List of Current and Former Pomona College Beckman Scholars
  
2019 Beckman Scholar - Christina Beck
​(Mentor: Professor Jane Liu)
Christina (PO ’20) is a Molecular Biology major currently working in the Liu Lab. As a Beckman Scholar, Christina is investigating the genetic regulation of carbon metabolism processes in Vibrio cholerae, the causative agent of cholera disease. More specifically, her project focuses on the transcriptional control of the fru operon, which encodes a number of proteins required for fructose transport and metabolism. Fructose metabolism is of particular interest because of its connection to the formation of biofilms, slimy matrices of bacteria which promote colonization and disease pathogenesis in the human host. To tease apart the genetic regulation of the fru operon, Christina is designing a series of transcriptional reporter fusions to identify protein regulator binding sites in the operon’s promoter region. In addition to her work in the Liu Lab, Christina has also worked with Dr. Amandine Maréchal at University College London, studying supercomplex formation in the mitochondrial electron transport chain. After graduation, Christina plans to pursue a PhD, focusing on structural biology and protein biochemistry. When she’s not in lab, Christina enjoys reading, hiking, and scoping out new coffee shops in the SoCal area.

​2019 Beckman Scholar - Brendan Terry
(Mentor: Professor Matt Sazinsky)
Brendan (PO '20) is a Chemistry major and pre-MD/PhD student. As a 2018 Beckman Scholar in the Sazinsky lab, Brendan led a project to determine and analyze the structure of the enzyme RHA-P, which converts valuable natural compounds into bioavailable forms with significant health benefits and potential applications in drug discovery. In a first-author paper published in Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics that resulted from work Brendan did as a Beckman Scholar, he and his co-authors described the 2.2 Å unbound crystal structure of RHA-P and analyzed its substrate-binding using in silico protein-ligand docking experiments. For his thesis research, Brendan is using the results from this paper to inform the directed evolution of RHA-P into a more organostable and thermostable biocatalyst that could one day be used industrially. The excitement and challenge that Brendan feels when doing his research in the Sazinsky lab have persuaded him to study biochemistry in graduate school. For his PhD in Medical Science, Brendan will attend Cambridge University at the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute under the co-supervision of Professor Sir Shankar Balasubramanian and Professor Wolf Reik. After his PhD, Brendan would like to attend medical school so that, one day, he can spend his days caring for patients as a physician while researching how to improve their health as a biochemist. In addition to his lab research, Brendan enjoys reading, playing soccer, and eating delicious foods all over Los Angeles.


2017 Beckman Scholar - Christian Woroch
(Mentor: Professor Nicholas Ball)
Cris (PO '19) is a chemistry major working in the Ball group. With funding from the Beckman Scholars Program, Cris is developing an easy and versatile synthesis for generating sulfonamides from sulfonyl fluorides. Sulfonamides are a critical functional group for many pharmaceutical and agrochemical products, but the most common methods to synthesize them require the use of unstable sulfonyl chlorides. Sulfonyl fluorides are a more stable alternative to sulfonyl chlorides, but are difficult to activate. In collaboration with Pfizer, Cris has developed a Lewis acid assisted reaction that has been successful for a handful of aromatic, heteroaromatic and aliphatic amines. In addition to his work in the Ball Lab, Cris worked as an Amgen Scholar at UCSF in the Fujimori group studying sulfonyl fluoride covalent labeling probes in lysine demethylases. After Pomona, Cris plans to pursue a PhD and work in renewable energy generation and storage. Outside of the lab, Cris enjoys cooking, backpacking, basketball, running, volleyball, and playing classical guitar. 

