JOHN C. GREENE SOCIETY
2022 - 2023 OFFICERS
Tess Foote
President
Tess Foote graduated from Columbia University in 2020 with a B.A. in Neuroscience and Behavior. During her time in undergrad, Tess participated in research projects in Dr. Maura Boldrini's lab at the New York State Psychiatric Institute. The lab focused on studying the effect of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) on adult neurogenesis by analyzing neuronal maturation in the hippocampus through immunofluorescence, immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization in postmortem human brains. At the lab Tess mainly assisted with immunofluorescence experiments studying the neural progenitor cell markers Sox2 and Nestin, to assess any early maturational differences in the cells of controls, those with MDD and MDD treated with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). Tess also has a background in public health research as she worked at the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) in Kingston, Jamaica. There she assisted the advisor for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Taraleen Malcolm with conducting literature reviews on the transmission of the Zika virus and compiling the country's regional health portfolios. During her free time, Tess enjoys reading a good book, watching movies and taking care of her plants!
Angela Lee
Vice President
Angela Lee graduated from UC Berkeley in 2020 with a B.S. in Molecular Environmental Biology. During her undergraduate studies, she worked in the Doudna-Savage lab at the Innovative Genomics Institute. Here, she studied the CRISPR-Cas systems and worked to engineer the Cas9 protein to be less immunogenic, an emerging problem in genome editing, through Minimization by Iterative Size Exclusion Recombination. In her free time, Angela enjoys exploring scenic places, finding new places to eat, and watching movies!
Uzair Nasir
Secretary & D2 Recpresentative
Uzair Nasir graduated from UC Berkeley in 2021 with a B.S. in Molecular and Cell Biology. In his lab, he worked on a method that uses RNAi as a more environmentally friendly alternative to insecticides and pesticides in the California grapefarm industry. The aim was to target a RNA segment in powdery mildew fungal growth on grapes and make it into RNAi. In his free time, Uzair enjoys hiking, cooking, gaming, watching anime, and bouldering.
Anna Ren
Treasurer
Anna Ren graduated from the George Washington University in 2019 with a major in Molecular Biology and minor in Economics. Her research in the Martin Lab involved optics and learning about the mechanisms of structural colors (e.g. blue and metallic colors) in butterflies. More broadly, her lab focused on the developmental pathways of pattern formation by utilizing butterfly models. During her free time, she enjoys baking, caring for her plants (always looking for new pots!), and taking long walks in the sunnier parts of San Francisco.
Andrew Lee
Senior Journal Club Coordinator
Andrew Lee graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles in 2019 with a B.S. in Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics. As an undergraduate student, he participated in multiple research projects in Ting's lab, Friese's lab, and Huntley's lab. The topics of the projects included: "The Effect of the Ketogenic Diet on Mice Metabolic Rate," "The Effects of Traditional Chinese Medicine on Streptococcus Bacteria," and "Effectiveness of Fibromodulin on Dermal Fibroblast Activity." In January 2020, he contributed to the UCLA phage hunting project and published a complete genome of Mycobacteriophage Ajay and Mycobacteriophage Grungle on NCBI Genbank. Outside of research and classes, he enjoys exploring nearby restaurants and watching horror movies.
Ardeshir Adhami
Senior Journal Club Coordinator
Ardeshir Adhami graduated from Komitas State Conservatory with a B.A. and M.A in Music; in the past decade, he pursued his passions as a concert pianist and teacher. He then completed a post-baccalaureate program at the California State University East Bay, where he began his foray into research. Ardeshir’s current research at UCSF, alongside his faculty mentor Dr. Roper, focuses on evaluating and improving educational endodontics at UCSF and other U.S. dental schools. In his free time, Ardeshir enjoys teaching piano, composing music for films, playing table tennis, and hiking.
Shervin Sorooshian
Senior Newsletter Editor
Shervin Sorooshian graduated from UCSC with a major in Molecular Biology. His summer research project in 2022 focused on parathyroid hormone therapy to curb hypercalcemia that arises in those taking therapeutics for osteoporosis. His lab injected mice with varying doses of therapeutic parathyroid hormone and determined the serum calcium levels from each therapeutic level. He would like to see if these therapies can be used to promote skeletal anabolism compared to current treatments. Outside of dentistry, Shervin enjoys hiking, sports, and outdoor activities.
