Nicholas Zullo (he/him/his) is a recent graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill and current master’s student at Duke University. He is very interested in neurodegenerative research, particularly ALS, and plans to either pursue research or attend medical school in the future. In his free time, he enjoys basketball, gaming, and working on cars.

Darien is a graduate student at NC State University, planning to graduate with her Master’s of Physiology in December 2022. She graduated from UNC Chapel Hill with a B.S. in Biology in May 2021 and has been in the lab since August 2021 as a research technician. In college, Darien gained clinical research experience at Johns Hopkins University, where she studied the genetic and environmental factors that influence appetite, and at UNC, studying the relationship between stress, inflammation, and physical activity. She also completed the Nathan Schnaper Intern Program in translational cancer research at the University of Maryland, Baltimore in 2019, where she worked to optimize the preparation of PEI-PEMA nanoparticles for gene therapy. In our lab, she uses in vitro models to study ALS pathology associated with defective cytoskeletal proteins. In the future, Darien hopes to become a physician and continue working in translational research.

Sara Nafees (she/her) recently graduated from UNC Chapel Hill with a B.S. in Neuroscience and Religious Studies and a minor in chemistry. She has always been interested in neurodegenerative diseases and has been working in the lab particularly with ALS. She plans on working during her gap year and eventually attending medical school. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with family and friends, art, hiking, and gardening.