Current Members

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Mandë Holford is an Associate Professor in Chemistry at CUNY-Hunter College and Graduate Center, with scientific appointments at the American Museum of Natural History and Weill Cornell Medical College. Her appointments reflect her traditional training in synthetic peptide chemistry and her subsequent interest in evolution of venomous marine organisms and characterization of venom peptides. Dr. Holford’s research is at the forefront of Chemical and Biological Diversity – pioneering an evolutionarily integrated approach to the discovery of novel venom peptides for therapeutic development in pain and cancer. 

Giulia received a PhD in Environmental and Evolutionary Biology in 2017 from the University La Sapienza of Rome with a thesis on Antarctic mollusc larval ecology and genetic connectivity. She received a grant from her home country of Italy to visit the Holford laboratory for five months. During this period, she is learning to analyze NGS data using bioinformatic tools and she has joined the ongoing project on Terebridae diet identification and correlation with venom diversity.

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 1) develop venom gland organoid models for Conoidea and 2) to perform a morphometric analysis of terebrid snail shell spirals.

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.

Jessy received a BS in Biology from St. Thomas Aquinas College in 2015. He entered the Bioinformatics Master Degree Program at New York University in Spring 2020, and joined the Holford Lab in Summer 2021. After graduation, he hopes to pursue his career in Bioinformatics via a PhD degree.

Syeda is an undergraduate junior majoring in Biochemistry and Special Honors Major at Hunter College. She joined the Holford Lab in Summer 2021 as a McNulty Scholar. After graduating, Syeda hopes to pursue an MD or MD/PhD degree.

Nusrat is an undergraduate junior majoring in Biology and BA/MA in Psychology at City College of New York. She joined the Holford Lab in Summer 2021. After graduating, she hopes to pursue an MD-PhD degree and aims to do further research on psychoneuroimmunology related to glioblastoma.