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​​2016 Beckman Scholar - Maryann Zhao
(Mentor: Professor Jane Liu)
Maryann (PO '18) is a Molecular Biology major. With the support of the Beckman Scholarship, Maryann aims to develop an efficient platform for engineering whole cell RNA-based biosensors for selected ligands of choice. The mechanism behind the biosensors relies on RNA regulatory elements called riboswitches to detect the target and transmit a measurable signal. By using techniques such as dual genetic selection and fluorescence activated cell sorting, Maryann will perform directed evolution in order to isolate a novel riboswitch capable of sensing dopamine, her target molecule. If successful, potential applications for the platform could be to generate whole cell diagnostic tools that are sensitive toward biomarkers in clinical samples. Prior to her role as a Beckman Scholar, Maryann spent time in the Arnvig lab (University College London) investigating how naturally occurring riboswitches regulate resuscitation promoting factors in Mycobacterium tuberculosis. She worked in the O’Leary lab synthesizing polymers with enhanced release profiles for the administration of Ciprofloxacin to the lungs. After her time at Pomona, Maryann plans to pursue a career in medicine as physician researcher with particular interests in bleeding disorders and genetic diseases. Whenever she’s not in lab, Maryann spends the majority of her time either playing tennis with the Pomona-Pitzer tennis team or looking for a new adventure outdoors. 


​2016 Beckman Scholar - Arjun Scott Nanda
(Mentor: Professor Matt Sazinsky)
Arjun is a Molecular Biology major and Math minor with a strong interest in the application analytical techniques to biology. With support from the Beckman Scholarship, Arjun is studying the enzyme toluene monooxygenase (ToMO) to better understand how the environment surrounding its metallic center can influence which reactions the enzyme catalyzes.  By combining computational models and biochemical techniques, he aims to engineer a new monooxygenase variant based on ToMO that can hydroxylate both straight-chain and cyclic carbon compounds using an alternative reaction mechanism. If successful, his work could aid in improving the design of catalysts for many common industrial processes which rely on hydroxylation chemistry, or providing biological alternative sources. Arjun has always been interested in research, and has worked previously in both the pharmaceutical industry and academia. His most recent project in the Lomas Lab (University College London) focused on utilizing electron paramagnetic spectroscopy to determine the mechanism of the protein-folding disease alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency. In the future, Arjun aims to pursue a graduate degree and enter the entrepreneurial biosciences – an area he feels will be increasingly important as the range of new computational scientific techniques continues to grow.  Outside of the lab, Arjun is a big fan of student theater and spends his free time hiking the outdoors and playing intermural soccer.

2016 Beckman Scholar - Nina C. Warner
(Mentor: Professor Daniel O'Leary)
Nina is a Chemistry Major and Spanish Minor. As a 2016 Beckman Scholar in the O'Leary lab, she will employ ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) to synthesize a controlled-release polynorbornene system for the administration of Ciprofloxacin (CP) in the lungs. Her objective will be to enhance the CP release profile as compared to those of existing CP-polynorbornene systems. She will achieve this by introducing a linker molecule that mimics the substrate of the most active extracellular hydrolase in the lungs. Before becoming a Beckman Scholar, Nina studied the temporal emergence of cortical activity in anesthetized infants in the Berde lab at Harvard Medical School. She also studied early bird evolution of the Jehol Biota in the Chiappe lab at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. Following her graduation from Pomona, Nina plans to pursue an MD-Ph.D. before hopefully becoming a biotechnology entrepreneur. Until then, however, she will continue to seek excitement and inspiration from her amazing professors, studies at three universities abroad, and Shark Tank reruns.

