Hi, I’m a final year Biochemistry student from Madrid, Spain. Yes, I reaaaally like the sun. And jamón and tortilla de patata. With the philosophy of “Think Global, Act Local”, I see iGEM as an opportunity to add value to the community around us. My hope is that both our university and other iGEM teams help us establish a platform where students can express their motivation, talent and curiosity for science.

Lux Step

Hey- I'm Lux, resident gender-binary-breaker! I've just finished my first year in Neuroscience. Originally I come from Lithuania but before coming to London I spent two years in Italy. This has led me to take on learning quite a few languages on my own, like English, Spanish, Russian and Italian. Apart from testing my own abilities, my goal for iGEM is to show that science is becoming more inclusive and progressive. With technology improving this fast, we can do anything!

Katarzyna Pleśniar

Hi, I’m a first year Neuroscience student from Poland. I’m very interested in developmental neurobiology and I’m so excited what the field of synthetic biology holds for neuroscience. Being part of KCL iGEM allows me to work with incredible people. My goal is to help change the perception of synthetic biology outside the scientific community with the hopes to raise awareness of its beneficial potential and ability to transform the world around us.

Maria Jose Ramos

Hi my name is Maria Jose and I am studying Molecular Genetics. I believe in the promise that synthetic biology will allow us to go beyond our limits with responsibility… and I believe that hundreds of contributions each year from iGEMers are the driving force behind it. As a student interested in the field of Genetics I am honoured to be part of this and make a contribution that helps to push this step further.

Maya Biswas-Whittaker

I’ve just finished 1st year Neuroscience. I do a lot of volunteering work in my spare time: I’ve raised money for the Albert Kennedy trust, and I’m a full time volunteer for Just Like Us. My goal for iGEM is helping to create a safe and diverse work environment. Also, I think it's super important for us to try and increase diversity in STEM through teaching and working with different communities!

João Gonçalves

My name is João, I am 20 years old and I’m from Lisbon, Portugal. I love travelling, sports and science.

I like to use my free time to learn new things: I did the Open Water Diving course and a course about the Theory of Relativity.

Deeksha Raju

Hi I’m Deeksha! I’m a first year student from Salisbury (a quaint city boasting Stonehenge, the Magna Carta and Russian spy poisoning) and I'm studying Biochemistry. When not procrastinating work, I enjoy yoga and playing a round of golf with my Dad.

Ajay Dulai

I’m Ajay- a first year medical student! I love working on robotics and computers, and I’m very excited to participate in this year’s iGEM competition. I have a collection of 15 Rubik’s cubes and the fastest I've ever completed one is 18 seconds!

Desirée McCann

Hi, I'm Desirée and I'm studying Molecular Genetics at King's College London. When I'm not at uni I'm raising two amazing kids, which leaves a bit of time for my other interests which are cooking, travel, reading and going for long walks in the great outdoors. I wanted to join the iGEM team to make the world that little bit better via the application of synthetic biology.

Anthony Chau

I am a 2nd year Biochemistry Student from Wakefield, West Yorkshire with particular interests in immunology and cancer biology. I look forward to our research in the lab where we will work towards a project which can be beneficial to society. I am an avid cyclist, often seen doing circuits in Richmond Park and I am a keen musician, playing guitar and bass from an early age.

Vivan Yan Chu

I am Vivian, a second year biomed student from Hong Kong. At King's I am primarily a physiology student studying pathology and body mechanisms. I am an extroverted introvert who enjoys traveling alone, and London happens to be my first solo-travel destination. I enjoy most leisure activities like knitting and music although I am often confused when watching drama and movies due to mild prosopagnosia.

Max Grogan

Hey, I'm Max, a final year Biochemistry student at King's. I'm currently finishing a research placement in Bioinformatics at the University of Pennsylvania, and am a big fan of Data science and Biology. I strongly believe Synthetic biology has the potential to change many aspects of our society for the better, and am excited by the opportunity to work in such a promising field.

Ella Boothman

Hola me llamo Ella! I’m half Spanish half English. I have just finished my first year of Neuroscience. I have decided to work on the marketing and sponsorship side of iGEM in order to push myself to learn more about the business side of science whilst gaining interpersonal skills and hopefully being able to put my languages to use. Being part of the first KCL iGEM team is an honour but also a challenge, but seeing the motivation and ambition of our team I’m sure we will succeed!

Josephine Taeyeon Eum

Hi my name is Josephine Eum, I love sports and dancing and am passionate about communicating science to the public by doing science shows and demos - the best thing I’ve heard after interaction with youngsters is “WOOOW science is so COOOOOL, can you be my science teacher instead? I wanna be a scientist when I grow up!” “ Josephine believes that "a combination of neuroscience and genetics is the coolest thing eva and that's what I do"

Team:KCL UK/Team

Meet our Team!

Marcos Vega-Hazas