People

Catherine Conway

“Catherine is a Senior Clinical Research Coordinator with more than five years of combined clinical and preclinical research experience. She has worked as a coordinator for the MoMent: Moms & Mental Health study since 2022. Catherine earned her M.S. in Neuroscience from the University of Illinois Chicago, where she completed her master’s thesis examining the associations between adverse childhood experiences, depressive and anxiety symptoms, and neuroactive steroid levels in early pregnancy among low-income women of color. Her clinical research experience includes study coordination, protocol development and implementation, participant recruitment and retention, scientific reporting, and data analysis. Catherine earned her B.S. in Biology and Molecular/Cellular Neuroscience with a minor in Psychology from Loyola University Chicago. Her research interests include women’s mental and physical health, maternal mental health, and the relationship between early-life experiences and health outcomes.”

Email: cmconwa2@uic.edu

Collin Pennock-Monson

Email: cjpm@uic.edu

Maria Camargo Pachon

Email: mcamar23@uic.edu

Jasmine Nyarko

Email: jnyar2@uic.edu

Jacqueline King

“Jackie received her Bachelor’s of Science in Human Physiology from University of Oregon in 2022. She is now at UIC’s College of Nursing getting her MSN-GE. In her free time, she enjoys baking, watching sports, exercising, and spending time with her loved ones.”

Email: jking90@uic.edu

Emma Lee

“Emma is a PhD student in Bioinformatics. She graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a Bachelors of Science in Bioengineering in May of 2021. She is interested in utilizing genome-scale metabolic models to better understand metabolic differences that result from age and sex chromosome complement. In her free time, she enjoys reading, running, and cooking.”

Email: elee228@uic.edu

Blake Williams

“Blake is a PhD candidate in the Bioinformatics program. She is interested in utilizing single-cell sequencing and spatial proteomic/metabolomic technologies to understand cell-cell communications and how they change with aging.

Blake graduated from Santa Clara University with a BS and MS in Bioengineering with a focus in biomolecular and protein engineering. She has more than 10 years of experience working in a wet lab, including 7 years at an early-stage drug discovery start-up focused on discovering peptide-mimetics for cytokine receptors. Blake has experience with a wide range of wet lab skills, including cell culture, molecular biology, and flow cytometry. She decided to return to academia to pursue her interest in translational research.”

Email: bwilli90@uic.edu

Maigh Attre

“Maigh is a PhD student in the department of Biomedical Engineering and a MD/PhD student co-advised by Dr. Bea Peñalver Bernabé and Dr. Alex Leow. Maigh is interested on computational approaches to research for historically medically underserved populations especially mental health changes during reproductive stages. Outside the lab, Maigh likes to knit, read, and try new coffee shops in Chicago.“

Email: mattre2@uic.edu

Ainsley Tran

“Ainsley is a graduate student in the Graduate Program of Neuroscience and a MD/PhD student in UIC’s MSTP. She received her BA from Washington University in St. Louis in Philosophy, Neuroscience, and Psychology. While there, she conducted research on apolipoprotein E in Alzheimer’s disease. She is interested in understanding the gut-brain access in mental health and how the gut microbiota can be targeted to advance therapeutics for mood disorders. In her free time, Ainsley enjoys rock climbing, watching anime, and trying new breweries.“

Email: artran2@uic.edu

George Gutierrez

“George is a Bioinformatics MS student at UIC. He earned his BS in Biochemistry with a minor in Italian Studies from UIC. Passionate about leveraging data-driven approaches to advance healthcare research and deepen disease understanding, he is committed to using bioinformatics to make meaningful contributions to the field. In his free time, he enjoys staying active, photography, reading at the beach, and traveling.“

Email: ggutie21@uic.edu

Jaden Wang

“Jaden Wang is a Master’s student in the Bioinformatics program at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC). He graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Engineering, concentrating in bioinformatics, from UIC. Jaden is interested in leveraging big data in genomics to increase the individualization of medicine and plans to attend medical school after completing his Master’s. In his free time, he enjoys calisthenics, rings gymnastics, spending time with his friends, and reading.“

Email: jadenw3@uic.edu

Duncan Claypool

“Duncan Claypool is a MD/PhD student in the biomedical engineering department at the University of Illinois Chicago. He graduated with a BA from Macalester College in 2017 before working as a post-baccalaureate researcher at the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases. His research focuses on understanding the mechanisms through which the intestinal microbiome can contribute to health and disease, with a special emphasis on cross-kingdom interactions and the role of fungi. In his free time Duncan enjoys hiking, going to museums, and learning about animals.”

Email: dclayp2@uic.edu

Sreehi Bellamkonda 

Email: sbell46@uic.edu

Vaani Desai

Email: vdesa83@uic.edu

Saniyah Chowdhury

“Saniyah Chowdhury is a undergraduate student studying Biomedical Engineering at the University of Illinois Chicago. She joined the Bea Lab in the summer of 2026, where she investigated associations between maternal depression and anxiety symptoms and gene expression using peripheral blood RNA-seq data. Her work involved differential expression, pathway enrichment, and gene co-expression analyses to explore the biological processes associated with maternal mental health during pregnancy. She is continuing her research in the Bea Lab, with an interest in applying computational and biomedical approaches to better understand factors influencing maternal health and pregnancy outcomes. In her free time, Saniyah enjoys trying new restaurants, spending time outdoors, and making crafts.”

Email: schow29@uic.edu