Team:FDR-HB Peru/team
Meet our team
Members
Marry Xuan
Synthetic Biology Leader
I am Chinese, born in Romania, and have lived abroad all my life. I have always wanted to pursue the medical field, so iGEM was a perfect way to test the waters. This is my third year in iGEM and I have found an interest in poking and prodding plasmids to solve difficult problems!
Skyler Markham
Hardware Leader
I enjoy the sciences, reading, acting, music, public speaking, and games. I have a particular affinity to the sciences and reading, being the two things I enjoy spending the most time on. This is why I've enjoyed my time in iGEM, this is my second year and find it very rewarding.
Karina Vestergaard
Human Practices Leader
I’ve been living in Peru for seven years now and I joined iGEM in December 2016. After being an iGEMer for three years, I have realized how privileged we are to have had the experience of learning synthetic biology and it would be selfish of us to not share this knowledge with others. This is why this season I have decided to pursue the leadership position of our Human Practices team. iGEM has not only been an amazing learning opportunity for me, but it is also one of the few ways I have been able to make so many connections with my community and for that I am grateful.
Miski Ñopo
Co-President
I'm a 14-year-old student from Hiram Bingham who loves science. In summer 2018, I attended an academic summer program at Duke University where I took a neuroscience course.
Thiago Aguirre
Hiram Bingham Secretary
My name is Thiago Aguirre. I was born in Lima. I like to read, watch movies, and play videogames during my free time. I joined iGem because I am passionate about science.
Kia Cuba
FDR Secretary
My name is Kia and I am a current junior. I joined iGEM because I am very passionate about science, especially synthetic biology, which is what I want to study in my future. Some of my hobbies include rock climbing, running, and basketball.
Fernanda Llanos
Hiram Bingham Human Practices Leader
I am 15 years old. I love to dance, act and sing! I am a student at Hiram Bingham. I am in iGEM because I am extremely interested in the project. As part of the Human Practices team, I am looking forward to reaching out with our which does not know how important synthetic biology is.
Daniela Gioia
Synthetic Biology Co-Leader
I have always been super curious about how the world around me works. When I was little I would wonder how buildings were so tall, I wanted to become an architect when I was older, but as I entered high school, a new passion began to make itself noticeable and that was a passion for biology. I wanted to know about living organisms are the way they are and how we could modify that through science, and iGEM gave me the opportunity to do that. This year I am so excited to collaborate with Hiram Bingham, and go more in-depth into the project that we researched last year!
Regina Kim
FDR Human Practices Co-Leader
Hi, I am Regina. I am from South Korea but I currently live in Peru. I am the co-leader of the Human Practices team and it is my third year in iGEM. My favorite thing about iGEM is the Giant Jamboree where I get to meet diverse people all around the world and share each other's projects. I also like educating others and spreading awareness about iGEM. I am passionate about math as well, and I enjoy dancing. I am very excited for the upcoming Giant Jamboree. Hope to meet a lot of you there :)
Gabriel De Romaña
Hardware Co-Leader
Throughout my life, it has always been hard to find a place where I truly feel welcome. Well, science people are not common in a world full of sports, TV shows, and more distractions. However, I believe that having joined the team in September 2017 has allowed me to pursue my passion for learning and get to know amazing people with similar interests. I am extremely grateful because I couldn't ask for a better team!
Sofia Villafuerte
Social Media Coordinator
Science wasn't always my favorite class but since the start of high school, my interest in this field has developed more and more. This is my second year as an iGEM member, working with the Human Practices team to further connect our community to synthetic biology and our project. For what I want to study, I'm still deciding between an engineering major or a cognitive science major. Both quite different but will help me to further understand the constantly changing world around me.
Pau Faraldos
Wiki Leader
Hi, I joined FDR 3 years ago and now I am in 12th grade, and I joined iGEM a few months ago with the intention of using my skills in web design to develop the wiki for the team, however, I am now also genuinely interested in everything that the team does (from the synthetic biology to the human practices) and how incredible our project really is. I wish to study Computer Science in college, where I will develop even more skills and hope to become a software engineer one day.
Jose Jimenez
Wiki Editor
Hi, I joined FDR 1 years ago, and joined iGEM at the beginning of the year. I joined with the intention of using my programming skills to help develop the wiki for the team. However, since I joined, I have also developed interest all of the areas the team has, from synthetic biology to human practices, and I have realized how amazing our team is, and everything we have accomplished. When I graduate, I want to study Computer Science in university, where I will keep expanding my skills, with the hope of becoming a software engineer in the future.
Logan Bybee
Member
I have always been interested in microbiology since 6th grade. Since I started iGEM in March 2019 I have been able to learn more about what interests me. I am planning to study microbiology in college to help improve the world around us.
