Meet the PRISM Team

Jennifer Roth
Director

Jen is a New England Native from Old Lyme, CT. Jen earned a BS in biochemistry from the University of New Hampshire, an MBA from Boston University, and a Master’s in Biology from Brown University. Jen is responsible for leading the amazing PRISM team. She joined the Broad in 2014, and built the PRISM team and platform of almost 1000 cell lines in a short amount of time. Jen’s role as the Director has her planning and strategizing for the entire team. She directs large pharmaceutical projects and dozens of internal and external collaborator projects. Outside of work, Jen enjoys cooking, spending time with her family, and skiing.

Melissa Ronan
Scientific Operations Manager

Melissa grew up in the suburbs of New Jersey. She earned her BA in Psychology from Rutgers University and her Masters in Biomedical Sciences from UMDNJ, with a focus in Pharmacological Sciences. She’s been at the Broad since 2018. As the PRISM Screening Lead, she plans and coordinates all PRISM screens, both large and small, for internal as well as external collaborators. In her free time, Melissa likes reading, cooking, traveling, and spending time outdoors.

Matthew Rees
Associate Director, PRISM

Matthew was born and raised in Blacksburg, Virginia. He obtained his bachelor’s degree, a masters in biochemistry, and a DPhil in clinical medicine at the University of Oxford as a participant in the National Institutes of Health/University of Oxford IRTA fellowship program. Matthew joined the PRISM team in 2019 and works on understanding the targets and mechanisms of action of new potential cancer therapeutics identified using PRISM, as well as research & development for the PRISM technology.

PRISM Team Leads

Mustafa Kocak
Computational Scientist II

Mustafa was born and raised in Istanbul, Turkey. He received a B.Sc. from Bilkent University (Ankara, Turkey) and his Ph.D. in electrical engineering from NYU’s School of Engineering. He joined the Broad as a computational scientist in 2018 and has since been enjoying working as the analytics lead in PRISM. He is interested in machine learning and its applications in bio-statistics. In his free time, he likes to play with his cat, Minder, and reads fiction from all over the world.

Luc de Waal
Group Leader, Research Scientist

Originally from the quaint town of Culemborg in the Netherlands, Luc arrived in Boston in 2010 after graduating from the Biomedical Sciences program at the University of Utrecht and completing his PhD in the Matthew Meyerson lab at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. In PRISM, Luc’s team works on identifying compounds that have interesting killing profiles in the PRISM screen. They subsequently try to identify the target of these compounds and aim to advance some of them into a drug discovery program, with the final goal of helping cancer patients. When not at work, Luc enjoys activities that are relaxing and rewarding including woodworking, cooking, reading, and playing board games.

Jacob Asiedu
Associate Director, Software

PRISM Operations Team

Brienne Engel
Alliance Manager

Brienne grew up in the Upstate New York town of East Greenbush. She holds degrees in biochemistry (B.S. Brandeis University), biological oceanography (M.S. University of South Florida), and cancer biology (Ph.D. Moffitt Cancer Center). She joined the PRISM team in 2020 and as the team’s alliance manager, Brienne helps plan and execute collaborations. She is a great point of contact for information about the PRISM assay and how we work with outside groups. Outside of work, Brienne is an avid rock climber, aerial circus artist, and Latin dancer.

Claudine Mapa
Project Manager II

Claudine was born in Manila, Philippines, and grew up on the south shore of Massachusetts. Claudine holds degrees in biochemistry and molecular biology (B.S. University of Massachusetts Amherst) and biomedical sciences (Ph.D. University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School). She completed her postdoctoral training in preclinical drug development at Boston Pharmaceuticals before joining the PRISM team in 2020. As the PRISM project manager, she develops project plans, coordinates logistics and finances, and monitors the execution of collaborations and R&D projects. Outside of work, she enjoys hiking, rock climbing, and skiing.

