I have had the pleasure of hosting several talented high school, undergraduate, and graduate students as visiting research interns in my lab the past year/summer. In addition, we also trained several Rutgers students that I will post about later this year. See picture from our lab summer lunch of these interns alongside several lab members!
First, we hosted Nakeitha Brown for the past year as a research intern. Nakeitha was a PRELS (Post-Baccalaureate Research Experiences for LSAMP Students) Scholar. Thanks to Cristiane San Miguel for her support of the Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP) and PRELS program at Rutgers University. Nakeitha gained handson experience working on a glycobiologics biomanufacturing and characterization research project. Special thanks to my postdoc, Aditya Narvekar, for mentoring Nakeitha in the lab. Nakeitha just completed her training this month and will be preparing to apply to graduate school in the near future.
Second, we hosted Ms. NABANITA PAUL a talented masters student from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, as a research intern this summer. Nabanita was selected as a Khorana Scholar and granted a prestigious scholarship to intern in my research lab at Rutgers University–New Brunswick this summer. She worked on engineering glycosynthase enzymes for human milk oligosaccharides synthesis. The Khorana program was developed in a three-way partnership between WINstep Forward, the Department of Biotechnology of the Government of India, and the Indo U.S. Science and Technology Forum. The aim of the Khorana Program is to foster student exchange between premier institutions in India and the US. Special thanks to my PhD student, Srividya Vyjayanthi T, for mentoring Nabanita in the lab this summer.
Third, we hosted two undergraduate students (Ms. Tiphaine Alves Cunha and Ms. Annouck Bonneau-Arene) working towards their masters degree from France this summer as part of the BTAA-IREP program (Big Ten Academic Alliance International Research Experience Program). Annouck was mentored by my PhD student, Srividya Vyjayanthi T, and worked on engineering novel glycosynthase enzymes for fucosylated oligosaccharides synthesis. While, Tiphaine was mentored by Antonio De Chellis and Samantha Shimabukuro, and worked on expression and characterization of enzymes relevant to cellulosic and seaweed biomass conversion to sugars. Special thanks to Johanna Bernstein for her support of the BTAA-IREP program at Rutgers University.
Finally, we hosted two high school students (Ms. Nicole Onuoha and Ms. Genesis Martinez) supported by the American Chemical Society SEED program this summer. Nicole and Genesis were mentored by Aditya and Ryan Murphy on projects focussed on biomanufacturing and biophysics. Thanks to Emily Tenenbaum as ACS SEED program coordinator.
