Team:CSWProteens/advisors

Melodie Knowlton, Ph.D

Melodie has just assumed the Chairmanship of the Science Department. Melodie earned her Ph.D. in cell and developmental biology from Harvard University and a B.S. in biology from Ohio State University.

Committing to participation in the high school division of iGEM is a big deal for a secondary school. Here is a brief statement from Melodie Knowlton, our current chair of the Science Department:

"CSW's Science Department encouraged our students to participate in iGEM because of the cross-discipline nature of the activities. The iGEM competition teaches students how to collaborate and to think critically. It challenges students and helps to deepen their understanding of the sciences. Moreover, synthetic biology provides an engineering context in which to learn molecular biology, genetic engineering and microbiology methods. It also provides a means to explore current and emerging research technologies that are hard to address in most high school science classes. High school iGEM also provides an avenue for students to build relationships with research scientists. Students collaborate with academic faculty in synthetic biology and scientists in biotech companies, extending the teaching of molecular genetic techniques into real world and authentic applications."

Howard Goldsweig, MD

Howard is a medical oncologist who worked in biotech clinical research and development. As an encore career, he joined the science faculty of the Cambridge School of Weston. Howard is from New Jersey and lives in Boston with his wife and Springer Spaniel, James.

Stephanie Hays

“Steph” is a PhD student in Systems Biology, Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She works on engineering microbial communication in Pam Silver’s Lab. She holds BS/MS degrees in Biochemistry/Biophysics from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York. At RPI, she graduated Magna Cum Laude and was induced into the TriBeta Biological Honors Society. Steph is from New Jersey.

Asif Rahman

Asif is pursuing his PhD in Biological Engineering at Utah State University. His area of study is secretion based recovery of bioplastic from recombinant E.coli and scale-up of the process. Asif is from Auckland, New Zealand. Outside of the lab Asif plays cricket, tennis, swimming, and soccer. He also enjoys traveling.

Alyssa Henning

Alyssa is a PhD candidate and NSF GRFP Fellow in Jeffrey Catchmark's lab at Penn State. She majored in Bioengineering at Cornell, where she was a founding member of Cornell's iGEM program in 2008. After graduating, she went to Ginkgo Bioworks to further explore synthetic biology. She has been active in many aspects of iGEM since her undergraduate days. She is from Bakersfield, California.