Bailey Porter
Project Coordinator

Bailey was born and raised in Kansas City, where he earned a Bachelor’s in Medical Biochemistry with minors in Anthropology and Leadership Studies from Kansas State University. After graduating, he worked as an admissions officer for his alma mater before moving to Boston in the summer of 2020 to transition into the biotech space. Bailey worked in recruiting and employee experience for Relay Therapeutics in Cambridge, MA before joining the PRISM team as a Project Coordinator in March 2022. He is excited to leverage his people experience in this new role to begin building his project management skills and drive forward impactful science. Outside of work, Bailey enjoys exploring new places, anything food, dancing, and (trying to) take care of his plants.

Maggie LeMaitre
Software Project Coordinator

Maggie grew up about an hour north of Boston in the town of West Newbury. She graduated from the University of Richmond and Suffolk University with a BA in Political Science. She previously was an Operations Lead at a software startup before joining the Broad in a Project Coordination role for PRISM SSF. Aside from work, Maggie enjoys boating, Netflix, chicken fingers, and coffee.

Leva Blackwell
Operations Specialist

Leva grew up in Southern Maine and graduated with a BS in Psychology and Public Health from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. She has spent the last few years working in higher education. Leva joined PRISM in late 2021 and supports the administrative and operational needs of the team. Outside of work, Leva loves spending time with family and friends, cooking Persian food, playing board games, and watching movies.

Venus Trent
Senior Administrative Assistant

Venus is from Dorchester, Massachusetts. She studied Sociology at the University of Massachusetts, Boston, and received her Master’s in Business Administration with a concentration in Human Resources at Keller Graduate School of Management in Midtown, New York. Venus joined PRISM in 2022 and supports the team’s administrative needs. Outside of work, Venus enjoys photography, playing basketball, playing UNO flip, going to the movies, eating good food, and spending time with her daughter.

PRISM Research Scientists

Blanche Ip
Senior Research Scientist I

Blanche received her M.S. and Ph.D. in Biochemical and Molecular Nutrition at Tufts University, where she investigated the connections between obesity and liver cancer. She completed her postdoctoral training at Boston University in immunometabolism, and at Brown University in bioengineering. She was an Assistant Professor (Research) at Brown University before joining the PRISM team in 2022. As a PRISM Assay Development Senior Research Scientist, Blanche supports the PRISM R&D efforts through planning and execution, writing grant proposals, and mentoring junior members of the team. Edible chemistry (baking) is Blanche’s other passion, along with traveling, hiking and photography.

Jacob Smigiel
Research Scientist II

While spending time moving around as a young kid, Jacob most often calls the mountains of Colorado home. Jacob received a BS in Cell & Molecular Biology at John Carroll University and a Ph.D from Case Western Reserve University. During his Ph.D. and post-doc, he studied how cytokines in the tumor micro-environment can bolster metastatic and tumor initiating properties. Jacob currently works on new screening approaches with the PRISM cell set, including 3-D formats, new media compositions, and drug resistance profiling. When not in the lab you’ll often find Jacob cooking or trekking a few mountains with his camera in tow.

Colleen Harrington
Research Scientist II

Colleen grew up in Baltimore, Maryland and earned her PhD in Cell & Molecular Biology (Cancer Biology program) from The University of Pennsylvania. Colleen joined PRISM in 2020 where, as part of the target deconvolution team, she works to elucidate the molecular targets of interesting compounds screened in PRISM with the goal of advancing the best candidates to drug discovery programs. Outside of the lab, she enjoys getting outdoors on the many ski slopes, hiking trails, and beaches of New England.

Jill Eskra
Research Scientist I

Jillian is from Chicago, Illinois. She received her BS in biological sciences and a PhD in pathology from the University of Illinois at Chicago. Jillian came to the Broad Institute in 2022 after completing her postdoctoral training at Johns Hopkins University where she worked on developing noninvasive diagnostic assays for cancer detection and tumor biomarker profiling. As part of the PRISM team, she is involved in research and development of the PRISM technology. Outside of the lab, Jillian enjoys roller skating, dancing the Lindy Hop, and science outreach volunteering as a mentor for STEM students and aspiring scientists.

