AfterRIT Workshop Leader Bios
Meet the inspiring leaders presenting our workshops and professional panels at AfterRIT!
Amber Charlebois
After more than 20 years of teaching undergraduate organic and biochemistry, seven of which included a part-time role as Pre-Health Advisor, Dr. Charlebois decided to transition into a full time Pre-Health Advising. Her new role as Director of Pre-Health Professions at RIT allows her to be fully committed to developing programs, mentoring and advising students, establishing a pre-health committee, and creating a collaborative and fruitful Pre-Health Community on campus. She still loves Chemistry, evidenced by the periodic table blanket in her office, but is dedicated to helping RIT students from any major create their absolute best self in preparation for their application to health professional programs.
Maiah Johnson Dunn
Maiah Johnson Dunn tells heart-forward stories about New York wine. After a 13-year career in experiential marketing, Maiah transitioned to wine writing and educating in 2020. As the Beverage Education Manager at New York Kitchen in Canandaigua, New York, Maiah’s focus is building a space for everyone to learn about New York’s craft agriculture–wine especially. Her classes include Wine for Normals, Exploring Black Wines, and DEI Over Wine. Maiah’s writing can be found in (585) magazine, City Newspaper, Decanter Magazine, and the recently published fifth edition of Jancis Robinson’s Oxford Companion to Wine. Maiah is a Wine Enthusiast Future 40 Tastemaker 2023 honoree and a fellow of the Wine Writers Symposium at Meadowood Napa Valley. She is also the 2022 New York Wine & Grape Foundation Unity Awards Consumer Award recipient for her support of New York wines and 2024 Colors of Success Inclusive Leadership Award Honoree. The Boston native lives (and loves) in Rochester, New York.
Taylor Evans
More info coming soon!
Olivia Fraser
Olivia Fraser recently earned her Ph.D. in biochemistry at Pennsylvania State University, where she used NMR to investigate how chemical information at the amino-acid level shapes protein function. After exploring a wide range of career options—from industry to science communication—she discovered that her true passion lies in academic research and successfully landed her dream postdoctoral position.
Zayneb Ghazle
Zayneb is a 2024 RIT graduate with a double major in Physician Assistant and Diagnostic Medical Sonography (Ultrasound). Since graduation, she has been serving her community as a Physician Assistant within the Advanced Heart Failure and Transplant Division at the University of Rochester Medical Center. She serves as an Advanced Practice Provider in the Student Health Center at Roberts Wesleyan University and as an Adjunct Speaker/Lab Teaching Assistant in the Ultrasound Program at RIT. She is a Member of the RIT Alumni Association Board of Directors, the American Academy of Physician Associates (AAPA) and the Rochester Regional Physician Assistant Association. Prior to graduation from RIT, she served as President of the Ultrasound Student Association, Senator of the College of Health Sciences and Technology within RIT Student Government, an RIT Student Ambassador, a Founder of the Student Alumni Alliance, a Member of the RIT Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee, a Member of the Physician Assistant Student Association and the RIT Honors Program. Ghazle is a New York Area Health Education Center Scholar and a Representative of the Center for Statesmanship, Law and Liberty. Ghazle has received multiple awards such as the RIT Outstanding Undergraduate Scholar, the RIT Student Government Senator of the Year, a Nathaniel Rochester Scholarship recipient and the RIT Statesman Scholar award.
Teresa Gibson
Teresa Gibson, Ph.D. holds the position of Professor of Practice within the RIT College of Science, School of Mathematics and Statistics. With a rich professional background in consulting (including IBM Consulting), Dr. Gibson transitioned into academia, joining the faculty in Applied Statistics at RIT. Her experience in both industry and education has afforded her a unique perspective on the art of building and sustaining a robust professional network.
Ira Hoffman
Ira Hoffman joined The Dow Chemical Company in 1986 after earning a BS in Physics from the Rochester Institute of Technology and an MBA in Finance from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. During his career with Dow, Ira spent eight years in Dow’s Information Technology department and 18 years in various finance functions including credit risk management, pension operations, and internal auditing. He has led multinational teams in six continents. After retiring in 2012 Ira relocated to the Portsmouth New Hampshire area and served on the Board of Directors of MPAY, Inc., a North Carolina company that provides cloud-based Payroll, HR, Compliance, and Cash Flow solutions. In 2017 he joined SCORE, a nation-wide all-volunteer organization affiliated with the Small Business Association that provides free mentoring services for small business owners. Ira was awarded the RIT College of Science John Wiley Jones award in Physics, and he holds both a third degree black belt in karate and a fourth degree black belt in tae kwon do.
Niaya Jackson
Niaya Jackson a Biochemistry major at RIT and graduated in 2021. She was selected for the CLIMB UP Program at University at Buffalo and then the highly competitive post-baccalaureate program for the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences in Buffalo. Niaya is now a first year medical student at Jacobs. Niaya is a Rochester-native and was a Rochester City Scholar and long-time member of the Michel Research Group at RIT.
