Profile Type: Staff

Summer Morrill

Education

  • PhD, 2020, MIT
  • BS, 2015, Biology, Tufts University

Summary

Summer Morrill earned her Bachelor of Science degree in biology from Tufts University, and went on to complete her PhD in the same subject at MIT. During this time, she conducted research in the lab of Angelika Amon at MIT’s Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, and served as a Teaching Development Fellow with the Teaching and Learning Lab. After graduating in 2020, she began her new role in the Department of Biology as an Instructor for Teaching Assistant (TA) Training and Curriculum Development. She focuses on building a program to train and support graduate and undergraduate student TAs throughout their time at MIT. She also collaborates with others in the Teaching and Learning group to develop and carry out projects that promote and streamline best teaching practices. In the fall of 2020, she served as the course coordinator for 7.012 (Introductory Biology).

Awards

  • Koch Institute Graduate Fellowship, Ludwig Center for Molecular Oncology at MIT, 2020
  • DeLill Nasser Award for Professional Development in Genetics, Genetic Society of America, 2020
  • School of Science Spot Award, 2019
  • Graduate Research Fellowship, National Science Foundation, 2016
Jacqueline Carota

Jacquie earned her Associate of Science degree at the New England Institute of Art, and is actively pursuing her Bachelor’s through Simmons University and Harvard Extension School. As the Academic Administrator for the Computational Systems Biology (CSB) and the Microbiology PhD degree programs, she ensures both operate smoothly and efficiently in a manner consistent with program and institute policies, NIH training grant requirements, and program goals. Jacquie is heavily involved in recruitment and admissions for these two interdisciplinary programs (which total roughly 80 students per year), and she helps students navigate MIT’s resources and ensures they meet all program requirements. She also administers the T32 NIH Training Grant that CSB has held for the past 10 years, and coordinates spending for both programs. Finally, she acts as a resource for faculty, staff, and her administrative counterparts in other departments, and served as co-chair of the Graduate Administrator’s Round table from 2014 to 2018. In 2016, she earned the School of Science Infinite Mile Award. She also serves as a notary public.

 

Vanessa J. Cheung

Vanessa holds a PhD in Genetics from Harvard University. As a technical instructor, she assists faculty with the “day-to-day” operations of several department undergraduate lab courses. She creates course materials and content (including exams and problem sets), manages and trains teaching assistants, prepares and runs lab sessions, and performs administrative duties. She also aids in curriculum development, helping to form new courses and update content for existing ones. More recently, she’s become involved in teaching and developing lab curricula for the LEAH-Knox Scholars high school research program. In 2012, Vanessa earned the School of Science Dean’s Education and Advising Award.

Mandana Sassanfar

Mandana Sassanfar holds a Bachelor of Science and Master of Science in Biochemistry from the University Pierre and Marie Curie, Paris VI, and a PhD in Biochemistry from Cornell University. After completing her postdoctoral work at the Harvard School of Public Health and the Massachusetts General Hospital, she spent several years working in industry at Cubist Pharmaceuticals and teaching at Harvard College before joining the MIT Department of Biology in 2002. She is currently a senior lecturer in biology and the Director of Outreach for the Department of Biology, the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences (BCS), and the Picower Institute for Learning and Memory. Mandana spearheads a number of outreach activities primarily for low income students and those from institutions with limited research opportunities. She supervises the summer MSRP-Bio program and the IAP Quantitative Biology Workshop, organizes field trips to MIT for local high school and community college students, teaches a freshman IAP lab course and the lab component of the LEAH Knox Scholars program, and coordinates training opportunities for high school science teachers. Mandana is also the Director of the Massachusetts Junior Academy of Science and a Member of the Board of Tutors in Biochemical Sciences at Harvard University. In 2012, she became a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the Massachusetts Academy of Sciences, and earned the Dean’s Education & Advising Award from the MIT School of Science. She was also the President of the National Association of Academies of Science between 2011 and 2013.

Vivian Siegel

Vivian Siegel holds a PhD in Genetics from the University of California, San Francisco. Prior to her role at MIT, she served as Editor in Chief of Cell, Molecular Cell, Developmental Cell, and Disease Models & Mechanisms, Executive Director of the Public Library of Science, and Executive Editor of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology. She also served as Founder of the Center for Science Communication at Vanderbilt University, and as Director of Scientific Education and Public Communication and then as Director of Education and Outreach at the Broad Institute.

Vivian provides three functions for the department. First, she advises the Department Head on the development and implementation of the department’s communications strategy for external and internal communications in all forms (web, print, social media, etc.) and works with the communications specialist to expand the reach of department communications. Second, she develops training and coaching opportunities for faculty, postdocs, and graduate students about effective scientific communication, provides ad hoc editorial consulting regarding publishing efforts, and acts as an in-house tutor for the community on all forms of communication. Third, she acts as a professional advisor for trainees looking to transition into careers in academic publishing or science communication.

