EXECUTIVE BOARD
Yiqiao Zheng
President
Yiqiao is a postdoctoral associate working with Dr. Daniel “Danny” Lew in the Biology Department. Originally trained as a biomedical engineer, she developed an interest in biomedicine and pursued her Ph.D. in Molecular Genetics and Genomics at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, where she studied rare inherited retinal diseases. Yiqiao joined the Lew Lab at MIT, intrigued by an unconventional fungus that can survive in diverse environments, including marble, the ocean, leaves, and even a nuclear power plant. Yiqiao is investigating whether its ability to grow in various morphologies helps it survive in extreme environments, representing a novel strategy for fungal adaptation.
Yiqiao was the Peer Mentoring Program coordinator for the Division of Biology & Biomedical Sciences and a member of the Student Advocacy Committee at her PhD institution. She previously served as the Community Building Committee chair and Interim Vice President at the MIT PDA and is currently the chair of the Biology Postdoc Association. In her new role as president, Yiqiao aims to continue fostering a cohesive community by supporting advocacy for rights and benefits, as well as creating opportunities for postdocs across campus to connect and share their passions in science and beyond. Yiqiao believes that meaningful human connections are essential for our mental, emotional, and physical well-being, which are crucial for achieving professional success.
Outside of her work (which she is too obsessed with), Yiqiao enjoys staying active, exploring the outdoors, and immersing herself in various forms of art. She loves long train journeys, where the changing landscapes and peaceful solitude provide moments of reflection. Yiqiao is also passionate about experimenting with recipes from different cuisines, and one of her dreams is to open a midnight diner that offers comfort in the otherwise hectic pace of city life.
Kadir Bice
Vice President
Kadir is a Postdoctoral Associate in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at MIT. His research focuses on developing solutions to address climate change, with a particular interest in greenhouse gas mitigation, climate policy, and science advocacy. He enjoys working across disciplines, drawing on his background in Industrial Engineering and Earth & Marine Sciences to inform his approach.
Kadir earned his Ph.D. from the University of Georgia and holds previous degrees from Middle East Technical University and Bilkent University in Turkey. He is passionate about using science to drive positive change and is committed to fostering a collaborative and supportive research environment at MIT. Outside of academia, Kadir enjoys making music, bike touring, and exploring the outdoors.
Kübra Kaygisiz
Recording Secretary
Kübra is a Leopoldina Postdoctoral Fellow at the MIT Department of Chemistry, where her research focuses on flow synthesis and tandem mass spectrometry-based de novo sequencing of peptide libraries. She earned her Ph.D. from the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, where she developed peptide nanomaterials for gene therapy. Before joining MIT, she was a postdoctoral researcher at the Advanced Science Research Center in New York City.
As Recording Secretary of the PDA, Kübra is dedicated to well-organized, transparent, and accessible records of PDA activities, including monthly general meetings and engagements with MIT leadership. Previously, she served as Co-Chair of the Orientation Committee, where she worked to create a welcoming and inclusive environment for new postdocs.
Danlei Chen
Corresponding Secretary
Danlei is a K. Lisa Yang Brain-Body Center Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. Her research aims to understand the human brain using innovative neuroimaging technology. She currently uses ultra-high-field fMRI to investigate whole-brain cerebrospinal fluid flow dynamics driven by neural and physiological oscillations.
Danlei earned her PhD in Psychology from Northeastern University, where she also served as a graduate student DEI representative. In her past and current role as Corresponding Secretary, she works to improve the well-being of MIT postdocs and foster a stronger sense of belonging, while showcasing their vibrant, diverse voices. She is also committed to enhancing communication, fostering connections, and elevating the community’s profile. Beyond research and the PDA, Danlei enjoys crocheting, painting, hiking, and playing tennis.
Elia Arnese Feffin
Treasurer
Elia is a postdoctoral associate at the Department of Chemical Engineering. His research revolves around industrial data analytics and mathematical modeling, with particular focus on fault detection and integration of prior knowledge into data-driven modeling workflows. Originally from Italy, he earned his PhD in Industrial Engineering from the University of Padua, working on industrial data analytics applied to biorefinery processes. In his free time, he enjoys cooking, practicing and learning about the tea culture, and taking long walks. He serves the postdoc community at MIT as Treasurer of the PDA. In this role, he manages the budget of the association, tracks the cash flows associated with events organized by the Committees, and ensures proper processing of expenses and refunds.
STANDING COMMITTEEs
Khanh Tran
Advocacy Committee Chair
Khanh is a postdoc in the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research and earned her PhD from the University of Connecticut before joining MIT. As Advocacy Chair, she is committed to advocate for improvements in postdoctoral training programs, benefits, and overall career developments. She aims to ensure that postdocs at MIT have the resources, support, and opportunities they need to thrive both professionally and personally.
Through close collaboration with fellow PDA officers and listening to peers, Khanh wants to build a more connected and empowered postdoc community, amplifying our collective voice, and driving positive change in institution’s policies that impact our work and well-being. Outside the lab, she enjoys gardening, volunteering in the hospitals, and exploring the diverse food scene across the greater Boston area.
Danielle Coogan
Alumni Committee Chair
Danielle Coogan is a Postdoctoral Associate in the AeroAstro Department with the Space Telecommunications, Astronomy, and Radiation Laboratory. Her research focuses on precision navigation and instrumentation for satellite laser communication. She has an interest in space sustainability and is a former National Academies Mirzayan Science and Technology Policy Fellow (2023).
