Science, Technology and Engineering Policy (STEP) Group

Project Leader: Jaime Yassif, Graduate Student, Biophysics Graduate Group

Jaime Yassif is a second-year graduate student in the UC Berkeley Biophysics Graduate group. She is currently conducting research on light powered microbes in the Liphardt Lab. Before coming to UC Berkeley, Jaime worked in the field of nuclear non-proliferation and biosecurity at the Federation of American Scientists and at the Nuclear Threat Initiative in Washington, D.C. She also obtained an MA in Science and Security in the War Studies Department, King's College London.

Other Team Member(s) Info:

White Paper Competition Coordinator

Terry Lang is a postdoctoral scholar in the Alber Lab in the Molecular and Cellular Biology Department at UC Berkeley. She is currently developing novel computational tools to better understand how proteins recognize their binding partners. Prior to her work at Berkeley, Terry received her PhD in Chemistry and Chemical Biology from UC San Francisco, where she focused on applying computational drug design methods to inhibit RNA-protein interactions for HIV targets. Terry’s interest in policy stems from her graduate work on the process of drug development, where she learned the delicate balance of social, economic, and political influences on bringing a drug to market in the United States, Europe, Asia, and Africa.

Science Policy Journal Club Coordinator

Natasha Keith is a fourth-year graduate student in the Chemistry Department at UC Berkeley and an NSF fellow. She researches the structure and dynamics in transcriptional activators of the sigma54 paradigm by protein NMR in the Wemmer Lab. Natasha also writes regularly for the Berkeley Science Review. Prior to her graduate work, she received a Fulbright fellowship and Charles P. Howland Fellowship to conduct research in Argentina on quality control in protein folding relevant to Chagas disease--a widespread lethal illness endemic to South America. This experience sparked her interest in the complex relationship between international policy and basic research on third-world diseases.

White Paper Competition Assistant Coordinator

Monica Smith is a third year graduate student in the Biophysics Group at the University of California, Berkeley. She is a member of the Wemmer lab, where her research, in collaboration with the Pines lab, is focused on developing molecular imaging with xenon-based magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Monica gained interest in developing magnetic resonance imaging methodology during her time as a Post-baccalaureate Intramural Research Training Award Fellow at the National Institutes of Health, where she characterized the effects of respiration on functional MR images.

Newsletter Editor

Daniel Cohen is jointly enrolled at Berkeley and UCSF as a first year doctoral student in the Department of Bioengineering. He received his bachelors degree in Mechanical Engineering from Princeton University in 2008, where he worked on power systems for developing countries and medical devices. He is now pursuing research in Synthetic Biology, pediatric medical device design, and animal locomotion. In general, he is interested in translational research--taking cutting-edge science and applying it to human problems.

Department Liaisons

Eric Isaacs is a third-year undergraduate student in the Department of Physics at UC Berkeley. He is currently conducting research on nanoscale energy harvesting devices with the Computational Nanoscience Group of the Center of Integrated Nanomechanical Systems (COINS). Previously Eric researched High Energy Density Matter (HEDM) fuels for the Air Force Research Laboratory at Edwards Air Force Base.

Melanie Prasol is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology. She is currently working in John Ngai's lab researching neuronal development and regeneration in the olfactory epithelium. Melanie is also a predoctoral scholar for the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine. Before coming to Berkeley, she worked at the Center for Genomic Research at Harvard in Michael Laub’s lab. Originally from Connecticut, Melanie attended Wellesley College and graduated with a dual major in Neuroscience and German Studies.