IGB Fellows Program

The Institute for Genomic Biology (IGB) has initiated a program of fellowships for recent Ph.D.s or students in their final year of predoctoral study in any of the research areas encompassed by the Institute. The Program provides an opportunity for young scientists to spend several years doing independent research before launching formal academic or industrial careers. The program is advertised in major scientific publications and the fellows are selected on the basis of their professional promise, capacity for independent work, interdisciplinary interests, and outstanding achievement to date.

We do not currently have openings for Fellows. However, we will be announcing new opportunities in the Fall of 2009.

Institute for Genomic Biology Fellows

Gwendolyn Ball

Gwendolyn Ball has a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Illinois and has studied at Cornell and MIT. Her research focuses on how firms are influenced by economic institutions, in particular the relationship between the intellectual property regimes and innovation. She joined the Institute in June of 2007 and will be working with the Business, Economics and Law Theme. Previously, she worked as a researcher at the College of Law at the University of Illinois and has been a consultant for various international agencies including U.S. AID and the World Bank.

Nicholas Chia

Nicholas Chia received his Ph.D. in Physics from Ohio State University in 2006. He then became a postdoctoral researcher in the labs of Professor Nigel Goldenfeld and Carl Woese at the Institute for Genomic Biology, where he has been examining the role of collective effects and emergent properties in biological systems. In 2008, he was awarded an IGB postdoctoral fellowship, and will continue to work closely with members of the Biocomplexity Research Theme.

Benjamin M. Griffin

Ben Griffin received his Ph.D. in Environmental Toxicology and Microbiology from Michigan State University in 2003. He was a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Biology at the Universitat Konstanz. He joined the Institute for Genomic Biology in November 2005 and works closely with members of the Mining Microbial Genomes for Novel Antibiotics Research Theme.

Tor W. Jensen

Tor Jensen received his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Northwestern University in 2004. He was a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the University of Illinois, where he developed variable elastic modulus substrates for use in neural cell growth and differentiation. He joined the Institute for Genomic Biology in December 2005, and works closely with members of the Regenerative Biology and Tissue Engineering Research Theme.

Pan-Jun Kim

Pan-Jun Kim received his Ph.D. in Physics from KAIST (South Korea) in 2008. He joined the Institute for Genomic Biology in October 2008 as an IGB Fellow, and works closely with members of the Molecular Bioengineering of Biomass Coversion Research Theme. His research focuses on systems and synthetic biology, especially with genome-scale biochemical networks.

Jindong Sun

Jindong Sun received his PhD in Plant Biology from the University of Wyoming. Previously he worked as a senior research scientist at Monsanto. He joined the Institute for Genomic Biology in July 2007 and works closely with the members of the Genomic Ecology of Global Change Research Theme to explore the effects and interactions of the environmental factors and stresses on crop productivity and photosynthesis.

Adaikkalam Vellaichamy

Adaikkalam Vellaichamy recieved his Ph.D. from the National University of Singapore in 2003. He then became a postdoctoral fellow in the Genome Institute of Singapore, and in 2005 moved to the Michigan Center for Translational Pathology at the University of Michigan. He joined the Institute for Genomic Biology in August 2008, and is working closely with members of the Precision Proteomics Research Theme.

Suleyman Yildirim

Suleyman Yildirim received his Ph.D. in Microbial Genomics in 2006 from North Carolina State University. He was then a postdoctoral Research Associate at North Carolina State University in 2006, and at the Yale University School of Medicine from 2007-2008. Before joining the Institute for Genomic Biology as an IGB Fellow in November 2008, he was a University Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Connecticut Health Center. In his new position, he will work closely with members of the Host-Microbe Systems Research Theme.

Amro Zayed

Amro Zayed received his Ph.D.in Biology from York University (ON, CAN) in 2006. He was then a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the lab of Professor Charles Whitfield at UIUC from 2006-2008. In 2008, he was awarded an IGB postdoctoral fellowship, and is working closely with members of the Genomics of Neural and Behavioral Plasticity Research Theme.