2015-16 Seattle AWIS Election Biosketches
President: Reitha S. Weeks, PhD, Scientist and Educator. Currently, Biotech Camp Program Coordinator at
Shoreline Community College.
Reitha received her BS from Oregon State University and her PhD in Genetics from the UW in 1987. She worked
for 13 years in the biotech industry at multiple companies in Seattle, progressing from bench scientist to company
director. Reitha was Program Manager for Science Outreach at Northwest Association for Biomedical Research
from 2004-2013. She was responsible for curriculum development, workshops for teachers, educational
conferences for researchers, and a variety of science outreach programs and collaborations. Currently she is
Program Coordinator for Shoreline Community College’s biotech summer camp for high school students. She has
been a Seattle AWIS member since 1987 and has served in many capacities on the board, most recently as
president.
Vice-President: Jessica N. Cross, PhD, Research Associate at NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental
Laboratory.
Jessica is a passionate and forward-thinking advocate for women leaders and women in science in the greater
Seattle area. She volunteers extensively with this broad community by organizing and hosting a variety of
workshops and programs, and has been an active member of Seattle AWIS for two years. Last year, Jessica helped
to roughly double participation in AWIS programs as Events Chair, and hopes to keep the trend going through all
of AWIS! Currently, she works as a research oceanographer with the Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory,
where she co-leads an oceanographic technology development program focused on meeting the unique challenges
of the Arctic environment. Jessica holds a BS in Chemistry from Rhodes College (2008) and a Ph.D. in Chemical
Oceanography from the University of Alaska, Fairbanks (2013).
Secretary: Sierra Hinkle, BA, Laboratory Technician at Lab/Cor, Inc.
Sierra earned her Bachelor of Arts in Chemistry from Seattle Pacific University this past December and has
become a laboratory technician at Lab/Cor, Inc. where she is currently working toward becoming an analyst. Sierra
constantly looks forward to new experiences and challenges. While she may not know exactly where life is going to
take her, she hopes to achieve as much as possible along the way. When she is not in the lab, she volunteers at
Homeward Pet Adoption Center as a Clinic Assistant and for the AWIS Banquet and Events Committee. In her free
time she enjoys traveling, playing board games, and running around with her two puppies.
Treasurer: Nathalie Acestor, PhD
Nathalie received her PhD from the University of Lausanne in Switzerland in Biochemistry studying virulence
factors associated with kinetoplastid parasites. Her post-doctoral work was done at the Center for infectious Disease
Research identifying and characterizing mitochondrial proteins and complexes in Trypanosomes. She has worked
as a consultant for the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND) in Geneva, Switzerland, and for PATH.
Nathalie has been an AWIS member since 2012, and is excited to be serving her second year as the
Chapter Treasurer.
Banquet & Awards Committee Chairs:
Anna Sokolov, MPH, Project Coordinator, Center for Infectious Disease Research (formerly Seattle Biomed)
Chandrima (Rima) Palit, MS, Associate Scientist, Analytical Bioprocess Development, ZymoGenetics
Anna earned her MPH in Environmental Health Science with a focus on Molecular Toxicology from Columbia
University’s Mailman School of Public Health. While working on her degree she managed a tissue engineering lab
at Columbia and moved up to coordinate the lab’s projects and finances. Upon completing her studies she moved to
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Seattle to pursue a career in public health, and currently she manages projects for a lab that studies neglected and
infectious diseases with a focus on drug development. In her free time Anna is an active fine artist who frequently
participates in local art shows and galleries. She also enjoys traveling, jogging and photography.
Chandrima (Rima) earned her BS in Biochemistry from University of Waterloo, Canada. After several internships
in the US, she received a MS in Biotechnology from Northwestern University in Evanston, IL. Her first experience
with AWIS was through her manager, when working for a small startup diagnostics company in Evanston. She has
been an AWIS member since 2011. Having lived in Seattle just over 2 years, she did contract work at Seattle
Genetics in their Protein Engineering group and for the last year, she has worked at ZymoGenetics. Rima has been
in the AWIS mentoring program for two years. She also became actively involved in organizing the AWIS awards
banquet. She wishes to take on more responsibility in the coming year by becoming co-chair for the Banquet &
Awards Committee. In her free time, she likes to dance, go on hikes and volunteer at various local high school
science competitions.
