President
Nicole Sivetz
(she/her)
Vice President
Emily Isko
(she/her)
I am a third-year graduate student in the School of Biological Sciences. I received my B.A. in Music and Neuroscience from Amherst College in 2018. At Amherst, I completed an honor’s thesis studying zebrafish hair cells, analogous in structure and function to hair cells in the cochlea necessary for human hearing. After graduation, I worked at the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) at NIH studying the role of the microbiome in the genetic and metabolic disease of methylmalonic acidemia. Here at CSHL, I am combining my interests in neuroscience, developed at Amherst, and bioinformatics, developed at NHGRI, in my thesis research to look at the connectome and transcriptome differences underlying singing behavior observed in the singing mouse (Scotinomys teguina). Outside of lab, I enjoy attending dance classes, listening to a variety of music, and playing clarinet in a chamber group on campus.
Co-Chair of In-House Education
Janeen Braynen
(she/her)
Co-Chair of In-house Education
Viet Hang Le
(she/her)
Hang joined CSHL as a Postdoc in 2021. She completed her BSc (Hons) in Biomedical Sciences at The University of Nottingham. She obtained her PhD degree from The University of Aberdeen, where her research focused on axon guidance in the visual system during early embryonic development. Currently, her studies revolve around understanding the mechanism of seizures in brain disorders, including the interaction between neurons and cancer. Having been fortunate enough to receive training in different parts of the world, Hang is always aware of the challenges and rewards of being a woman in science. As a result, she dedicates her time to serving as the Co-Chair of In-House Education, with the goal of raising awareness about equality and inclusivity within the Lab. Her hope is to encourage more individuals to share their opinions and foster understanding among everyone in the lab, regardless of gender or origin.
Co-Chair of Outreach
Sessen Daniel Iohannes
(she/her)
Sessen Daniel Iohannes is a second year PhD student at the School of Biological Sciences. She received her bachelor’s degree in Biological Sciences from the University of Pisa (Italy) and her master’s degrees in Molecular Biotechnology and Agricultural Sciences from the University of Pisa and Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna (Italy). During her master’s studies she became interested in plant genomics and worked on the genomics of local adaptation of a grass called teff. She was involved in a science communication and outreach initiative called Progetto Biotecnologico aimed at bringing biotechnology to local high schools and the public in Pisa. She is currently a coordinator of the African Researchers Network within the American Society of Plant Biologists.
Co-Chair of Outreach
Marygrace Trousdell
(she/her)
Co-Chair of Outreach Communications
(she/her)
Co-Chair of Outreach Communications
Debora Tenenbaum
(she/her)
Co-Chair of Mental Health/Communications
Hoda Ansari
(she/her)
Co-Chair of Mental Health/Communications
Yaman Thapa
(she/her)
Co-Chair of Professional Development
Nissim Ranade
(she/her)
I am a computational post-doc in the Krasnitz lab. I received a PhD. in pure mathematics from Stony Brook University in 2017. After that I taught at Lafayette college in Pennsylvania for a year before transitioning to research in applied mathematics, specifically computational biology. Thought my graduate and post-doc career, I have also been interested in education and making science and math more accessible.
Co-Chair of Professional Development
(she/her)
Chair of Website Development
CiCi Zheng
(she/her)
I am a third-year Ph.D. student at CSHL School of Biological Science. I study functional networks in nature, like leaf venations or neural network architectures. My research involves developing quantitative tools to characterize networks, and deriving algorithms inspired by nature that potentially serve as better engineering solutions. I graduated from the College of William and Mary with math and biology degrees in 2020, and have since wanted to apply math and computational tools to understand biological phenomena. I believe scientific reasoning and mathematical logic can empower us to become better thinkers. In my spare time, I am an amateur barista and I devour novels.