Team:CCA SanDiego/Team
Meet Our Team
Miya Coimbra
I am a junior at Canyon Crest Academy and my interest in bioengineering led me to my involvement in iGEM since sophomore year. Although when we first started the project we had thought it would be mostly wet lab work, it turned into a computational project, which has been a great experience. iGEM has exposed me to another side of bioengineering: the computational aspect. Learning how to use programs such as VMD and NAMD to simulate how molecules interact with one another especially interested me. It was a different way of conducting research that I hadn’t thought of pursuing before. In the future, I would like to continue to study in the STEM field with computational modelling as an important aspect in my research.
Julia Wisnia
I am a rising junior at Canyon Crest Academy. My passion for biological sciences lead me to iGEM; I was excited to engage in the topics my advisors study. This year I was introduced to computational methods for performing experiments that I had recently thought to be strictly wet lab. Our mentors taught us to use programs such as VMD (Visual Molecular Dynamics) to model glucose and its sensor in a variety of environments. I hope to continue on to the biomedical engineering field using both classical and computational approaches. I would like to continue to pursue the construction of new biosensors in my future work.
Olivia Shiah
I am a junior at Canyon Crest Academy. I have always had a passion for biology, and iGEM provided me with a chance to experience the process which researchers go through when developing and testing new biosensors. iGEM also introduced me to the computational aspect of biology, a field I had not been familiar with prior to joining the team. The project allowed me to observe the efficiency in which VMD and NAMD were able to accurately portray molecules in numerous conditions, a part of our project which captured my interest. iGEM has encouraged me to pursue my interest in biology, particularly the computational aspect.
Maggie Chen
I am a sophomore at Canyon Crest Academy. With an interest in the medical sciences and a strong affinity for engineering, I found the iGEM team to be both educational and inspirational in every aspect. It has been incredible to discover the sheer power of computational techniques; the programs that we use have the ability to model scenarios, screen drug molecules, and calculate various drug levels. iGEM helped me discover the beauty of combining different techniques to achieve a common goal. In the future, I hope to study medicine while still conducting research.
Amanda Matheson
Now entering my senior year of high school at Canyon Crest Academy, I have been involved in iGEM since I was a sophomore. With a lifelong love of biology, mathematics, and helping others, I have found synthetic biology in general and the iGEM program in particular to act as an ideal medium by which to explore all of my interests, as well as to help advance knowledge in the scientific and medical fields. I have particularly enjoyed understanding the underlying reasoning patterns through which programs such as VMD and NAMD are able to accurately model inter- and intramolecular interactions.
Ariel Braunstein
I am a senior at Canyon Crest Academy. My existing passion for biology grew this summer through iGEM. I joined iGEM because it gave me the opportunity to learn both wet lab techniques, as well as to do research on subjects that interested us. iGEM also introduced me to the computational side of the biological sciences and the way that programs like NAMD (Nanoscale Molecular Dynamics) can be used in conjunction with traditional wet lab methods to do research. My experience with synthetic biology during the iGEM competition has led me to look for universities with synthetic biology programs for my undergraduate degree.
Vivian Patton
I am entering my junior at Canyon Crest Academy. Prior to joining iGEM, I had a strong interest in biology. I found iGEM to be the ideal place to extend my knowledge in this field at a computational and experimental level. Through iGEM, I was able to observe, learn, and master the techniques of synthetic biology. Additionally, there was an outreach program associated with our project that I thoroughly enjoyed, as I was able to work with kids. In the future, I would love to pursue a career in the medical field.
Ravi Agarwal
Now a Senior at Canyon Crest Academy, over the past three years I have had the privilege to work with some of the best scientific minds in San Diego including numerous hours working in wet labs performing various tasks. Additionally, I have also shadowed world renowned physicians, observing their every motion trying to understand the complexities of their profession and every thought process that goes into their decision making. As such, it is no surprise that I thoroughly enjoy the sciences and any intellectual pursuit for that matter. The iGem program, which I have been affiliated with since my Junior year, has truly allowed me to branch out of the wet lab environment and apply what has been taught to me in school to both medicine and further understanding of the science. iGem truly exposed me to a new side of of bioengineering, and science itself for that matter, of the theoretical practices that can be played out in computational biology through programs such as VMD and NAMD, simulating the nuances behind molecular behavior. Going forward in my educational career, one that will ultimately end up with my being a physician, I would certainly like to continue applying and furthering the knowledge that I ascertained through my experience in iGem to enhance my scientific pursuits, both in practice and research.
Harrison Harris
I am a Senior at Canyon Crest Academy. I’ve done many things in my life, including living on my own when I was 16 years old, yet I found iGEM to be very inspiring. It’s amazing to see so many people having a love for making everyone’s lives just a little bit better. In this cynical world, iGEM is truly one good step forward for humanity. Having the pleasure to work with and observe both the high school and graduate students has given me a lot to think about my future in Medical Science.
Meet Our Advisors
Sophie Hirakis
I started graduate summer research with the UC San Diego Amaro Lab in of 2012 as part of the CompChemBio program. I joined the lab as a first-year graduate student in 2013. I also work jointly with Dr. Terry Sejnowski at the Salk Institute of Biological Sciences. Before coming to graduate school, I attended Manhattan College in Riverdale, NY. There, I worked in the organic chemistry research lab of Dr. James McCullagh. I received my Bachelors of Science degree in Biochemistry in 2011. My primary research interests include brownian dynamics simulations, and sub-cellular modeling of calcium dynamics in cardiac myocytes. My favorite protein is the ryanodine receptor 2 (RyR2). My hobbies involve singing, dancing, and listening to New York Yankees games on my radio.
Benjamin Kellman
I am a PhD student at the University of California at San Diego studying Bioinformatics and Systems Biology. I’m currently working in the Department of Pediatrics and the Department of Neuroscience. I am studying pathway-based hematological indicators of Autism diagnosis and prognosis. I also study the contribution of human milk oligosaccharides to pediatric diseases.
Erinn Eddingfield
This is my second year as a science teacher at CCA, and I have taught biology, chemistry, and marine biology in the classroom for 8 years. I love being a part of the Raven family and look forward to settling in further. My primary goal as a science teacher is for all students (no matter the subject) to expand their SCIENCE skills (scientific reading/writing, practical lab skills, observation, inference, etc) through the avenue of the subject at hand. Anyone in this era of Google has the ability to look up pieces of biology or chemistry information easily on the internet, but many people are deficient in their ability to analyze the information and the credibility of scientific knowledge that they have access to on the web or in the news. Secondarily, students will leave my mentorship with knowledge of the subject that will serve as a strong foundation for success in AP science courses, college courses, standardized science tests, or the workplace.