Student Steering Committee
The TGP Student Steering Committee (SSC) actively participates in advising about TGP curriculum, recruitment and retention, policies and procedures, student resources, and events. The SSC also provides a direct line of communication from students to program leadership and other administrators as needed. The SCC leads several important aspects of the TGP program including planning the paracurricular events, social events, and EDIB initiatives.
Sherin Xirenayi
Chair of EDIB Initiatives
I am a second-year Systems Biology student in the Eliezer Van Allen lab, where I study the tumor microenvironment in renal cell carcinoma using single-cell and spatial technologies. Originally from Urumqi, Xinjiang, China, I moved to the U.S. for my undergraduate studies at UC Santa Cruz, majoring in biology and bioinformatics. After graduation, I spent two years researching in a pediatric leukemia lab at UCSF. My current project focuses on understanding the role of immune cells within the tumor microenvironment of patients with various mutations and resistance mechanisms to immunotherapy.
Hawa Dembele
Chair of Paracurricular Activities
Hawa is a G3 student in the SSQB program.
Emma Dolen
Chair of Social Events
I am a fourth year Chem Bio student in Tim Mitchison’s lab working on developing a small molecule inhibitor of an enzyme. I am originally from a small town in CT, called Ellington, though we often called it Smellington as we have a lot of cows (and manure). Before coming to Harvard, I studied chemistry at Bucknell and ran on the cross country and track teams there. My research centers on finding a small molecule inhibitor of a kinase implicated in brain cancer. My project started with various screening approaches and has led to structure-guided design of inhibitors and various in vitro enzyme assays. It is a fun project as I get to learn the basics of drug discovery and collaborate with experts across the drug discovery pipeline.
Muhammad Ahmad
Co-Director
Ahmad is a Ph.D. candidate in Biology and Biomedical Sciences Program. His research in Dr. Norbert Perrimon's lab focuses on developing CRISPR-Cas9 based screening to identify new signaling components for GPCR signaling that may serve as therapeutic targets to treat obesity and obesity-related diseases