Team:Arizona State/Team
The ASU Team
Timothy Chen
Tim is a third year biomedical engineering student interested in cancer research and treatment. He has done research in the Haynes Lab on chromatin dynamics in cancer cells as well as the iGEM project. Outside of the lab, he works as a medical scribe and helps organize blood drives for the Red Cross.
Brady Dennison
Brady Dennison is a third year biomedical engineering and microbiology student. He has been working as an undergraduate researcher at the Haynes lab for the last year and a half. His future goal is to incorporate more engineering principles into the microbiology field, and has had an awesome time doing so throughout the iGEM project. Outside of the lab (on the rare occasion) he loves to play piano, improve his woodworking skills, and go biking.
Brittany Flores
Brittany is a 3rd/4th year Molecular Bioscience & Biotechnology and Medicinal Biochemistry student at Arizona State University. She has worked in cancer immunology gene therapy and diagnostics in addition to cutting edge protein and DNA nanotechnology and crystallography lab, while working with Dr. Haynes since February 2016. She has also began a possible thesis project with Dr. Anderson at the Virginia G. Piper Center for Personalized Diagnostics. Her main goal is to attain her pHD and MD in neurosurgery in addition to conducting clinical research to advance immunology and cancer research. Brittany works with ASU teams building race cars, Arduino and Mars Rover Competition, enjoys playing the guitar and singing in a band, and participating in recreational archery competitions!
Ernesto Luna
Ernesto is a fourth year student at ASU studying medicinal biochemistry. Ever since watching Jurassic Park as a child, Ernesto has been interested in genome editing technologies. Nowadays, he’s caught up with learning all about the many forms of intercellular communication. Ernesto aspires to become a physician, but before that, wishes to contribute to the field of synthetic biology. When not running an induction, you can find Ernesto at the student recreation center playing soccer or on his couch binge watching a show.
Rob Schultz
Rob is a junior majoring in Biomedical Engineering at ASU. He is a member of the rugby team on campus and a leader in the Respect Movement. Rob grew up on the lake in Prior Lake, Minnesota where he used to dream of being a scientist one day. Now, he's excited that iGEM has given him his first opportunity to contribute to a project!
Jiaqi Wu
Jiaqi is a junior studying computer science and biological sciences at Arizona State University. She’s been an undergraduate researcher in The Haynes Lab for two years, and works as a part-time web developer at a Tempe startup. Jiaqi is particularly interested in the applications of computer science and software in biology, and hopes to work towards uniting the fields in the future. Outside the lab, she enjoys traveling, creating art and music, and attending hackathons.
Jimmy Xu
Jimmy is a junior at Arizona State University studying chemical engineering and molecular biology. Jimmy has worked at the Haynes Lab since Summer 2014 and also works in the Swette Center for Environmental Biotechnology as a research assistant. Jimmy is passionate about novel drug development and delivery,and dreams of one day researching for the National Institutes for Health. Outside of his work, he loves playing basketball, pencil sketching, and boba milk tea.
Graduate Students
Cassandra Barrett
Cassandra is a second year PhD student at ASU in the Biological Design Program. Besides working with iGEM students, she spends her time in the Haynes' lab working on controlling chromatin dynamics in cancer cells. She is interested in mammalian synthetic biology, the relationship between epigenetics and neurodegeneration, and the use of synthetic biology in food. Outside of the lab, she enjoys writing poetry, roller derby, and participating in terrain races with her labmates.
Rene Daer
René is a sixth year graduate student in the Haynes Lab at ASU. At the bench, René is developing and testing protein tools to engineer human chromatin. One day, this work may lead to therapies that address disease at the chromatin level, rather than at the symptom level. Outside of the lab, she plays basketball, is a lifelong amateur guitarist, and enjoys an alarming amount of cheese. She's excited to mentor the ASU iGEM team because she loves sharing the joy of exploring new data with young researchers.
Faculty Advisor
Dr. Karmella Haynes
Karmella Haynes earned her Ph.D. in Molecular Genetics at Washington University, St. Louis. Her postdoctoral training focused on designing bacterial DNA for mathematical applications (Davidson College) and engineering synthetic proteins to control human cell fates (Harvard Medical School).
