Executive Board Bios
President
Ashley Fouts, Ph.D.
Ashley's scientific interests focus on infectious organisms and host pathogen interactions. I finished my PhD in the Microbiology and Immunology department at Stanford in early 2007. Since that year, I have been doing bench research at Genentech. I joined AWIS in 2006 and have spent the past 3 years coordinating the monthly meetings as Programs Co-Chair. I've really enjoyed hosting the meetings and getting to know many of the members that way. As President I would like to contribute to the great tradition of AWIS in the Bay Area. I plan to work with the other volunteers to offer more benefits for your membership. I look forward to hearing any ideas you have in how AWIS can better serve you. When not in the lab I can be found on a bike or on the ski slopes.
Vice President
Rita Finones, Ph.D.
Rita Finones first attended an AWIS conference in 2007 while working on her PhD in Materials Science Engineering at UC San Diego. After moving back to the Bay Area, she swiftly joined the Palo Alto AWIS chapter. She delights in meeting speakers, members, and guests, who share tidbits of inspiration at every event. She was a host at a chapter meeting and a guest judge at a local science fair. She wishes to engage more people in the group’s mission by reconnecting with previous members, inviting new people, and bringing their stories together in a “dynamic snapshot” of the group. While building a career path that blends science and business, she loves to travel, practice yoga, and create art.
Treasurer
Chitra Chakravarthy, Ph.D.
Chitra became an active member of the Palo Alto Chapter of AWIS when she moved here in 2007, and has been the Treasurer of the Chapter for most of this time. She was already familiar with the Association as she had attended a few meetings of the Chapter during her visits to the Bay Area since 2004. Chitra has a PhD in Molecular and Cell Biology from Keele University, UK and postdoc training from Manchester University, UK. She is trained in areas of Molecular Biology, Cell Biology, Biochemistry and Immunology. While being passionate about Science and Research, she splits her spare time between hiking, skiing, quilting, and reading.
Secretary
Alayne Brunner, Ph.D.
Alayne is a postdoc in Stanford's Department of Pathology who is using cancer genomics to study genes involved in the progression of early stage breast cancer. Prior to this she obtained her Ph.D. from Stanford's Department of Genetics, studying DNA methylation patterns during development. Alayne joined AWIS in 2008 and has enjoyed attending PA chapter events on a regular basis. She has been a member of AWIS's Stanford mentoring program, both as a mentor and mentee, and has a strong interest in the topic of professional development. She has served as secretary for the PA chapter since last year. In her spare time, she pursues reading, gardening, traveling, hiking, skiing, networking, and science education and outreach.
Member At Large
Rachel Harte, Ph.D.
Rachel became involved in AWIS about 9 years ago while working with other AWIS members at PPD Discovery. She has previously served two years as Treasurer, two years as President and two years as Vice President of Palo Alto AWIS. She is the co-Chair for the chapter Scholarships Committees and the Treasurer for the Northern California Chapters(NCC) AWIS Committee. She has a PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Newcastle Upon Tyne (UK) and came to the US originally as a postdoc in the Department of Pathobiology at the University of Washington in Seattle. In 2000, she obtained a Masters in Bioinformatics from the University of York (UK) and then spent two years working as a Bioinformatics Scientist at PPD Discovery in Menlo Park. She currently works as a Bioinformatics Engineer at UC Santa Cruz where she works on gene annotation for the human and mouse genomes. Her interests include travelling, reading, biking, and going to the gym.
Committee Chair Bios
Programs
Kelly Harradine and Simona Neumann
Kelly is currently doing research at Genomic Health. She earned her PhD in Molecular Cellular and Developmental Biology from UCSB in 2005 and then trained in Cancer Biology at UCSF. Kelly joined PA AWIS in 2007 because she enjoys meeting new people, exchanging experiences and because she is passionate about mentoring. Kelly looks forward to bringing exciting topics to the 2010 program. If you have any ideas for programs you would like to see at AWIS please let us know!
Simona....
Membership
Emily Piccione
Emily is currently a postdoc at Stanford in the Institute of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine where her research focuses on developing antibody therapies for leukemia and lymphoma. Emily received her PhD from the Cancer Biology program at Stanford in 2010. Throughout her time at Stanford, Emily has enjoyed participating in AWIS events and serving as a mentor and protege in the AWIS mentoring program. She looks forward to becoming more involved in operations of the Palo Alto chapter and getting to know more members through serving on the Membership committee. Emily's interests outside of science include hiking, reading, gardening, running, and learning how to cook.
Mentoring
Katrin Sangkuhl, Kim Wiliams, Lyle Rice
Community Outreach
Katy Korsmeyer
Katy is a biochemist by training (protein chemistry and post-translation modifications of proteins, research on FMO and P450) and a passion for science education outreach through volunteering wh ile at UCSF. Her current research is concentrated on raising two bright beautiful girls and promoting science education through community outreach. She is President and Executive Director of Bay Area Biotechnology Education Consortium (http://www.babec.org) and Program Director of Santa Clara County Biotechnology Education Partnership (http://www.science.sjsu.edu/sccbep/); non-profit organization dedicated to bringing biotechnology into secondary education classrooms. Her other interests include needlepoint, stamp collecting, and Chinese food.
Industry Outreach
Marcy Auerbach
Newsletter
Maytal Bar-shir
Maytal works as a Health Education Consultant at the County of Santa Clara. A health communications professional, Maytal's professional career began in broadcast media. Her affinity for health promotion ultimately led herto obtain higher education in public health, an M.P.H. from San Jose State University. She has held into various roles within the healthcare industry and health education realm including Marketing, Sales, and Client Services for California Pacifica Medical Center and Kaiser Permanente. Maytal has lots of experience on editing and has recently been Editor-in-Chief for SJSU's Health Sciences Department bi-annual publication, The Harbinger. In her spare time, she enjoys hiking, cooking, and traveling.
Scholarships
Yun Hsu and Rachel Harte
Yun finished up her graduate work at The Rockefeller University in 2008. She moved to the Bay Area soon after. Yun enjoys networking and meeting new people through AWIS. She is currently trying to break into the regulatory field while co-chairing the scholarship committee. For fun she enjoys eating, surfing the net for food, running, and cycling.
Webmistresses
Shibing Wang and Kristin Vanderbeek
Shibing is a Ph.D student in Applied Physics in Stanford Universeity. Her research is studying material properties under extreme conditions in the field of condensed matter physics, material physics, physical chemistry with practical application in hydrogen storage and high-temperature superconductor. She joined AWIS in year 2008 as a secretary. Prior to that she had participated in the AWIS mentoring program as a protege. Shibing enjoys working with AWIS members, and would like to contribute to promoting minority groups in sciences.
Kristin...