Danielle is an MIT Lincoln Laboratory GEM Fellow alumna and received her PhD in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Florida in December 2023. She received her B.S. Mechanical Engineering from the University of Miami. At the University of Florida, Danielle was a founder of the Graduate Society of Women Engineers section, Chair of the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Graduate Student Council, and a member of her department’s Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access Committee. She looks forward to using her experience with those organizations in her role as Alumni Chair of the PDA and understands the impact and importance of a strong professional network and community.
Megan Priestley
Community Building Committee Chair
Megan is a TBBCF postdoctoral fellow in the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT. She is developing new tools for the treatment of breast cancer which target sugars on the surface of tumours. Before joining MIT, Megan received her PhD at the University of Manchester, UK, where she studied the role of sugars in regulating immune cell migration.
Whilst in the UK, Megan took a leading role in organising many social events, including setting up her department’s ‘soccer’ team and organising the annual bar rally. In her new role as community building co-chair, she hopes she can bring her experience of creating fun and lively events to MIT to provide a sense of community for our current and incoming postdocs.
Hui Sun
Intrim Orientation Committee Chair
Hui is a Postdoctoral Associate in the Department of Earth, Atmospheric & Planetary Sciences. Her research focuses on developing bio-inspired materials and processes for climate and energy related challenges, with a particular interest on waste valorization, carbon sequestration, and biohydrometallurgy. Previously, Hui earned her Ph.D. from the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at MIT, where she worked on directed assembly of structural proteins into functional materials for applications in Agriculture and Food.
As the orientation committee chair, she works closely with other PDA officers, Office of the Vice President for Research, and Human Resources to help incoming postdocs get to know MIT, the resources and benefits MIT provides, and the wonderful MIT postdoc community.
Abhishek Soni
Belonging and Outreach Committee Chair
Abhishek Soni is a Postdoctoral Associate in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at MIT. His research focuses on developing self-driving laboratories that integrate automation and AI to accelerate clean hydrogen production and sustainable energy technologies for decarbonization.
He earned his Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of British Columbia, where he combined molecular simulations and machine learning to study ice nucleation, and later expanded his postdoctoral work into the development of self-driving laboratories for carbon dioxide electrolysis.
Beyond research, Abhishek is deeply committed to mentorship and community building. He co-facilitated the MIT LEAPS program for leadership development and has mentored more than 50 undergraduate and international students. He currently serves as Social Chair at MIT Sidney-Pacific, enhancing the residential life of 700+ graduate students. He has also been an active volunteer in outreach and belonging initiatives, including the Mitacs Globalink mentorship program and the UBC Research Experience (REX) program.
As Outreach and Belonging Chair, Abhishek aims to strengthen connections across MIT’s diverse postdoctoral community, foster inclusive spaces for networking and mentorship, and expand outreach programs that promote belonging and engagement for all postdocs.
Poornima Dubey
Professional Development Committee Chair
Poornima Dubey is an interdisciplinary early-career researcher specializing in Nanobiotechnology and Nanopharmaceuticals, with a strong focus on translational therapeutic innovation. She earned her Ph.D. in Nanotechnology from IIT Roorkee, and her research journey spans leading institutions, including UCL School of Pharmacy, the University of Cincinnati, and the University of Maryland, where she advanced non-viral gene delivery systems, gold nanoparticle-based radiosensitizers, and lipid nanoparticle platforms.
Currently, as a Senior Postdoctoral Associate in the MIT Biological Engineering department, she is developing Fc fusion protein-based nanotherapeutics for metastatic cancer, intending to integrate biologics with nanomedicine to create next-generation targeted treatments. She is also passionate about entrepreneurship, with aspirations to launch a startup focused on nanotechnology-driven therapeutic solutions.
As a member of the Professional Development Committee, Poornima brings a deep commitment to mentorship, innovation, and empowering postdocs to explore diverse career paths across academia, industry, and entrepreneurship.
Fabian Moeller
Sports Committee Co-Chair
Fabian is a postdoctoral associate at the Aerospace Physiology Laboratory in Aeronautics and Astronautics. He is working on optimizing countermeasures for spaceflight with interests in cardiovascular and pulmonary physiology in extreme underwater, microgravity, altitude, and isolation environments. As part of his doctoral work at the German Sport University Cologne, he investigated the effects of countermeasure exercise training in long-duration isolation spaceflight analogs on physical and cognitive performance and conducted applied research on human physiology and performance underwater.
As the sports committee chair, he organizes and leads sports events at MIT to strengthen the postdoc network and provide physical activity opportunities. He builds on his background in Sports Science and extensive experience with honorary work in sports clubs at the local and federal levels.
Sarah Katharina Schaumann
Sports Committee Co-Chair
Sarah is a Postdoctoral Associate at the MIT Center for Transportation & Logistics. Her research focuses on the intersection of operations research and machine learning, with applications in order fulfillment, distributed supply chains, and next-generation vehicle routing problems such as truck-and-drone coordination. As part of her engagement at MIT, she collaborates with both industry and academic partners to bridge analytical methods with practice. During her PhD at ETH Zurich, she also worked on humanitarian logistics and fleet management.
As the sports committee co-chair, she helps to organize sports events at MIT to strengthen the postdoc network and provide physical activity opportunities. She strives to help fellow postdocs connect through exploring different sports and activities.
Yibei Chen
IT & Information Committee Chair
Yibei is a postdoctoral associate at the McGovern Institute for Brain Research. She studies how the brain processes natural communication: how we perceive, interpret, and respond to the world around us. Her work brings together social and cognitive neuroscience, communication science, and data-driven research. She also designs open-source tools that support transparent, reproducible science, because she believes good research should be accessible, collaborative, and built for long-term impact.
As Chair of the IT & Information Committee, Yibei hopes to update the PDA website, efficiently deliver MIT PDA information to MIT postdocs, and thereby contribute as much as possible to making their postdoc experience a pleasant one.