Postdocs
Noor Youssef
Noor's background is in math and biology and she has been working at the interface of these two disciplines since her undergrad. Her PhD work was on understanding how epistasis shapes protein evolution and how it might bias our inference of evolutionary parameters. She's looking forward to joining the Marks' lab in the Fall and decoding more of nature's hidden messages.
embedding: proteins, lifting, Halifax, strawberry licorice, kind, thoughtful, hard working, leader, fitness, chicken chip, friendly, Canadian!, dog, chill, warm, greyhound, calm, work-out buddy, quick, polite, Blake, genuine, confident
Rose Orenbuch
Coming from a background in computer science and biology, Rose was a Systems Biology graduate student in the Marks Lab, defedning her PhD in August 2025.
embedding: genetic diseases, baking, cooking, CAKE DAY, computer science, talented, art, drawing, lifting, bad ass, cool shades, clever, spy, organized, nyt reader, artsy, calm, competent, artistic, out-spoken, direct, amazing cook, funny, math
Graduate Students
Sam Berry, Biophysics
Sam is a Biophysics PhD student interested in relating protein structure and evolution. When not daydreaming about proteins, he likes to write, escape to the mountains, and spend quality time with his cat, Linus Pawling.
embedding: cool hair, wet lab, co-advised, membrane, biochemistry, ions, Manganese, glasses, cat, GPCR, enthusiastic, fun, curious, transporters, berries, structures, actually does experiments, genuinely likes science, funny, friendly
Courtney Shearer, Systems, Synthetic, and Quantitative Biology
Courtney explored computer science and genomics at Clemson University, Zymergen, and CRISPRtx before joining the Systems Biology Program at Harvard. She is excited to continue research on machine learning for genomics and improve approaches for experimental design for high throughput assays.
embedding: runner, biology, sugar, southern, colorful, python, coder, South Carolina, hungry mode, bioinformatics, hardcore, cool socks, bio, python, awesome, loafers, fashionable, espresso, vintage, coffee, artisan, persistent, focused, kind, animated, inquisItive, technological, fast
Fiona Qu, Systems, Synthetic, and Quantitative Biology
Fiona studied Chemistry at the University of Illinois where she did protein biochemistry and antibiotic drug discovery. After a few years in industry as a protein engineer, she joined the Systems Biology program at Harvard where she’s excited to dive further into protein design and synthetic biology. Outside of science, she likes playing bassoon in community orchestras, making functional pottery, and knitting/crocheting.
Abigail Jackson, Medical Engineering and Medical Physics (bioengineerings concentration) - Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology program
Abigail is a Ph.D. student in the Harvard-MIT HST program in the Marks Lab. She previously graduated from the University of Southern California with degrees in Computational Neuroscience and Philosophy and conducted research in structural virology and immunology at The Scripps Research Institute under Andrew Ward. Abigail is interested in studying how viral evolution can inform gene therapy and vaccine design.
Tomás Lio Grudny, Computational Systems Biology - MIT
Tomás is a student in the Computational and Systems Biology PhD Program at MIT. He previously worked on various aspects of microbial ecology and evolution as an RA at ETH Zurich and master’s student at the University of Copenhagen. He is interested in applying AI methods for understanding and predicting viral evolution
Navami Jain, Bioinformatics and Integrative Genomics
Navami is a PhD student in the Bioinformatics and Integrative Genomics Program at Harvard Medical School completing a rotation in the Marks Lab. She is interested in applying machine learning to improve potency of vaccines and therapeutic antibodies.
Murphy Angelo, Biological & Biomedical Sciences
Murphy is a Biological & Biomedical Sciences Ph.D. student. Previously, he studied computer science at Northwestern, explored the game industry, and then completed a post-bac at Indiana University School of Medicine. He’s interested in using molecular modeling and evolution to understand and exploit the behavior of complex systems.
Embedding: food, Hank, music, matcha, biophysics, game dev, wildcat, mental health advocate, kimchi, drug discovery
Rotating Students
Leo Chen, Systems, Synthetic, and Quantitative Biology
Leo is a a first year PhD student at Harvard. His research focuses on protein design, causal inference, and microbiology. Outside the lab, he enjoys exploring culinary delights and watching MMA. Leo was previously a visiting master's student while at Duke University.
Visiting Scholars
Sergio Garcia Busto, Generative & Synthetic Genomics
Sergio completed an MRes in Bioinformatics and Theoretical Systems Biology at Imperial College London, as is now a PhD student at the University of Cambridge, at the Wellcome Sanger Institute. He is interested in using machine learning to engineer biology, especially proteins.
embedding: machine learning, systems biology, space biology, biotech, probabilistic, Bayesian statistics, bioengineer, code, math, information, uncertainty, dynamics, innovation, conscientious, responsible, structured, calm, zen, cat, tennis, sports, weightlifting, mountains, sea, food, movies, debate, music, art, witling.
Undergraduates
Aarushi Mehrotra, MIT
Aarushi is an undergrad at MIT double majoring in Bioengineering and Computer Science. Her research focuses on using evolutionary viral influenza sequences to computationally predict flu vaccines for every season. Outside of academics, you will find her hanging out with her friends, probably laughing at something really funny that one of them said.
Staff
Jake Reardon, Project Manager
Jake has been a project manager for various university and healthcare systems in the US and Europe since 2016. He has a background in Dramatic Art, Chemistry, and Higher Education Student Affairs. He has enjoyed expanding his network in biology, computer science, mathematics, and education-based research projects.
Embedding: Hiking, board games, baking, travel, racquetball, gin
Artem Gazizov, RESEARCH ASSOCIATE
Artem has been working in artificial intelligence and protein design in both industry and academic settings. Previously, he worked on identifying protein-ligand binding sites and developing large language models (LLMs) for various wet lab applications. Outside the lab, he enjoys pottery and yoga.
Elain Wang, RESEARCH ASSOCIATE
Yilan (Elain) is a postdoctoral research associate at the Marks lab. She is interested in developing and evaluating deep learning models for protein engineering. Prior to joining the Marks lab, she obtained her PhD at Harvard’s Biological & Biomedical Sciences program, working on computational genomics in evolution and epilepsy. She also has done research in computational pathology images, electronic health records of cancer patients, and yeast genetics.
Embedding: badminton, singing, Aaron, MooTwo, Eevee, 'I have 3 cats', travel planner, extroverted, direct, passionate, confident, advocate, risk taker, night owl