Cell and Molecular Biology - Graduate Student Association

Our student of the month for August: Abeer Alnasrawi.

Abeer Alnasrawi is a PhD candidate at the Cell and Molecular Biology Program. She is from Iraq. She graduated from CEMB program with master’s degree in 2015. Abeer is an assistant lecturer at the Collage of Science/ University of Kerbala/Iraq. She got a scholarship from her employer (University of Kerbala), and she came back in spring 2021 to pursue her PhD at the CEMB program under the supervision of Dr. Fiona Goggin. Abeer chose to study her PhD with the same program because she wants to increase her experience about different lab techniques. Her field of research includes studying gene expression changes in response to plant elicitor peptides (peps) treatments in soybean. Also, she is working on expressing pep3 gene in bacterial system. Abeer likes painting, cooking, and reading.

We would like to introduce the student of the month for July: Peter James Icalia Gann

Peter James Icalia Gann is a Fulbright scholar pursuing a doctoral degree in Cell and Molecular Biology at the University of Arkansas (UARK) under Dr. Srivastava. Prior to moving in the United States of America, he was an assistant professor of genetics and biotechnology in the Philippines. He has received numerous funding for his research projects and was tapped as evaluator of proposals and research output in various capacities in his home country. He holds a master’s degree in Animal Breeding and Genetics and majored in Animal Science for his bachelors. At UARK, he is currently focused on understanding and controlling the starch biosynthetic and degradation processes in rice through gene editing techniques. In the early period of his doctoral journey, he has primarily authored a publication and have been recognized for his research works in competitions. Aside from his passion in research, he also enjoys visiting breweries, cooking, and running.

We would like to introduce our student of the month: Baronger Dowell Bieger

Baronger Bieger is a 4th-year Ph.D. candidate in the Entomology and Plant Pathology Department. Despite his department’s name, his work in Dr. Martin Egan’s lab has largely been centered around the human pathogenic fungus Aspergillus fumigatus. For his first couple of years, he used fluorescence microscopy and microfluidic devices to investigate whether the movement of early endosomes through its hyphae was necessary for infection. After that project, he switched his focus to A. nidulans, looking into how the long, neuron-esque hyphae handle the protein aggregation associated with heat shock.

As someone with an emphatically non-scientific background, he delights in communicating science clearly by distilling it to its essence and using analogies that anyone can understand. This has won him awards, but more importantly, this has allowed people from vastly different backgrounds to understand and contribute to his research! (He says to ask him about his research if you want to hear the analogies!)

He has had several academic highlights. One of which was becoming president of the CEMB GSA and getting to organize officers and events before the pandemic. He is still heavily involved in the organization as an officer. He also had the wonderful yet surreal experience of presenting his research at the Advances Against Aspergillosis and Mucormycosis conference in Switzerland just as COVID was causing Lombardy to go into lockdown across the lake. After the conference, he had the further joy of visiting his sister in Germany and getting to explain his research more informally to her (pictured).

When he’s not imaging fungi or heat shocking them in ovens, he explores languages and old literature and learns how to work with wood, weld, and repair his house/property. He has much to learn, though, so if you know about lathing or other wood-working skills, let him know!

“The world has a right to discount our usefulness and even to distrust our honesty if we persist in concealing our thoughts, or lack of thoughts, behind a mask of professional jargon.”
-- George Otis Smith, “Plain Geology”

Photo: Baronger telling his sister about his research. Germany, 2020

Today, we would like to introduce our student of the month: Katie Lee.

She is a third year PhD student in the Cell and Molecular Biology Program, and her advisor is Dr. Douglas Rhoads in the Biological Sciences Department. Her research is focused on the genetic determinants of a disease called ascites that occurs in poultry species using chickens as our model. Specifically, she worked on a two-year project using single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in genes of interest, genotyping the existing breeder chickens at the research farm, selecting for two generations to ensure that all the offspring of the second generation had those SNPs, and then assessing the effect on ascites incidence as well as the growth of the bird. The goal of her work is to provide poultry industry geneticists with a method that can be used to reduce ascites incidence in flocks with minimal impact on production traits of economic value.

