Meet Our Team

mascot-members

Meet Our Team

The passionate individuals who made our iGEM project possible. Click on any card to learn more about our team members!

Team Pic

Team leads

Maria
Maria

STUDENT LEAD
BSc Medical Physiology 3rd year

FUN FACTS
  1. I've never drank a cup of coffee
  2. I enjoy salsa dancing
  3. I love the show The Americans

FAVOURITE SCIENCE AREA
Iron absorption and regulations
phagocytosis evasion during TB infection.
The female body and evolution (Cat’s book!)
wist, Snail, Slug in EMT

ADVICE FOR FUTURE iGEM team
Have systems! Check out our admin contribution!

Maya
Maya

STUDENT LEAD
BSc Molecular Genetics 3rd year

FUN FACTS
  1. I secretly believe building LEGO is the best form of stress relief.
  2. I love watching musicals in the West End!
  3. I don’t eat tomatoes.

FAVOURITE SCIENCE AREA
The use of deep learning to integrate genetic and clinical data to redefine how we predict, diagnose, and treat diseases.

ADVICE FOR FUTURE iGEM team
Don’t wait for members to assign themselves to tasks!!

Matt
Matt

LAB TEAM LEAD
BSc Molecular Genetics 2nd year

FUN FACTS
  1. I used to do karate professionally
  2. I love classical music
  3. I Used to attend a professional culinary school

FAVOURITE SCIENCE AREA
Application of genetic engineering in therapies for neurodegenerative diseases

ADVICE FOR FUTURE iGEM team
iGEM is a challenging endeavor - let yourself rest sometimes. Trust me, you will need it.

Scarlett
Scarlett

RESEARCH TEAM LEAD
BSc Molecular Genetics 2nd year

FUN FACTS
  1. I have 7 siblings, 6 brothers ughh
  2. My favourite show is the vampire diaries
  3. I am a chocoholic

FAVOURITE SCIENCE AREA
MAO theory for depression
CRISPR-Cas Systems
Gene editing and the ethical dilemma revolving around its use

ADVICE FOR FUTURE iGEM team
Do a deep literature review of methods before jumping into the first one that seems good.

Ethan
Ethan

HUMAN PRACTICES TEAM LEAD
Bsc Molecular Genetics 2nd year

FUN FACTS
  1. I used to work on a farm.
  2. I have a dog called Mia.
  3. I love painting!

FAVOURITE SCIENCE AREA
Heritability of mental illness.

ADVICE FOR FUTURE iGEM team
Prioritise working together in-person as much as possible. For Human practices having a case study can help with implementation in different regions as infrastructure can vary significantly. Look at our guides for case study selection, interviews and educational resources.

Abi
Abi

LOGISTICS & COMMUNICATION TEAM LEAD
BSc Molecular Genetics 2nd year

FUN FACTS
  1. My guilty pleasure movie series is Pitch Perfect (I know all the lyrics and dances)
  2. I love binge watching medical shows
  3. When I was younger I wanted to be a movie director

FAVOURITE SCIENCE AREA
Developmental genetics of pattern formation and cell fate and differentiation.

ADVICE FOR FUTURE iGEM team
Be comfortable in your own ability to do things without needing reassurance. Even if you didn’t know how to do it before, you can always teach yourself.

Mina
Mina

WIKI CO-LEAD
BSc Pharmacology 2nd year

FUN FACTS
  1. Im Irish (but I hate Guinness)
  2. I design tattoos to relieve stress
  3. I enjoy going to the gym at 1am

FAVOURITE SCIENCE AREA
In terms of aging - CD38 inhibition to preserve NAD+

ADVICE FOR FUTURE iGEM team
Talk and have regular meetings. Workload should be spread around the team to prevent overload.

Igor
Igor

WIKI CO-LEAD + LAB + BIOINFORMATICS
Bsc Biochemistry 2nd year

FUN FACTS
  1. My first job was manual labour
  2. I love power lifting
  3. I’m a peri chicken addict

FAVOURITE SCIENCE AREA
Stem cells and specialisation

ADVICE FOR FUTURE iGEM team
Communicate and set deadlines for smaller teams within your group.

Zara
Zara

BIOINFORMATICS TEAM LEAD
BSc Molecular Genetics 2nd Year

FUN FACTS
  1. Ducks are my absolute favorite animal, I have over 30 plushies of them
  2. When I was younger I wanted to be a paleontologist
  3. I want to resurrect the Dodo

FAVOURITE SCIENCE AREA
Epigenetics, and the extensive ways it is influenced by the environment in ways you wouldn’t expect
The structure of DNA and RNA and how this gives rise to functionality

ADVICE FOR FUTURE iGEM team
Don’t let unfamiliarity or difficulty keep you in place, you just need to break things down, spend time with it and ask for advice.

Team members

Angela
Angela

LAB + BIOINFORMATICS
Bsc Molecular Genetics 2nd year

FUN FACTS
  1. I can play piano at Grade 6 level
  2. I absolutely love dogs (I have a cocker spaniel)
  3. I like horror films

FAVOURITE SCIENCE AREA
Developmental biology and the science behind genetic diseases
The mechanism of transcription factors

ADVICE FOR FUTURE iGEM team
Always ask for help from team members when unsure about something - it’s useful to receive a different perspective

Matty
Matty

RESEARCH + LAB
Msci Chemistry 2nd Year

FUN FACTS
  1. Mushrooms are my favourite food.
  2. I want to go to space.
  3. I love to crochet.

FAVOURITE SCIENCE AREA
Sources of Oxygen on other planets like Mars.
Click chemistry in drug discovery.

ADVICE FOR FUTURE iGEM team
Look at past IGEM teams and use their resources as much as you can.

Mohana
Mohana

RESEARCH
BSc Molecular Genetics 2nd Year

FUN FACTS
  1. My favourite show is NBC's Hannibal
  2. I want to work in forensics at some point
  3. I once got my parents called to school because I was hanging from the windows and wouldn’t let go.

FAVOURITE SCIENCE AREA
Comparative twin studies to determine the heritability of specific traits (nature vs nurture).

ADVICE FOR FUTURE iGEM team
Communication between subteams is key. Always be clear about the final product idea.

Daniela
Daniela

HUMAN PRACTICES
Bsc Neuroscience 2nd year

FUN FACTS
  1. I have lived in 4 different countries
  2. London is the setting of my favorite books
  3. I can dance bachata

FAVOURITE SCIENCE AREA
Developmental Neurobiology

ADVICE FOR FUTURE iGEM team
Communicate as much as possible with members from other sub-teams. A great project requires cohesion

Kash
Kash

WIKI
BSc Molecular Genetics 2nd year

FUN FACTS
  1. I love singing!
  2. I love Lola’s Cupcakes.
  3. I speak 5 languages!

FAVOURITE SCIENCE AREA
The process of neurulation and neural tube defects.

ADVICE FOR FUTURE iGEM team
Set up a good documentation system from the start—it makes troubleshooting, collaboration, and wiki building much easier for everyone!

Sana
Sana

RESEARCH
BSc Biomedical Science 2nd Year

FUN FACTS
  1. I love coffee
  2. My favourite book is The Fall by Albert Camus
  3. I have a toy microscope in my room from when I was a kid

FAVOURITE SCIENCE AREA
Cerebellar microanatomy

ADVICE FOR FUTURE iGEM team
It’s okay if you make mistakes or don’t know how to do things, be patient with yourself and take time to figure things out