MSU-PDA Steering Committee

MSU-PDA Steering Committee

Public monthly meetings

On the last Tuesday of the month, from 9am to 10am, members of the MSU-PDA Steering Committee meet:

  • To discuss areas of concern to the MSU postdoc community
  • To plan MSU-PDA events
  • To provide Sub-Committee updates
  • To provide information relevant and useful to the MSU postdoc community

All members of the MSU postdoc community are welcome attend these meetings via Zoom (link here).

Meeting agendas can found in the MSU Postdocs Teams.

Meeting dates for 2022-2023 are:

  • Jun 28, 2022
  • Jul 26, 2022
  • Aug 30, 2022
  • Sep 27, 2022
  • Oct 25, 2022
  • Nov 29, 2022
  • Jan 31, 2023
  • Feb 28, 2023
  • Mar 28, 2023
  • April 25, 2023
  • May 30, 2023
  • Nov 29, 2022

Co-Chairs

Yu-Ya Liang

Yu-Ya Liang

Senior Co-Chair

Yu-Ya received her Ph.D. in Plant Breeding from Texas A&M University. She is currently a research associate in the Department of Plant Biology under Dr. Kevin Childs. Her research focuses on comparative genomics, such as solving the puzzle of codon usage bias in grasses and how gene GC content affects transcription and translation.

Ardaman Kaur

Ardaman Kaur

Junior Co-Chair

Ardaman completed her Ph.D. in Applied Physics jointly from Delhi Technological University and INMAS, DRDO, India. She is currently a postdoctoral research scholar in Dr. Dar Meshi’s Social & Media Neuroscience lab in the Department of Advertising+Public relations, working toward understanding the neural mechanisms of socially motivated human behavior.

Professional Development Sub-Committee

Saumya Nigam

Saumya Nigam

Member

Saumya is a postdoctoral research associate at the Precision Health Program, here at MSU. She received her PhD from IITB-Monash Research Academy which was a collaborative effort between IIT Bombay, India and Monash University, Australia. Saumya’s research interests are focused on the development of functional nanomaterials for biomedical applications. Her current project is targeted towards development of nanoscale platforms for MPI imaging for labelling of functional islets, and image-guided stem cell therapies for diabetes. Outside work, her interests lie in swimming, reading, and cooking. She says "At one point I considered involving myself professionally in wine-tasting too!!"

Robert Hipple, PhD

Robert Hipple, PhD

Member

Robert is an Accelerator Physicist for the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB). His focus is on the beam dynamics aspect of the reaccelerator (ReA) which takes rare nuclear products from the main accelerator and re-accelerates them for controlled experiments. He joined FRIB in August 2021 and joined the PDA steering committee shortly thereafter.

open position available!

open position available!

Find out more information, email us: pda@grd.msu.edu.

Find out more information, email us: pda@grd.msu.edu.

Social Sub-Committee

Yu-Ya Liang

Yu-Ya Liang

Member

In addition to serving as our Senior Co-Chair, Yu-Ya is also a member of the Social Committee.

Babatope Akinyemi, PhD

Babatope Akinyemi, PhD

Member

Babatope earned his Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics from University of Fort Hare, South Africa. He is currently a Research Associate in the Department of Animal Science and works with Dr. Janice Siegford. His research is examining the needs, perceptions, and willingness-to-pay for precision livestock farming technologies in the US swine industry.

Ardaman Kaur, PhD

Ardaman Kaur, PhD

Member

Ardaman completed her Ph.D. in Applied Physics jointly from Delhi Technological University and INMAS, DRDO, India. She is currently a postdoctoral research scholar in Dr. Dar Meshi’s Social & Media Neuroscience lab in the Department of Advertising+Public relations, working toward understanding the neural mechanisms of socially motivated human behavior.

open position available!

open position available!

Find out more information, email us: pda@grd.msu.edu.

Communications & Digital Presence Sub-Committee

Jenna Lee

Jenna Lee

Chair

Jenna is serving as interim Chair until the June elections

Jenna received her Ph.D. in neuroscience from the University of Missouri. She is presently a post-doc in department of Psychology with Dr. Alex Johnson examining the neurobiology of how learning influences feeding behavior.

open position available!

open position available!

Find out more information, email us: pda@grd.msu.edu.
open position available!

open position available!

Find out more information, email us: pda@grd.msu.edu.

Advocacy & DEI Sub-Committee

Aathmaja Anandhi Rangarajan

Aathmaja Anandhi Rangarajan

Chair

Aathmaja earned her PhD in Genetics from University of Cologne, Germany. She is currently a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics in Prof. Christopher Waters lab. Her research focusses on gene regulation and signaling in Vibrio cholerae. Apart from research she likes cooking and playing with her daughter.

Rebeka Lubna, PhD

Rebeka Lubna, PhD

Member

Rebeka received her PhD from Florida State University in Nuclear Physics. Currently she is a Research Associate in Facility of Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) in Michigan State University. Her experimental and theoretical efforts focus on the structure of atomic nuclei and their evolution with the increasing asymmetry of proton and neutron numbers, which eventually enhances our knowledge to answer the fundamental questions in the Universe including but not limited to the nature of the fundamental strong force, formation of the elements etc.

Maeve McLaughlin

Maeve McLaughlin

Member

Maeve received their Ph.D. in biological sciences from Wayne State University. Currently, they are a postdoctoral fellow in the lab of Dr. Sean Crosson in the department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics. Their research focuses on studying signaling and transcriptional networks in the bacteria Caulobacter crescentus. As a trans non-binary scientist, Maeve is invested in promoting DEI in research, teaching, and outreach.

open position available!

open position available!

Find out more information, email us: pda@grd.msu.edu.

Members-at-Large

open position available!

open position available!

Find out more information, email us: pda@grd.msu.edu.

open position available!

open position available!

Find out more information, email us: pda@grd.msu.edu.

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