Team & Attributions | UCSC

Team Captain

ebeer@ucsc.edu
LinkedIn

Hi! I’m Lizzie, one of the co-captains for the 2022 iGEM team this year. I came to Santa Cruz four years ago without having any idea as to what I wanted to study and am now going onto my fifth year as a Biomolecular Engineering student. Crazy how life just happens like that, you know? The freedom that undergraduate students have in iGEM to pursue a project of their interest, under the condition that they fundraise all the money to do so, is what initially drew me to this program. I am so fortunate to be part of this program and am extremely grateful to be one of the leaders of this team of 14 passionate, inspiring and goofy nerds. When I am not in the lab keeping my minions in check, I enjoy spending time with friends and family, frolicing around town, hitting the beach to both bask in the sun and surf, and watching “The Boys” with the boys every Wednesday night. I am not sure what my future holds, but I know that my team and our project have prepared me to continue to pursue research that will make a positive impact on a local and global scale.

Fundraising from meetings with individual investors, granting bodies, companies, and campus donor events donation events.
Facilitated meetings with endocrinologists and stakeholders.
Coordinated collaboration with Dubois lab for binding affinity test.
Helped create wet-lab schedules/plans with Kiana.
Facilitated team meetings alongside Kiana.
Implemented protocols and troubleshot alongside the wet-lab group for both E. coli Ex-4 and E. coli GLP-1 R.
Hosted education and participated in community outreach.
Worked with Kiana to complete and submit iGEM deliverables.
Supported S. cerevisiae group in protein production.
Worked on implementation of wiki content and debugging of the website.

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Team Captain

kimani@ucsc.edu
LinkedIn

Hi there! My name is Kiana, and I am a fourth year Biomolecular Engineering and Bioinformatics student. Being an iGEM co-captain has been the best part of my undergraduate career and has given me the privilege to help build an amazing team of lovely, intelligent, deeply motivated, and a little-bit crazy undergrads. We’re all going to be friends 4 life no doubt. I am so proud of our team’s progress and all our efforts in making diabetes care more equitable. When I’m not in mini-boss mode, I love to ski, bake, garden, and explore the beautiful California coast. After I graduate, I’m excited to travel and pursue either an MD or PhD. Whichever path I choose, I hope to carry forward by using my privileges and education to serve a positive human impact within my career.

As Co-captain, Kiana was an overseer of almost every aspect of the project and helped ensure the team moved as one efficient machine.
Helped brainstorm and conceptualize a rough project proposal for what has grown into Helo.
Fundraising from meetings with individual investors, granting bodies, companies, and campus donor events donation events.
Facilitated team meetings alongside Elizabeth.
Worked to develop a wet-lab plan for plasmid construction and protein production in E. coli
Implemented protocols and troubleshot alongside the wet-lab team for both E. coli Ex-4 and E. coli. GLP-1 R.
Facilitated meetings with endocrinologists and stakeholders.
Worked on implementation of wiki content and debugging of the website.

Team Intern

gabinoguzman@student.hartnell.edu
LinkedIn

Hi! My name is Gabino and I’m the intern for the 2022 UCSC iGEM team! I’m a Hispanic first-generation Pre-Med student at Hartnell Community College studying biology! In the future, I hope to pursue an MPH and MD degree; ultimately working as a psychiatrist in Hispanic communities to reduce the cultural stigma surrounding mental health. I enjoy thrifting, reading philosophy, and playing chess when I am not questioning my life choices.
To be transparent, I almost didn’t apply to the internship as I didn’t believe a STEM career would be obtainable for someone from my background. However, I’ve had the privilege of being supported and encouraged by family, friends, and mentors to apply – they’re the reason I applied to this internship.

Presented research to 200+ students at Soledad High School.
Translated meeting with the 2022 Tec Chihuahua iGEM team.
Contacted researchers specializing in Ex-4 production in hosts.
Assisted with protein purification and genomic expression of Ex-4 in S. cerevisiae and E. coli.
Served as a note taker for virtual meetings with endocrinologists, primary care providers, and researchers working with diabetic patients.
Presented Ex-4 expression in E. coli timeline to team.

