Leadership

Apoorva is a graduate student in the Neuroscience PhD program. She received her BS in Biochemistry from University of Delhi, India. She is currently in the Kepecs lab, working on building a tool to measure coordinated activity across multiple brain areas as well as studying value-based decision making in rodents. She also asks questions related to inferential reasoning in rats by having them solve mazes. Apoorva has experience in editing abstracts, manuscripts, grants, articles targeted to a lay audience, building narratives with data, designing figures, and conducting InPrint workshops on science communication.

Areas of expertise: Biochemistry & Biophysics · Cell Biology · Immunology · Molecular Biology · Neuroscience · Scientific Schema Design

Mahal is a PhD student in the Evolution, Ecology & Population Biology program. She works in the lab of Dr. Rachel Penczykowski, where she studies (1) how urbanization alters soil abiotic and biotic properties and (2) the consequences of these altered properties on plant communities. She received her BS in Biochemistry & Molecular Biology from Agnes Scott College. Her undergraduate research was in the lab of Dr. Jaap de Roode at Emory University, where she studied how host diet may impact both the gut microbiome and parasitic resistance of monarch butterflies. Mahal is eager to provide feedback on all types of scientific communication.

Areas of expertise: Ecology & Evolution · Microbiology  · Soil Science

Megan is a graduate student in the DRSCB PhD program. She graduated with her BS in biology from Truman State University in 2018, then worked as a research technician in Dr. Helen McNeill’s lab for three years. In the McNeill lab, Megan studied how Fat cadherins regulate tissue growth and patterning in Drosophila. She now investigates the role and regulation of neural crest transcription factors in melanoma in the lab of Dr. Charles Kaufman. Outside of the lab, Megan loves live music, baking, and playing with her two dogs. She is enthusiastic about science communication and excited to provide editing services through InPrint.

Areas of expertise: Cancer Biology ·  Cell Biology · Genetics · Molecular Biology · Developmental Biology

Skyler is a graduate student in the Molecular Microbiology and Microbial Pathogenesis program. She is currently in the lab of Dr. Christina Stallings where she researches the innate immune responses to Mycobacterium tuberculosis and proteins involved in myeloid cell development. She is very passionate about scientific communication to the public and has experience writing and editing manuscripts and grant applications.

Areas of expertise: Cell Biology · Immunology · Microbiology · Molecular Biology

Eylül is a PhD student in the Molecular Genetics and Genomics program. She is currently in the process of picking her thesis lab. Her undergraduate research in the Djuranovic Lab focused on protein synthesis optimization through early-elongation codon alterations. Outside of lab, Eylül enjoys hammocking in Forest Park, scootering around, and baking Turkish treats.

Areas of expertise: Cell Biology · Genetics · Microbiology · Molecular Biology · Scientific Schema Design

Vivian is a postdoctorate researcher in the lab of Dr. Joseph Jez, focusing on the structural studies of important metabolic plant proteins (from clover, A. thaliana etc.). She received a PhD in Plant and Microbial Biosciences from Washington University in St. Louis, and a BA in Biochemistry and Russian Literature from the University of Pennsylvania. She has experience writing manuscripts and review articles, as well as editing chapters in scientific encyclopedias and editing manuscripts as a science writing instructor.

Areas of expertise: Biochemistry & Biophysics · Microbiology · Molecular Biology · Plant Biology

Ju Heon is a postdoctoral researcher in the laboratory of Dr. Ting Wang. He received his BS in Biological Sciences and Industrial Engineering at KAIST and worked as a software engineer for three years. Currently, he is studying epigenetic perturbation of transposable elements as a means to induce tumor antigens in glioblastoma stem cells and lung cancer cells.

Areas of expertise: Genetics · Genomics · Cancer Biology · Computational Biology · Immunology

Ilana is an MD/PhD student in the Immunology program. Her current research interests include the gut microbiome and immunology. Ilana has experience editing manuscripts, grants, personal statements, and creative pieces. She is passionate about all forms of communication and enjoys working directly with people during presentation consultations.

Areas of expertise: Microbiology · Immunology

Monica is the science communication specialist of the Center for Health & Science Communication at Becker Library, bringing forth decades of academic research experience to serve our community of students, trainees, faculty, and staff. Before shifting gears to her current position, Monica enjoyed many years as an experimentalist in biophysics, structure/function and pharmacology of membrane transporters and ion channels. She earned a Ph.D. in Physiology from the University of Barcelona, and following postdoctoral training in UCLA, she joined the research-track faculty at the School of Medicine, first in Cell Biology & Physiology, and later in Anesthesiology.

Monica believes the transfer of knowledge is the biggest responsibility we have as scientists, and she has always found all aspects of our profession having to do with communication enormously gratifying. Monica has a passion for writing, reviewing and editing, and she looks forward to helping you achieve excellence in science communication!

Areas of expertise: Science Communication · Biochemistry & Biophysics · Molecular Biology · Electrophysiology  · Pharmacology

Kathleen is a Research Assistant Professor in the Neurology department, focused on investigating therapeutic targets in Alzheimer's disease and other dementias. Her scientific editing experience includes serving as a co-instructor for the WashU Amgen/BP-ENDURE undergraduate writing workshop, mentoring WashU trainees within the NIH Grant Writing course, and completing an editing course through University College. She has experience in manuscript and grant writing and is willing to review all types of communication. After founding InPrint in 2017, Kathleen served as its Editor-in-Chief until January 2021.

Areas of expertise: Cell Biology · Neuroscience

Kornelia is a postdoctoral researcher in the laboratory of Dr. Jennifer Heemstra. She received her PhD in Medicinal Chemistry from the University of Illinois at Chicago, where she designed, synthesized, and characterized antimicrobial peptides. Kornelia’s current research focuses on developing stimuli-responsive peptide nucleic acids. She has experience writing and editing grants, manuscripts, and abstracts.

Areas of expertise: Organic Chemistry · Medicinal Chemistry · Drug Design and Development (PK/PD)

Rachana is a Postdoctoral Researcher working in a unique co-mentored position in the department of Physical Therapy with Dr. Jennifer Zellers and Orthopaedic Surgery with Dr. Simon Tang. She received her PhD from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, where she used in-vitro model systems to study the effect of diabetes on bone fragility and increased fracture risk. Now, her research focuses on studying the impact of diabetes on tendons at the tendon rehab lab in physical therapy; and elucidating the signaling pathways in the bone to understand how diabetes affects bone remodeling using diabetic mice models at the Tang Lab. Rachana has experience editing conference abstracts, manuscripts, and generating scientific figures and illustrations for presentations and publications.

Areas of expertise: Biomedical Engineering · Cell Biology · Molecular Biology · Scientific Schema Design