Meet the Bloggers

We all know what the journey of a graduate student is like, right? Well, not true for this one! Hello guys, my name is Vinam and I am a Ph.D. student in the Pharmaceutical Science program, however, my path in the program has been unconventional, to say the least. After completing my Bachelor of Pharmacy degree in India I transitioned into a Ph.D. program in America. I wasted no time and had my whole life planned for myself but life can, sometimes, throw you curve balls and I learned a few lessons along the way.

Hello everyone!!! My name is Emily Kelly, and I am a 2^nd year PhD student in the Cell and Developmental Biology Program at Rutgers University. I’m originally from the beautiful, warm-weathered island of Puerto Rico. Since high school, biology, specifically microbiology, has sparked my interest. There is something fascinating to me about a living organism that is unseen to the human eye. From that time, I developed an interest in both clinical and environmental microbiology.

Me: “I’m not applying to the School of Pharmacy after I graduate. I have no idea what my plans are; I just really like research.” My mom: “WHAT?!?” The day I told my Puerto Rican parents that I was not pursuing my dream job, and that I was confused about my future career plans, I knew their hearts sank. They thought their only child was lost and this was not what they had envisioned for me. I started my B.S. in Chemistry with the intention of completing the required 80 credits to apply to the School of Pharmacy.

My name is Aminat Musah, I am a fifth-year graduate student in the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at Rutgers University. I work in the lab of Dr. Teresa Wood, where my research focuses on defining the effect of mTOR signaling in oligodendrocyte development. Specifically, my interest lies in the mechanisms underlying mTOR regulation of oligodendrocyte cytoskeleton during differentiation and myelination. Before embarking on my graduate school journey, I attended Delaware State University (DSU) where I attained a bachelor’s degree in Biology.

How’s it going? My name Tomas Kasza, I’m a 3^rd year PhD student in the Neuroscience program at Rutgers University. Although I am studying here in New Jersey , I am originally from California. In 2012, I received my degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from UC Santa Cruz. My passion for research was sparked by participating in an undergraduate research course called Phage Hunters (http://seaphages.org/). In this class, we were tasked with purifying and naming our own bacteriophage, a virus that infects bacteria.

By: Maria Qadri As the new semester starts, I would like to share a smidge about what's been happening behind the scenes here at the Rutgers iJOBS blog. First, some history: Just like the process of developing a project into a Ph.D. dissertation, this blog has been growing from an idea into a well-developed repository of our Ph.D. and postdoctoral experiences. It started out in the late spring of 2015 as an opportunity for graduate students to practice their non-scientific writing skills, promote the newly formed iJOBS program, and learn "how-to" blog in a low risk setting.

  My name is Eileen Oni, and I’m a sixth year PhD candidate in the Cell and Developmental Biology program at Rutgers University. I am a Central Jersey native (Yes, it does exist!), residing in South Brunswick Township. I began my academic journey under the simple notion of better understanding the development of living organisms, which drove me to pursue a higher degree in the sciences; more specifically within cell biology research.

Hi there! My name is Paulina Krzyszczyk and I am a 5th year PhD student in Biomedical Engineering. My project is based on a collaboration between my advisors at Rutgers, Dr. François Berthiaume and Dr. Martin Yarmush, as well as Dr. Andre Palmer from Ohio State University. Dr.

Hello All! My name is Jennifer. I am a first year Ph.D. student in the Microbiology and Molecular Genetics program at Rutgers University.  I am from Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico: a town on the west coast with beautiful beaches and sun every day. I have a bachelor’s degree in Industrial Microbiology and a master’s degree in Biology from the University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez (UPRM).

Hi everyone! I’m Urmimala, a third year Ph.D. candidate in the Biochemistry and Molecular Biology program. To me science has always been about figuring out the unknown through experimentation. It has been interesting how my discernment of science and what it means to me has evolved through the years.