Team Member

ibalius@ucsc.edu
LinkedIn

Hi my name is Gia and I am a fourth year MCD Biology student minoring in Bioinformatics. The primary reason why I joined iGEM was the ample amount of labs I took online due to the pandemic. I was half way through my junior year of college, as a biology major, with very minimal in-person lab experience. I was so excited to get into the lab when I finally moved back to Santa Cruz and happened to make it onto the iGEM team filled with an amazing and intelligent group of people. iGEM has opened my eyes to the world of synthetic biology and its incredulous value on humanity. Working on this project, I have realized the great disconnect with access to healthcare and what synthetic biology can do to make a difference. I plan to continue my education into a grad school program and I cannot wait to see what the future holds and what more I can learn.

Worked mainly in wet-lab aspects of project in which I carried out experiments for producing Ex-4 in E. coli and producing GLP-1R.
Assisted in protein purification by FPLC and IMAC by gravity.
Reviewed sanger sequencing results for confirmation of presence of Ex-4 insert successfully transformed into E. coli.
Worked closely with Suz Howells in hopes of spreading our project to the community and to the campus. Facilitated meetings which allowed for articles to be published on our team.
Worked with pushing content onto wiki using HTML.

Team Member

tbrasile@ucsc.edu
LinkedIn

Was hannin Gs, I’m Thiago, an international student from Brazil. I am a senior double-majoring in Biomolecular Engineering & Bioinformatics and Business Management Economics. Before moving away from home, I had no idea what bioengineering even was, but surprisingly it lined extremely well with my life purpose. I am eager to promote change and make large-scale societal impacts. iGEM provided me with extensive experience in all aspects of start-up creation, and the opportunity I had to work with such a passionate, intelligent, and driven team is invaluable. Coming from someone that could never see myself in higher education, becoming a scientist, engineer, and entrepreneur is an accomplishment I proudly use as fuel for my future projects. I strive to spread the knowledge I acquire by traveling the world and doing research / entrepreneurship, while breaking through the gatekeeping of knowledge and enabling a second chance to less privileged people. Working with this group of brilliant people that I now call as friends was definitely a vibe, and I am very proud of our personal progress. I am sure I will miss the absurdly random and nonsense routine conversations, camping trips, movie nights, questions of the week, forced TikToks, and just chillin with y’all. I am excited to see what the future awaits for all of us.

Headed fundraising of the Helo project for Spring Give.
Did community outreach by presenting at Santa Cruz’s Midtown Takeover.
Reached out and conducted virtual meetings with brazilian endocrinologists, primary care providers, NGOs, and researchers working with diabetic patients.
Involved in the wetlab work of the project: Expression of Ex-4 and GLP-1R in E. coli.
Purified Ex-4 through IMAC by gravity and FPLC.
Met with the 2022 Stony Brook iGEM team to discuss progress on E. coli experiments.
Assisted with Ex-4 plasmid design for E. coli.
Typed up protocols into the wiki using HTML. Worked with Bootstrap 5 & CSS to help style the website.

Team Member

cschade@ucsc.edu

I joined iGEM because I wanted to work collaboratively on scientific inquiry, while potentially making a positive human impact. iGEM has given me the opportunity to challenge myself, while mixing work in both wet-lab and dry-lab. I’m a 3rd year BioMolecular Engineering (BME) major at UCSC. When not pipetting or coding, I’m LARPing, modeling 3D CGI, or participating in a D&D campaign. I aspire to travel and attend grad school, especially since iGEM has opened my eyes to the world of possibilities in synthetic biology.

