Mariana and the Team
Research Specialists
Royena Tanaz, ME in Biomedical Engineering
Old Dominion University, Class of 2017
Royena is the latest addition to the lab, and one of its greatest additions. As the laboratory’s chief technician, she is often ready to help the lab and its teammates complete experiments. While helping many of the undergraduate researchers through their experiments, she leads much of the laboratory work along with Seth.
Fun Fact: The sorting hat has declared that Royena is a member of House Ravenclaw.
Farzanna Mohamed, BA in Biology (conc. Molecular and Cellular Biology)
New York University, Class of 2016
Farzanna is a recent graduate of New York University’s College of Arts and Sciences, where she majored in Biology with a concentration in Molecular and Cellular Biology and was on the pre-health track. In the Torrente Laboratory, she is involved with the Molecular Etiology of Depression (TPH2) project; participation in this study has inspired her to pursue study in Molecular Neurobiology.
Fun Fact: Farzanna’s favorite color is red.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________Graduate Researchers
Seth Bennet, BS in Biochemistry and Psychology
SUNY Geneseo
Seth--the lab’s resident hippie--often listens to classic rock music while studying as a PhD student in Biochemistry at the CUNY Graduate Center. In the Torrente laboratory, he works primarily on the ALS Project specifically focusing on the human disease model.
Fun Fact: Seth’s favorite iteration of Phil and Friends is the Q.
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Undergraduate Researchers
Natalie Mendo
CUNY Brooklyn College, Class of 2018
Natalie is a senior at Brooklyn College and is currently pursuing both a B.S. in Psychology and B.A. in Chemistry. Subsequent to her graduation, she hopes to enter a Master’s program in genetic counseling, and eventually apply to medical school.
Fun Fact: Natalie enjoys sightseeing in her spare time, and adores animals--especially cats.
Navin Rana
William E. Macaulay Honors College, Class of 2019
CUNY Brooklyn College, Class of 2019
Navin is a junior at Brooklyn College, and he majors in History and Chemistry. In addition to balancing liberal arts as well as the hard sciences, he plans to attend medical school in the Fall of 2019. He enjoys the hands-on experience of working on the bench and hope to apply this education, in the future, as a clinical physician.
Fun Fact: Navin loves photography and makes his own films.
Mohamed Said
Scholars Program at CUNY Brooklyn College, Class of 2019
Mohamed--commonly referred to as the life of the lab--greatly enjoys his time in the laboratory and enjoys learning the essential biochemistry behind the many experiments conducted. While actively involved on the Brooklyn College campus, through the RISE Program, Global Medical Brigades, and Muslims Giving Back, Mohamed displays a dedication to science and its role in developing life saving and necessary advancements.
Fun Fact: Mohamed loves watching and playing American football. His favorite team is the New York Football Giants.
Sadiqa Taaseen
Scholars Program at CUNY Brooklyn College, Class of 2019
Sadiqa is a diligent worker both inside and outside of the laboratory. While working on the Parkinson’s Disease aspect of the lab’s focus she works on her studies in anthropology. Sadiqa is also on the pre-medicine track and plans to attend medical school in the future in addition to working on applying holistic public health models to the United States health care system.
Fun Fact: Sadiqa was born on a Monday.
Huda Yousuf
William E. Macaulay Honors College, Class of 2019
CUNY Brooklyn College, Class of 2019
Huda, another junior, is one of the most unique individuals in the laboratory, especially in her chosen career path as an aspiring tissue engineer; she hopes to focus on cardiac regeneration in the future. While working to pursue a PhD and maintaining a lifelong career of research, Huda is also a part of the Coordinated Engineering program with NYU Tandon, where she will complete her Bachelors in Chemical Engineering.
Fun Fact: Huda lives in the worst part of New York...Staten Island.
Marcella Meykler
Scholars Program at CUNY Brooklyn College, Class of 2018
Marcella since her addition has proved to be one of its best members. She works with Farzanna to help with the TPH2 project as well as many of the projects in development at the moment. While majoring in chemistry at Brooklyn College, she intends on applying to medical schools and various graduate schools in the coming months.
Fun Fact: Marcella likes hiking and loves spending time outdoors.
Andrew Elgendy
CUNY Brooklyn College
Andrew is a student at Brooklyn College and he majors in Film Production. He has been a paramedic for three years while balancing his pre-medical coursework. Andrew enjoys spending time with family, attending concerts, and visiting museums.
Fun Fact: Andrew’s favorite season is Autumn.
Michel Fallah
William E. Macaulay Honors College, Class of 2019
CUNY Brooklyn College, Class of 2019
Michel is a junior at Brooklyn College, and she majors in Chemistry. Also interested in the fields of psychology and neuroscience, she is currently an intern at Richmond Behavioral Associates in Staten Island and shadows a psychiatrist in Bay Ridge. She enjoys giving back to the community by serving as a mentor for middle schoolers and college students through Brooklyn College’s S.P.A.R.K. and Peer Mentoring programs.
Fun Fact: Michel loves swimming, hiking, and singing in the shower.
Hermena Ibrahim
William E. Macaulay Honors College, Class of 2019
CUNY Brooklyn College, Class of 2019
Hermena is working towards his future in the field of medicine. He has volunteered at both Brooklyn Hospital and the Staten Island University Medical Hospital. In school, he is working towards his goals by majoring in Chemistry and Psychology. Hermena also works with young students through Brooklyn College’s S.P.A.R.K.
Fun Fact: Hermena is a large basketball fan, and loves to play the game; he even coaches a youth team in his free time.
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Mariana received dual bachelor’s degrees summa cum laude in Chemistry and Biochemistry from the Florida Institute of Technology in 2005 and her Ph.D. in Chemistry in 2010 from Princeton University. As a graduate student, Mariana characterized human chromatin proteins and their modifications both at the global and single protein level using mass spectrometry based proteomics in the laboratory of Prof. Benjamin Garcia.
After completing her doctoral thesis, Mariana joined the laboratory of Prof. Kent Vrana at the Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, where she aimed to understand Tryptophan Hydroxylase 2 (TPH2) winning a NIH NRSA F32 fellowship and becoming a Neuroscience Scholar. Following her time at Penn State, Mariana became a PENN-PORT fellow at the University of Pennsylvania in 2012. In the laboratory of Prof. James Shorter, Mariana investigated Hsp104, a molecular chaperone that disaggregates misfolded proteins and restores them to their normal structure/function. In 2015, Mariana won a NINDS Advanced Postdoctoral Career Transition Award to Promote Diversity in Neuroscience Research (K22) to establish her own research program as an Assistant Professor in the Chemistry Department at Brooklyn College.
