Max Allewijn (He/Him)
Team captain
“Awww beans!”
Max is our team leader, even though his preferred team role title is 'big dog'. In the lab he is researching which chromoproteins we will be using and how to activate them. Outside the lab he likes to play guitar, play boardgames and cycle.
Sarah de Roode (She/Her)
Social Media manager
“But how are you?”
Sarah manages the social media, and she is part of both the human practices and the design team. In the lab she is testing several inducible promoter systems and researching a way to localise our living diagnostic in the gut. In her free time, Sarah likes to make music, play (board)games and do archery.
Josia Pool {He/Him}
Wiki developer
"Just be better at pipetting”
Josia is one of our wiki developers and human practices team member. He studies the MSc in Cellular and Molecular Biotechnology and is modelling a lactate sensing circuit.
In his free time, Josia works on DIY projects, and he likes gardening and 3D printing. He made amazing key chains for our project, come check them out at our stand in Paris!
Sonia Mecacci (She/Her)
Secretary
“I am so tired I could understand Dutch”
Sonia is our secretary and part of the human practices team. Her research focus is the biosafety of our diagnostic tool. Outside of the lab, Sonia likes to travel, play volleyball and taste Dutch beers. Like the true Italian she is, she always eats pizza the night before an exam.
Menno Duijf (He/Him)
Treasurer
“No bed-bugs if there are no beds”
Menno studies the MSc Cellular and Molecular Biotechnology. In the lab, he is modifying our diagnostic tool to bind cancer. While for iGEM he is our treasurer and keeps track of our expenses! In his free time, Menno likes to play (board)games, go climbing and mountain biking.
Marte Dros (She/Her)
Head of human practices
“But who is bringing the snacks?!”
Marte is our head of the human practices team, while in the lab she is researching the interaction between colorectal cancer cells and our diagnostic tool. Outside the lab she likes to cook, travel and bake cakes. A fun fact about her, is that she has never drunk a full cup of coffee in her entire life (she also survived iGEM life without coffee)!
Arthur Vancolen (He/Him)
Lab manager & safety officer
“This weekend I spent more time
in the public transport than sleeping”
in the public transport than sleeping”
Arthur is our lab manager & safety officer and part of the design team! We are not sure we would have done any experiment without his primers ordering! He is working on the secretion of chromoproteins. Outside the lab he likes gaming, stargazing, and watching YouTube videos. A fun fact about Arthur is that he can communicate in Morse code!
Ally Sprik {She/Her}
Head of the design team
Wiki manager
Wiki manager
”It has been an adventure already (8.15 AM)”
Ally is our head of the design team! She is studying the MSc Biomedical Research and is modelling how our bacterium behaves in the colon. Outside the lab Ally likes listening and playing music, gaming, and cooking. Beside iGEM she plays DnD (weekly!).
Bas Raats (He/Him)
Creative designer
“I am here with an international friend”
Bas is our creative designer! He is studying the MSc Cellular and Molecular Biotechnology, and Process Technology. Together with Koen he realized our beautiful merch! In the lab he is working on creating a threshold system for lactate sensing. In his free time, he does calisthenics, games occasionally and listens to some fat bass music. A fun fact about Bas is that he is of the opinion that eating is solely functional!
Lucía Torregrosa Barragán (She/Her)
Responsible for outreach
“An apple is too much amount of apple”
She is part of the human practices team and also substitute secretary. Lucía studies the MSc Cellular and Molecular Biotechnology. Her part of the research is very important, as she is designing an emergency kill switch for the biosafety of our project. When not pipetting, she enjoys hanging out with her friends, reading and dancing to some techno music. A fun fact about Lucía is that she gets grumpy, if she does not have time for a long breakfast before she starts her day.
Koen Tielemans (He/Him)
Funding Manager
“Now, you just have to write it down”
Koen studies Cellular and Molecular Biotechnology and is working on the three-step inducible system. Next to talking with potential sponsors he is also in the human practices team. When he is not in the lab, he likes to travel and watch marvel movies. Like a proper Wageningen student, he is turning his room into a personal rain forest!
