Rachel Keown, a doctoral student from Parkesburg, Pennsylvania, under
the mentorship of Polson, has her sights set on a career in the
biotechnology industry.
“The interdisciplinary nature of this program attracted me to apply,”
said Keown, whose research focuses on the genetics and protein
chemistry of bacteriophage — viruses that infect bacteria —and how these
organisms contribute to processes such as biogeochemical cycling in the
ocean.
Working with researchers and students with different skills and
perspectives, who often approach research in fundamentally different
ways, has been a big plus for her.
“The collaborative nature of the coursework and department seminars
have helped to broaden my understanding and perspective of the field of
bioinformatics,” she said. “The majority of current molecular biology
and microbiology research generates big data that require bioinformatics
skills to analyze, and my education in this program will allow me to
meet that demand upon graduation.”
Yasmin Moghadamnia has traveled some distance to pursue her doctoral
degree. Born and raised in Iran, she moved to the United States in 2017
and became a permanent U.S. resident in 2022. She completed her
undergraduate studies in physics and a master’s degree in condensed
matter physics in Iran and another master’s degree in biophysics at
Johns Hopkins University before enrolling at UD, where she’s now a
doctoral candidate in bioinformatics data science under the research
mentorship of CBB Executive Committee member Ryan Zurakowski and Jason Gleghorn, both associate professors in the Department of Biomedical Engineering.
She’s currently working on HIV spatial and pharmacokinetic modeling
and studying antiretroviral drug distribution in certain tissues such as
the lymph node.
“My original plan has always been to become an academic researcher
and professor,” she said. “I believe this fellowship can open up
opportunities for me to be exposed to more fields and types of research,
as well as create a strong network for my career.”
With the addition of the CBB program, UD now offers three NIH-sponsored T32 training programs for predoctoral students. The Chemistry-Biology Interface (CBI) program
prepares students to apply the atomistic and mechanistic approaches of
chemistry to important biological and biomedical related problems, and
the Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Research program
provides students with multidisciplinary training to solve problems
facing individuals with disabilities for research-intensive positions as
physical therapists and research scientists.
The CBB program is supported by NIH’s National Institute of General
Medical Sciences (T32 GM142603) with additional institutional support
provided by UD’s Graduate College, Data Science Institute, College of
Engineering, and College of Arts and Sciences. The program also has
leveraged resources provided by past investments by NIH and other
agencies, including Delaware INBRE (NIH-NIGMS P20 GM103446 and State of
Delaware), BioStore (NIH S10 OD028725) and the DARWIN Computational
Cluster (National Science Foundation #1919839).