Kersh is a PhD student in the Chemical Biology program at UC Berkeley. His research aims to understand the cellular physiology of Methanococcus maripaludis, an archaeal platform for sustainable chemical synthesis using CO2 as a feedstock. As part of the SPA, Kersh has initiated the Mentorship program for the EBRC and continues to pair mentors and mentees, assess the quality of the program through quarterly feedback and organize events for mentors and mentees to meet.

Do Soon Kim is a PhD candidate in the Jewett Lab at Northwestern University. In his research, he works on designing variant ribosomes using experimental and computational methods. As an industry liaison in SPA, Do Soon is working on compiling and developing a resume book to better connect SPA members to EBRC industry members!

Weston Kightlinger (Board Member) is an NSF Graduate Research Fellow working towards his PhD in the lab of Michael Jewett at Northwestern University. In his research, Weston using cell-free protein synthesis and high-throughput mass spectrometry to engineer synthetic glycosylation systems for the production and design of improved protein therapeutics and vaccines. As part of SPA, Weston has helped organize retreat workshops on science communication and undergraduate mentorship.

Bon Ikwuagwu (Board Member & Education Liaison) is a PhD student in the Tullman-Ercek Lab at Northwestern University. He is working on understanding design rules for protein self assembly developing methods to engineer virus-like particles for applications in drug delivery. Bon serves as the education liaison for the SPA, working with the committee to improve the public’s understanding of synthetic biology.

Emily Hartman is a PhD student in the Francis and Tullman-Ercek groups at UC Berkeley. She studies self-assembling proteins using a systematic mutagenesis techniques. She is also the workshop liaison for SPA.

Jason is a PhD graduate from University of Washington. He is interested in CRISPR-based tools for turning on and off multiple genes in E. coli in a programmable manner. These tools could be useful for discovering and implementing complex transcriptional programs to improve bioproduction in bacteria

Cassandra Barrett is a PhD student in Karmella Haynes’ lab at Arizona State University. Her research focuses on building synthetic biology tools to manipulate the chromatin environment in mammalian cells in order to improve genome editing. As president of the EBRC SPA, Cassandra coordinates career development programming, organizes retreat events, and oversees the SPA board. Cassandra hopes to have a career integrating biotechnology with clinical genetics.