2016 Beckman Scholar - Mark G. Zhang
(Mentor: Professor Jane Liu)
Mark is a Molecular Biology Major. As part of his Beckman Scholarship, his primary goal will be to discern how the small RNA MtlS directs proteoloysis of the mannitol transporter MtlA in Vibrio cholera by pinpointing the proteins and mechanistic pathways involved. The project as a whole looks to provide a more comprehensive understanding of how sRNAs function as regulatory agents, particularly at the post-expression level. Mark has a very strong research record and has worked in four different labs before joining Professor Lui's lab. For example, in the Chin lab (University of Washington), Mark Isolated transcription factors that had the potential to re-differentiate cardiofibroblasts into cardiomyocytes through the induction of new genetic pathways. He worked in the Werner lab (University College London) where he examined complex-formation of transcription factor subunits in an archaeal species (Haloferax volcanii) that stood out from a sequence homology and biochemical standpoint, in an effort to better understand the potential evolutionary relationships between archaea and eukarya. Mark's dream is to become a professor of biochemistry at a place like Pomona, and one day teach biochemistry or organic chemistry while also conducting research with undergrads. In his spare time, Mark enjoys making (and eating) food, and has even started his own coffeehouse organization on campus!
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2014 Beckman Scholar - Hannah Wayment-Steele (Mentor- Professor Malkiat Johal
Congratulations to Hannah Wayment-Steele for receiving a 2014 Beckman Scholarship. During the course of her Beckman scholarship, Hannah will be implementing both experimental and computational techniques to study the effect of varying Al3+ concentration on several indicators of membrane damage. Hannah is a rising senior who has been working in the Johal lab since her freshman year.  She has studied a variety of systems using QCM-D, from basic biophysical research on membrane neurotoxin interactions, to studying inorganic materials with applications for alternative energy and remediation. Recently, she studied Ru(bpy)3 dye adsorption for the purpose of increasing the efficiency of DSSCs. Hannah is a double major in Chemistry and Mathematics with a minor in Music, and hopes to obtain a Ph.D. in Materials Science or Biophysics.    
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  • 2024: Ava Spiegler - Chemistry, mentor:  Professor Jane Liu
  • 2024:  Daniel Gao - Chemistry, mentor:  Professor Mal Johal
  • 2023: Santiago Serrano - Neuroscience, mentor:  Professor Karen Parfitt
  • 2023: Alexandra Turvey - Biology, mentor:  Professor Andre Cavalcanti
  • 2022: Daniela Pierro - Biology, mentor: Professor Daniel Martínez
  • 2022: Louie Kulber - Molecular Biology, mentor: Professor Sara Olson
  • 2021: Jacob Al-Husseini - Chemistry, mentor: Professor Mal Johal
  • 2020: Sam Khasnavis - Chemistry, mentor: Professor Nicholas Ball
  • 2019: Christina Beck - Molecular Biology, mentor: Professor Jane Liu
  • 2019: Brendan Terry - Chemistry, mentor: Professor Matthew Sazinsky
  • 2018: Cris Woroch - Chemistry, mentor: Professor Nicholas Ball
  • 2017: Maryann Zhao - Molecular Biology, mentor: Professor Jane Liu
  • 2016: Nina Warner - Chemistry, mentor: Professor Daniel J. O'leary
  • 2016: Mark Zhang - Molecular Biology, mentor: Professor Jane Liu
  • 2016: Arjun Nanda - Molecular Biology, mentor: Professor Matthew Sazinsky
  • 2014: Hannah Wayment-Steele - Chemistry, graduated 2015, mentor: Professor Malkiat S. Johal
  • 2009: Benjamin M. Kozak - Biology, graduated 2010, mentor: Professor Clarissa Cheney
  • 2008: Jeremy Treger - Chemistry, graduated 2010, mentor: Professor Malkiat S. Johal
  • 2008: Thomas J. Lane - Chemistry, graduated 2010, mentor: Professor Malkiat S. Johal
  • 2007: Laura Rosen - Molecular Biology, graduated 2008, mentor: Professor Len Seligman
  • 2007: Robert J. Rawle - Chemistry, graduated 2008, mentor: Professor Cynthia R. Selasie
  • 2006: Gloria Yiu - Molecular Biology, graduated 2007, mentor: Professor Laura L. M. Hoopes
  • 2005: Paul Robustelli - Chemistry, graduated 2006, mentor: Professor Wayne Steinmetz
  • 2005: Daniel J. Holtzman - Chemistry, graduated 2006, mentor: Professor Clarissa Cheney
  • 2004: Charles S. Hummel - Chemistry, graduated 2006, mentor: Professor Edward J. Crane III
  • 2003: Mary M. (Molly) Rodrick - Biology, graduated 2004, mentor: Professor Daniel Martinez
  • 2002: Michelle M. Yuen-Shimogawa - Molecular Biology, graduated 2003, mentor: Professor Laura L. M. Hoopes
  • 2002: Janetta Iwanicki - Biology, graduated 2003, mentor: Professor Clarissa Cheney
  • 2001: Benjamin Allen - Chemistry, graduated 2003, mentor: Professor Daniel J. O'Leary