Team

Tasha Hester obtained her B.S in Biology from Bennett College in Greensboro, NC and her Masters in Science Teaching from Rutgers University, through the Woodrow Wilson Fellowship Foundation. She had the pleasure of working at Mississippi Valley University, where she worked to develop a program to predict cancer survival rates in lymph node negative breast cancer patients. She also spent time in a NIDA funded lab at the University of North Carolina Wilmington where she developed a scoring protocol to quantitatively record rat behavior under the influence of Ketamine. Tasha completed a Post Baccalaureate at Wright State University where she studied spermatogenesis in planarians. This resulted in a publication in the journal of Molecular Reproduction and Development titled “Genetic Expansion of Chaperonin‐containing TCP‐1 (CCT/TRiC) Complex Subunits Yields testis‐specific isoforms Required for Spermatogenesis in Planarian Flatworms.” She has been teaching Highschool Biology for the past 6 years and is excited to continue her journey in the sciences.

John is a Rutgers University graduate with a BS in Biological Sciences and MS in Cell and Developmental Biology. In his role as graduate researcher, he concentrated on investigating innovative research avenues related to Parkinson’s disease, with a specific emphasis on epitranscriptomics. Previously, he served as a laboratory technician at Columbia University Irving Medical Center, where his research focused on Essential Tremor and various neurological disorders. Beyond academia, John has interned within the pharmaceutical industry, working with organizations such as Bristol Myers Squibb. His professional aspirations lie at the intersection of scientific research and business.

Mahek holds a BA in Genetics from Rutgers University where she completed the computational genetics certification which inspired her to pursue a career in bioinformatics. Her research in the Bernstein lab focuses on the effects of developmental pesticide exposure on epigenetic aging in the mouse midbrain and involves the use of the statistical software R. Her undergraduate research in the Ellison computational genetics lab at Rutgers focused on the role of transposable elements in speciation. Along with a passion for academic research, Mahek also aspires to be involved in the bioinformatics industry.

Juliana Choza is currently a PhD student at Rutgers in the Joint Graduate Program of Toxicology. After graduating from Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon in 2020 with a BA in Biochemistry/Cellular and Molecular Biology, she worked as a technician for two years in the area of viral pharmacology during the the Covid-19 pandemic. With a lifelong interest in the long-term effects of pesticide exposure and a background in the genetics of developmental neurotoxicity, joining the Bernstein lab was a good fit and she looks forward to doing her dissertation work there.

Peri Rose is a fourth year pharmacy student at the Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy. After completing their PharmD, they will be joining the Bernstein lab as a PhD student in the JGPT. In their free time, they can be found reading.

Lily Ramos is a second year Pharmacy student in the Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy. She is currently in the Bernstein lab as an Honors Research student and hopes to continue working in the lab while being a full-time student. In her free time, she enjoys hiking and running.