside in Atlanta where I attend Georgia Tech. I am pre-med and hope to one day be a doctor with Doctors without Borders. There are few things I love more than a good book, a large coke icee, and a gargantuan tree to perch in. Other things I like to do in my spare time are play tennis, paint, and have adventures!

Graduate Advisors

Dwight McCoy Chambers

Dwight graduated from MIT in 2007 with a Bachelor's degree in Nuclear Science and Engineering and obtained a Master's degree in Nuclear Science and Engineering in 2008 with Drs. Jackie Yanch and Bevin Engelward. Dwight started Emory University's Medical Scientist Training Program in the fall of 2010 and transitioned to his PhD phase in the spring of 2012 at Georgia Tech. He joined Dr. Thomas Barker's lab in the fall of 2012 where he is currently a graduate student.

Dwight is orignially from Nashville, TN. He is the son of Carol McCoy and Richard Chambers and brother to Davis. He loves low-stakes poker, BBQ, and skeet/trap shooting. He hates running but he (tries/)does it anyway.

Haylee Bachman

During my undergraduate studies I conducted research for 2.5 years in Bio-inorganic Chemistry under Dr. Michele McGibony, investigating Photodynamic Therapy Agents. I was funded for summer research with the NSF-ASPIRES grant.

I spent 2 years at Georgia Tech in a Soft Matter lab working under Dr. Andrew Lyon, optimizing a protein production system for a novel single domain variable antibody fragment which targets fibrin with high affinity and specificity. I then transitioned to working under Dr. Thomas Barker in the Matrix Biology and Engineering Lab.