Courtney Culpepper – cculpepper3@student.gsu.edu
President
Courtney

Courtney is a 4th year PhD candidate in the laboratory of Dr. Yuan Liu. Her  research focuses on understanding the mechanisms that drive chronic inflammation. As a recipient of a “Research Supplement to Promote Diversity in Health-Related Research” (PA-16-288), she has been awarded funds to investigate the changes that occur to the myeloid cell population using a murine model of ulcerative colitis.  Outside of research Courtney plays many roles. Along with being a student, she is the manager of her laboratory and the co-president of the Biology Graduate Student Association (vice-president 2016-2017).

 
Heena Sadhwani- hsadhwani1@student.gsu.edu
Co- President
 

 

Heena is a PhD student in Molecular Genetics and Biochemistry and works as a Research Assistant in Dr. Margo Brinton’s lab. Her research includes characterization of Simian Hemorrhagic Fever Virus (SHFV) mutants and sequence analysis of the virus. She has completed her Bachelors and Masters in Biotechnology from University of Mumbai in the year 2011 and 2013, respectively. Thereafter, she worked as a lecturer in University of Mumbai for Biotechnology. She joined as an intern in Super Religare Laboratories and worked on screening of HLAB allele in HIV positive patients that reacts with an antiviral drug called Abacavir and causes hypersensitivity reactions. She is a trained Indian Classical dancer in a dance form called Kathak. She loves music, outdoor adventures, social activities, adventures like hiking. She likes socializing and exploring new places and trying different cuisines.
Vishakh Walia – vwalia1@gsu.edu
Vice President
Vishakh

 

Vishakh is a Ph.D. student and works as a Research Assistant in Dr. Julia Hilliard’s lab. He works in one of the few BSL-4 labs in the country located at Georgia State University (GSU). His research involves developing therapeutics and diagnostics for Herpes B virus infections. He also teaches Molecular Cell Biology Laboratory (BIOL3810) to undergraduates. He earned his M.S. in Microbiology at VIT University, Vellore, India in 2011 and was a Senior Research Fellow at Indian Veterinary Research Institute until 2013. He got his second M.S. in Biology at GSU in 2014. He likes traveling, scuba diving , water sports, kayaking, hiking, motorcycling, trying new restaurants.
Falguni Mishra – fmishra1@student.gsu.edu
Secretary
   Falguni is an expert hipster and contrarian. Her interest involve not liking pop culture and sometimes working on cancer. She also voted for Trump because it would bring back coal jobs.
Alicia Edwards –  aedwards70@student.gsu.edu
Treasurer
   

Alicia is a 2nd year masters of biology graduate student pursuing a career in medicine. She is interested in bringing pre-health programs to the biology department to help graduate students transition into medical school. Her interests include community activism, mentorship, dancing, and interval fitness training.
Aneseh Adeshirlarijaney – aadeshirlarijaney1@student.gsu.edu
Event Coordinator 1
Aneseh

 

Aneseh is currently a Ph.D. Student in IBMS program at Georgia State University and is working on obesity and gut microbiota. Aneseh enjoys working with students to enhance writing and critical thinking skills related to biology. Also, Aneseh has co-manager position in First Contact program at Georgia Bio.
Anthony Nguyen – anguyen116@student.gsu.edu
Event Coordinator 2
 

 

Anthony is currently a masters candidate in biology with a concentration in neurobiology and behavior.  he has had experience in a hospital setting from the assisting surgeons in the operating room to actively monitoring cardiac patients’ arrhythmia.  As one of the active member of Human Machines of GSU in collaboration with Enabled, he utilizes the 3D printers in EX Lab to construct prosthetics for those in need of assistance.  He plays the violin and is a competitive marksman.  He hopes to utilize his education and experience in creating more sophisticated and articulated prosthetics in the future.
Sergey Klimov – sklimov1@student.gsu.edu
Technical Chair
 

 

Sergey is a 3rd year Ph.D. student under the duel advisement of Dr.Ritu Aneja and Dr.Yi Jiang. His work integrates mathematics, statistics, computer science, and biology to optimize diagnostic techniques for multiple pathological conditions. When he isn’t stressing out over his upcoming qualifying exams Sergey enjoys picking up heavy things and pretending to be a strongman.
Muzna Saqib – msaqib1@student.gsu.edu
Marketing
 

 

Muzna is a masters candidate in Biology with a concentration in Applied and Environmental Microbiology,and interested in a career in medicine.She does research in Dr.George Pierce’s lab involving evaluation of induced cells of Rhodococcus rhodochrous for their contact independent anti-fungal properties against selected fungal pathogens.She started doing research as an undergraduate when she received a summer research scholarship, then came to Georgia State University and continued her research as an undergraduate Molecular Basis of Disease fellow.In addition to research , she has also organized various charity events to raise funds for various causes such as Fasting5K run to raise funds for minority youth empowerment.She also continually shadows doctors of various specialties to increase her knowledge in the field of medicine.She likes to travel and create mixed media art using recycled materials.
Medhavi- mp1@student.gsu.edu
International Representative
   
Alessandrio Gutzmore –agutzmore1@student.gsu.edu
Master’s Student Representative
 

 

A senior Masters student in the Hilliard lab who studies the antiviral properties of specially synthesized nanoparticles used to protect the central & peripheral nervous system from viral infection.
Jordon Cook – jcook50@student.gsu.edu
BGSA Liaison

 

Jordon enjoys long walks on the beach, spending time with his Boxer Ursula, and playing with any virus that can kill him in previously unknown, horrible ways.