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Daniel Cohen
Chemical Biology, Loren Walensky lab
Daniel Thomas Cohen was born in Mountain View, California, and received his Bachelor of Science in Chemical Biology from UC Berkeley in 2012. Dan has been a creative and passionate scientist from the very beginning of his academic career. At Berkeley, he instructed a unique course for fellow undergrads called “Chemistry of Cooking.” His famously delicious lemon meringue cookie bars made for a series of fantastic biomolecular lessons on protein denaturation, lecithin-based emulsification, and the ability of fats to inhibit gluten agglomeration. Dan’s experience leading “Chemistry of Cooking” helped him discover a love for teaching, which he plans to pursue along with research. Here at Harvard, Dan’s work in Professor Loren Walensky’s lab combined synthetic chemistry, high-throughput screening, biochemistry, hydrogen-deuterium exchange mass spectrometry, and cancer cell biology approaches.
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Molly DeCristo
Biomedical and Biological Sciences, Sandra McAllister lab
Molly DeCristo was born in Beverly, Massachusetts. As a youngster, she often wondered at the mystery of outer space and thought to one day study its vastness. As she grew older and saw the impact of cancer on the lives of her mother, aunt, and grandfather, Molly’s interests turned inward. She decided to spend her academic career understanding cancer instead. She attended UNC-Chapel Hill and received her Bachelor of Science in Biology, with Highest Honors and Distinction, in 2013. Since March 2014, Molly has worked in Professor Sandra McAllister’s lab, studying the systemic, host effects of chemotherapy in mouse models of triple negative and Her2+ breast cancer in hopes of understanding their implications in development of resistance to chemotherapy and eventual disease relapse. She also focuses on the impact of chemotherapy on bone marrow and bone marrow derived cell populations, examining the resulting effects on tumor progression and metastasis.
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Jeff Gerold
Bioinformatics and Integrative Genomics, Martin Nowak lab
Jeff Gerold was born in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. In May 2013 he graduated magna cum laude from Washington University in St. Louis with a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering, with additional majors in Physics and Mathematics. Despite the heavy course load required for his triple major, Jeff was an active participant in campus life – he rowed crew (and was a Crew Academic All-American), tutored at a local charter school, and served as president of Wash U’s biomedical engineering honors society. His academic rigorous preparation has served him well at Harvard, where he works in Professor Martin Nowak’s lab. Jeff’s dissertation will focus on integrating cancer genomics and evolutionary modeling. Professor Nowak believes that Jeff’s work addresses a critical gap in the field: understanding evolutionary signatures hidden in large cancer datasets.
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Yi-Jang Lin
Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Kevin Haigis lab
Yi-Jang Lin was born in New Taipei City, Taiwan. Yi-Jang is a star by all accounts. After being elected to Phi Beta Kappa, she graduated summa cum laude from Boston University in 2011 with Bachelors of Arts degrees in both Biology and French Language and Literature. A genuinely well-rounded student, Yi-Jang took courses in ballroom dance throughout her undergraduate career and spent a semester abroad in Grenoble. All this was in addition to rigorous coursework required for her specialization in cell biology, molecular biology, and genetics. After completing her studies at BU, Yi-Jang traveled to Taiwan to work as a research assistant in a lab focusing on translational research of new drug development for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma. She joined Professor Kevin Haigis’ lab at Harvard in 2014. Her project explores the possibility of a new therapeutic strategy (K-Ras acetylation) for certain lung cancers.
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Amy Schade
Virology, Jim DeCaprio lab
Amy Schade was born in Grapevine, Texas. She graduated in 2013 from the University of North Texas, where she majored in Biology with a focus in Microbiology, and minored in both Chemistry and History. Amy was actually recruited to UNT as a debater and was active throughout her undergraduate career as both a college-level competitor and as a coach at a high school in her hometown – she was designated a National Debate Scholar Summa Cum Laude in 2012. At Harvard, she works in Professor James A. DeCaprio’s lab, determining the role of Cyclin D-CDK4/6 in the regulation of the DREAM complex. Outside the lab, Amy makes time for a commitment to increasing diversity in science. She has served as a mentor for underrepresented minority undergrads in Harvard’s longstanding SHURP program and is engaged in Dana-Farber’s CURE program, which helps guide underrepresented minority undergrads and high schoolers in evaluating the primary scientific literature.
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