Team

Image by Sunanda Sharma, Rachel Smith, Christoph Bader, Dominik Kolb, Neri Oxman

Executive Team

Sarah is a fourth-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.

Sarah Syed

Co-President

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.

Vikram Sundar

Co-President

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.

Dilyara Sharipova

Vice President of Communications

Rac is a third-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, previously serving as co-director of the Undergraduate Initiative.

Rac Mukkamala

Vice President of Finance

Victory is a third-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, previously serving as co-director of the Undergraduate Initiative.

Victory Yinka-Banjo

Undergraduate President

Initiative Directors

Anika is a third-year undergraduate majoring in Biological Engineering and Biology. Her past research at the Irvine lab was focused on increasing vaccine efficacy by modulating spacing and dosage. In Fall 2023, she will join the Wong Lab to understand how differences between lymph nodes contribute to metastasis. She has been involved with MBG since Fall 2021 in the Undergraduate Initiative.

Anika Wadhera

Undergraduate Initiative Co-Director

Zi is a third-year undergraduate student studying Biological Engineering. Her research at the Lees Lab involved uncovering the mechanisms by which lung cancer cells become resistant to small molecule inhibitors against epigenetic regulators, with a focus on DNA damage response analysis. Zi has been involved with MBG since Spring 2022 as part of the undergraduate initiative.

Zixuan Liu

Undergraduate Initiative Co-Director

Rhoda is a PhD student at MIT Chemical Engineering, advised by Dr. Bob Langer and Dr. Ana Jaklenec. Her research focuses on development of nano- and microparticle-based platforms for stabilization and delivery of vaccines and nutrients to improve global vaccine equity and food security. Rhoda has been involved in MBG since Spring 2023.

Linzixuan (Rhoda) Zhang

Industry Initiative Director

Yufei is a third year Biological Engineering PhD advised by Forest White. Her research involves studying tumor and immune cell dynamics in glioblastoma using immunopeptidomics approach to find novel therapeutic targets. She has been involved with MBG since Fall 2021 as a Senior Associate in the Industry initiative.

Yufei Cui

Industry Initiative Co-Director

Brandon is a PhD candidate in the Health Sciences and Technology program at MIT. His research in Krystyn Van Vliet’s lab explores novel manufacturing platforms and priming techniques to enhance the therapeutic efficacy of cell therapy. Brandon has been involved with MBG since joining the entrepreneurship initiative in Fall 2020.

Brandon Krupczak

Entrepreneurship Initiative Director

Grace is a third-year undergraduate student at MIT majoring in Chemical-Biological Engineering.  Her previous research in the Wittrup Lab focused on engineering proteins for cancer therapeutics. In Fall 2023, she will join the Furst lab to work on engineering microbes to detect micronutrients in the soil. She currently serves as Career Fair Director for the MIT Biotech Group.

Grace Yang

Career Fair Co-Chair

Elisa is a second-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 at CSAIL involves 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.

Elisa Xia

Career Fair Co-Chair

Ayantu is a second 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.

Ayantu Tamene

Social Chair