Advisors
Robert Smith(He/Him)
“Can we stop calling everything a pillar?”
Rob is one of lecturers of the Systems and Synthetic Biology group and one of the pillars of the iGEM team. Every year he and Nico manage to gather a bunch of enthusiastic students to dream big and join the competition. Outside work he likes to exercise by running and cycling.
Nico Claassens (He/Him)
“That’s great, try that”
Nico is an Assistant professor of the microbiology chairgroup and iGEM PI together with Rob. We wish he was as on time for meetings as he is enthusiastic about our project. Besides his work, he likes running, playing badminton, and reading (when he has time).
Vittorio Rainaldi (He/Him)
“When you came to Wageningen,
were you expecting to
make shit with peanut butter?”
were you expecting to
make shit with peanut butter?”
Vittorio is doing his second year of PhD in the MIB group and helped with the lactate sensing and three steps inducible system project. But most of all he was enthusiastic about our fake poop experiment that he joyfully supervised. When he is not in the lab, he is in the lab with (loud) techno music or in the gym!
Sara Moreno Paz (She/Her)
“Guys, this doesn’t make sense”
Sara is a third year PhD candidate in the SSB chair group, and she helped with modelling the interaction of EcN in the colon. If you want some constructive feedback, she is your girl! When she is not at the computer modelling, she has many hobbies, the last on the list is embroidering!
Lorenzo Olivi (He/Him)
“First of all, E. coli needs to be in italics”
Lorenzo is one of the supervisors for the chromoprotein project. His expertise is amongst others in live-cell imaging. His pet-peeve is reminding us to put E. coli and gene names in italics. When he is not in the lab, he likes collecting records, hiking in nature, and powerlifting!
Nicola Trevisan (He/Him)
“I went home early, I left at 7”
Nicola is doing his second year of PhD at the bioprocess engineering department. His expertise is mainly on microalgae and chloroplasts, but he can work on anything! He likes working in the lab a lot but in his free time he enjoys watching movies, reading, and flying to other countries to do mountain hiking.
Enrique Asín García (He/Him)
“Guys, come on, you are going to Paris”
Enrique is a post-doc at the BPE department and supervises the two biosafety subprojects. He has been team Colourectal since day 1! Besides running from lab to lab, he is a nature and map lover, and a book and series addict!
Cristina Furlan (She/Her)
*Cat enters the meeting*
Cristina is a lecturer of the SSB chairgroup and supervises the RNA-seq project regarding the interaction between EcN and cancer cells. Our team has a thing with cats, and we totally loved when her cat Scheggia joined our virtual meetings! When she is not working, she loves travelling, cooking and she recently became a Ghosh Yoga teacher.
Anneleen Segers (She/Her)
“I want something with poop on my shirt!”
Anneleen is doing a postdoc in the MIB department, and she is an Akkermansia muciniphila expert and lover. She supervises the projects regarding the interactions of our EcN with cancer cells and she is enthusiastic about our Colourectal poop design! In her free time, she likes reading, watching movies and TV, and playing DnD.
Suzan Yilmaz (She/Her)
“But did you sequence it?”
Suzan is doing a PhD on engineering synthetic C1 metabolism in E. coli using Multiplex Genome Engineering, or MAGE. Her favourite experiment troubleshooting is sequencing to find possible mistakes. When she is not in the lab, she is for example on a canoeing holiday in Sweden.
Zoë Robaey (She/Her)
“Guys, you’re good at hiding”
Zoë is assistant professor in the Communication, Philosophy and Technology chair group doing research on responsibility in biotechnology innovations, and she supervised the human practices team. She is surprised on how able we are keeping everything together, sometimes. As a fresh parent she unfortunately has not a lot of free time. Except when she catches up with everything and adds, “you, too, are my children."
Julia Rijssenbeek (She/Her)
Julia is a PhD candidate at Wageningen University, investigating how developments in synthetic biology are changing our thinking and values about biology and technology. She loves talking to engineers and scientists in the lab to inform her research, for instance during her research stay at the Wyss Institute at Harvard University, the Church lab and Ginkgo Bioworks past summer.