Team:Queens Canada/Team

The 2019 Queens_Canada iGEM team consists of sixteen undergraduate students from a variety of different disciplines including biology, biochemistry, life sciences, engineering, and computing. All of our team members share a passion for synthetic biology and a desire to participate in student-led research and expand their knowledge of the work done in this innovative field. Due to the multidisciplinary expertise of all our members, each student on the team has contributed their own unique experiences and skills to our 2019 research project.

Meet the Team:

Student Members

Ruben Warkentin:

Ruben is the Director of QGEM 2019. He is in his 4th year of Biochemistry and is returning for his third year with QGEM. Ruben has spent the last two years working as an undergraduate researcher in reproductive biology, in Dr. Oko’s lab at Queen’s University (shameless plug: https://doi.org/10.1093/biolre/ioz052). Now he hopes to apply his research experience to synthetic biology. His goal as Director is to ensure that QGEM provides an excellent learning experience for its members and that our research will serve as a steppingstone for future investigations. When not writing grant applications for QGEM, Ruben can be found teaching BCHM 218, playing squash, or looking for sweet deals on Kijiji.

Yujin Cho:

Yujin is going into her 3rd year of Computer Engineering at Queen's in fall 2019. As this year's Dry-Lab Lead, she wants to contribute to the tradition of bringing QGEM the GOLD. She is excited to be working in this multidisciplinary environment where she can learn about synthetic biology, a subject completely separate from what she is studying, and join forces to bring this project to fruition. Yujin is also a big fan of Chinese take-out and Wes Anderson movies.

Caitlin Doubleday:

Caitlin is the wet lab lead for the QGEM 2019 team. She is finishing up her fourth year in biochemistry after spending eight months on co-op in Albany, New York. She completed her fourth-year thesis in the Allingham lab, studying the kinesin motor protein Kip3 (arguably the coolest kinesin). This is her first year with QGEM, and she hopes to be able to apply her previous wet lab experience to this year’s project. When she isn’t in the lab or “borrowing” reagents from the Jia lab for her experiments, Caitlin can be found listening to Florence + the Machine on repeat, binge-watching shows on Netflix, or attempting to find the perfect flavour combination at Mio Gelato.

Janis Cheng:

Janis is the Outreach Lead of QGEM 2019. She just finished her third year in Biotechnology, which is a pretty new program that most people don’t know about. Her academic focuses are microbiology and plant physiology. She enjoys being part of QGEM because she likes working in an interdisciplinary environment. Her goal for QGEM is to expand our educational effort beyond Queen’s University and to spark interests in synthetic biology. When Janis is not trying to invite herself (and QGEM) to local schools for science talks, you can catch her following YouTube cooking videos and snacking all day.

Alice Park:

Alice is in her 4th year of Biochemistry, with a minor in World Languages. She is super excited about this year’s project and to be working with QGEM for her second summer! She was drawn to QGEM for the applications of synthetic biology, and the teamwork aspect of working in a student-lead research team. In the future, Alice hopes to study business and work in a field combining science and business. Outside of school, she enjoys taking dance classes and going to the gym.

Jasmine Yang:

Jasmine is a third year Life Sciences student, who is very passionate about research in the field of synthetic biology, and thankfully she found QGEM which provided her the opportunity to participate in undergraduate research with her peers. Jasmine is a martial arts person, so if you happen to run into people in black uniform with swords, she would be one of them since she is the president of Queen’s Haidong Gumdo Club, aka the Korean sword fighting club. She is also a huge foody, making her good at cooking and baking the foods she likes.

Adam Wolpert:

Adam was raised in Westford, Massachusetts, and has recently completed his second year at Queen’s University. He is pursuing a degree in engineering chemistry. At Queen’s, he has gotten involved with the universities fuel cell design team and engineering society. He hopes to use the knowledge and skills he has acquired to help create a design that will be beneficial for the community. As such, he is excited to get work with QGEM this summer.

Samir Toubache:

Samir is a second-year computer engineering student specializing in software engineering. He is working on the QGEM wiki and website for us this year. In his free time, he enjoys coding, playing board games, and binge-watching videos on YouTube. He also thinks that peanut butter is the greatest food ever, of all time.

Jalaluddin Mian:

This is Jalal, he is from Pakistan and he grew up in Qatar. He will be going into his third year of mechanical engineering. Over the last couple of months, Jalal has been working on 3D modelling and printing of the device as part of the dry lab team for this year’s project. In his spare time, he likes to play tennis and go on long drives with his friends.

Alvin Wong:

Alvin is a forth year student studying Computer Engineering in the University of Waterloo. He is a friend of the team and was interested in collaborating with students from another university, particularly on building our team wiki. When he is not debugging his codes or developing embedded applications, he can be found watching NBA and constantly being indecisive about what to eat for dinner.

Claudia Venevongsa:

Claudia is going into her 3rd year of Biotechology (note the same program as our Outreach Lead!). She is an outreach volunteer, working alongside Janis (it’s almost like they are the same person :o). Claudia lends a hand with teaching science programs and interviews for market research. This summer she has enjoyed learning about the real-life applications of her course work with this year's QGEM project. When she’s not helping kids with strawberry DNA extractions you can find her putting the strawberries to better use… snacking (outside the lab obviously), and breaking a sweat at the gym.

