WPI Department of Biology and Biotechnology

05/12/2025

We are excited to announce that we have a new official page for the Biology and Biotechnology Department at WPI! 🎉

Starting now, all updates, events, student highlights, and department news will be posted exclusively on our new page. Make sure to follow us here ➡️ https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61575973050874 to stay connected and never miss an update.

🔄 Please share and spread the word!

📌 The old page will no longer be updated.

01/14/2025

Congratulations to BBT PhD student Racheal Asaolu on being named a Presidential Ambassador for Equity and Inclusion by the Genetics Society of America! Racheal is a 2nd year student in the Srinivasan Lab and one of only 20 young people selected from across the USA for this award. Her dedication to science and equity are admirable and we look forward to her continued growth in BBT

01/14/2025

Congratulations to BBT PhD student Racheal Asaolu on being named a Presidential Ambassador for Equity and Inclusion by the Genetics Society of America! Racheal is a 2nd year student in the Srinivasan Lab and one of only 20 young people selected from across the USA for this award. Her dedication to science and equity are admirable and we look forward to her continued growth in BBT

11/26/2024

Dr. Jeff Bailey will be our guest speaker on Tuesday, December 3rd.

11/25/2024

The Farny Lab recently participated in the 7th International Conference on Microbiome Engineering at Tufts University. Several lab members gave posters, including graduate students Cabrielle Cabebe (BCB ) Genesis Nicole Carpio Paucar (BBT), Rehema Mrutu (PASET scholar), Siqin Li (BCB ), BBT postdoc Kalisa Bogati, and undergraduate students Aleksandra Maak (BCB ) and Ben Feldman (UMass Amherst). Congratulations to all presenters! And our sincere thanks to the conference organizers for their generous support of our students.

11/07/2024

https://www.wpi.edu/news/wpi-receives-federal-funding-address-anticipated-demand-biology-and-biotechnology-professionals-and

U.S. Department of Education fellowships target “areas of national need”

10/10/2024

Congratulations to Biology & Biotechnology Assistant Professor
Karl-Frédéric Vieux on his award of $747,000 through the NIH’s Maximizing Opportunities for Scientific and Academic Independent Careers program that supports diverse researchers transitioning from postdoctoral programs to careers!

Vieux received his PhD from McGill University, was a postdoctoral fellow at NIH, and joined the WPI faculty in July 2024. His research focuses on transcribed copies of genes, known as RNA, and the molecular modifications that regulate their expression and stability in the context of reproduction. His project, which began during his postdoctoral fellowship at NIH and will continue for up to three more years, focuses on understanding the role of these genes during the process in which an egg transitions into an embryo.

10/10/2024

Congratulations to Biology & Biotechnology Assistant Professor Inna Nechipurenko on her award of a $1,890,960 grant through the NIH’s Maximizing Investigators Research Award for Early Stage Investigators!

Her lab studies the assembly of tiny cellular antennae called primary cilia, which mediate communication between cells and their environment. Defective cilia cause a myriad of genetic disorders that have no cure. Nechipurenko’s five-year project will delve into mapping the signaling networks that regulate cilia assembly, remodeling, and function in nerve cells to better understand how cilia dysfunction contributes to human neurodevelopmental disorders. A member of the faculty since 2020, Nechipurenko previously received grants from the NIH and the Charles H. Hood Foundation for her work. She received her PhD in neuroscience from Case Western Reserve University.

10/07/2024

Please join us this Friday, 10/11, from 10-12 in Alden Hall, for an open poster session presented by the students of BB3827 Molecular Biology and Genetic Engineering! All are invited!

From the instructor, Prof. Lou Roberts: “We used CRISPRi to knock down expression of the non-essential and under-studied RNases (i.e., RNase PH, RNase AS, RNase Z, and YbeY) in an RNase D deletion strain background. These RNases are implicated in rRNA and tRNA processing. I hope you can stop by!”

10/03/2024

Please join us Tuesday, 10/8, at 12 PM for our Life Sciences Seminar, featuring talks by Rholee Xu, Bioinformatics & Computational Biology PhD student, and Sam Isife, Biology & Biotechnology PhD student!

“Measurement of cell wall surface elastic moduli in tip-growing cells is supported by synthetic cell simulations”
Rholee Xu, BCB PhD Student
Advisor: Professor Luis Vidali

“osas #9-mediated Transgenerational Inheritance in C. elegans”
Samuel Isife, BBT PhD Student
Advisor: Associate Professor Jagan Srinivasan

10/03/2024

Join us for our 2nd Annual pumpkin decorating gathering for the faculty, graduate students, and staff of BBT! Bring your own pumpkin(s) and your favorite fall snack(s) to share. We’ll provide the rest!

🎃🎃🎃

October 24th
2-6PM
Gateway 4th Floor Kitchen

WPI Graduate & Professional Studies

10/01/2024

The Life Sciences Seminar today featured a talk by Elizabeth Crowley, Biology & Biotechnology post-doc!

“Aberrant transcription in mitosis following RB loss compromises centromere function.”
Elizabeth Crowley, BBT post-doc, Advisor: Associate Professor Amity Manning