Team:Harvard/Team
Meet the Team
Members
Mark Theodore Meneses
Year: 2021
Concentration: Bioengineering
Mark was brought into iGEM by a previous team member during his initial visit from Harvard. Outside of the IGEM team, he is an avid ballroom dancer. you will most often see his hips parallel to that of Shakira. He dances all 4 styles which include American Smooth and Rhythm, and International Standard and Latin.
Concentration: Bioengineering
Mark was brought into iGEM by a previous team member during his initial visit from Harvard. Outside of the IGEM team, he is an avid ballroom dancer. you will most often see his hips parallel to that of Shakira. He dances all 4 styles which include American Smooth and Rhythm, and International Standard and Latin.
Jessica DeVilla
Year: 2021
Concentration: Bioengineering
Secondary: Global Health and Public Policy
Jessica was brought to iGEM by her lifelong goal to genetically modify plasmids and introduce them to a bacterial genome for the induction of expression of a gene of interest. When she isn’t cloning, and sometimes while cloning, Jessica loves to dance in styles such as hiphop, tap, lyrical, and jazz. At Harvard, she is a member of the Crimson Dance Team, Harvard Venture, the Society of Women Engineers, and the Harvard College Impact Investing Group.
Concentration: Bioengineering
Secondary: Global Health and Public Policy
Jessica was brought to iGEM by her lifelong goal to genetically modify plasmids and introduce them to a bacterial genome for the induction of expression of a gene of interest. When she isn’t cloning, and sometimes while cloning, Jessica loves to dance in styles such as hiphop, tap, lyrical, and jazz. At Harvard, she is a member of the Crimson Dance Team, Harvard Venture, the Society of Women Engineers, and the Harvard College Impact Investing Group.
Aaron Hodges
Year: 2021
Concentration: Biomedical Engineering
Secondary: Music
Aaron Hodges was introduced to iGEM through Harvard's winter session, where he was inspired by his teammate Mark to pursue the team while ballroom dancing. Ever since joining, Aaron has enjoyed his time connecting with his teammates and intends to continue exploring synthetic bio as a facility for the betterment of medicine. On campus, Aaron is a part of The Harvard Undergraduate Drummers (THUD) where he composes and assists in directing original spin-off themed shows such as Whiplash (THUDlash) and The Godfather (THUDfather). Aaron hopes to get into a rhythm with his team and offer his project (ESPECIALLY the cloning) a beat it can't refuse.
Concentration: Biomedical Engineering
Secondary: Music
Aaron Hodges was introduced to iGEM through Harvard's winter session, where he was inspired by his teammate Mark to pursue the team while ballroom dancing. Ever since joining, Aaron has enjoyed his time connecting with his teammates and intends to continue exploring synthetic bio as a facility for the betterment of medicine. On campus, Aaron is a part of The Harvard Undergraduate Drummers (THUD) where he composes and assists in directing original spin-off themed shows such as Whiplash (THUDlash) and The Godfather (THUDfather). Aaron hopes to get into a rhythm with his team and offer his project (ESPECIALLY the cloning) a beat it can't refuse.
Fay Huo
Year: 2020
Concentration: Molecular & Cellular Biology
Fay joined iGEM and met all of these amazing team members because of her everlasting interest in designing innovative biomedical solutions for existing medical problems. While experiencing withdrawal from her lovely iGEM team, Fay enjoys some thrilling pastimes like DJing in clubs and events, skateboarding down Mass Ave to lab, taking spontaneous weekend trips to ride roller coasters, and coercing the entire team to have Poké with her for 27 times the past summer. Normally, she volunteers as a health teacher in Boston public high schools; teaches CPR certification workshops for Harvard Red Cross and co-directs the Harvard College Electronic Music Collectives(HCEMC).
Concentration: Molecular & Cellular Biology
Fay joined iGEM and met all of these amazing team members because of her everlasting interest in designing innovative biomedical solutions for existing medical problems. While experiencing withdrawal from her lovely iGEM team, Fay enjoys some thrilling pastimes like DJing in clubs and events, skateboarding down Mass Ave to lab, taking spontaneous weekend trips to ride roller coasters, and coercing the entire team to have Poké with her for 27 times the past summer. Normally, she volunteers as a health teacher in Boston public high schools; teaches CPR certification workshops for Harvard Red Cross and co-directs the Harvard College Electronic Music Collectives(HCEMC).
Nathan Sharp
Year: 2020
Concentration: Bioengineering, Mechanical Track
Nathan is a rising junior at Harvard concentrating in Bio-engineering. Although originally interested in designing medical devices and implants, he was drawn to iGEM by the allure of international cloning glory. Outside of iGEM, Nathan is working (extremely slowly) towards his first Major title by playing on the Club Golf Team, and is honing his theater skills by acting in his house's drama society.
Concentration: Bioengineering, Mechanical Track
Nathan is a rising junior at Harvard concentrating in Bio-engineering. Although originally interested in designing medical devices and implants, he was drawn to iGEM by the allure of international cloning glory. Outside of iGEM, Nathan is working (extremely slowly) towards his first Major title by playing on the Club Golf Team, and is honing his theater skills by acting in his house's drama society.
Tajrean Rahman
Year: 2020
Concentration: History and Science
Secondary: Integrative Biology
Tajrean has always been interested in the ways science interacts with society, from the lab to beyond, and iGEM provides her with a great opportunity to explore these scientific and ethical nuances. Outside of cloning and wiki-editing, Tajrean loves doing public service, and can often be found running around campus planning one event or another.
Concentration: History and Science
Secondary: Integrative Biology
Tajrean has always been interested in the ways science interacts with society, from the lab to beyond, and iGEM provides her with a great opportunity to explore these scientific and ethical nuances. Outside of cloning and wiki-editing, Tajrean loves doing public service, and can often be found running around campus planning one event or another.
Supervisors
Neel Joshi
Neel Joshi is an Associate Professor of Biological Engineering at the Harvard’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and also a Core Faculty member at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering. He completed his PhD at UC Berkeley in the lab of Matt Francis and a postdoc at Boston University in the lab of Mark Grinstaff before starting a position at Harvard. He is broadly interested in topics related to biologically inspired materials, protein engineering, self-assembly, and biointerfaces. His group works at the intersection of biomaterials science and synthetic biology. Recent projects in the group have focused on repurposing bacterial biofilms and their matrix proteins for biotechnological and biomedical applications.
Steve Dengelo
Steve DeAngelo completed his BS in Biochemistry from Boston College in 2018 and is currently a Research Technician at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, MA. He is interested in therapeutic discovery and translational medicine utilizing epigenetic therapies. Recent projects have focused on working towards novel mechanisms of targeting c-Myc and MLL in myeloid malignancies as well as developing and characterizing the mechanisms of IMiD-mediated targeted protein degradation
Ezekiel Geffken
Ezekiel Geffken has been a member of the Crystallography Core at Dana-Farber working to solve structures of oncogenic proteins and mapping their druggable domains. He received his B.S. in Biochemistry from Saint Michael’s College in Vermont, and is looking to enroll in MD,PhD programs in the near future. He loves being sideways.
Melissa Hancock
Melissa Hancock is a member of the Active Learning Labs staff as a Biological Engineer at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. She was an intergral member in assisting the Harvard iGEM Team with performing ELISA tests on their samples. Melissa likes to think outside the box (and upright circle)