Team:Stony Brook/Team

Team Members

Meet the #PhireNation









The Children of Phire

Kian "Bubbles" Avilla

Kian studies Biochemistry at SBU and maintains a hobby in table tennis. He is currently focused on pursuing a career as a Cardiologist.

Meghan "Safety First" Bialt-DeCelie

Meghan is a Biochemistry Major and violinist. Her primary career interest is to improve communication between scientists and the general public.


Sunil "The Source" Deochand

Sunil is a Mathematics Major with a minor in Biology. He aims to pursue a Ph.D. in Computational Biology and is working towards a future career in related research on a path of great learning.

Sarah "#1 Dad" Heacox

Sarah is a junior majoring in Biomedical Engineering with a specific interest in Neuroscience. Outside of class, she enjoys tutoring high school students. Her favorite spice is water.


Joshua "Lit AF" Hombrebueno

Joshua is a senior studying Music and Chemistry and wants to pursue a PhD in Organic Chemistry. He also writes the music for the Stony Brook Vocalists, an a capella group on campus. His Patronus is definitely something like a narwhal and he's pretty sure that at the very moment your eyes befall this bio, more coffee is running through his veins than deoxygenated blood.

Tasnia "Mom" Islam

Tasnia is a senior studying Biology and is currently focused on a research career in Cellular Biology with pancreatic cancer as her area of interest. She is also a member of Circle K International. She's the daughter of a Queen. Literally. Her mother's name is Queen.


Ryan "Nubs" "Butterlamb" Kawalerski

A Buffalonian at heart, Ryan is a sophomore Biochemistry major, and he plans to pursue an M.D./Ph.D., focusing on clinical medicine. He is currently a part of Camp Kesem. He enjoys Belvita cookies, Loganberry juice, and random facts about Buffalo.

Jonathan "J-$" Kelly

Jonathan is studying Biology at SBU. Besides enjoying practicing martial arts, he has future career plans of opening an independent clinic for Genetic Medicine.


Samara "Safari" Khan

Samara is a Biochemistry Major at SBU. She enjoys being a part of Seawolves Against Cancer, and she plays cello for the Stony Brook orchestra. As a traitor to her home state of New York, she enjoys spinach and broccoli rabe on her pizza with alfredo sauce because why.

Jonathan Krog

Jon is a Biomedical Engineering Major and member of Stony Brook’s ClubCrew team. Aside from participating in triathlons, he is currently focused on pursuing a Ph.D. in his major.


Noah "Miniprep" Michelson

Noah is pursuing a Major in Biomedical Engineering. He is planning on a career in pharmaceuticals, and is currently a member of the Spirit of Stony Brook Marching Band.

Tasmia "MIA" Prami

Tasmia is a junior Biology major with a minor in Health & Wellness. Her favorite hobby is to play music (oboe and piano), and Medical School is her plan after graduation.


Daniel "Interlab" Thach

Daniel is studying Biology and hopes to pursue a career as a physician after graduating from Medical School. His favorite hobby is to play the piano.

Brian "Q5-QT" Yang

Brian is a junior Biology and Economics Double Major interested in future careers in either medicine or public economic policy. He enjoys cooking in his free time. He is truly an outdoorsman and such is his life that he refuses to take an indoor photo.


Andy "??" Yeung

Andy is a junior is a Health Science and Biology Double Major . He is the captain of the Stony Brook fencing club and plans on attending Medical School after graduation.

Omar Zainul

Omar is a rising junior and is studying Pharmacology and hopes to earn an M.D./Ph.D. after graduation. He enjoys fishing and posting pictures of himself with said fish in his spare time. He also is an avid connoisseur of wiri-wiri peppers.




The Intern

Veronica Ng




We would also like to thank our advisors and five professors from the Department of Biochemistry and Cellular Biology and the Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, as well as the staff of Undergraduate Biology for offering their guidance and advice throughout the summer.