MIT Biotech Group Career Fair Committee
Grace Yang - Co-Chair
Grace is a 3rd year undergraduate student in Chemical-Biological Engineering at MIT. Her previous research in the Wittrup Lab focused on engineering proteins for cancer therapeutics. In Fall 2023, she joined the Furst lab to work on engineering microbes to detect micronutrients in the soil. Grace serves as the Career Fair Co-Chair of the MIT Biotech Group.
Elisa Xia - Co-Chair
Elisa is a 2nd year undergraduate student at MIT studying Artificial Intelligence & Decision Making (Course 6-4) with a focus in Computational Biology. Her research with the Kellis Lab in Summer 2023 at CSAIL involved single cell analysis of the effects of repurposing a schizophrenia drug for addiction purposes. She has been involved with MBG since Fall 2022, previously also serving as a Senior Associate in the Undergraduate Initiative.
Dilyara Sharipova (Media Team)
Dilyara is a Chemistry PhD student at MIT, advised by Prof. Ron Raines. Her current research is on ribonucleases towards the development of cancer therapeutics. Dilyara has been involved with MBG since Fall 2021, currently serving as Vice President of Communications.
Sarah Syed
Sarah is a 4th year undergraduate student in Biological Engineering and Business Management at MIT. Her work in the Bhatia Lab focuses on developing nanoscale contrast agents for early cancer detection. She also has a strong interest in women’s health and is pursuing an interdisciplinary senior thesis at MIT’s Center for Gynepathology Research. Sarah has been involved with MBG since Fall 2020, currently serving as Co-President..
Vikram Sundar
Vikram Sundar is a PhD student in Computational and Systems Biology at MIT, advised by Dr. Kevin Esvelt. He is interested in machine learning for structural biology and currently researches the application of machine learning to phage-assisted continuous evolution for protein design. He has been involved with MBG since Fall 2020, currently serving as Co-President.
Rac Mukkamala
Rac is a 3rd year undergraduate majoring in Biological Engineering. His research in the White Lab involves the use of phosphoproteomics and machine learning to analyze signaling interactions between glioblastoma tumor cells and macrophages. He has been involved with MBG since Fall 2021, currently serving as Vice President of Finance.
Victory Yinka-Banjo
Victory is a 3rd year undergraduate student majoring in Computer Science and Molecular Biology. Her recent research in the Weissman Lab involved mechanistically characterizing protein domains to develop the next generation of epigenetic editors. Beginning in Fall 2023, she will be joining the Uhler lab to work on using ML to understand ovarian cancer transcriptomic data. Victory has been involved with MBG since Fall 2021, currently serving as Undergraduate President.
Alexandra Volkova
Alexandra is a 2nd year undergraduate studying Computer Science and Molecular Biology and Finance. Her research in the Langer and Tsai labs involves designing a novel modular brain-on-a-chip model that can help more accurately model and study the human brain, conduct high-throughput testing of pharmaceuticals and drugs, and investigate various brain pathologies. She has been involved with MBG since Fall 2022. Alexandra serves as a team leader for the Career Fair Company Outreach team and is an associate in the Undergraduate Initiative of the MIT Biotech Group.
Annabel Tiong
Annabel is a 1st year undergraduate student intending to major in Biological Engineering. Her recent research examined the effects of Hepatitis Delta and Hepatitis B coinfection on interferon response, identifying potential therapeutics for interferon-resistance amongst chronic patients. Annabel has been involved with MBG since Fall 2023 and currently serves as an associate in the Undergraduate Initiative.
Ashwini Suriyaprakash
Ashwini is a 3rd year undergraduate, studying Computer Science & Engineering. She is interested in developing computational methods, including algorithms and machine learning, to investigate problems in genetics and molecular biology. She is currently pursuing research in the Kellis Lab to discover interactions in the gene regulatory network using deep learning. Ashwini has been involved with MBG since Fall 2023, currently an Associate in the Entrepreneurship Initiative.
Ayantu Tamene
Ayantu is a 2nd year undergraduate student intending to study Computer Science and Molecular Biology. Her research in the Kamm Lab involves the use of a microfluidic vascular network model to study tumor cell extravasation. Ayantu has been involved with MBG since Fall 2022, previously serving as Senior Associate of the Undergraduate Initiative.
Deeksha Kumaresh
Deeksha is a 1st year undergraduate student studying Biological Engineering at MIT. While advancements in medical technology amaze her, she aspires to develop cost effective technology that can improve the accessibility of medicine. Her most recent research involved using microfluidics and electrical impedance spectroscopy to quantify alpha synuclein, a biomarker for Parkinson's disease. Deeksha has been involved with MBG since Fall 2023.
Diya Ramesh
Diya is a 1st year undergraduate intending to study Biological Engineering or Computer Science and Molecular Biology at MIT. Her recent research at Scripps Research Translational Institute involved evaluating metagenomic sequencing of SARS-CoV-2-infected samples after microfluidic separation as a potential pathogen-agnostic diagnostic tool and bioinformatically generating primer schemes for viral amplicon sequencing that account for genetic diversity. In Fall 2023, she joined the Vander Heiden Lab to work on elucidating the metabolic dependencies of breast cancer. She has been involved with MBG since Fall 2023.
Karie Shen
Karie Shen is a first-year undergraduate student majoring in bioengineering and minoring neuroscience. Her recent research with the Leifer Lab investigated STING-dependent genes in the Toll-like receptor 4 pathway. She was also part of the Hamilton Lab, studying risk factors for depression and suicide in adolescents. Karie has been an associate of MBG since Fall 2023.
Khadiza Rahman
Khadiza Rahman, an ambitious first-year undergraduate, is dual-majoring in Computer Science and Biology as well as Business Analytics. At the prestigious White Institute of Biomedical Research, she participates in a computational project analyzing dysregulated pathways due to opioid overuse. She joined MBG in Fall 2023 and currently is an associate in the Undergraduate Initiative.
Kien Phuong
Kien is a 2nd year undergraduate studying Computer Science and Molecular Biology at MIT. His past research involves using qPCR and flow cytometry to investigate changes in polarization states of different macrophages in the presence of cell-cell interaction with GBM tumor cells in coculture systems in the White Lab. He joined MBG in spring 2023 and worked in the industry initiative for a semester, and is now working as an associate in the undergraduate initiative.
Natalie Tan (Media Team)
Natalie is an ambitious first-year undergraduate student at MIT looking to study Course 20 (Biological Engineering) or Course 6-14 (Computer Science, Economics, and Data Science). Her current interests include regenerative medicine, stem cell therapeutics, cancer research, drug delivery, and computational biology. Evidently a curious individual, she is currently exploring the realm of biotechnology and is constantly looking for new opportunities to learn, as she strives to one day contribute to the world of biotech in some way. She joined MBG in Fall 2023 as part of the media team, as well as the Undergraduate Initiative, where she serves on the Big Events committee, helping to plan MBG’s Life Sciences UROP Mixers, postering session, and more.
