Team

Siyona Mishra

President

Hi! I’m a senior majoring in Cognitive Science and Molecular Cellular Biology :3 I joined iGEM to learn more about synthetic biology research and work on cool projects! Fun fact, this is my third year on the Hopkins iGEM team!

Vara Qi Gunananthan

Co-Vice President

I'm Vara from Malaysia. I'm a junior in Materials Science and Engineering and Applied Math with a minor in Energy. I joined iGEM two years ago to pitch the original Caddisilk idea, and stayed to see it evolve into CaddisGraft! I memorized 112 digits of pi and the periodic table.

Lucy Wu

Co-Vice President and Drylab Co-Lead

I'm a junior majoring in Computer Science and Applied Math, but I'm passionate about innovation, design and working with people who push the limits of what's possible! I also have synesthesia, which means I associate colors with letters and numbers.

Sophia Xu

Wetlab Co-Lead

I'm a Mol/Cell senior who transferred last year from UCSD. I joined iGEM to find a syn-bio community and get involved in every facet of the research process.

Alex Dong

Wetlab Co-Lead

I'm a Mol/Cell Junior. I joined iGEM to explore synthetic biology and explore projects outside of lab.

Olga Kuzmich

Drylab Co-Lead

Hi, my name is Olga and I am from Belarus. I am a sophomore majoring in Applied Mathematics and Statistics and minoring in Computational Medicine. Being passionate about Computational Biology, I joined iGEM to contribute to the DryLab sub-team. Fun fact about me: I learn Mandarin Chinese for fun.

Katie Hong

Member

Hi, my name is Katie Hong and I’m a sophomore majoring in Molecular and Cellular Biology and Computer Science. I joined iGEM because I wanted to explore the connection between the biological side and the computational side of synthetic biology. Fun fact: I can't do a cartwheel.

Alisa Fedotova

Hardware Lead

My name is Alisa, and I am a junior majoring in ChemBE. I joined iGEM because I was looking for more opportunities to get involved with synthetic biology and implement a unique and innovative project into life. Fun fact: I used to do professional ballroom dancing.

Avaneesh Babu

Member

Hello! My name is Avaneesh and I'm a ChemBE minoring in Computer Integrated Surgery! I joined iGEM because it looked like a good way to become more involved on campus. My favorite animal is a flyfish.

Alexander Kim

Member

Alexander Kim, Class of 2026, B.S. Mechanical Engineering. I enjoy building robots to solve challenging problems in unconventional ways. IGEM has been a great way to apply my skills in a new environment!

Melina Mohammadi

Member

My name is Melina, and I’m a junior majoring in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. I joined iGEM to apply synthetic biology to real-world challenges.

Justin Blumenthal

Member

Sophomore, molecular and cellular biology, premed from Chicago, joined igem as a way to learn more about research and became entrepreneurship subteam lead because I enjoy learning about business as well.

Prisha Agrawal

Member

My name is Prisha Agrawal, and I am a sophomore majoring in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. I joined iGem to participate in innovative research in the synthetic Biology field and expand my knowledge. A fun fact about me is that I am a Russian Classical Ballet dancer.

Kalen Clifton

Advisor

My name is Kalen. I am a BME PhD student. I joined Hopkins iGEM as an advisor because I really enjoyed participating in iGEM in undergrad and wanted to help this team have a similar experience.

Dr. Winston Timp

Advisor

Winston Timp, an associate professor of biomedical engineering, focuses on the development and application of sequencing technologies to gain a deeper understanding of biology and a more accurate set of clinical tools for human disease.

Dr. Jessica Dunleavy

Advisor

Jessica Dunleavey is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Biomedical Engineering and the Associate Director of the BME Undergraduate Program.