IYRC STEM WINTER 2025
November 22, 2025 – January 10, 2026
SPEAKERS
Stay tuned for updates!
Professor Lynette Cegelski |
Professor Lynette Cegelski's research is inspired by the challenge and importance of elucidating chemical structure and function in biological systems and the need for new and unconventional strategies to treat infectious diseases. Cegelski completed her undergraduate studies in Chemistry at SUNY-Binghamton, New York (B.S. summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa 1998), where she participated in research to determine the microtubule-bound conformation of the anti-cancer drug Taxol by REDOR solid-state NMR. This formative experience motivated her move to Washington University to conduct her PhD training in the laboratory of Professor Jacob Schaefer (Ph.D. Chemistry 2004). She investigated bacterial and plant macromolecular and whole-cell systems using solid-state NMR, including examining the mode of action of the antibiotic oritavancin and investigating photosynthesis and photorespiration in soybean leaves with 13CO2 and 15N labeling. She introduced the use of 4-frequency TEDOR-REDOR measurements in whole cells for the first time. She trained in Microbiology and Infectious Disease research as a postdoctoral fellow in Molecular Microbiology at the Washington University School of Medicine, working with Professor Scott Hultgren. There, she defined amyloid contributions to E. coli biofilms and introduced the first small-molecule inhibitors of functional amyloid assembly in bacteria. She joined the faculty of the Stanford Chemistry Department in 2008. The Cegelski Research program integrates chemistry, biology, and physics to investigate the assembly and function of macromolecular and whole-cell systems. They are revealing new bacterial structures, uncovering fundamental parameters of chemical composition and architecture in complex biofilm assemblies, and identifying new anti-infectives and anti-infective strategies. Cegelski's work has garnered early career awards, including the Burroughs Wellcome Career Award at the Scientific Interface, the 2010 NIH Director’s New Innovator Award, the National Science Foundation CAREER Award, and the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE).
|
Dr. Maria Montez-Rath |
Dr. Maria Montez-Rath completed her PhD in Biostatistics from Boston University in 2008 focusing on methods for modeling interaction effects in studies involving populations with high levels of comorbidity, such as persons on dialysis. She is a senior biostatistician and director of the Biostatistics Core of the Division of Nephrology at Stanford University where she has been collaborating with faculty and fellows since 2010 to study a variety of research questions relevant to kidney disease. Her methodological interests are mainly data-driven and include the handling of missing data, survival analysis with an emphasis on models for time-varying covariates and competing risks, methods for analyzing epidemiologic studies, analysis of correlated data and comparative effectiveness studies, as well as data visualization.
|
MATT BROCKLEY |
Matt Brockley is a chemistry PhD student and NSF Graduate Research Fellow in the lab of Prof. Elizabeth Sattely at Stanford University. Before starting his graduate studies, Matt received his B.A. in Biochemistry and Mathematics from Middlebury College in Vermont. There, he studied unique enzymes and metabolites that enable microbes to thrive in harsh environments. He was also a New York State RNA Institute Fellow at the New York State Department of Health in his hometown of Albany, NY where he studied how harmful bacteria control expression of genes as a function of cell density, a phenomenon known as quorum sensing. As a PhD student, Matt is fascinated by plants’ abilities to thrive in nutrient-poor environments. He is particularly interested in how legumes have developed novel strategies to store nitrogen that complement their symbioses with nitrogen-fixing bacteria in soil. He hopes that a fundamental understanding of the underlying chemistries of these relationships will transform our dependence on our current unsustainable dependence on synthetic fertilizers in farming.
|
BLAKE ZHOU |
Blake Zhou is a graduate student in the neuroscience PhD program at Stanford. They received a BS in brain and cognitive sciences in 2020 from MIT, where they studied adult neurogenesis and profiled recurrent thalamocortical networks. These days, Blake explores how cerebrospinal fluid impacts brain development. In their spare time, Blake makes bad presentation slides, attempts various crafts, pursues the affection of nearby cats, and practices fire arts.
|