Summer Team
Apple Lee
Apple is a second year Biological Sciences major at The University of Chicago, intending to specialize in Cancer Biology, Microbiology or Genetics and minor in statistics. She enjoys traveling and loves trying out different types of food.
Nathan Sattah
Nathan is a second year Biological Sciences major at the University of Chicago, with an interest in specializing in Immunology. He hopes to attend medical school after receiving his undergraduate degree. Outside of school, he is interested in basketball and photography.
Rachael Filzen
Rachael is a current Co-President of the UChicago GeneHackers team. She is a third-year Biological Sciences major at the University of Chicago specializing in endocrinology. After completing her undergraduate degree she hopes to attend medical school and become a dermatologist. Her academic interests include synthetic biology, genetics, and plant biology. She enjoys cooking, writing, and going to concerts with friends.
Cian Colgan
Cian is a current Co-President of the UChicago GeneHackers team. He is a fourth year biology major specializing in genetics. He originally transferred from UC Berkeley in his second year. He hopes to pursue a PhD in Synthetic Biology. When he is not in lab or teaching, he enjoys skiing and making homemade pasta.
Graduate Student Advisors
Haneul Yoo
Haneul is a fifth year PhD student in the biochemistry and molecular biophysics program. She is studying how molecular chaperones disperse stress-induced adaptive protein aggregates in budding yeast. If not in lab, you can find her either reading books in the science quad or enjoying herself at one of the many Chicago museums and theatres.
DJ Speed
DJ is a fifth year PhD student in the Cell and Molecular Biology program. His work focuses on stress signaling and responses in Arabidopsis. In his downtime, you can most likely find him in a theater, kitchen, or within 5 feet of a video game.
Simone Rauch
Simone is a fifth year PhD student in the Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics program. Her project focuses on using synthetic biology approaches, such as engineered proteins, to study and control gene expression at the RNA level. When she's not in lab, she enjoys good food and horseback riding.
Michael Disare
Michael graduated from Cornell University with a chemistry major and biology minor. He is entering his third year as a Chemistry Ph.D. student in the Piccirilli lab at UChicago.
William Grubbe
Will is a second year graduate student in the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering whose research focuses on improving the design cycle of protein-based therapeutics. Broadly, he is interested in protein structure and function, synthetic biology, and high-throughput systems. He is also interested in good food and nature.
Jessy Morgan
Jessy is a third year PhD. student in biophysical sciences and is working to make nanomaterials to study peptide signaling in plants. In her free time she enjoys long distance running, traveling, and reading.
Faculty Advisors
Benjamin Glick
Benjamin Glick is a Professor of Molecular Genetics and Cell Biology at the University of Chicago. He served as an invaluable resource to the Genehackers team during our experimental stage. Professor Glick received his B.A Neuroscience and Mathematics at Amherst College, and he then received his Ph.D in Biochemistry at Stanford University. The Glick lab specializes in ER-to-Golgi transport and the processes that generate Golgi stacks.
Laurens Mets
Dr. Mets received his B.A. in biological chemistry from Pomona College and his Ph.D. in biochemistry and molecular biology from Harvard University in 1973. His research has focused on understanding how plant and algal cells construct their photosynthetic apparatus and on how photosynthesis functions as a solar energy conversion system. He has an interest in applying genetic engineering to the improvement of photosynthetic production of hydrogen from water as an environmentally friendly fuel.
Academic Year Members
Sneha Kesaraju, Biology Major, Class of 2022
Karen Yuan, Biology and Neuroscience Major, Class of 2022
Ash Rose, Molecular Engineering Major, Class of 2021
Ali Rahman, Molecular Engineering Major, Class of 2022
Janice Chen, Biology Major, Class of 2020
Patricia Zulueta, Biochemistry Major, Class of 2020
Genehackers is a recognized undergraduate student association at the University of Chicago. Founded in 2013, our organization aims to raise awareness about synthetic biology through community and research. Since our founding, we have competed in the iGem competition. Our team has created innovative projects that bring synthetic biology to the center of the laboratory experience.