Andrew Nguyen
Senior Newsletter Editor
Andrew Nguyen graduated from the University of California, Irvine in 2019 with a B.S. in Biological Sciences. During undergrad, Andrew participated at the Gillispie Neuroscience Research Facility, where he focused on the Neuropep/plasticity department. He prepared mice brains by meticulously slicing through the hippocampus and dividing the brain into ventral and dorsal sections to explore these interests. He compared the intensity distribution plots for wild type versus Ts65Dn mice and found that the mutant mice had more labeled synapses at the extreme ends of the intensity histograms. This difference in distribution hinted at disrupted regulation of proteins involved in long term potentiation. His efforts were noticed at the 25th annual UCI Undergraduate Research Symposium. In his free time, Andrew enjoys photography, trying out new restaurants, and music!
Anna Nguyen
Senior Advocacy Chair
Anna Nguyen graduated from University of Virginia in 2021 with majors in Biology and Statistics. She conducted research for the Gibson Lab in the Department of Evolution, Ecology and Behavior. In the Gibson Lab, Anna studied the effects of genetic diversity on parasitic infections across a wide range of biological systems through meta-analysis. In her free time, she enjoys reading, cooking, and yoga.
Jenna Young
Graduate & Communications Liaison
Jenna Young graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles in 2019 with a B.S. in Physics. During her sophomore year, her research activities focused on the effect of the ketogenic diet on the seizure threshold of mice. She also worked as a Biological Sciences editor for the UCLA Undergraduate Science Journal. Outside of school, she enjoys cooking, reading, and taking nature walks.
Anny Yang
Junior Journal Club Coordinator
Anny Yang graduated from Northwestern University in 2022 with majors in Biological Sciences and Psychology and a Minor in Global Health. She worked at the Youth Digital Mental Health Lab at Northwestern University. The YDMH lab works with adolescents and local communities to develop and implement evidence-based mental health resources and tools to combat anxiety and stress. On her free time, Anny enjoys weightlifting, retail therapy, hiking, and painting nails.
Migelle Paolo Orobia
D1 Representative
Migelle Paolo Orobia graduated from UC Santa Barbara in 2019 with a B.S. in Chemistry. He worked in the C. Diff Epidemiology in Santa Barbara County. On his free time, Paolo enjoys running and eating.
Cristina Coral
Junior Advocacy Chair
Cristina Coral graduated from UC San Diego in 2020 with a B.S. in General Biology. She started her research in a neuronal stem cell lab at the Sanford Consortium for Regenerative Medicine during the summer of 2018. Later, in the Addiction Research Laboratory, she used rats as animal models in a Genome Wide Association Study (GWAS) study to learn about the neurobiological mechanisms behind addiction to abused substances like cocaine, alcohol, and oxycodone. She used a cryostat to punch rat brains, wrote a protocol about rat behavioral “ANY-maze” software that was chosen as a 2021 featured protocol on Protocols.io, and cleaned up their cocaine and oxycodone GWAS Biobanks to prepare for R data analysis. After graduation, Cristina worked with her postdoc mentor on Biobank data analysis, presented, and published a paper titled “Leptin Protects Against the Development and Expression of Cocaine Addiction-Like Behavior in Heterogeneous Stock Rats''. She also began working full-time as a Research Coordinator at the West Angeles VA Medical Center as well as an unblinded coordinator for a Japanese study about a lumbar disc herniation drug under the same PI. In her free time, she likes roller skating, camping, cooking, and checking out new places in SF with friends.
Byron Zhao
Historian
Byron Zhao graduated from UC Berkeley in 2021 with a B.S. in Molecular & Cell Biology with a Biological Chemistry Emphasis. During undergrad, he worked in the Hong Lab in the UCSF Department of Orofacial Sciences on craniofacial developmental research, during which he completed his thesis for an honors degree at UC Berkeley in Dr. Christine Hong's lab. In his thesis, he used 2D morphological, volumetric, and geometric morphometric analyses to investigate p75NTR's role in the skeletal formation of the mouse skull. Byron loves hiking and camping. He also enjoys exploring music venues with friends, including classical, jazz, house, and techno.
Miguel Brito-Mariani
Junior Newsletter Editor
Miguel Brito-Mariani graduated from University of Colorado Boulder in 2021 with a major in Integrative Physiology and minor in Mathematics. During his gap year, Miguel worked as a Research Assistant at Agilent Technologies, where he developed companion diagnostic assays for cancer therapeutics. In his free time, he enjoys spending time in the outdoors with friends: whether it is hiking, camping, or sports.