1st-Year MCSB Students
Brady Berg
Cal Poly SLO
Hi! My name is Brady (pronouns: he/him). I grew up near Tacoma, WA and recently graduated from Cal Poly, SLO with a double B.S. in biomedical engineering and mathematics. During my undergrad, I researched applications of multiscale image processing algorithms to the diagnostic imaging of tumors and developed a new agent-based model of action potential propagation between cardiomyocytes. I also engineered a microscope stage-top cell incubator with heat and gas control systems for the purpose of extended-time imaging of mammalian cells. My biomedical research interests lie primarily in immunology and drug development, and my mathematical interests include signal processing, combinatorial algebra, and even purer topics like Galois theory and measure theory. My hobbies include listening to and playing music, learning languages, and playing video games.
Cameron Miller
Carnegie Mellon University
Hi! My name is Cameron, and I am originally from Potomac, Maryland. I just graduated from Carnegie Mellon University with a B.S. in Biological Sciences and an additional major in Computational Biology. I spent one year working at the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, where I worked on genome wide association studies for rare autoinflammatory diseases. At Carnegie Mellon I spent two years in the lab at the computational biology department, where I assisted with in silico prediction of bacterial and fungal natural products. My current interests mainly involve metagenomics and metabolomics as a result of my time at Carnegie Mellon, and I also have continued interests in immunology. When I am not in the lab, I enjoy playing ice hockey, snowboarding, and gaming on my xbox. A couple of these might be tough in southern California, so I am hoping to pick up some new hobbies! I am also a triplet!
Jaewook Lee
Ohio State University
Hi, my name is Jaewook. I am from Dublin, Ohio and graduated from Ohio State
University with a B.S. in computer science and a minor in biology. I participated in the ACRES REU program at Michigan State University last summer where I investigated disease-gene pairs using genome-wide association studies and machine learning techniques. Currently, my interests are still broad, but I am interested in continuing studying these disease-gene pairs and possibly
drug treatments. In my free time, I like to play piano, draw, and play basketball.
Lorenzo Foglia
University of Naples
Hello! My name is Lorenzo. I am originally from Naples, Italy and recently graduated from University of Naples Federico II with a B.E. in electronics and automation and a M.S. in bioengineering. During the last year, I conducted some research on yeast cells at TIGEM in Pozzuoli (Italy), studying transcriptional regulation by means of optogenetic and microfluidic platforms. My interests span a wide range of topics and include organs morphogenesis, ageing, computational modeling, systems and synthetic biology. Outside of lab I enjoy playing chess, listening to music, and cooking.
Manuel Barcenas
University of California, Riverside
Hello, my name is Manuel. I'm from East Los Angeles, CA. I previously got an
associate's in Mathematics and Physics at East Los Angeles College before transferring to UCR, where I earned a B.S. in Mathematics. I worked for two years in Dr. Qixuan Wang's lab. Under her guidance, I studied the Stochastic modeling of airway epithelium lineage (2020-2021) and the Stochastic modeling of hair follicle regenerative dynamics (2021 -2022), which were done via MATLAB. My interests include cell biology, computational biology, mathematical biology, and developmental biology. I look forward to learning wet lab techniques to form more substantial collaborative efforts. Outside of academics, I enjoy watching non-horror media, attending rock concerts, staying active, and playing video games.
Matthew Hur
Yale University
Hi, my name is Matthew, and I come from the West Coast where I've lived near San Jose and Seattle. I attended Yale receiving a B.S. degree in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry. Then, at Yale Cancer Center, my job as a bioinformatics research associate provided me with valuable computational experience built on internships focusing on computational electrophysiology and modeling in developmental biology. In my spare time I enjoy tennis, cello, and honing skills in AI. My research interests include high-throughput biology, cellular modeling, biomedical signal and image processing, bioinformatics, and machine learning.
Shushrruth Srinivasan
SRM Institute of Science and Technology
Hi! My name is Shushrruth, but if that is too difficult for you to pronounce, you can call me Sai. I was born and raised in India, and I recently graduated with a bachelor's in Biotechnology from SRM IST. For around two years, I have been working in Prof. Jing Zhang's lab at UC Irvine, developing deep learning models to infer the process of gene regulation. I am specifically interested in developing computational methods to understand how genetic variants within the non-coding genome can result in diseases at the single-cell level. Outside of academics, I enjoy riding motorcycles and exploring new food.
Yajin (Ian) Mo
University of Chinese Academy of Sciences
Hello! My name is Yajin, and originally from a beautiful town, Dali, in China. I received my B.A. in biology from University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, where I spent years focusing on single-cell omics library construction technologies as well as data interpretation. My most recent research interest lies in combination of machine learning with transcriptome data analysis, as I have encountered severe sparsity data matrix. Out of lab, I am a huge fan of video games, cats, and otter (I mean Aonyx cinerea).
Yuna Kim
Georgia Institute of Technology
Hi, I’m Yuna! I am from Seongnam, South Korea, but I studied in US since high school. I graduated from Georgia Tech with a BS in biomedical engineering and a minor in computer science. While in Georgia Tech, I worked in Dr. Pai’s lab for 3 years mostly doing wet-lab in vitro cancer works and when I got tired of pipetting, I also joined the MNBL lab and developed Android apps. My primary interest is cancer biology, but I am pretty much interested in anything that lies under the umbrella term of “biomedical engineering”. I like go indoor climbing and play board games with my friends.
Nima Shirooni
Florida Gulf Coast University
Hello! My name is Nima. I moved from Florida to continue my education in California. I received my bachelors in Biology from Florida Gulf Coast University and then went on to receive a post baccalaureate from UCI in Pharmaceutical Sciences. During my time at UCI as a post baccalaureate I did research on RNA splicing regulation with Dr. Fangyaun Ding. We utilized FISH imaging, data extraction protocols, as well as mathematical models to elucidate cellular splicing regulation of RNA. My interests are in applying principles of systems biology to understand aging and neurodegenerative diseases. Outside of school my hobbies include gaming, powerlifting, anime, cooking, as well as basketball. I'm a huge foodie as well and I love trying all different types of food!
Dayeon Cheong
Hamilton College
Hi! My name is Dayeon Cheong, but you can call me Yeon for short. I’m from South Korea and graduated from Hamilton College with a B.A. in Mathematics and Biochemistry. In college, I have done some research regarding data science, using mathematical categorization and database analysis. I am interested in forensic science, especially topics regarding genetics such as applications of DNA methylation analysis in that field. Hence of course, I love mystery novels and TV shows, and I also love to dance, listen to music, and take photographs!
