Candidate Biographies 2022 – 2023

When certain positions are contested, candidates will be requested to present a short biography. These will be reviewed by biology graduate students at York University to help in the election process. The biographies will be publicly available on the website for the duration of the elections.

There is currently one contested position.

Elections will take place from September 22nd to September 28th.

Symposium Committee

There are eight candidates running for six positions.
Move between tabs below to view each candidate’s biography.
As candidate’s provide their biography, their tabs would be updated.

Sahib Singh Madahar Wanyi Lyu Sai Sowndarya Sundararaman Melissa Ly Su Kyong Lee Rachel Corridore Jie Lin Giammarco Nebbioso

Hello, I hope you’re all doing well! My name is Sahib Singh Madahar and I’m a first year M.Sc. student in Dr. Abdul-Sater’s lab investigating the role of TRAF1 in animal models of inflammatory arthritis. I completed my undergraduate studies at York University in the Biomedical Science program with a minor in Psychology. I’m interested in being a part of the AGSBS Symposium Committee for the upcoming year. During my time at York University, I have had many rewarding opportunities where I was able to grow as a student and develop lifelong skills, share my experiences with students and faculty members, and support current students through academic programs and extracurricular activities. In my various roles as a President’s Ambassador, Science Student Ambassador, Science Transition Mentor, Peer Tutor, and Peer Mentor, I have learned to communicate effectively, provide strategies to support students and collaborate with my team to coordinate several events and projects. I’ve also been in various leadership roles as a senior advisor of the York Punjabi Association, executive researcher of Breaking Stigmas and an elected undergraduate representative on the Science Student Caucus. I had the pleasure of serving on the Research and Awards committee, where I advocated for policy changes that are equitable and fair for students. My friends and I recently founded a Cancer Awareness Student Association group that aims to raise awareness on different types of cancer and explain the biology behind them by creating accessible informatics in multiple languages, sharing useful resources, and creating a positive support system for the community. My research journey began by being selected as an inaugural recipient of the York Science Scholars Award. This award was given to only ten incoming undergraduate students who demonstrate high academic achievement and leadership in community service. With this award, I had the opportunity of joining Dr. Nikolaus Troje’s Biomotion lab as a full-time research student in the summer of first year. I then gained more exposure through a third-year research practicum and undergraduate thesis in Dr. Samuel Benchimol’s lab. These research experiences have allowed me to improve my adaptability, critical thinking, initiative, organization, and time management skills. In my 6 years of volunteering at the hospital, I’ve improved several skills including communication, problem solving and teamwork. These experiences and skills will enable me to contribute meaningfully to my fellow peers, professors, and the York University community as a Symposium Committee member. Thank you for reading!

My name is Wanyi Lyu. I am a first year MSc student working with Dr. Jeff Schall, studying the neural circuitry underlying visual decision making. I graduated from Bates College in the U.S. majoring in Neuroscience and Classical Studies. Before coming to York U, I worked in Jeremy Wolfe’s Visual Attention Lab at Brigham and Women’s, one of the Harvard Medical School hospitals for three years. During that time, I attended and presented at several major conferences. Attending conferences was one of my favorite experiences. I deeply appreciate the opportunity to present my own research, to learn about the fresh and ingenious work from other groups, and to form valuable connections with peers and mentors. The experiences also helped me become aware of the amount of planning that takes place behind the scenes. I managed the Visual Attention Lab through COVID. Of course, that is not the same as coordinating a symposium series, but I have plenty of experience in looking after details and dealing with the unexpected. Even though I am a new member in the York U community, I’m already impressed by the diverse and exciting research activities happening here. I would love to help create a vibrant and engaging symposium experience at York U.

Hi everyone, My name is Sai Sowndarya and I am in my 2^nd year PhD in Dr. Golei-Kotra’s lab. I was in the symposium committee during my undergrad and I really enjoyed organizing the event. I generally like organizing events and being on the committee helped me to do what I enjoy the most. Those experiences strengthen my confidence and leadership qualities. I would like to do that again in AGSBS. I would be delighted in organizing the poster and oral presentation for the committee. I would help in engaging more students to participate in the event.

My name is Su Kyong Lee and I am a 2nd-year PhD student at Dr. Rosonina lab. My research focuses on exploring the role of a deubiquitinating enzyme, Ubp3, in transcription and reinitiaiton genome-wide in yeast.

I would like to be a member of the syposium committee. During my graduate studies, I have some experience in presenting posters in the symposium and other conferences. With that knowledge, I believe that I can co-operate with other committee members to organize and plan for facilitating the symposium effectively. I also want to promote this conference to make more students participate in it, so that we can improve background by exchanging ideas among the students in the department.

Hello Biograds! My name is Rachel Corridore. I’m currently running for a position on the AGSBS Symposium Committee. Let me tell you a bit about myself! I’m ending off my final year of my Master’s in the Scheid Lab. During my Master’s I’ve not only made some interesting discoveries, such as finding the bipartite binding group for 14-3-3 adaptor proteins on MAP3K2 and the MAP3K2 regulatory phosphorylation sites required for SMYD3 interaction, but I’ve also acquired many critical and analytical thinking and organizational skills! A lot of work goes into designing/planning experiments, from doing the preliminary research, drafting an experimental design, meeting with your PI to discuss your proposed design, to actually carrying out the experiments – which can take weeks to months to complete! Carrying out these experiments takes great initiative, dedication and determination! Over my 2-year experience as a TA, I’ve learned how to plan and organize tutorials, labs, and office hours, and in the process gained great leadership skills. In my 7 years of customer service, I worked as a restaurant server and a customer service representative. Some skills I’ve gained in these roles include decision making and problem solving skills, collaboration and leadership skills and communication and interpersonal skills. Last but not least, I was the Social Convenor of Spreading Smiles’, a club at York. My role consisted of managing the social media and planning/organizing on-campus fundraisers, such as movie nights and bake sales to fund off-campus events, such as school trips for low-income communities and making and delivering care-packages to the homeless communities downtown Toronto. I strongly believe these skills I’ve learned over the years make me a great candidate for this organizational and collaborative role!

I was in the undergraduate and graduate student associations in my undergrad and Master’s periods, respectively. Those experiences strengthen my communication and leadership abilities. Additionally, I was an AGSBS symposium member last year, and I do not have TAship, allowing me more time to work on the 49 th symposium.

Hello everyone,
My name is Giammarco Nebbioso and I am a 2 nd year Masters student. During my first year, I was the co-chair of the Honors Thesis Committee at AGSBS and became the chair of the Student Executive Committee for the Centre for Research on Biomolecular Interactions (CRBI), here at York University. Some of you may know me as, in June 2022, I organized and led the development of the very first (in person) CRBI internal conference. This year, I would be delighted to bring my experience in event planning to AGSBS and contribute to the

Candidate Biographies 2022 – 2023

Symposium Committee

ASSOCIATION OF GRADUATE STUDENTS IN THE BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES