NEWS
Vanderbilt News Features SyBBURE Student Andrei Olaru
Work by Andrei Olaru and colleagues in Simon Darroch’s research laboratory was recently featured in a Vanderbilt news article.
Darroch praised the lab’s efforts in spearheading this research: “It took talented students like Gibson to actually get this effort going, and he’s been expanding the lab’s horizons ever since.”
These new horizons are already approaching in the capable hands of Andrei Olaru and Hale Masaki, undergraduate students in biological sciences and EES, respectively. “Andrei and Hale are using similar techniques to help understand some other mysterious Ediacaran taxa,” Darroch said. The students recently earned trainee travel grants through the ESI to present their work at the annual meeting of the Paleontological Society in Oxford, England.
Scientific Output Update: Minna Apostolova
SyBBURE Student Minna Apostolova’s second-author review article, “Viral and cellular oncogenes promote immune evasion,” was published in the Nature journal Oncogene on January 13, 2022. Check it out here.
SyBBURE Celebrates
Congratulations to our recent graduate, Amaury Perez. We know you will go on to do great things!
Amaury Perez
Leadership Team Welcomes New Members
Welcome to the new members of Team SyBBURE: Tara Mack and Nicole Sarna!
SyBBURE Welcomes New Students for 2022 Spring Semester
In December 2021, fifteen new students were welcomed into the SyBBURE community. We are excited to see what they accomplish!
SyBBURE Student, Andrei Olaru, awarded the GSA Undergraduate Research Presentation Award
Andrei, a current SyBBURE student and Vanderbilt University junior majoring in Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology, received the Geological Society of America best undergraduate research presentation award in 2021. His presentation was titled, “Functional morphology of the Ediacaran organism Tribrachidiium heraldicum revealed by computational fluid dynamics.” Way to go, Andrei!
Scientific Output Update: Asia Miller
SyBBURE Student Asia Miller’s first-author review paper, “The microbiome impacts host hybridization and speciation,” was published in the journal PLOS Biology on October 26, 2021. Check it out here.
Alumni Update: SyBBURE alumni Chiaki Santiago and Carla-Jane Pax pursue careers in academia and industry
Chiaki Santiago graduated in 2019 with a degree in neuroscience, and she is currently pursuing a PhD in neuroscience at the University of California, San Diego. Her work includes studying the inducible transcription factor NPAS4 and its ability to alter inhibitory neurobiology under Dr. Brenda Bloodgood. After graduation, Chiaki would like to continue with research while also teaching and mentoring future scientists. She is also passionate about improving the visibility of minorities in STEM and would like to advocate for underrepresented groups in a university setting.
Carla-Jane Pax graduated in 2019 with a degree in biomedical engineering, and since then she has worked in industry at Capital One as a software developer. Carla credits SyBBURE with giving her the communication skills necessary to succeed in her current position. She specifically mentions the ability to explain complex topics to people who are not experts in a field as the most important skill she learned as a member of SyBBURE.
Scientific Output Update: Andy Du
SyBBURE student Andy Du fourth authored paper, “Large-Scale Metasurfaces Based on Grayscale Nanosphere Lithography,” was published in the journal ACS Photonics on June 1, 2021. Check it out here.
SyBBURE Student Minna Apostolova Awarded the Aida Nureddin Outstanding Junior Research Award
Minna Apostolova, Class of 2022, was awarded the Vanderbilt Biochemistry Department’s Aida Nureddin Outstanding Junior Research Award for her work under Dr. Mary Philip. Congratulations, Minna!