About Us
iGEM at Berkeley is an undergraduate-led synthetic biology makerspace at the University of California, Berkeley. Our student organization was founded just 2 years ago but has grown to support and train over 400 members. Our mission is to increase accessibility of the synthetic biology and bioengineering community to students of all backgrounds and research experience levels at Cal—that's why our Foundations of Engineering Biology course, educational and professional development resources, and events are open to all general members without any selection process.
Leadership
Every aspect of running iGEM at Berkeley, from writing grants to teaching courses to conducting experiments, is coordinated by our Board of Directors. As a club, we are supported and advised by Professor John Christopher Anderson, and our individual project teams are led by our undergraduate Project Leads and further advised by their Graduate Student Mentors.
Board of Directors
Elena Mujica
Experimental: WetlabJunior, Bioengineering
Michael Ni
Experimental: WetlabJunior, Business and Molecular and Cell Biology
Mrunali Manjrekar
Experimental: CompBioSenior, Bioengineering and Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Cassie Areff
Experimental: CompBioSophomore, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Guru Rajesh
External RelationsSophomore, Bioengineering
Arshia Deep
Foundations of Engineering BiologySenior, Bioengineering
Kylie Akiyama
Foundations of Engineering BiologyJunior, Bioengineering
Christina Lee
FinanceSenior, Molecular and Cell Biology
Samhita Nittala
FinanceJunior, Molecular and Cell Biology
Kelly Tan
Internal RelationsSenior, Molecular and Cell Biology
Faculty Advisor
Chris Anderson
Faculty AdvisorChris Anderson is an Associate Professor of Bioengineering at the University of California, Berkeley. His work involves developing new technologies and applications for synthetic biology, with a focus on automation and the use of software to facilitate all aspects of the field from target selection to design to biosafety and intellectual property management.
Club Structure
With over 400 general members, iGEM at Berkeley is the largest student-run research organization on campus. Our club decisions are made jointly by our Board of Directors, which each also oversee all domains (from outreach and training, to finance and experimental) of the club.
Outside Research
When we're not in the lab, iGEM at Berkeley members can be seen at our socials around Berkeley or on our semesterly retreats to beautiful places in Northern California.
To get a sense for the large scale of our club, the pictures above depict just about 10% of our experimental members, and only 1% of our general members!