Events Committee Chairs:
Katie Smolnycki, MS
Mary Young, PhD, Postdoctoral scientist at the Center for Infectious Disease Research (formerly Seattle Biomed)
Alicia Hill-Force, BS, Scientist at Micronics
Katie received her MS in Health Care Management from the University of Rochester in 2014 and her BS in
Biological Sciences and Psychology from The College at Brockport. She has done research on therapeutic
interventions for pulmonary fibrosis and inflammation at the University of Rochester and then investigated
molecular mechanisms for virulence factors in Histoplasma capsulatum at Ohio State University. She developed a
business plan and financial model for a startup pediatric obesity clinic and did a technology transfer internship at
URVentures. She is currently volunteering on the Events Committee and has helped plan events for her
undergraduate, graduate, and other STEM groups. In her spare time, she enjoys traveling, working out, nature,
cooking, and the occasional Netflix binge.
Mary earned a Ph.D. in Immunology from the University of Colorado, where her thesis focused on the structural
components of T cell receptors from rare and unconventional T cell subsets. She joined the Center for Infectious
Disease Research (formerly Seattle BioMed) in 2013 in the laboratory of Dr. Alan Aderem. Her postdoctoral
research is centered on leveraging systems biology to predict and enhance T cell responses in order to improve
upon vaccine strategies, particularly against influenza. She serves a leadership role in CIDResearch’s postdoctoral
association and is passionate about career development for early career scientists. She also enjoys sharing her love
of science with the next generation of young scientists.
Alicia earned her Bachelor of Arts in Chemistry at the University of Oregon in 2000. Then moved to Washington
in 2001 where she has been working in the STEM fields of Genetics, Molecular Biology and Immunology. She is
currently a scientist at Micronics where she works in Research and Development of medical diagnostic
devices. When she is away from the lab, she volunteers at Earthcorps in the Puget Sound Steward program doing
environmental restoration work. As well as enjoying poetry, gardening, travel and the outdoors.
GEMS Committee Chair:
Naomi Bogenschutz, PhD, Program Manager, UW Professional & Continuing Education
Naomi received her Ph.D. in Molecular and Cellular Biology from the University of Washington and performed
her thesis research on the epigenetic regulation of DNA replication. She is dedicated to providing STEM
educational opportunities to diverse audiences, and enjoys life on a houseboat in Portage Bay.
Group Mentoring Committee Chairs:
Frances Chu, PhD, Research Scientist, University of Washington
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Zhuojin Xu, PhD, Research Associate, HHMI/University of Washington
Frances earned her Ph.D. in Microbiology from Harvard University where she studied microbial communities.
Frances then moved to Seattle to do her post-doctoral work in the Department of Microbiology where she studied
mycobacterial virulence. Currently, Frances is rounding out her love affair with bacteria by studying the
metabolism of methane-eating bacteria in hopes of saving the world from increases in atmospheric methane.
Zhuojin earned her PhD in Cell and Molecular Biology from University of California, Santa Barbara. She studied
protein trafficking as a graduate student, and transitioned to the stem cell field after she moved to Seattle in 2012.
Currently she is trying to figure out the role of Wnt signaling in different states of pluripotency of embryonic stem
cells in Dr. Randall Moon’s lab. Outside of the lab, she enjoys playing soccer, cooking or simply meditating (aka
daydreaming).
Membership Committee Chair:
Sandra Merrick, PhD, Senior Project Manager at LabCorp Clinical Trials
Yang Wu, PhD
Sandra received her BS in Chemical Engineering from Johns Hopkins University and her PhD in Neuroscience,
studying Alzheimer’s disease, from the University of Pennsylvania. She worked as a postdoc at Duke University in
cell biology, before moving to Seattle. For more than 15 years she has worked in preclinical research as a Study
Director managing client studies in the areas of drug discovery, ADME properties, pharmacology profiling, and
drug-drug interactions. Currently she is a Senior Project Manager for LabCorp Clinical Trials managing
genotyping, and gene expression profiling projects. Sandra served on the AWIS Membership Committee this year.
Yang received her PhD in Engineering from the University of New Mexico. She was a Research Assistant
Professor in the Department of Pathology and a Project Leader of the Center for Molecular Discovery, UNM
Health Science Center. Her research covered many aspects of early stage drug discovery targeting cell surface
receptors and ion channels. She moved to Seattle in Spring 2015. She would like to combine her project
management experiences, engineering skills and biological research interests. Yang is highly energetic and loves
challenges, she is constantly taking classes to refresh her knowledge or to expend her horizon. She is a certified
Zumba® and Zumba Toning® instructor. Besides AWIS, Yang also volunteers for the Society of Laboratory
Automation and Screening and is an ad-hoc reviewer for multiple scientific journals.