Ethan Cohen:

In September of 2019, Ethan will be entering his fourth year of biotechnology. He is very excited to be volunteering with QGEM to assisting with the progression of the project as a distance volunteer by troubleshooting problems or researching relevant topics. He enjoys the field of genetics, as well as appreciate the potential which genetic engineering holds for various applications. In his free time, he likes to go to the gym and spend time with family and friends. Some fun facts about Ethan include that he is a big fan of Game of Thrones and he is currently raising a plant nursery.

Rafael Faria-Lopes:

Rafael is entering his third year of the Life Sciences Specialization and super excited to contribute to this year’s project! Besides being interested in the advancements of gene therapies and biotechnology, I love to play basketball, chess and the guitar! Catch me on campus speed walking at Mach 2 trying to push the limits of how late you can leave your house and still reach a lab on time.

Heba Khan:

Heba is in her third year of Biology. She is interested in molecular genetics and animal physiology. She joined QGEM to get involved in student- lead research and learn more about synthetic biology. Heba is fluent in 3 languages and enjoys desi memes. When she is not busy burning toast, you can find her helping international students at QUIC and working as a Stu Con this year.

Nathaniel Trask:

Nathaniel is a third year, Bachelor of Arts (Honors) student majoring in Film and minoring in Philosophy at Queen's University. Striving to treat each opportunity as an avenue for growth, Nathaniel has sought out and worked on many projects both within the Queen's community and around Kingston. These opportunities have included composing orchestral compositions for plays and short-films, developing video advertisements, and designing animations or logos for groups or businesses. Nathaniel is very grateful for this experience and is excited to be doing graphic design for the QGEM team and their work!

Advisors

Dr. John Allingham:

As the principal investigator of QGEM 2019, Dr. Allingham is a crucial figure in the organization of the team year after year. He is an Associate Professor in the Biochemistry and Health Science programs at Queen’s University, and he holds a Canada Research Chair in Structural Biology. His research goals are to understand and re-engineer mechanisms of biomolecules, and his QGEM goals are to promote synthetic biology and student-led research. When not managing QGEM or the graduate students that work in his lab, Dr. Allingham can be found playing tennis or ice hockey and spending time with his two lovely children. Read more about Dr. Allingham’s research interests and pursuits at:
https://dbms.queensu.ca/faculty/john_allingham

Dr. Jia:

Dr. Jia is a principal investigator of QGEM 2019. He is a Professor in the Department of Biomedical and Molecular Sciences at Queen’s University. He holds a Canada Research Chair in Structural Biology and he is an expert in using X-ray crystallography for 3D structure characterization of macromolecules. His lab is currently studying kinases and phosphatases involved in bacterial pathogenicity. Dr. Jia is also a huge NBA fan, the Toronto Raptors and the Golden State Warriors are his favourite teams. If he ever misses a game, he would block out all sports news on social media so he can watch it without spoilers on the next day.
Read more about Dr. Jia’s. research at:
http://structure.biochem.queensu.ca

Dr. Carlos Escobedo:

Dr. Carlos Escobedo is an Associate Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Queen’s University. He holds a Technical Chair in MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems) and Nanotechnology at Canadian Society of Mechanical Engineers (CSME). He is an expert in developing micro- and optofluidic technologies for medical applications. As QGEM’s Advisor, he will be sharing his expertise with our Dry-Lab members and guiding the integration of microfluidic chips in our THC detection device. A fun fact about Dr. Escobedo is that he shares his birthday with the fictional character Rambo, which is also the same day that Vasco da Gama set sail on the first direct European voyage to India.
Read more about Dr. Escobedo’s research at:
https://www.escobedolab.com

Nolan Neville:

Nolan is a Master’s student in Dr. Jia’s lab. His research involves designing novel antimicrobial drugs to treat the opportunistic bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa. When he isn’t tending to his C. elegans worms or admiring crystal structures, he can be found listening to your dad’s favourite classic rock records or embracing the rural life back home in Peterborough. With the kushy gig of Graduate Advisor, Nolan hopes his joint expertise in molecular and structural biology can help QGEM create a buzz with this year’s project.

Byron Hunter:

Byron is a grad student in the Allingham lab, where he studies the structure and function of kinesin motor proteins. When he's not studying the walky bois, Byron can be found purchasing a Big Breakfast from the Boterell caf (he currently holds the record for most consumed). He first got involved in QGEM in the third year of his undergrad, and is excited to take what he's learned and help out with this year's team as a graduate student advisor. He also encourages the team to participate in lunchtime frisbee shenanigans, and consistently outperforms them at bar trivia.

Juan Manuel Gomez:

Juan is a Ph.D. student working in Dr. Escobedo’s lab. He completed his M.Eng. at Universidad Nacional Autonoma de México (UNAM), where he worked on magnetic sensors for the purpose of detecting magnetic fields of cells. Juan has strong interests in the application of electronics in Biology, and his current research focuses on the development of optofluidic (bio)sensors. He will be guiding the QGEM DryLab with his expertise and he hopes to motivate others to pursuit their academic field of interest. Juan is equally active in sports as he is academically, and he avoids taking naps to stay involved at all times. When he is free, he loves a good thriller movie.