Laura Doherty
Research Scientist I

Laura grew up in NC and studied biology and chemistry at UNC-Chapel Hill. She completed her PhD in chemical biology at Harvard University, where she investigated the role of deubiqutinating enzymes in cancer mentored by Sara Buhrlage (Dana-Farber Cancer Institute) and Peter Sorger (Laboratory of Systems Pharmacology and Harvard Medical School). She joined the PRISM team at the Broad in 2021, and her work focuses on leveraging computational analysis and experimental approaches to understand the mechanism of action of novel therapeutic candidates with industry collaborators. Outside of research, she enjoys art, traveling, and reading.

Tiffany Tsang
Research Scientist I

Tiffany is a native of coastal Maine. She received her B.A. in Molecular Biology and Biochemistry at Rutgers University and her Ph.D. in Cell & Molecular Biology at the University of Pennsylvania. Her passion for cancer research led her to pursue her doctoral work on the copper regulation of kinases and how this can be leveraged for cancer treatment. Tiffany has been with the PRISM Hit Triage team since 2021 and investigates mechanisms underlying interesting compounds screened as potential novel drug therapies. When not in lab, she can be found hanging with her cat Koa and making ice cream.

PRISM Lab Operations & Research Associates

Tenzin Sangpo
Supervisor PRISM Operations

Tenzin was born in New Delhi, India but has lived in the Cambridge area since she was nine years old. She went to the University of Massachusetts Amherst for her undergrad and worked as a lab manager and research associate at the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT before joining PRISM. Tenzin is part of the DMX team working on expanding the cell line models currently available. When she isn’t in the lab, you can find her playing board games and video games with friends. Tenzin loves traveling internationally but hasn’t been able to travel the last few years. She loves cat-sitting for her co-workers and hopes to have a senior cat one day.

Yingsel Dundutsang
Lab Coordinator

Yingsel is a Tibetan- American born in India, and raised in Arlington, MA. She studied Biology at the University of Massachusetts Amherst for her undergraduate degree. Before PRISM, she was a Laboratory Assistant in the SQM department at the Broad Institute. As part of the PRISM Team, she helps coordinate the operations of the lab. Outside of work Yingsel greatly enjoys cooking, baking, hiking, and playing tennis.

Li Wang
Senior Research Associate II

Li was born and raised in Beijing, China. She earned her BS in Biotechnology, MS in Microbiology, and a Masters diploma in Japan. She started as a Research Scientist at the Institute of Microbiology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences for 10 years. After moving to Boston, Li worked as a Senior RA at BU, Genetica in DFCI, a Senior RA in the Eric Lander Lab at the Broad, and finally joined PRISM in 2017. She worked on the PRISPR project before joining the Hit Triage team in validating PRISM hit compounds. When not in the lab, Li enjoys traveling, taking in nature and traditional cultures of the world, and sharing her love of pets and gardening with her friends.

Ellen Nguyen
Technical Lead
Research Associate III

Ellen is from Winchester, Massachusetts. She received her BS in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and an MS in Molecular and Cell Biology from Brandeis University. At PRISM, Ellen executes the high-throughput screen of collaborator compounds on the PRISM 1000 cell line cell set, as well as works on custom projects. Outside the lab, Ellen likes to hang out with her cats, bake, and crochet.

Antonella Masciotti
Research Associate II

Antonella is from Lima, Peru, and got her bachelor’s degree in Biotechnology from Rochester Institute of Technology. She joined the PRISM lab under the screening team in 2021. Outside of works she enjoys soccer, surfing and playing with her dog Quentin.

Catherine Gaitanakis
Research Associate I

Catherine is from Everett, MA. She received her BS in Biochemistry from the University of Massachusetts Boston, where she was a member of the Dowling Research Lab. Catherine joined PRISM in 2021 and is currently working on the Gain of Function project. Outside of work, Catherine enjoys reading, shopping, and spending time with her cats.

