SURPAS Leadership 2019-2020
Co-Chair
Gina is currently a postdoc in Sylvia Plevritis’ lab in the department of Radiology. Her work focuses on the role of the tumor microenvironment in metabolic reprogramming of cancer cells. Gina is originally from Québec, Canada and has a PhD in radiation sciences and biomedical imaging from the University of Sherbrooke. She left her cold hometown to learn more about big data analysis and enjoy California outdoors. Gina is convinced that the postdoctoral experience should be all about passionate science and enjoyable years, building your future scientific network. By being a member of the SURPAS leadership team, she wants to help making this experience amazing for every Stanford postdoc.
Co-Chair
Elaina is a postdoc in Aida Habtezion’s lab in the department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, studying the immune mechanisms regulating pancreatitis development and progression. Originally from upstate NY, she completed her undergrad at the Ohio State University and her PhD in Cell Biology at the University of Wisconsin. As a former collegiate athlete, she is acutely aware of the importance of community, which lead her to join SURPAS. She is passionate about making sure we all have a support network to fall back on through the thick and thin of our postdocs. Outside of the lab, Elaina can be found baking, hiking or doing Crossfit most mornings before work.
Advocacy Coordinator
Shahzad is a postdoc in the Department of Biochemistry studying the molecular basis of inherited Parkinson’s disease. He is originally from Miami, FL and earned a Ph.D. in Neuroscience from the University of Virginia. As Advocacy Coordinator, Shahzad aspires to promote meaningful change for postdocs in the areas of outreach, diversity and inclusion. His hobbies involve running, reading, and listening to music, oftentimes alongside his son.
Events Coordinator
Arianna is a second-year postdoc in the labs of Dr. David Relman and Dr. KC Huang. Originally from Mexico, she spent most of her life in Southern California and then did her graduate work at Montana State University in Bozeman, MT before coming to Stanford. Her current research focuses on understanding iron processing by gut bacteria and determining whether there is an association between certain microbiome compositions and the development of iron-deficiency anemia during pregnancy. Arianna enjoys meeting new people, interacting with people from different departments, and learning new things, which has landed her in her current role as SURPAS Events Coordinator. Outside of work, she spends her time running with the Los Altos running team, swimming, practicing Olympic lifts, and cooking.
Communications Director
Ioana is a postdoc working with Dr. Carla Shatz. Originally from Romania, she is a graduate of Lafayette College (Easton, PA) and received her PhD in Neuroscience from the University of Virginia. In science, her dream is to be able to integrate research from different areas to understand how the brain works. In life, she believes one can achieve many things by just showing up and asking. As advocacy coordinator, she tries to make people realize that postdocs are the future of academia and investing in their potential is super duper important.
Operations Manager
Ukash is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Department of Radiology and the Department of Electrical Engineering at Stanford University. He received his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the State University of New York at Buffalo in May 2018. His expertise includes machine learning, nonlinear representation, high dimensional signal representation and reconstruction with applications to medical imaging and analysis. His research focuses on making medical imaging faster, better, and cheaper. At SURPAS, he enjoys organizing meetings, taking care of day-to-day administrative work and attending coffee socials. Besides his research work, he enjoys traveling and photography.
Treasurer
Etienne is a postdoc in Robert Jackson’s lab in the school of earth, energy & environmental sciences and studies global methane emissions from freshwater wetlands. He obtained his PhD from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Etienne found that SURPAS was really important in building a community when he arrived at Stanford, and he wants to contribute to others benefiting from this exceptional support for postdocs. In his free time, Etienne can be found camping somewhere in the Sierras.
Social Media Director and Webmaster
Callie is a postdoc in Martha Cyert’s lab in the biology department and is focused on characterizing a newly-discovered role for the calcineurin phosphatase at the nuclear pore complex. Callie obtained a B.S. in Chemistry from Georgia Southern University (Go Eagles!) and a Ph.D. in Biochemistry, Cell and Developmental Biology (BCDB) at Emory University. Callie has found that the postdoc years are incredibly rewarding, but also come with many unique challenges, especially here in the Bay Area. By plugging into SURPAS and serving on various committees, she hopes to enrich the lives of both current and future Stanford postdocs. Callie is also very passionate about effective science communication (both inside and outside the classroom) and serves on the Public Information Committee (PIC) for ASCB. Outside the lab, she enjoys going to the farmer’s market, cooking, drinking wine with her friends, and doing anything outside with her family!
Community Engagement Liaison
Eamon is a postdoc in the Deisseroth Lab in the Department of Bioengineering working on the development of new optogenetic tools for neuroscience research. Originally from Australia, he completed his D.Phil. in Structural Biology at the University of Oxford in the UK. Eamon is passionate about representing the interests of postdocs through SURPAS and as Community Engagement Liaison he hopes to connect postdocs to the resources that they need to run great events and build strong communities here at Stanford. Outside of the lab he enjoys rock-climbing, hiking, and baking bread.