Headed wiki research, architectural design, development, & implementation from inception to completion.
Proofread & cleaned up all coded wiki content.
Lead & assisted with Experiment 2 of Interlab study.
Assisted miscellaneous wet-lab work for E. coli in Colony PCR, SDS-PAGE, & Gel Electrophoresis.
Participated in diagnostic analysis from wet-lab.
Filmed & edited the promotional videos.
Assisted in team branding with logo drafts & the hoodie merchandise design. Came up with the team name Helo, which is short for the latin name for the Gila monster, Heloderma suspectum.
Managed the team’s Discord server.

Team Member

zpetroff@ucsc.edu
LinkedIn

Howdy! I’m Zoë, a 3rd year Biomolecular Engineering and Bioinformatics major with a passion for humanitarian progress via synthetic biology. I joined iGEM because I have a love of scientific inquiry and collaboration. Interestingly, I learned about the program from my work in student media at UCSC. I am a writer and editor for the only student-led, undergraduate science magazine on campus. I am also a member of the Student Media Council, which is where I met one of the captains from last year’s team. They encouraged me to join, and after one frantic text message at 1 am, I interviewed for this year’s team. I frequently think about how one panic-induced text has cascaded into this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I have made so many valuable friendships through this team, while simultaneously obtaining invaluable experience in a field of STEM that I love. In the future, I hope to get a PhD in my current field of study and pursue a career where I get to help make the world a more equitable place. I have a frog named Mochi, a cat named Nibbler, and a bearded dragon named Linguine. I also love drawing, hiking, skiing and cooking in my free time.

Analyzed Sequencing results for Ex-4 in S. cerevisiae and E. coli, as well as GLP-1R in E. coli.
Met with Stony Brook to discuss progress on S. cerevisiae experiments.
Worked on wet-lab experiments for genomic expression of Ex-4 in S. cerevisiae.
Assisted promotional video production.
Plasmid Design for Ex-4 in S. cerevisiae and E. coli, as well as GLP-1R in E. coli.
Designed parts pages.
Made lizard logo for Helo.
Presented our project and helped tour Soquel high school’s biotech class.
Worked on implementation of wiki content and debugging of the website.

Team Member

cstrand@ucsc.edu

Hello my name is Cambell Strand and I am a fourth year biomolecular engineering student. While I was able to take some interesting classes during the pandemic, I had virtually no lab experience. Even after I got into a lab, I realized I wanted to be able to influence the direction of the project and that is why I decided to join iGEM. There aren’t many chances in your undergraduate career where undergraduates have full direction of the project, especially one that has the potential to make such a big impact. I am super grateful for all the amazing people I have met, and all the skills I have learned throughout these past nine months. Outside of school and iGEM, I love to cook, work out, and play videogames. After I graduate, I plan to attend grad school to earn either my masters or PhD in bioengineering.

Organized the lab, created a lab inventory spreadsheet, and managed incoming equipment and chemicals.
Helped head wiki and taught members how to push commits onto the website.
Ran experiments for protein purification and analysis including SDS-PAGE and IMAC.
Headed the revival of our FPLC for protein purification.
Reached out to schools in order to set up education opportunities.
Presented our project and helped tour Soquel high school’s biotech class.

Team Member

namccall@ucsc.edu
LinkedIn

Choosing to be on iGEM came from a deep desire to help make a change in the world whilst having the freedom to do so. From brainstorming ideas and helping construct the project from the ground up, I have no doubt that this opportunity has changed my academic and professional career for the better. Coming out of the pandemic with essentially no lab experience to physically produce Exendin-4 from genetically engineered E. coli and S. cerevisiae was a character development arc that I would never have imagined before participating in iGEM. Going into my 4th year as a biomolecular engineering and bioinformatics student, I have no idea what the future holds for me. What I do know though is that being a part of this extremely passionate and brilliant team has made me prepared for the next chapter of my life.
Outside of my professional life I enjoy hanging out with my friends and making mixed drinks, cooking yummy food, watching anime and relaxing, long road trips to new and exciting places, and playing video games.

