Our Team

<figure style="min-width: 50% !important;"> <img src="" alt="GroupPic" style="min-width: 100% !important;"> <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! Click the portraits to see descriptions of every team member.

The team!

Ngozi Akingbesote

           <img src="" alt="2018Ngozi" id="img-bio">
           <p>Ngozi is a third year studying human biology. She is a member of our Wetlab; she 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="" alt="2018Dylan" id="img-bio">
           [modem noises]
           <p>Dylan is a third year studying engineering science. In addition to being devastatingly handsome, 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 and co-CFO. His main project was the Wiki, including the gorgeous styling, rugged backend tools that make it work, interactive components and the inspired graphic design seen throughout the project.</p>

Nir Diskin

           <img src="" 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. His biggest project was the financial analysis that became both a human practices project in collaboration with one of our sponsors, and partial justification for the value of our project.</p>

William Huang

           <img src="" 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. He puts his all into the lab, riding the roller coaster of successes and setbacks and ultimately being one of the hardest working members of the Wetlab team.</p>

Paul Imbrogulio

           <img src="" 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="" 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 our co-Chief Financial Officer, a part of the Modeling and Human Practices committees, and was responsible for whipping the team into shape when it came time for Wiki writeups.  In his free time, likes to play basketball and go rock climbing with friends.
           </p>

Nick Marotta

           <img src="" alt="2018Nick" id="img-bio">
           <p>Nick is a fourth year biology major and the head of our Wetlab. Nick is known for his spontaneous comedy night-grade stories; he is a master of beach volleyball.</p>

Kevin Park

           <img src="" 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 rules are violated. For whatever reason he has an obsession with replating the T7 Promoter.</p>

Ryan Taylor

           <img src="" alt="2018Ryan" id="img-bio">
           <p>Ryan is a third year majoring in physics with a minor in biomedical engineering. He is the 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="" alt="2018Vignesh" id="img-bio">
                    I did not touch my skin today
           <p>Vignesh is a second year majoring in biomedical engineering and a key member of 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="" alt="2018Grace" id="img-bio">
                    Are we there yet?
           <p>Grace is a third year majoring in computer science. She is the head of the Wiki committee 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="" alt="2018Angela" id="img-bio">
           Teach me how to gain weight.
           <p>Angela is a fourth-year majoring in Systems Engineering. As the head of Human Practices, she is the main point of contact with companies and other teams. She is the one that makes sure all our collaborations and events are well-planned and delivered as we wanted them to be. Fun fact, she runs half-marathons!</p>

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)

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