Research interests: Connecting the molecular mechanisms of tuberculosis pathogenesis with disease progression.

 Other interests: Cooking, gardening, native gardening, lifting, swimming, rowing.

Education: BA from Macalester College, PhD from the University of Washington, postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Cambridge.

Contact: conrad@lakeforest.edu 

Other web sites: https://www.lakeforest.edu/academics/faculty/conrad 

Career interests: "I'm passionate about research and patient care. My ultimate goal is to attend grad school."

Lab project(s): Restoring XPC function through CRISPR: A Research Proposal

Proudest Conrad lab achievement: Having the courage to turn something I once thought was a weakness into a strength. 

Years active: 2024-present

Where am I now: Lake Forest, IL

Career interests: Dentist or Periodontist

Other interests: Hockey

Lab project(s): BrkB protein-protein interactions project

Proudest Conrad lab achievement: My 2024 Richter presentation

Years active: 2024-present

Where am I now: Heading into Junior year!

Career interests: Passionate about becoming a physician that educates, advocates, and supports patients through passionate, evidence-based care

Other interests: guitar, running, biking, chess, reading 

Lab project(s): (1) Purification of mtbBrkB (2) Purification and enzyme kinetics of MycP3

Proudest Conrad lab achievement: "My first SDS-PAGE gel on BrkB!"

Years active: 2023-present

Where am I now: Lake Forest College

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alvaro-arroyo-b7966a271/ 

Career interests: I am interested in becoming a physician

Other interests: cooking, baking, astrophotography, clarinet, weight lifting, gardening, gemology 

Lab project(s): Purification of msMycP1-6xHis

Proudest Conrad lab achievement: detecting msMycP1-6xHis by western blot

Years active: 2025-present

Where am I now: Preparing for MCAT & medical school interview

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeremy-levin-1aaa17282/ 

Career interests: I would like to work in scientific research. I also have an interest in teaching.

Other interests: I like to crochet, travel, and play with dry ice.

Lab project(s): "I started with the d-cycloserine project in which we biosynthesized dscE in A549 cells. Then I moved onto the TMID project which I continued into my thesis. I was able to successfully express and purify Mtb-BrkB, a Mycobacterium tuberculosis virulence factor of unknown function, from E. coli. I have started attempting to express Mtb-BrkB in SF9 cells in hopes of a higher yield. I have also worked with others on a handful of other projects including the transfection of XPC deficient fibroblasts with the XPC gene to test the return of DNA repair mechanisms."

Proudest Conrad lab achievement: finishing my thesis and expressing the culmination of a years worth of research in a concise and clear presentation and written report.

Years active: 2022-present

Where am I now: I am presently a Student Success Coach for City Year. After my one year of service, I will be looking to return to research as a graduate student or lab technician.

Career interests: Pharmacology R&D and analytical chemistry.

Other interests: Reading Manga, Hiking, Nature Walks, Riding Motorcycles, Gaming .

Lab project(s): (1) TB prophylaxis project and (2) BrkB's role in TB

Proudest Conrad lab achievement: Setting up the foundation for a new Protein-Protein interaction Project .

Years active: 2022-present

Where am I now: Job seeking

Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/piotr-pawlowicz-8b0702252

Career interests: Analytical Chemistry in the Pharmaceutical Industry.

Other interests: Baking, Yoga, Hiking, and Painting.

Lab project(s): Biosynthesis of d-cycloserine

Proudest Conrad lab achievement: producing o-acetyl-l-serine

Years active: 2021-2022

Where am I now: AbbVie

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zarina-najibi-0b33421b7

Career interests: Pharmacy and pharmaceuticals

Other interests: Swimming and lifeguarding

Lab project(s): zebrafish infection image analysis

Proudest Conrad lab achievement: Data analysis on a Lake Forest College student's poster

Years active: 2023-2024

Where am I now: PharmD program at Purdue University (expected class of 2031)

Career interests: structural biology, protein purification, and instrument maintenance/ QC

Lab project(s): (1) Purification of mtbBrkB from e. coli and insect cell culture, (2) analysis of BrkB predicted structure and ligands using ChimeraX and AutoDock Vina, (3) setup and maintenance of the Conrad lab FPLC

Proudest Conrad lab achievement: (1) Identifying the putative ligand for BrkB using Autodock Vina and (2) setting up the FPLC from scratch

Years active: 2023-present

Where am I now: Postbaccalaureate research project in the Conrad lab

Career interests: "I'm interested in following a career in medicine. I will be attending medical school at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine, with a hope of getting a residency in Interventional Radiology. "

Other interests: Lacrosse

Lab project(s): Developing a PCR assay for detecting zebrafish l-plastin and imaging fixed infected larvae

Proudest Conrad lab achievement: "Figuring out how to use the fluorescent microscope/sorting files, and taking images of the zebrafish. "

Years active: 2023-2023

Where am I now: "I'm in a gap year working at the Northwestern Hospital in Lake Forest as a Patient Access Specialist."

