People

Dr. Berkley E. Gryder

Assistant Professor
Case Western Reserve University
Department of Genetics & Genome Sciences
Case Comprehensive Cancer Center

Member, Angie Fowler Adolescent and Young Adult Cancer Research Initiative

Dr. Berkley Gryder is a chemist who retrained as a molecular biologist and computer scientist. He is passionate about understanding how cancer cells control their genes, and developing new chemical strategies to stop cancer cell’s addiction to gene transcription. Along the way, he has proposed paradigm shifts and surprises that are explaining old conundrums. Recognizing that the “right” answer to a tough question is often out of reach with current tools, Dr. Gryder is always building new techniques with an ultra-high level of spatial and temporal precision to study gene control/epigenetics.

Dr. Hyunmin Kim

Ph. D. in Bioinformatics

Favorites:

Soccer and the metaverse

Superpowers
Bioinformatics 97%
Genomics 93%
Math 81%
Software Dev 80%
Chromatin 78%

Sarah Kohrt

B.S. Biology

Ph.D. Candidate, Pharmacology

Favorites:

Softball, Marvel, chocolate, superheroes

Superpowers
Androgen Receptor 93%
HiChIP 77%
Bioinformatics 63%
Biochemistry 84%
Catan 82%

Diana Chin

Princeton University, AB in Molecular Biology

CWRU School of Medicine, MD/PhD Candidate

Favorites:

the ocean, meals with friends and family, watching the seasons change, chocolate, when my experiments work

Superpowers
Epigenomics 92%
Cancer Biology 85%
Biochemistry 77%
Medicine 90%

Yaw Asante

A.B. in Computer Science, Princeton

Ph.D. Candidate, Bioinformatics

Favorites:

Period pieces, “Chinese food”, free Kindle ebooks, digital art, and Ska

Superpowers
Computational Biology 93%
Chromatin 73%
Protein Modeling 75%
AI 65%
Image Analysis 84%
Dry humor 87%

Ms. Elena Rotariu

Research Manager in Translational Epigenomics

B.S. Biology (OH State)

Favorites:

Romainian literature

Superpowers
DNA 94%
RD-SPRITE 80%
Method Development 87%
Languages 76%
Notetaking 88%
Troubleshooting 73%

Dr. Md ‘Imdad’ Khan

Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Sciences (emphasis on Medicinal Chemistry)

Favorites:

Addition elimination reactions

Superpowers
Computational Biology 73%
Synthetic Chemistry 95%
Protein Modeling 82%
Chemical Biology 72%
Philosophy 84%

Bhava Udhayakumar

M.S. in Molecular and Cell Biology (University of Texas at Dallas)
Ph.D. Candidate, CWRU School of Medicine

Favorites:

Badminton, family, food, long walk, music and science

Superpowers
Epigenomics 82%
Cancer Biology 78%
CRISPR 87%
Art and Design 88%

Emily Novak

M.S. in Biochemistry (CWRU)
Ph.D. student, CWRU Pharmacology

Favorites:

Mount Union, my cat Pinecone, volleyball, my pink lab coat, drug discovery

Superpowers
Biochemistry 92%
Chemistry 78%
Mathematics 87%
Philosophy and Theology 90%

ALUMINATI

Arushi Khanna

B.S.E. Biomedical Engineering, Minor: Medical Anthropology, Pre-medicine

Favorites:

Doordash, Hulu originals, Metal Earth, Bojack Horseman, subway sandwiches, goofiness, fellow ENFJs, memoirs, sweater weather, monkey spirit animals, Bleachers music

Superpowers
DNA 94%
HiChIP 80%
Engineering 87%
Ancient Languages 76%
Paleo-Genomics 88%
Troubleshooting 73%

Douglas Gurdak

B.S. Biochemistry, CWRU class of 2024

Favorites:

Liquid-liquid phase separation of biomolecular condensates

Superpowers
LLPS 85%
Droplet Formation 81%
Biochemistry 91%
Running 77%
Chromatin 67%
Salty Condensates 81%

Issra Osman

B.A. Biology, B.A. Medical Anthropology

Kasey Altman Scholar

Favorites:

Family, dad jokes, screenwriting, comedy movies, pop punk music, and Biology!

New Position

Medical School student at CWRU

Batool Akhtar-Zaidi

Ph.D. Bioinformatics, CWRU

Post-Doc Fellow, MIT

CEO, Science First Partnerships LLC

Favorites:

Changing the world with science and technology development 

New Position

Director of Industry Relations, CWRU

Shanqing Gu

Ph. D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, M.Sc. in Data Science

 

New Position

Lead Scientist at ExonanoRNA

Jadon Porch

B.S. in Biology

Favorites:

The Incredibles, Law and Order, music, and Twizzlers

New Position