Linda Kerrigan
Linda Kerrigan ’02, MBA ’03 is Associate Director, R&D Agile Sourcing at Bristol Myers Squibb and has over twenty years experience in pharmaceutical drug development covering both Clinical Trial Sourcing and Research. Before her progressive roles at BMS she worked for over a decade at Celgene in portfolio sourcing and relationship management. Linda also spent five years with Wyeth Vaccines Research as a research scientist. Linda majored in biotechnology and completed her MBA, Technology Management through RIT’s 4 + 1 program.
Breanne Kisselstein
Breanne Kisselstein, Ph.D. is an Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE) Postdoctoral Fellow at the USDA Agricultural Research Service. Her research currently focuses on cranberry quantitative genetics and pre-breeding, with an emphasis on improving environmental stability and disease resistance. As a DeafBlind and queer woman in science, and the first person in her family to obtain a doctorate, she looks forward to sharing all that she has learned on her journey since graduating from RIT.
Elena Lopez Peredo
Dr. Elena Lopez Peredo is interested in how plants adapt to new environments. She earned my PhD at the University of Oviedo (Spain) working on the assessment of the genetic stability of hops plants after in vitro culturing. Dr. Peredo was a Fulbright scholar at UCONN working on biogeography, speciation, and genomic adaptations to aquatic environments in submerged green plants. At the Marine Biological Laboratory, she worked on plant-microbe interaction over a range of environments and on the genetic basis of transition to land. In August 2023, Dr. Peredo moved to the College of Science at RIT where she is now an Assistant Professor in the Thomas H. Gosnell School of Life Sciences.
Namitha Pradeep
Namitha is a second-year Ph.D. student in the School of Physics and Astronomy at RIT. She earned her BS-MS dual degree in Physics from the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) in Pune, India, followed by a Master’s degree in Physics from the University of New Mexico, where she briefly worked on quantum computing and simulations. Currently, her graduate research focuses on physics education, specifically on curriculum development for quantum sensing. Her academic interests include quantum education, students' STEM identities, and exploring gender differences in STEM fields.
Maria Richart
For the past four years, Maria has served as the Director of the Office of Career Services and Cooperative Education. She has experience creating partnerships with companies and organizations that hire RIT students for co-ops and full-time opportunities. She is a key collaborator in creating and establishing RIT’s International Experience Co-op/Internship Program. Her primary responsibility is overseeing RIT’s Co-op program, one of the oldest and most prominent in the US. She manages a team of 30 full-time Career Services Professionals and the Student Employment Office. On average, Maria’s team is responsible for coordinating 6,200 co-op assignments for 4,400 students per year.
Tony Sampognaro
Tony is a native of Western New York and a biopharmaceutical chemist turned project manager with in-depth experience across the industry. His current role is Director, CMC Project Management for Stoke Therapeutics in Bedford, MA. Tony began his career as a research scientist, holding roles in the pharmaceutical industry including small molecule drug discovery and SAR development, manufacturing process development, and CMC (Chemistry, Manufacturing & Controls) project management. Along the way, he made key contributions to two marketed therapeutics including TRODELVY®, an antibody-drug conjugate used to treat metastatic breast cancer. Tony is also a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of Outsourced Pharma, the leading source for industry news and analysis for the vast global network of contract-based pharmaceutical research, development and manufacturing companies. He is a three-time RIT graduate with a BS in Biochemistry, an MS in Chemistry and an Executive MBA. In his spare time, Tony is an avid amateur musician, playing trombone, euphonium and tuba in a variety of jazz and community bands.
Stefan Schulze
Originally from Germany, Stefan went to college at the University of Potsdam (B.Sc. in Biochemistry in 2010) and then did his PhD at the University of Muenster (M.Sc. in 2013, Ph.D. in 2017) before coming to the US as a postdoc at the University of Pennsylvania. During these times he worked on phage-bacteria interactions, microalgal proteomics, and archaeal biofilm formation – with glycobiology as the connecting theme between these areas. With the beginning of the Fall semester 2022, Stefan started his lab as an Assistant Professor in the Gosnell School of Life Sciences at RIT, aiming to elucidate the functions of prokaryotic glycoproteins.
Melissa Scrimo
A seasoned change management and process improvement consultant with 30 years in the pharmaceutical industry. Melissa has led global initiatives across large, mid-size, and startup companies. As the founder of Applied Intelligence Consulting, she helps companies improve their operations. She works with clients to design, develop and implement key business processes and employee training programs to ensure that employees are equipped to do their jobs. Melissa's background includes roles as an instructional designer, trainer, and cell biologist. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Biotechnology from RIT, a Master of Arts in Biology from Villanova, and a Professional Certificate in Innovation and Technology from MIT.
Sydney VanWinkle
More info coming soon!