The Postdoc Corner
The EPA social media team came up with the idea of creating a spotlight moment for all of our postdocs: ''The postdoc corner''! We have so many bright scientists in our institution that it is a waste not to acknowledge the talent of each one of them!
Do you want to be spotlighted? Contact the EPA for more information (epa.einstein@gmail.com).
Dr. Claire Launay
Claire is an applied mathematician who graduated from the University of Paris where she got her doctorate degree by working on stochastic processes and vision. She joined Einstein in 2020 to work in the Systems and Computational Biology Department, bringing all of her expertise to Dr. Coen-Cagli's laboratory- The Laboratory of Computational Neuroscience - to work on perceptual segmentation and grouping by developing probabilistic models for image and video segmentation - so smart!
So, if you need help with techniques such as image processing, computer science, probabilistic models, or texture synthesis... now you know who to call! If anyone is interested in checking out her latest work she recently presented her paper on dynamic segmentation (https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9897691) at the IEEE-ICIP conference!
In her day-to-day adventures, you will rarely see Claire without a camera as she loves taking pictures of her loved ones and of anything happening around her, really! She also loves singing in her shower, and sometimes, in a choir- Wow!
However, she is leaving us soon to return to France. So, Claire, we are very grateful for these past two years in your presence and for all of the amazing contributions you've given us on all EPA social media platforms. We hope to do a good job continuing all of your hard work! We will miss you!
Dr. Ritesh K. Aggarwal
Ritesh is originally from India- Delhi-6, and graduated from the Indian Institute of Technology where he got his doctorate degree in Biochemical Engineering designing valid models for bacterial gene regulation- among other unique techniques! He joined Dr. Amit Verma's laboratory in the Developmental and Molecular Biology department in 2019 to work with solid tumors and is currently working on new strategies to stall cancer by targeting the specific kinase IRAK4 in the innate immune signaling pathway. His latest work was published in the PNAS journal (2021), where he discussed how ''Functional succinate dehydrogenase deficiency is a common adverse feature of clear cell renal cancer'' (click on the link below to check it out). So, if you need help with techniques such as confocal microscopy, flow cytometry, mass spectrometry, metabolomics, and everything invitro/tumor-related... now you know who to call!
→ https://www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1073/pnas.2106947118
Our bright scientist is also a member of the Einstein Postdoc Association (EPA) and along with other EPA members, he's part of the team that organizes the super fun International Coffee hour that we so enjoy. BUT... that's not all!! He's also a board member of the newest Einstein Cricket Team (EiCC)- and is looking for new members to join! Among all these cool activities, you can also find him playing some video games, or tennis, or enjoying his time with his beautiful family. Wow!
[Originally Published Feb 2023]
Dr. Rebekah Guevara
Rebekah is originally from Long Island and graduated from Dartmouth College in Hanover- New Hampshire, with a doctorate degree in Microbiology & Immunology. She joined Dr. Louis Weiss' laboratory in the Pathology department in the Fall of 2020 to bring all of her 10 years of expertise in working with the complex eukaryotic parasite Toxoplasma gondii to explore its protein-protein interactions at the cyst wall. So, if you need help with techniques such as confocal microscopy, Co-IPs & Proteomic workflows and everything Toxoplasma-related... now you know who to call!
You can find her out in nature when Rebekah isn't in the lab. She loves to hike to see beautiful views. She enjoys sunsets and often tries to catch one outside her lab window. She enjoys spending time with her husband Matt, and her sweet baby girl Grace.
[Originally Published Feb 2023]
Dr. Taiane Nascimento
According to Taiane, the beach life is her natural habitat and It makes sense since she is originally from Rio de Janeiro- Brazil! Taiane has been working with yeast infection for over 5 years and she arrived at Einstein in 2021 to work in Dr. Liise-Anne Pirofski's laboratory, located in the Infectious Disease department. So, if you need help with techniques such as yeast culture, flow cytometry, animal experimentation, fluorescence microscopy, and immunoassays.. now you know who to call!
She's very passionate about fiction books, films, and wine tasting!! However, in her own words: ''I would trade any of those hobbies for the company of my good friends''
[Originally Published Jan 2023]