Newsletter Committee Chairs:
Graciela Matrajt, PhD, Research Scientist, University of Washington until July 2014 and looking for new
opportunities in the science and outreach communications.
Anna Astashkina, PhD, Freelance editor
Graciela earned her PhD in Astrobiology from the University of Paris, Pierre et Marie Curie, France. She worked
for 14 years doing research and recently changed her career path toward science and outreach communications and
project management. Currently she is developing and writing content for academic and research websites and she
volunteers as a writer for several organizations, colleges, and science journals. On weekends, you can find her in
the garden or doing outdoor activities with her daughter and husband, enjoying the wonders of the Pacific
Northwest.
Anna earned her doctorate in Pharmaceutics and Pharmaceutical Chemistry from University of
Utah focusing on preclinical 3D culture toxicity screens and assay development. Currently she is working from
home and raising a toddler.
Publicity Committee chairs:
Zhaoxia Qian, PhD, Research Associate, Department of Chemical Engineering, UW
Phuong-Cac Nguyen, PhD
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Zhaoxia earned her PhD in Chemistry from University of Pennsylvania in 2014 and moved to Seattle in 2015. Her
PhD work is focused on designing novel plasmonic nanostructures with interesting optical properties. Her work at
UW is trying to link simulation in Dr. David Masiello's group and bench work in Dr. David Ginger's group to solve
challenging scientific problems in solar energy harvesting and storage. Outside of the lab, she enjoys reading,
cooking, trying out various kinds of food and exercise. Chocolate can easily make her happy when she is not having
a good day in the lab.
Phuong-Cac grew up and was educated in South Australia. As an undergraduate at the University of Adelaide, she
studied chemistry, computer science, mathematics and physics. She earned her Ph.D. in
Biomaterials from the University of South Australia which led to postdoctoral research at the University of
Washington. This work was the characterization of biomaterials surfaces containing proteins and
oligonucleotides using surface spectroscopies and multivariate statistics. Further postdoctoral research in
hemophilia was conducted at the Puget Sound Blood Center, now known as Bloodworks Northwest. The epitopes
of a number of inhibitory antibodies to the C2 domain of factor VIII was mapped using the surface plasmon
resonance technique. Phuong-Cac is looking for new opportunities to apply her quantitative analytical skills to the
biomedical data that she acquires.
Scholarship Committee Chairs:
Fran Solomon, PhD, Environmental Biology Professor
Leslie Itasca, PhD, Postdoctoral researcher at UW
Fran earned a master’s degree in environmental health and PhD in fisheries from the University of Washington.
She has 25 years of experience as an environmental agency biologist and is now bringing that experience to the
classroom, specifically The Evergreen State College, Tacoma campus and Western Washington University, Huxley
College of the Environment on the Peninsulas. The focus of her courses is impacts of toxic chemicals on human
health and aquatic species. She also teaches short courses and gives lectures for environmental professionals and
the general public in Washington State, Alaska, Canada, and Japan. Fran is a founder and past President of Seattle
AWIS, and is an avid hiker, bicyclist, and international traveler.
Leslie received her PhD from the University of Washington where she studied mitochondrial DNA
mutations. After graduating, Leslie taught genetics at Western Washington University. Leslie is currently a postdoctoral researcher studying brain regions, cell types, and neural circuits that mediate anesthetic effects. Leslie
enjoys running, practicing yoga, and spending time with her family.
Website Committee Chairs:
Sailaja Arungundram, PhD, Chemistry Instructor, South Seattle College and Pierce College Puyallup.
Arushi Prakash, MS Student at the University of Washington, Science enthusiast
Sailaja obtained her PhD in Chemistry at the University of Georgia working on the synthetic chemistry of
carbohydrate synthesis. Following this, she completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Utah
continuing on her work on carbohydrates albeit from a glycobiology standpoint. Sailaja believes that students from
all walks of life deserve a fair opportunity to succeed in STEM areas. In her spare time, Sailaja likes to play the
Veena (a south-Indian musical instrument), explore the natural beauty of Washington with her husband and
daughters, cook and read.
Arushi is pursuing her MS in Chemical Engineering at the University of Washington, where she understands the
behavior of complex chemicals through molecular simulation techniques. She also works at the Centre for
Disability Resources for Students where she makes accessible textbooks for disabled students at the UW. When not
in her lab, you can find her swimming, reading or playing board games.
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