Akosua Nyame, Graduate Student
Akosua is a PhD student in Biochemistry at Holford Lab, CUNY Hunter College, with a focus on cephalopod venom systems and their microbial interactions. Her research interests include understanding the complex roles of venom-associated microbes and exploring innovative approaches to the recombinant production of bioactive peptides. She holds a BSc in Biochemistry, Cell, and Molecular Biology from the University of Ghana, where she gained a comprehensive background in molecular biology and biochemistry.
Belkes Stambouli, Graduate Student
Belkes is a PhD student in Biology, specializing in drug discovery from natural products, with a focus on cephalopod venom. She holds a PharmD and recently graduated with a Master's degree in Biology, during which she researched the chemical defenses of the Taenaris butterfly.
Britania Walters, Graduate Student
Britania is a graduate of John Jay College majoring in forensic science. She took a gap year to become an adjunct lecturer at John Jay and a lab technician at an environmental chemistry lab. She is now pursuing her PhD in Analytical Chemistry and joined the Holford lab in 2024 to work on cephalopod proteomics.
Favour Achimba, Graduate Student
Favour received a BS in Chemistry/Biochemistry from Rivers State University in 2016. She worked for a year at the Center for Infectious Diseases Lagos in 2017 on medical research data collection, medical record storage, and outreaches. During and after her undergraduate study, she was a high school math and chemistry tutor, preparing high school students and undergraduates for national exams. Her undergraduate research focused on measuring changes in biochemical parameters of albino rats to determine the effect of corticosteroids on their vital organs. She went on to work as a business analyst at a financial institution using data to solve business problems and managing projects that eliminate waste and redundancy in the organization. Favour joined the Holford Lab in Summer 2021 and is interested in studying how venom can advance cancer treatment. As a rotation student, Favour will be working with the bioinformatics team.
Franny Geller, Graduate Student
Franny is a PhD candidate in evolutionary biology and animal behavior at the CUNY Graduate Center, as well as a professional ensemble singer, who has discovered the perfect marriage of her interests in the biology of bird song. While plugging away at her dissertation on avian cultural evolution, Franny is also working with Drs. Habig and Holford as a research assistant on their ITEST grant.
James Parziale, Graduate Student
James received a BS in Forensic Toxicology and Molecular Biology from John Jay College in 2015. He continued his study to receive an MS in Pharmacology from Weill Cornell in 2018. He took a gap year to teach as an adjunct at his Alma Mater prior to entering the CUNY Biochemistry Ph.D. Program in Fall 2020. James joined the lab in late 2021 and is working to develop venom gland organoid models for Conoidea.
Praveena Naidu, Graduate Student
Praveena is a PhD student in Molecular Cellular and Developmental Biology Program. She received a BSc in Biomedical Science from Imperial College London in 2019 with a specialisation in infection and immunity. She then graduated with an MPhil from the University of Cambridge in 2020 studying placental macrophages across species. She spent the last year working in an RNA therapeutics lab at the Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biology at A*Star in Singapore, cloning plasmid constructs to validate splice-shifting oligonucleotide therapies.
Shayan Salehian, Graduate Student
Shayan is a former pharmacist and now a PhD student in Biochemistry who is fascinated by venom and marine natural products. He did his Pharm.D. thesis studying the anticancer effects of cone snail venom fractions. He graduated in Pharmacy from Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran (2014 – 2021). His research interest is mostly focused on the discovery of new druggable venom peptides and pursuing novel ways to deliver these precious peptides to their site of action with the help of pharmaceutical nanotechnology.