In addition to her work at MIT, Vivian is currently a part-time Research Professor of Medicine at Vanderbilt University, where she works with faculty and their trainees on crafting research manuscripts and proposals, a part-time lecturer at Harvard Medical School, and a Senior Editorial Advisor for the online journal Bio-protocol.

Vivian earned a Broad Institute Award for Excellence in Mentorship/Teaching/Training in 2013 and a UCSF 150th Anniversary Alumni Excellence Award in 2015. She is a member of the Louis Round Wilson Academy, the American Society for Cell Biology, the Genetics Society of America, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. She also chairs the Board of Directors for Open Source Wellness.

Stuart Levine

Stuart Levine first arrived in Cambridge, MA as an undergraduate, receiving a Bachelor of Science in Biology from MIT and later a PhD in Biochemistry from Harvard University. He completed his postdoctoral training at the Whitehead Institute as part of Richard Young’s lab, investigating bioinformatics approaches to analyzing genome-wide data sets — including some of the earliest ChIP-seq, RNAseq and smallRNA-seq data. Stuart became a research scientist at the Whitehead in 2007, and a year later assumed the role of BioMicro Center Director, leading the strategic growth and day-to-day management of this core facility, located in Building 68.

The BioMicro Center is operated in collaboration between the Departments of Biology and Biological Engineering at MIT, the Koch Institute for Integrated Cancer Research, and the MIT Center for Environmental Health Sciences. It provides MIT faculty members with integrated facilities for high-throughput data-intensive genomics, bioinformatic analysis, as well as large-scale database storage, management, data mining and data modeling required to fully implement systems approaches to investigate a broad spectrum of biological problems. As the director, Stuart brings a broad range of expertise and knowledge of genomic and bioinformatics approaches to biological problems.

In 2015, he earned the MIT Infinite Mile Award, followed by the MIT Excellence Award in 2017. Stuart is also President of Northeastern Regional Life Sciences Core Directors (NERLSCD) and Chair of the DNA Sequencing Research Group of the Association of Biomolecular Research Facilities (ABRF).

John Fucillo

John Fucillo completed the state indenture apprenticeship program in the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers before arriving at MIT. As the facilities manager for Building 68, he oversees building renovations, laboratory and office moves, maintenance and repairs, building safety and security, and installation of all major equipment. He ensures compliance with chemical, environmental, health, and safety regulations, supervises the glassware sterilization facilities, and serves as a primary liaison with MIT Facilities and contractors. In addition, John also serves as a departmental resource for short and long-term space planning.

John has received two School of Science Infinite Mile Awards, as well as the MIT Excellence Award.

Mary Ellen Wiltrout

Education

  • PhD, 2009, Biology, MIT
  • SB, 2004, Biological Sciences, Carnegie Mellon University

Summary

Mary Ellen applies her teaching experience, PhD in biology, and knowledge of the learning sciences research to transform the biology curriculum at MIT in collaboration with the faculty and instructional team. The projects include blended learning experiences for MIT students (especially the Introductory Biology and core undergraduate courses) and open online courses (MOOCs) that are available to learners around the world. She takes a learning engineering approach to the design process to focus on the learners and make data-informed decisions. She manages the development and execution of the projects and promotes the implementation of evidence-based teaching. The group also studies learner engagement and course design. Mary Ellen enjoys training and mentoring other teaching staff and postdocs as well as graduate, undergraduate, and high school students in this discipline. The group created and manages three of Class Central’s Best Free Online Courses of All Time. She is also a founding member and senior co-leader of the cross-departmental Digital Learning Lab of MIT Open Learning. Prior to returning to MIT, Mary Ellen taught at Harvard University.

Awards

  • COVID-19 Hero, School of Science, MIT, 2020
  • Silver Award in the Science of Learning category, Reimagine Education, 2019
  • Infinite Mile Award, Department of Biology, MIT, 2016

Key Publications

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Janice Chang

Janice manages the Biology Education office and provides strategic direction for the department’s educational programs.  She works with faculty, instructors, teaching assistants, students, and staff, and oversees the graduate and undergraduate degree programs. Janice advises faculty and students on departmental and MIT policies and programs; oversees degree requirements, develops critical database infrastructure for student records, statistics, and student funding assignments; directs the graduate admissions process; and prepares grant applications and reports.

Degrees and prior experience: Wellesley College (Bachelors in Biology, Anthropology), MIT (Masters in Interdisciplinary Science), and Harvard University (Doctorate in Cancer Biology). Prior to this current position Janice was an instructor in the department and taught in the MIT Biology project and teaching labs, developed curriculum for inquiry-based teaching, spoke and presented at other universities and national conferences.

Awards:  Janice has received the School of Science Dean’s Educational and Student Advising Award, Infinite Mile Award, as well as a number of Spot Awards

Alison Salie

Alison Salie serves as the department’s senior financial staff member. She plays a key role in budgeting, strategic financial planning, and research contract administration, and offers guidance to the Department Head on matters of financial policy and spending. In addition, Alison trains and supervises all department financial staff, particularly with regard to MIT and federal research grant policies and procedures, proposal preparation, and forecasting.