Team:UChicago/Attributions
Team * Attributions
Attributions
The UChicago GeneHackers is able to fulfill its mission of pioneering innovative solutions to pressing matters through research in synthetic biology thanks to the hard work and commitment of our full team, from undergraduate researchers to graduate advisors to our extremely supportive principal investigators.
The GeneHackers
Avery Rosado: Summer team member; Outreach, Science Communication, Collaboration, Wiki, design
Michelle Awh: Summer team member; Turning the Optizyme algorithm into a package on Github, Science Communication
Patrick Sun: Summer team member; Algorithm design and implementation, Collaboration
Jessica Oros: Academic year member; project idea, outreach
Angela Marroquin: Academic year member; project idea
Nathan Sattah: Co-president of GeneHackers; planning, summer-team organization and oversight
Sneha Kesaraju: Co-president of GeneHackers; planning, summer-team organization and oversight
Rachael Filzen: Past-president of GeneHackers; planning, summer-team organization and oversight, oversight of transition into new administration
Special Thanks
The work completed by GeneHackers over the course of the academic year and the summer is the result of contributions made by a host of devoted individuals from various areas within the University of Chicago. All work carried out to successfully design and carry out this year’s dry-lab work was completed under the supervision of primary investigators Professor Ben Glick and Professor Dmitry Kondrashov who offered their feedback and advice. Additionally, graduate student advisors Haneul Yoo, Kourtney Kroll, Jessica Priest, Michael Disare, Philipp Ross, William Grubbe, and Frank Gao met with the summer team and the GeneHackers board members on a weekly basis throughout the summer to offer their insight and advice into refining workflow and steering the project forward. These meetings were facilitated by the year-round GeneHackers board with oversight from Co-President Rachael Filzen, who handed leadership over to newly elected Co-Presidents Nathan Sattah and Sneha Kesaraju during the summer months.
Despite the team’s transition to a wet-lab environment in response to COVID-19 related lab closures and limited access to university facilities, all work was completed remotely in a dry-lab environment by GeneHackers members, who carried out coding, field-work, and Wiki-related work and coordinated using thorough virtual means.
As the team worked to overcome the challenges presented by the pandemic, learning from experts in real-world, applicable fields became a vital component of our work. Professor Michael Jewett of Northwestern University, who played a crucial role in the design of the iPROBE system for optimizing biosynthetic pathways via cell-free media, provided his insight for making the structure of an early iteration of the Optizyme software tool more intuitive and efficient. A later meeting with Dr. Michael Koepke, Vice President of Synthetic Biology at LanzaTech, and members of his team tailor our algorithm to our envisioned end user experience thanks to their suggestions for boosting modelling capabilities.
Boston University PhD candidate Chris Kuffner offered input based on background in PET degradation and advised the team in navigating the logistics of the iGEM competition.
Generous stipend funding was provided by the Biological Sciences Collegiate Division of the University of Chicago and the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering at the University of Chicago.