Nashielli Diaz
Research Associate I

Nashielli was born and raised in Berkeley, CA. She graduated in May of 2022 from Tufts University with a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering during which she led research on the impacts of Photodynamic Therapy on the metastasis of Triple Negative Breast Cancer. Nashielli is supporting the R&D team in the PRISM lab. When not in the lab, you can find her crocheting, cooking, and watching Netflix.

Alvin Kalathungal
Research Associate I

Alvin is from Austin, Texas and graduated from The University of Texas at Austin with a Bachelor of Science in Biology with a concentration in Computational Biology and Genetics. His prior research experience revolved around studying the function of DExH box RNA helicases and how the proteins regulate expression. As a member of the PRISM Lab, Alvin will be working with the Cell Culture team. Outside of work, Alvin enjoys reading science fiction novels and geeking out by playing video games and board games.

Vivian Nguyen
Research Associate I

Vivian was born in Cambridge, MA, and grew up in the Greater Boston area. Vivian is a recent graduate from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, earning her BS in Neuroscience. During her undergraduate years, Vivian led an independent research project during which she isolated and identified cytotoxic steroidal glycoalkaloids from lilies. In her free time, Vivian enjoys drawing and adoring her cat.

Aydin Golabi
Senior Bioautomation Engineer I

Aydin was born and raised in sunny Redondo Beach, California, though he spent most of his teenage years traveling around Europe and the Middle East. He earned BS degrees in Physics and Biochemistry from Arizona State University and a Masters in Biomedical Engineering from UC Berkeley. Aydin joined the Broad in 2021, where he develops robotics solutions for improving and scaling the PRISM assay and lab. Outside of science and engineering, Aydin loves music, exploring nature, and spending time with family and friends.

Connor Mochi
Bioautomation Engineer I

Connor was born and raised in Middleton, MA, and received a BS in Biochemistry from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Connor has been with PRISM since the Summer of 2021. Within the larger PRISM team, Connor works as a part of the Amp and Detect team and the Process Development team. He also automates and scales up previously manual lab processes. Outside of work, Connor enjoys painting, reading, motorsports, and cooking.

Cole Ponsi
Process Development Research Associate I

Cole grew up in Park Ridge, Illinois. He earned a BS in Bioengineering from Rice University and worked in the Translational Molecular Pathology Immunoprofiling Laboratory at the MD Anderson Cancer Center. He joined the process development team at the PRISM lab in 2022. When not at work, Cole enjoys baseball, hiking, skiing, and playing video and card games with friends.

PRISM Computational & Software Associates

John Davis
Senior Computational Associate

John is originally from Methuen, MA and now lives in Medford, MA. He earned his BS in Biochemistry from WPI and began his career researching the genetics of aging at UMass Medical School. He started working at the Broad as a member of the CMAP team in 2011 and focused on assay development and scale up using automation. In 2019 he transitioned to a computational role, and now works on data pipelines and analysis. Outside of work, John enjoys hiking and camping, woodworking, and motorcycling.

Neha Srivathsa
Computational Associate

Neha grew up in Bangalore, India, before moving to sunny California for college. Before joining the PRISM team, she graduated from Stanford University with a major in Computer Science, a concentration in Artificial Intelligence, and a minor in Biology. Outside of work, she loves exploring martial arts, dancing (especially Indian classical dance), reading, and exploring the outdoors!

Shiker Nair
Associate Computational Biologist

Shiker is from King of Prussia, Pennsylvania (yes, this is a real place). He received a BS in Biomedical Engineering from Johns Hopkins University with a focus in computational medicine. There, he conducted research in precision care medicine, specifically looking into how data science can be leveraged to create non-invasive, personalized diagnostic tools for patients with cardiac, pulmonary, and neurological conditions. Outside of work, he loves listening to music, learning how to make beats, and organizing game nights.

Anup Jonchhe
Software Engineer

Anup Jonchhe is a Nepali-American from Hornell, NY who studied Biomedical Engineering, minoring in mathematics and computer science, at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT). At PRISM, he works on automation of data analysis and development of analysis tools, infrastructure, and workflows. Outside work, he enjoys playing and listening to music, playing soccer, and watching the English Premier League.