She has been the CEMB-GSA Treasurer for two years and have loved getting to know other CEMB students through it. She is also on the Graduate Dean’s Student Advisory Board as a representative of students in Interdisciplinary Studies, which has allowed her to be in meetings with high-ranking officials of the University and discuss the issues facing graduate students at the U of A.

Outside of academics, she loves being outdoors and active. She especially enjoys hiking, kayaking, hammocking, and bonfires. When she has spare time, she also enjoys just relaxing by watching movies with her husband Trevor, their two dogs (Lucas and Sadie), and thier cat (Gary). Her husband is also a graduate student, so finding time to slow down is nice.

For students considering graduate school, her biggest piece of advice is to blaze your own path, don’t feel like you’re tied down to one area of study, and be clear about what you want. Surround yourself with others who believe in you.

Her bachelor’s degree was in Biosystems Engineering. However, her path now is different as she found an advisor who saw her desire to learn and a strong work ethic rather than being overly concerned about the classes she took as an undergraduate. Recently, a guest in the GDSAB meeting said something that she wrote down and keep on her desk:

“If you want the moon, ask for the moon. No one will ever know that that’s where you’re going if you only ever ask for rocket fuel.”

Today is International Women’s Day and is a day to reflect upon the courage, determination, and achievements of women in many fields and to continue improving situations to create equitable societies around the world.

Today, We would like to introduce our student of the month: Jasleen Saini

Jasleen Saini is a Ph.D. candidate in Cell and Molecular Biology. She completed her B.S. and M.S. in Biotechnology from India and came to the United States for her doctoral study in 2017. She is working in Dr. Dan Lessner’s lab in the Department of Biological Sciences. Her research focuses on understanding the fundamental mechanisms and factors involved in Fe-S cluster assembly in methanogen nitrogenases, as well as its properties. In the long term, this could lead to the optimization of nitrogenase-based biofuel (e.g. H2) production and the ability to transfer active nitrogenase to plants (e.g. cereals), thereby decreasing energy expenditures required for fertilizer production.

She is an officer of two registered student organizations on campus – the CEMB graduate student association and Health, Strength, and Wellness Association for Graduates at the University of Arkansas. She also participated in the Social Innovation Challenge 2020, and she has been recently selected for the “Startup Bootcamp 2021” offered by Future Founders, to instill a foundation of entrepreneurial skills.

Outside of academics, Jasleen is a huge supporter of health, wellness, and personal development. Her health and wellness journey started after she met a road accident in 2018 in which the vertebrae of her lower back got displaced. Not only did she overcome her injury through persistence and self-work but also realized the importance of good physical and mental health and made it her priority. Today, she loves running, long walks, hiking, and reading personal-development, self-help, business, and financing-related books. Some of her favorite books are The seven habits of highly effective people by Stephen Covey, Atomic habits by James Clear and Breaking the habit of being yourself by Dr. Joe Dispenza.

She is greatly inspired by the quote “Forces beyond your control can take away everything you possess except one thing, your freedom to choose how you will respond to the situation" – Man’s search for meaning by Victor Frankl

The pictures show how much fun these CEMB folks had at the Jones Center in Springdale! We hope to see you at our next events.

We couldn’t have chosen a nicest day for our first hiking!
Here are some of the pictures from the first CEMB GSA hike (Big thanks to Sergio and Baronger for taking them).

Hello CEMB Students!

With the goal of sharing the events of our association and good news from the students and faculty of our program, the Cell and Molecular Biology Graduate Student Association decided to make this page.

If you would like us to share your paper, fellowships, participation in conferences and other good news, email us at cemb.gsa@gmail with all the details, including your department and advisor. A picture would be great, but it is not required.

Let's spread the word!

We want to reinforce that any opinion expressed by this page is the responsibility of the CEMB-GSA students.