Executive Board

Busayo Bolonduro

UCBA President
Contact: olubusayob@uchicago.edu

Busayo Bolonduro is a fourth year PhD student in the  Genetics, Genomics, and Systems Biology program.  Broadly, Busayo is interested in applying genomics to advance science and medicine. His research is focused on using genomics to understand mechanisms used by the thymus to establish immune tolerance. Busayo’s interest in biotech comes from the promise of genomics to translate basic research discoveries into life-changing applications. Outside of his interests in science, Busayo likes to cook, watch and play sports, read, and learn languages.

Maggie Steiner

UCBA Vice President

Contact: steinerm@uchicago.edu

Maggie Steiner is a fourth year PhD Candidate in the Department of Human Genetics and serves on the UCBA Steering Committee. Her doctoral research focuses on the development and application of computational methods to study evolutionary processes in human genetics. Outside of UCBA, she serves on the Organizing Committee of Expanding Your Horizons Chicago and as a Student Representative for the Medical and Biological Sciences Alumni Council. 

Anqi Yu


UCBA Treasurer
Contact: aqyu@uchicago.edu
Anqi Yu is a 5th year PhD student in Oncology and Cancer Biology, serving as the UCBA treasurer. Her research is focused on the oncogenic consequences of structural variants in cancer genomes. She identifies the enhancer-hijacking events in cancer genomes with bioinformatic tools and studies their cancer-driving functions in vitro and in vivo with experiments. In addition to her activities with UCBA, she participates in UChicago Judo Club and likes drawing as a hobby.

Wenchao Liu

UCBA Secretary

Contact: wliu95@uchicago.edu

Wenchao is a six-year PhD student in the Cancer Biology program. Wenchao research focuses on understanding regulators of breast cancer stem cells and developing mass spec-based proteomics techniques. Wenchao believes that in biomedical research science and people both matter, so she aims for making her research more relevant to clinics and support people along the way. When Wenchao is not in lab, you can find her in the climbing gym or strolling by the lake.

Steering Committee 

Raven Watson

Contact: rwatson@uchicago.edu

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ravengwatson/

Lab Website: https://voices.uchicago.edu/mcnerneylab/

Raven is a fourth year PhD candidate in the Genetics, Genomics, and Systems Biology program. Her research is focused on understanding pathogenesis and drug resistance in heme-malignancies. She is interested in careers in biomedical research and development, as well as biotechnology. Raven enjoys cooking and karaoke.

Nick Bayhi

Contact: bayhi@uchicago.edu

Max Chu

Contact: maxchu@uchicago.edu

Max Chu is a second year PhD student in the Cell and Molecular Biology program. He is excited about research related to the development of CRISPR-based technologies and its versatile applications. Outside of his research life, Max enjoys cooking, dancing and listening to music.

Kasia Zawieracz

Contact: kzawieracz@uchicago.edu

Kasia is a third year PhD student in the Cancer Biology program. She is working on the transcriptional regulation of gut stem cells and the source of intestinal inflammation in the context of Inflammatory Bowel Disease and colon cancer. Kasia is interested in integrating computational biology applications into research and patient diagnosis. Outside of lab work, Kasia enjoys playing tennis, biking, climbing and going to concerts.

Joey Federico

Contact: jvfederico@uchicago.edu

Joey Federico is a third year PhD student in the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering. Joey uses transcriptomics to study T cells and the molecular mechanisms that facilitate their cytotoxic functionality, with the translational goal of determining how these mechanisms control autoimmune disease pathogenesis. He would like to apply the skills and knowledge from his academic training to identifying new promising science and technology to solve unmet medical needs in the biopharma industry.

Kasia Kurylowicz

Contact: kkurylowicz@uchicago.edu

Kasia is a third-year PhD student in Cancer Biology program. Her research focuses on the interactions between the microbiome and the innate immune system and how that affects tumor immunity. She would like to apply her knowledge and skills to translational science to help with cancer patients’ treatment. In her free time, she enjoys traveling to new places, hiking, biking/roller-skating along the Michigan Lake, and trying new restaurants in Chicago.

Yuqing Xue

Advisory Board

William Grubbe
Former UCBA Exec 
Contact: wgrubbe@uchicago.edu
William (Will) Grubbe is a sixth year PhD student in the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering and is the Secretary of the UCBA. His research focuses on improving the pipeline for protein therapeutic research using protein engineering and computational systems, specifically as it relates to the interferon family of immune proteins. Will is a Teaching Consultant for the Chicago Center for Teaching, a member of the Dean’s Advisory Council for the engineering school, and acts as a graduate advisor to the University of Chicago’s International Genetically Engineering Machine (iGEM) program. In addition to his passion for science and education, outside of the lab he enjoys scuba diving, music, and nature.

Weihan Liu
Former UCBA Exec
Contact: liuweihan@uchicago.edu
Weihan is excited about biotechnology commercialization, innovation and investment. He is a sixth year PhD student in cancer biology and studies development and therapeutic targeting in acute myeloid leukemia through bioinformatics. In his spare time, he enjoys triathlon, hiking and traveling.