- One of Piyush Jain’s recent graduates has secured a spot in an elite Ph.D. program at the University of Pennsylvania.
- Jordan Lewis chose UPenn’s CAMB Graduate Group over other Ivy League institutions for its stellar student community and expertise.
- Lewis’s research spans CRISPR diagnostics, novel genetic tools, and bacterial defense mechanisms. She plans to use biotech solutions to advance global health.
Piyush K. Jain, Ph.D., likes to brag about his students, past and present. And for a good reason. One of his recent graduates has been accepted into an elite Ph.D. program at the University of Pennsylvania.
Jordan Lewis, who graduated with her bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering, was accepted into several top and Ivy League schools, but she chose to attend the Cell and Molecular Biology Graduate Group, known as CAMB, at UPenn.
“Seeing Jordan grow into a true scholar has been an absolute privilege. Being selected for UPenn’s CAMB program isn’t just about getting into an Ivy League institution; it’s the next step in a journey of academic excellence. I can’t wait to see the impact she will make during her Ph.D.,” said Jain, the Shah Rising Star Professor in UF’s Department of Chemical Engineering.
Through her research experiences at UF, Lewis became deeply interested in molecular biology, genetic engineering and microbial conflict/community interactions. She excelled quickly.
She took Jain’s Intro to Biomolecular Engineering class in her freshman year. The following fall, she was his teaching assistant in that class.
She then accepted a position in his lab and, in her first two years, engineered CRISPR/Cas12-based diagnostics for diseases such as malaria, COVID-19, HIV, HCV and breast cancer. For the second two years, she worked on engineering novel genetic editing platforms.
“Through that work, I developed a strong interest in applying molecular biology and biotechnology to solve important medical challenges,” she said.
Lewis also spent summers conducting research in the labs of Sam Sternberg, Ph.D., at Columbia University, and Mike Laub, Ph.D., at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she studied novel bacterial defense mechanisms.
“These summer research experiences deepened not only my interest in engineering biological systems for medical applications but also uncovered my passion for pure discovery-based research in molecular/microbial biology,” Lewis explained.
Despite exciting offers from Cornell, Dartmouth, Princeton and other institutions, Lewis chose CAMB because of its reputation.
“It has a genuinely phenomenal community/scientific environment and exceptional strength in molecular biology and microbiology research. I’m very excited to join such a supportive and kind scientific community,” she said.
She plans to continue conducting research on the discovery and development of novel molecular systems that, she explained, can be engineered into biotechnological tools to improve global health outcomes.