Our Team

<figure> <img src="/images/TeamPhotos/GroupPic.jpg" alt="GroupPic"> <figcaption>Our team posing in front of the University of Virginia Rotunda!</figcaption> </figure>

"The only thing that motivates this team is hatred, money, and food." -Ryan Taylor

Over the course of the summer, all of us at Virginia iGEM have gone from complete strangers to good friends. Contrary to the words of our team captain, we're also motivated by friendship, mandatory team bonding activities and good humor. Partially.

We couldn't have done everything we did without the fantastic contributions and hard work of everyone on the team. Whether it was through Wetlab, Human Practices, Modeling, or Wiki, it was all vital to the success of our project. We became better friends on the team and made a lot of good memories outside of lab through beach volleyball, potlucks, playing Super Smash Bros, and rock climbing.

We are the twelve undergraduates of Virginia iGEM and here is our team!

Advisors

Keith Kozminski is our amazing advisor who helps guide our research and keeps us on track for the iGEM Jamboree. From teaching a prepatory iGEM course in the spring to helping us with various aspects of our project, Professor Kozminski's wise words and advice has warmed our hearts. (Photo taken from the Department of Biology at UVA)

Jason Papin is the modeling advisor for our team. With his help and advice, we have developed several models that have significantly shaped our project. We are thankful for all the advice and encouragement that Professor Papin has given us throughout our research! (Photo taken from UVA Today)

Meet the Team

Our team has been hard at work in the lab! See what everyone's been doing.

Ngozi Akingbesote

           <img src="images/TeamPhotos/2018Ngozi.jpg" alt="2018Ngozi" id="img-bio">
                    ...
           <p>Ngozi is a third year studying human biology. She is a member of our Wetlab; of all the people here, she's one of the hardest workers, and almost single-handedly finished our Interlab Study tasks, in addition to taking two classes and working in another lab for the duration of the project.</p>

Dylan Culfogienis

           <img src="images/TeamPhotos/2018Dylan1.jpg" alt="2018Dylan" id="img-bio">
           [modem noises]
           <p>Dylan is a third year studying engineering science. He is a wearer of many hats on our team, being a part of the Modeling, Wiki, and Human Practices committees in addition to our graphics designer.  He sometimes wishes that he could cover himself in Vaseline and become a human slug. </p>

Nir Diskin

           <img src="images/TeamPhotos/2018Nir1.jpg" alt="2018Nir" id="img-bio">
                    It's like far... But not.
           <p>Nir is a second year studying biomedical engineering. As our collaboration head, he aggressively sends out emails to businesses and other individuals to collaborate with. He is also a member of Modeling and Human Practices.</p>

William Huang

           <img src="images/TeamPhotos/2018Will1.jpg" alt="2018Will" id="img-bio">
                    I’m already dreaming about my nap tomorrow.
           <p>Will is a second year who is majoring in biology and minoring in biochemistry. He is a part of Wetlab and Human Practices and his quirky personality helps to brighten up the lab.</p>

Paul Imbrogulio

           <img src="images/TeamPhotos/2018Paul.jpg" alt="2018Paul" id="img-bio">
                    Can I pitch it in the incubator?
           <p>Paul is a second year studying chemical engineering. He is a member of the wetlab committee and our miniprep master. </p>

Joseph Outten

           <img src="images/TeamPhotos/2018Joseph1.jpg" alt="2018Joseph" id="img-bio">
                    Fruit tastes better straight off the tree.
           <p>Joseph is a third year majoring in computer science and biology. He is a part of the Modeling and Human Practices committees. In his free time, likes to play basketball and go rock climbing with friends.
           </p>

Nick Marotta

           <img src="images/TeamPhotos/2018Nick1.jpg" alt="2018Nick" id="img-bio">
                    ...
           <p>Nick is a fourth year biology major and the head of our Wetlab. He is a master at beach volleyball.</p>

Kevin Park

           <img src="images/TeamPhotos/2018Kevin1.jpg" alt="2018Kevin" id="img-bio">
                    I am not afraid of fire.
           <p>Kevin is a fourth year biology major and a core member of Wetlab, surprising us with his machine-like consistency. The only time Kevin ever expresses anger is when lab rule are violated. For whatever reason he has an obsession with replating the T7 Promoter.</p>

Ryan Taylor

           <img src="images/TeamPhotos/2018Ryan1.jpg" alt="2018Ryan" id="img-bio">
                    I like math idk
                    My teammates are asexual
           <p>Ryan is a third year majoring in physics with a minor in biomedical engineering. He is our fearless captain of the Virginia iGEM team and head of the modeling committee. He is also involved in wetlab, human practices, and wiki. He is often seen in the lab playing with dry ice and other lab equipment and making sure that everyone is staying on track.</p>

Vignesh Valaboju

           <img src="images/TeamPhotos/2018Vignesh1.jpg" alt="2018Vignesh" id="img-bio">
                    I did not touch my skin today
           <p>Vignesh is a second year majoring in biomedical engineering and a member of the wetlab. He was (and still is) for our scrapped "Dark iGEM" theme, where we all dress up in black and make our project sound as evil as possible.</p>

Grace Wu

           <img src="images/TeamPhotos/2018Grace1.jpg" alt="2018Grace" id="img-bio">
                    Are we there yet?
           <p>Grace is a third year majoring in computer science. She is the Wiki Chief Programmer and is a part of the Modeling team. She likes to listen to lo-fi hip hop while studying and running in her free time.</p>

Angela Yi

           <img src="images/TeamPhotos/2018Angela1.jpg" alt="2018Angela" id="img-bio">
           Teach me how to gain weight.
           <p>Angela is a four year majoring in systems engineering. She is the head of Human Practices. She is famous for roasting people in the lab.</p>

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