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Tyrel Heckendorf
Tyrel enjoys sitting and staring at colors. There is controversy as to his exact origins, yet it is rumored by scholars that he comes from ancient Sumer. His age is unknown. He spends most of his time researching the paranormal, from aliens to psychic phenomenon, though it is known that some days he can be found in a tree or under a bridge. His favorite animal is his pet Chimera, but gets annoyed at the amount of human sacrifices it needs. Majoring in physics with a concentration in biophysics, he hopes to follow his idol Dr. Frankenstein.
Reza Alavi
My goal is to get into medical school after finishing my BS in biology. I am the current member and officer of American Medical Student Association at Georgia State University (AMSA GSU) and also member of Tri-Beta Honor society. Some of the main activates I have done are shadowing Emory Orthopedics department’s surgery supervised by Dr. Moore and volunteer at Grady Hospital. My passion to human study and nature of living cells made me to choose biology as my undergraduate major. I have been fortunate to participate in the iGEM research project supervised by Dr. Brewer at Georgia State University.
Dafna Lapidot
My name is Dafna and I am a psychology major and chemistry minor. I am a senior, and am applying for medical schools. My ultimate goal is to become a neurologist.
Originally I am from Israel, but have been living in the United States for almost ten years. I served in the Israeli Defense Forces for two years following my high school graduation.
I have been part of the iGEM lab since last summer (June 2012). My main focus is the research side of the project, however, occasionally I do some wet lab work.
Alisha Morgan
Hello everyone, my name is Alisha Morgan and I am a biology major. Call me crazy but I LOVE it. I have a guinea pig named Leo and all he does is squeal for his veggies or hay. I'm a huge NY Giants fan but can't get enough of high heels. Anywho, once I'm completely done with school I plan on becoming an OB/GYN. I've been dreaming about this since I could remember and I know that God makes all things possible.
Blake Cherney
My name is Blake Cherney and I joined the Igem lab last semester as an undergraduate student. I hope to start my masters degree this upcoming fall. I will be concentrating on applied environmental microbiology as well as working on a project investigating the symbiotic relationship between Acanthamoeba castellanii and other organisms.
Dawn Penney
My name is Dawn Penney. I was born in Chicago. I moved to Georgia really young and now live in Atlanta. I am a junior at Georgia State University. I am a member of the Alpha Omicron Pi sorority. My major is biology, minor in chemistry, and pre med. I am trying to pursue a career in emergency medicine. One day, I would like to return to Chicago and practice medicine at Cook County Hospital.
Lydia Studdard
I am a senior biology major and am currently applying to Ph.D. programs in microbiology and immunology. I am specifically interested in studying viruses and their pathenogenesis. After graduate school, I hope to continue doing research while teaching at the collegiate level. The research experience I have gained from iGEM has substantiated my desire to ‘boldly go where no one has gone before’ in the magical world of microorganisms. In addition to my love for biology, I am also a voracious reader of classical mysteries. I am proud to have read every Agatha Christie novel as well as her autobiography.
Nouman Tanveer
In the spring of 1991, a baby was born in the mountains of Punjab, Pakistan. Named Nouman Tanveer by his grandfather; Nouman started going to school when he was only three years old. His mother saw his future when he came 1st in third grade. She was a highly educated, brilliant woman who started teaching Nouman the rules of algebra, physics and biology when he was only 8 years old. In grade 10 he set the record for highest marks in board exams in his district and came to U.S to study medicine and become an Invasive Cardiovascular Surgeon. He is finishing his B.Sc. in Biology at Georgia State University this year and plans on going to Georgetown School of Medicine next year.
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