President
Emily Isko
(she/her)
I am a 4th 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.
Vice President
Hoda Ansari
(she/her)
Co-Chair of Outreach
Sessen Daniel Iohannes
(she/her)
Sessen Daniel Iohannes is a 3rd 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)
Sub-Chair of Outreach
Khue Tran
(she/her)
Hi, I’m Khue and I’m excited to be a part of the Outreach team here at WISE. I’m a graduate student in the Koulakov lab where I study birds and olfaction. I lived in Austin, Texas before moving here and prior to that, I was born and raised in Vietnam. My greatest joy in life is sleeping, followed by spending time with my cat while doing as little as possible.
Sub-Chair of Outreach
Michael Ciccone
(he/him)
After I received my bachelors in Biology with a specialization in developmental genetics from Stony Brook University in 2018, I joined the dos Santos lab as an intern. In 2019, I enrolled in the Cell Biology and Biochemistry Master’s program at Stony Brook while continuing to work in lab and graduated in 2020. Currently, I am a Research Technician III and building manager in the dos santos lab. My projects focus on mammary gland development during pregnancy and breast cancer development by utilizing mouse and human mammary gland-derived organoids. When I’m not in lab some of my hobbies are gardening, cooking, building Legos and caring for my Pixie frog named Soup!
Co-Chair of Development
Viet Hang Le
(she/her)
Co-Chair of In-House Education
Janeen Brained
(she/her)
I am a computational post-doc in the Ware Lab. I received my doctorate degree at Zhengzhou University in Zhengzhou, China. As a Ph.D. student, my primary focus was to understand instabilities occurring during reproduction and flowering time in diploid, haploid, and polyploid plant species. Currently, my research focuses on understanding gene regulatory networks which control nutrient-used efficiencies in crop plants. Apart from my research endeavors, I am passionate about teaching and communicating science to non-scientist and young future scientists. Thus, prior to my post-doctorate studies, I was a middle high school biology teacher in Nassau, Bahamas. Here, I developed a passion for teaching and a commitment to uplifting children and young adults within local communities.
Co-Chair of In-House Education
Zhezhen Yu
(she/her)
Zhezhen is a graduate student at Wigler and Levy labs, pursuing her PhD in the Molecular and Cellular Biology Program at Stony Brook University. Her research focuses on human genetics, genomics, and the development of novel sequencing technologies, and her work integrates experimental and computational approaches. She has also obtained an Advanced Graduate Certificate in Science Communication from Stony Brook University. Beyond her academic endeavors, she finds pleasure in hiking, experimenting with new baking recipes, and exploring art exhibitions. She aspires to foster a more inclusive environment in science and engineering with the WiSE community.
Co-Chair of Communications
Debora Tenenbaum
(she/her)
Co-Chair of Communications
Kenneth Addison
(he/him)
Co-Chair of Communications
Shirsa Palit
(she/her)
Co-Chair of Professional Development
Alexandria Battison
(she/her)
I am a postdoctoral fellow at Cold Spring Harbor in the Borniger Lab studying neuron-tumor interactions. I received my PhD from the University of Connecticut in Physiology and Neurobiology where I used mass spectrometry and proteomics to investigate the synaptic mechanisms of gabaergic neurotransmission. Following graduate school, I did a postdoc in Chemistry at Yale University where I studied mucin-type O-glycosylation in Alzheimer's Disease. In my time outside of the lab I am an avid equestrian and own a horse named Kit Kat. I also run a small business training horses and teaching people to ride! I am very excited to now be a part of the Cold Spring Harbor community and be a member of WiSE!
Co-Chair of Professional Development
Yunxin Xie
(she/her)
I am a graduate student at the School of Biological Sciences at CSHL. I received my bachelor’s degree from Tsinghua University (China), where I studied biological sciences with a specific interest in transcription regulation. I am intrigued by every aspect of matter giving rise to life, from self-organizing molecules to collective behaviors of animals. I believe in multidisciplinary approaches to solving the puzzles in nature, and I hope to make the knowledge and tools more accessible. In my spare time, I enjoy vocal arts, calligraphy and random reading.
Co-Chair of Mental Health
Rabia Gondur
(she/her)
I am a Computational Research Scientist at the Cowley lab. I received my B.S. in Integrative Neuroscience with a concentration in cellular and molecular neuroscience and my M.S. in Data Science from Fordham University. During my Masters, my research focused on augmenting latent variable models to work with data from two modalities using Gaussian processes, variational autoencoders, and deep neural networks. Currently I am working on building machine learning models to better understand the underlying computations of the brain.
Co-Chair of Mental Health
Sadia Rahman
(she/her)
Currently, I am a research technician at the Shea lab at CSHL. Previously, I completed my masters at the City College of New York in cellular biology, studying novel DNA repair abrogations in the mouse auditory system. In my time there, I spent a lot of time in positions of mentorship with undergraduate graduate students, as well as working in a collaborative club that advocated for minorities and women in STEM to succeed in their careers, regardless of what that may be, as well as outreach. Currently, I work on how different neural circuits play a role on maternal behavior. In my free time, I enjoy finding new places to eat, taking long walks, and nearly any hobby that involves doing something with my hands.
Chair of Website Development
CiCi Zheng
(she/her)
I am a 4th year Ph.D. student at CSHL School of Biological Science. I study functional networks in nature, like leaf venations or neural networks. 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.