People

Blanche obtained her bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities. She is always exploring new interests but is currently working on the deubiquitinating enzyme Ubp2 and how it regulates translation during stress. She is considering obtaining her CCRP certification and transitioning into clinical research.

In her free time, Blanche enjoys reading, talking to her family, exploring new places, and watching her comfort TV shows.

Clara received her bachelor’s degree in Biology from the University of São Paulo, Brazil, and is currently a PhD student in the Program in Biology at Duke University. Her research focuses on how genetic perturbations influence cellular energy allocation, with particular emphasis on the metabolic adaptations cells undergo to maintain homeostasis under changing conditions.

In her free time, Clara enjoys cooking and baking, spending time with friends, and learning about different cultures.

Carl’s is a PhD candidate at Duke and with the Silva lab, they study the functional genomics of cellular responses to stress using subgenomic CRISPR screening methods. With Greg Wray’s and David McClay’s labs, they develop novel functional genomic tools, transgenesis methods, and viral vectors for non-model organisms. Scientifically, Carl is passionate about tech development, complex data analyses, and the development of high-quality, high-value data resources.

Beyond the lab, Carl is passionate about anthropogenic climate change and marine ecosystem preservation, mutual aid, community care, and food and housing security. They're an avid scuba diver, and a voracious consumer of music and poetry. They sew and crochet, obsess over their houseplants, and are a lover of dancing and wild places.

Sharan is a PhD student in the Department of Biology at Duke. He did his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Biology at IISER Bhopal, India. He is interested in understanding how oxidative stress causes sequence-specific ribosome pausing.

In his free time, Sharan likes to watch dramas, listen to music, and cook new recipes

Sebastián received his bachelor’s degree in Industrial Microbiology from the University of Puerto Rico - Mayagűez and is now pursuing his PhD in the University Program in Genetics and Genomics here at Duke. Sebastián is interested in understanding how the dysfunction of enzymes critical for ubiquitination play a role in the development of intellectual disabilities.

Outside of the lab, Sebastián enjoys baking, playing sports, and hanging out with friends.

Neil is a rising junior at Duke University, pursuing a major in neuroscience and a minor in computational biology/bioinformatics on the pre-medical track. He is currently interested in elucidating the key protein players and pathways involved in the ubiquitin-dependent mitophagy pathway, focusing on how ubiquitin ligases and autophagy receptors coordinate the recognition and clearance of dysfunctional mitochondria.

In his free time, he enjoys weightlifting, listening to music, and traveling.

Daniel is an undergraduate at Duke University planning to major in Biology on the pre-med track. He is interested in microbiology research and enjoys the challenges of characterizing unknown proteins/genes and elucidating unclear pathways and mechanisms. He hopes to one day become an ENT surgeon and operate on musicians with hearing and vocal disorders.

In his free time, Daniel enjoys making and listening to music, singing with his acapella group, going to the gym, and enjoying the outdoors.