Career interests: Medicine

Lab project(s): Developing a PCR assay for detecting zebrafish l-plastin

Proudest Conrad lab achievement: optimizing DNA extraction and PCR from zebrafish tail fins

Years active: 2023-2023

Where am I now: UC Trauma Research Volunteer

Career interests: "I am pursuing a career in medicine and am most interested in matching into a surgical specialty such as orthopedics or reconstructive surgery."

Other interests: "I run, hike, and ski in my free time. I also love traveling to different places and learning new languages. "

Lab project(s): (1) The Role of Lymphocyte Cytosolic Protein 1 in a Mycobacterium Marinum Infection (2) New Mycobacterium marinum - Danio rerio Models for Tuberculosis Pathogenesis.

Proudest Conrad lab achievement: I was one of the first students at Lake Forest College to receive certification to work in the BSL-2 lab. Being able to culture our mycobacteria and perform different infection models was the highlight of my experience.  

Years active: 2021-2024

Where am I now: Medical Assistant at Derick Dermatology and applying to medical schools!

linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ceylin-sahin-702435199 

Career interests: Research and teaching

Lab project(s): Heterologous production of d-cycloserine in a human pulmonary model

Proudest Conrad lab achievement: Serving as first author for the Conrad lab's first fully independent paper

Years active: 2021-2024

Where am I now: Pursuing a PhD at UC Boulder in the interdisciplinary quantitative biology department as an NSF GRFP fellowship recipient

Career interests: Research

Lab project(s): Heterologous production of d-cycloserine in a human pulmonary model

Proudest Conrad lab achievement: Returning to the lab after pandemic lockdown

Years active: 2021-2021

Where am I now: Completed a postbaccalaureate program at Washington University in Saint Louis, Presently pursuing a Master's degree in Biochemistry and Biotechnology at UMSL

Career interests: Computational and Analytical Chemistry

Lab project(s): Fluorescence microscopy of fixed infected zebrafish larvae

Proudest Conrad lab achievement: Developing the gold standard protocol for zebrafish microscopy for the Conrad lab

Years active: 2021-2021

Where am I now: Based, in part, on my experience with HPLC in the Conrad lab, I was hired by Pfizer as an associate scientist for analytical R&D. Pfizer is now paying for my PhD in computational and analytical chemistry at Vanderbilt University.

Career interests: Pharmacology

Lab project(s): Heterologous production of d-cycloserine using a pulmonary cell model

Proudest Conrad lab achievement: Developing an Fmoc-conjugation strategy to detect L-serine and O-acetyl-l-serine by HPLC and UV-Vis spectroscopy

Years active: 2020-2021

Where am I now: Pursuing a PhD in the Molecular Pharmacology and Therapeutics program at the University of Minnesota funded by an NIH F31 fellowship.

Career interests: Many!

Lab project(s): Heterologous production of d-cycloserine using a pulmonary cell model

Proudest Conrad lab achievement: Sanger sequencing of all six d-cycloserine biosynthesis enzymes over one summer

Years active: 2019-2019

Where am I now: I served in the Army as an IT specialist in the fields of electronic warfare and military intelligence systems. I am now pursuing a Master's degree at Columbia University

Career interests: Host/Pathogen interactions

Other interests: Running, Cooking, Nature Walks! 

Lab project(s): Heterologous production of d-cycloserine using a pulmonary cell model

Proudest Conrad lab achievement: PCR amplification, cloning and expression of all six genes involved in the biosynthesis of d-cycloserine from the organism s. lavendulae

Years active: 2019-2020

Where am I now: After graduating during the pandemic lockdown, I joined the Kawaoka lab at UW Madison to study infectious disease at BSL-2. I am currently pursuing my PhD at Tufts university.