Columbia University Systems Biology Initiative
With the emergence of the COVID19 pandemic, the 2020 SBI Board successfully continued all of SBI's committees and operations in the virtual space.
Amy MiHyun Jang
President/Project Lead
Amy Jang is the President of Systems Biology and an Egleston Scholar in Columbia Engineering. At the Columbia Engineering Laboratory for Intelligent Imaging and Neural Computing she is applying data science and machine learning algorithms to analyze how speakers’ gestures and audio affect audience’s comprehension and grasp of knowledge. At the Neurorehabilitation Research Lab, she is working to find neurophysiological motor responses of gait initiation in Huntington's and Parkinson's Disease. She has a keen interest and love for all things STEM, with a focus on bioinformatics. Previously, Amy interned at the USC Information Science Institute where she developed a prototype semantic representation of ENIGMA, a global neuroscience consortium. She published her work in multiple research papers and technical papers. In addition to USC, Amy also collaborated with Edwards Lifesciences to create a prototype version of an automated heart valve sewing machine. Her passion for STEM also led to her participating in many club-related activities. Currently, she is on the executive board of Columbia Data Science Society and Columbia Systems Biology Initiative. Outside of STEM and volunteering, Amy loves to play piano, to watch musicals, and to partake in adrenaline-rushed activities.
Vaibhav Mangipudy
Vice President/Project Lead
Vaibhav is a sophmore in Columbia College with interests in Biology and Computer Science. He is currently interested in using computational approaches in conjunction with molecular editing tools to better understand the human epigenome. He's also leading the SBI podcast, "Bio Bytes." Outside of SBI, he enjoys exploring food across NYC, reading and writing about entrepreneurship, and consulting for nonprofit organizations.
Michelle Xu
Secretary/Project Lead
Michelle is a freshman in Columbia College studying computer science with some math, statistics, and biology. She is interested in the the applications of computational science in medicine, and has conducted research using machine learning algorithms to classify MRI brain images of Alzheimer's disease and healthy patients, which can be used to diagnose Alzheimer's disease earlier and more accurately. She is also an Event Coordinator of Women in Computer Science and a member of 180 Degrees Consulting. Outside of academics, she enjoys cooking and trying interesting foods.
Scarlet Au
Treasurer
Scarlet is a freshman at Columbia College interested in Environmental Biology. Scarlet is a member of the Science Research Fellows program and has conducted research in phylogenetics at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh in Scotland. She is the treasurer of the Columbia Systems Biology Initiative and on campus, she is also involved as a member of the editorial board at the Journal of Global Health. In her free time, she enjoys music, reading, traveling and photography.
Max Elikan
Max is a junior in Columbia College majoring in biochemistry. He is currently working in the Cornish laboratory of the chemistry department, where he is assisting his mentor with developing yeast that are environmentally sensitive to heavy metals. He previously worked in the Wang lab for the iGEM team where he studied the effects of CRISPR-cas13a in a cell-free lysate system and its diagnostic applications. Following Columbia, Max hopes to attend graduate school in the biological sciences or chemistry and work towards a PhD. In his free time, Max enjoys reading, listening to jazz, running, and hiking.
Jason Mohabir
Executive Board OCM/Project Lead
Jason Mohabir is a junior in SEAS majoring in Computer Science. He serves as an Executive Board OCM and a co-lead for the Synthetic Biology Expo speciality project. Jason hopes to increase the visibility of Systems Biology on campus by sharing new research in the field with fellow undergrads. Outside of SBI, Jason hones his computational biology skills in the Sternberg Lab, developing bioinformatic pipelines to categorize new CRISPR–Cas immune systems. He is also the President for the Columbia Undergraduate Science Journal and a proud brother of Beta Theta Pi. In his spare time, Jason enjoys visiting museums around NYC, reading Caribbean literature, and chilling with his cat.