Club Leadership
Jean Yu
President
Jean Yu is a second-year undergraduate at MIT studying biological engineering and computer science. She currently conducts research on the reactivation of Toxoplasma gondii using computational and wetlab techniques in the Lourido Lab at the Whitehead Institute. As president of the Microbiome Club, she hopes to engage the student body and community with the fascinating aspects of the microbiome through fun activities and seminars. In her free time, Jean enjoys running, reading, and the outdoors.
Daniel Sellers
Treasurer and Industry Lead
Daniel Sellers is a 3rd year PhD student in Biological Engineering at MIT. He works in Dr. Katharina Ribbeck’s lab studying how our intestinal mucus and specific microbes contribute to the diversity and function of our gut microbiome. Daniel is the microbiome club treasurer and the industry lead where his goal is to connect academic researchers with professionals focused on therapeutic development. Outside of lab, Daniel is an avid soccer player and loves all things fermented foods, whether it is making them, consuming them, or embarking on unsolicited monologues about how amazing they are!
Jett Douglass Liu
Symposium Chair
Jett Liu is a second-year Microbiology graduate student in the Collins Lab.
Gabriel Lozano-Betancourt
Seminar Series Chair
Gabriel L. Lozano is a Pew Latin American Postdoctoral Fellow in Professor Seth Rakoff-Nahoum’s laboratory at Boston Children’s Hospital/Harvard Medical School. His research has focused on merging comparative evolutionary biology with molecular microbial ecology to identify and characterize unique genetic traits in the microbiome that impact colonization, survival, and competition between bacterial species. He is the lead organizer of the MIT Microbiome Club’s monthly academic seminar series.
Kayla Weng
Publicity Chair
Kayla Weng is a fourth-year undergraduate student at Tufts University. She has previously researched the role of estrogen in the gut microbiome on Alzheimer’s disease progression in the Haran lab and is currently researching gut microbiome manipulation for increased exercise capacity in the Kostic lab. As publicity chair of the Microbiome Club, she hopes to get more community members and nearby university students involved in club activities and seminars. Outside of lab, Kayla loves to sing, read, dance, as well as play guitar and tennis.
Mai Huynh
Outreach Chair
Mai Huynh is a fifth year PhD candidate at Brown University. She spent six years doing research on cancer biology and cancer genetics at the University of Miami and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute before starting graduate school. Mai currently studies the complex relationship between the lung microbiota and immunity in the context of non-small cell lung carcinoma in the Jamieson Lab at Brown, with an interest in how socioeconomic aspects affect the microbiota. As Chair of Public Outreach in the MIT Microbiome, Mai is interested in engaging the public in activities centered on microbiology to both educate and ignite interest in the microbiome for non-scientists and future scientists. Outside of research, Mai is a ballet dancer, participates in Tae Kwon Do, and plays music professionally. Mai is also very passionate about mutual aid and volunteering, and spends the majority of her time participating in various ways to help her community.
Alyssa Haynes Mitchell
Outreach Co-Chair
Alyssa Haynes Mitchell is a third-year graduate student, pursuing her PhD in Microbiology in the Lieberman Lab (IMES, CEE), where she uses an evolutionary lens to investigate the engraftment, stability, and person-specific adaptation of commensal bacteria in both the gut and vaginal microbiomes. Alyssa is keen to apply her expertise to develop therapeutic interventions for microbiome-related disorders after graduation and cares deeply about advancing health equity in resource-limited settings.
Gabriel Vercelli
Seminar Series Co-Chair
Gabriel Vercelli is a fifth-year PhD student in the Microbiology Program at MIT. He is pursuing his thesis at the Cordero Lab, where he studies the ecology and evolution of microbial communities. As a member of the Microbiome Club, Gabriel hopes to create a welcoming and enriching environment for Microbiologists and Microbiome enthusiasts at MIT. He is currently a co-organizer of the monthly seminars for the club.