Met with professors and researched algae, plants, cell-free chloroplasts, and yeast as a viable host organism for Ex-4 production.
Met with the Overlake high school and conducted educational outreach.
Conducted experiments to produce Ex-4 & GLP-1R in E. coli.
Ensured that sanger sequencing results aligned with our desired gene insert with Geneious Prime.
Headed and organized meetings with UCSF & Professor Gregory Ku to discuss an in vivo pancreatic beta cell test for insulin release from our recombinant Ex-4 from S. cerevisiae and E. coli.
Met with the 2022 Stony Brook iGEM team to talk and give updates about E. coli.
Worked on implementation of wiki content and debugging of the website.

Team Member

hgovind@ucsc.edu

I am Haripriya Govind and I am pursuing a Bioelectronics Engineering degree at UCSC. After introduction to iGEM through my major advisor, Greta Hull, and housemates, I interviewed for the UCSC 2022 iGEM team. I aspired to be a member of iGEM to participate in a meaningful project where I could directly apply my educational pursuits and skill set. I am grateful to my family, team, teaching assistants, principal investigator, and external supporters for their part in this experience. Moreover, I am thankful to iGEM for providing a platform for participants and the community to seek and improve solutions, using synthetic biology, that address pervasive health concerns.
iGEM has been an exciting opportunity to delve deeper into various aspects of my major. This exposure improves my abilities in technical research and design, interpersonal skills, and contributes to my personal growth. iGEM provides a unique perspective on the local and global communities involved in and impacted by STEM based projects. My experience empowers me to recognize my capabilities, engage my creativity, and boldly explore my interests.

Led one discussion on parts of a Golden Gate cloning platform scientific report.
Prepared a poster for fundraising; researched SBOL for visual representation.
Helped email indigenous communities.
Discussed safety protocols to ensure lab safety in experiments; researched IRB guidelines for public communications as directed by UCSC Biological Safety Officer: Karianne Terry.
Provided support for wiki development, especially for the Notebook page.
Prepared for and performed the Interlab calibration experiment and part of Experiment 1.

Team Member

jzau@ucsc.edu
LinkedIn

Hello, I'm Jonathan Zau, a fourth year Biomolecular Engineering and Bioinformatics student. By far the most fulfilling aspect of iGEM is working with so many talented people, especially my wonderful peers. They inspire me to challenge myself every day, learning to enjoy each aspect of the project, no matter how late we stay overtime. In the future, I plan on traveling throughout Asia before attending graduate school to fulfill my dreams of becoming a mad scientist. When I'm not working on Helo, I love surfing, the performing arts, eating Korean barbecue, and beating Gabino at chess.

Coordinated meetings and interviewed endocrinologists, organization leaders, and professors.
Purified TEV protease and Ex-4 through IMAC by gravity and FPLC.
Performed general lab protocols: making media, making competent cells, transformation.
Led design, construction, and implementation of computational models.
Collaborated with the 2022 SUNY at Stony Brook iGEM team to troubleshoot lab practices, wrote protein production model for their protein in S. cerevisiae.
Worked on implementation of wiki content and debugging of the website.

Team Member

vdsingh@ucsc.edu
LinkedIn

Hi, I’m Vidhata but I usually go by Vid. I’m a 4th year Biomolecular Engineering and Bioinformatics undergraduate student. I joined iGEM with the motivation to help people and to make some sort of impact, while having the independence of choosing how we make said impact. Much of this experience has consisted of me learning about synthetic biology by participating in various aspects of the project, continuously being challenged by my peers, and learning front-end web development. In the future, I hope to get a masters in bioinformatics and computer science and get a job in industry.

Coordinated meetings with NGOs, Endocrinologists, and various other healthcare professionals.
Helped work on interlab and followed iGEM’s basic protocols.
Aided the research of mathematical modeling and run the modeling aspect of the project (dosage-effect, competitive binding, and protein production).
Worked on S. cerevisiae (inoculation, tested plasmid integration, and protein production), worked through basic protocols for inoculation, media prep, and gel electrophoresis.
Helped other members with human outreach and worked with a local Santa Cruz high school to conduct a tour of our campus.

Rohinton T Kamakaka:
- Provided us with S. cerevisiae yeast starter cultures and plasmid backbones for transfection of our DNA construct into E. coli
- Advised us on utilization of the MoClo library, and proper safety and handling of yeast in lab
- Supported our wet lab in the homologous repair of S. cerevisiae to contain Ex-4

Rebecca DuBois:
- Provided us with TEV protease expressing E. coli, Histidine Antibodies, and other lab materials
- Had extensive correspondence and advised us in preparation and troubleshooting for protein expression, purification, and SDS-PAGE results
- Helped us prepare assays for bio-layer interferometry using her lab's Octet machine for Ex-4's binding affinity analysis

Samuel Pine:
- Mentored our team from Belgium and advised us on the overall direction of our project including next steps in the wet lab and Ex-4 bioavailability via bi-weekly virtual meetings
- Provided valuable feedback on Helo's implementation and connecting our vision to a marketable product
- Guided us to discussions with experts at Sanofi specifically in relation to half life extenders and fundraising

Suz Howells:
- Facilitated interactions with UC Santa Cruz alumni at Midtown Takeover event and engaged in collaboration efforts to shared our project to the community
- Guided us through The Spring Give, a fundraising event that allowed us to raise money to carry out our project
- Provided us with ample contacts to speak to professionals such as endocrinologists and global health specialists
- Provided us a connection with Melissa Weckerle, Communications Specialist at UC Santa Cruz, who interviewed members of our team and wrote an article about the work we have been doing. This allowed for a platform in which the community could see our project and reach out to our team
- Helped us get a room in which we could host Soquel High School students and helped organize logistics for permission slips

We would additionally like to acknowledge the following individuals for their contributions to Helo:

Dr. Patricia Wu (Kaiser Permanente) for their explanation of medical consensus on current diabetes treatment, Dr. John Demko (University of California, San Francisco) and Dr. Sunder Mudaliar (University of California, San Diego) for giving us background on GLP-1 RA therapeutics, Dr. Matt Sparke (University of California, Santa Cruz) for building our background about global health and communities lacking diabetes care, Dr. Somen Nandi (University of California, Davis) for advice on Agrobacterium-mediated gene transfer and transgenic plants, Dr. Lawrence DeGhetaldi (Palo Alto Medical Foundation) for insight on the feasibility of Helo being adopted into patient care, Jessica Bulleri (Diabetes Prevention Program, Santa Cruz) for sharing general background on pre-diabetes, Ted Malpass (University of California, Santa Cruz) for connecting us with Universities Allied for Essential Medicine to enhance the scope of our outreach, Dr. David Ghilarducci (Deputy Health Officer and EMS Medical Director, Santa Cruz) for presenting to us about the pathology of diabetes and common treatment mechanisms, Dr. Sebastian Bernales (Co-Founder and Board Member at Metagenomi) for advising and proposing questions about the implementation of Helo, Alexander Wolf (Dean of Baskin Engineering) and Paul L Koch (Dean of Physical & Biological Sciences Division) for helping fund Helo.

Elizabeth Beer

Team Captain

Dr. David L Bernick

Principal Investigator

Kiana Imani

Team Captain

Neo Peng

Team Member

Gabino Guzman

Team Intern

Linguine Petroff

Team Support

Eric Malekos

TA advisor

Lauren Paule

Team Member

Gia Balius

Team Member

Thiago Brasilerio

Team Member

Christopher Schade

Team Member

Zoë Petroff

Team Member

Cambell Strand

Team Member

Joanne Shen

Team Member

Nathan Mccall

Team Member

Haripriya Govind

Team Member

Jonathan Zau

Team Member

Vidhata Singh

Team Member

Additional Attributions