Shubh Bajpai
Member
My name is Shubh Bajpai and I am from Grade 10. I am in the Synthetic Biology team for iGEM. I love biology and also have an interest in science. I like iGEM a lot because it helps me study a very high level of Synthetic Biology My hobbies, in general, are to read books, play sports like badminton, football, and TT. I want to become a doctor in the future as my career so that I can cure patients. My dream is to open a free hospital for all people who cannot afford money for themselves or their family.
Benjamin Falls
Member
I am new to the school this year, and this club really appealed to me. I am in the synthetic biology section of IGEM, and super excited to participate. I'm in tenth grade.
Diego De Vivero
Member
Born and raised (still) in Lima, Peru. Spent most of my life as an only child but now I have a six-year-old brother and sister. I boxed recreationally for three years, and as an amateur at a local level for 4 months until I had a shoulder injury last year. I have always liked science in all its disciplines, and when I was told about iGEM last year, I was eager to join. I expect to learn more about synthetic biology and be able to expand my horizons with this new endeavor. I plan to study clinical psychology, but that doesn't undermine my interest in biology.
Camila Shimabukuro
Member
My name is Camila Shimabukuro, I am a Hiram Bingham student in 9th grade. This is my first year participating in iGEM and I am part of the SynBio team.
Isabel Windsor
Member
Hi! My name is Isabel Windsor and I really enjoy being a part of iGEM because of the opportunities it provides us. We are able to explore our interest in biology in artistic and creative ways through the hardware and human practices components of our projects. Most of all, I enjoy the amount of knowledge and experience we can get from participating iGEM compared to other activities we do outside of school.
Isabela Gonzalez
Member
This is my second semester in iGEM and I’m part of the SynBio team. I like iGEM because it’s working with science to solve real-world problems, not hypotheticals. iGEM is a place you can harvest your passion for science and grow it to a larger scale than you thought possible. I used to think that science was my weak point or at least something that I never felt passionate about, but last semester I found science was my best class and the one I enjoyed the most, so I decided to join iGEM. Now the highlight of my week is staying after school for iGEM and it’s become a topic of all my conversations.
Jorge Alonso Diaz
Member
This year I am taking Extended Science, for which I am excited because we will be learning some of my favorite fields of study; chemistry and physics. Last December vacation, I visited the Kennedy Space Center, which has sparked an interest in Space Exploration in me, and I now hope to pursue a career in it. Building upon my passions and interests, I do tend to enjoy more Sci-Fi related books such as "A Brief Answer to the Big Questions."
Ana Lucia Campos
Member
My name is Ana Lucia Campos, I’m 15 years old and I’m from Hiram Bingham School. I’m a dancer and I currently dance a Peruvian dance called marinera. I joined iGEM because I enjoy learning about biology and this is a very interesting new approach.
Ana Lucia Rebagliati
Member
I am a 14 years old student in Hiram Binghan School. I love the arts and would also like to expand my knowledge in the science area. This is my first year in iGEM and I'm excited to be participating in the SynBio team.
Russell Swanson
Hardware Advisor
First-year as hardware advisor. Third-year at FDR. I think iGEM gives students the experience of working as a scientist to problem solve using applicable real-world solutions. I never got that opportunity as a student so I enjoy witnessing and supporting it here. I've been a competitive gamer my whole life and I don't see myself stopping. I also like being outdoors hiking, biking, and rock climbing.
Daniel Guerra Giraldez
Expert Consultant
This is the second year that Dr. Daniel has been advising our iGEM team. He is a Biologist and MSc. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology by Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia (UPCH), received his Doctorate in Biomedical Sciences in 2005 from the Université Catholique de Louvain. For two years he worked as a postdoc at the University of California, Berkeley, investigating the molecular biophysics of DNA and RNA polymerases. As director of the Laboratory of Single-Molecule Biophysics of the Faculty of Sciences of the UPCH, he develops research projects about gene expression regulation in bacteria and its applications in synthetic biology, with special interest in transcription and Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
Dr. Nina Markham
iGem Mentor
This is my second year as a high school iGEM mentor. We've learned a lot and I'm so proud of how far my team has come. I love the well-rounded approach that is expected of all iGEM projects: Syn-Bio + Human Practices + Wiki + Presentations which stretches a team to not only pursue their passions but to create projects that might actually make a difference in the world.
Dr. Claudia Muñoz
iGem Mentor
I am currently a Middle School and High School Chemistry teacher at Hiram Bingham, The British International School of Lima, in Lima, Peru. I am Peruvian by birth but have only recently returned to the country a few years back - after growing up in Venezuela and going to college and grad school in the United States. I have a B.A. in Biology from Swarthmore College and a PhD in Molecular Biology from Cornell University but I left wet lab research behind to do medical science consulting and analysis for pharmaceutical companies right after graduating. I am extremely excited to get back to my scientific research roots as an iGEM team advisor where I can help guide a new generation of scientists as they discover their love of science and apply their new-found knowledge and acquired skills to global problems.