Mirna Kheir Gouda, 4th year graduate student

4th year graduate student
Voigt Lab, BE, Synthetic Biology Center

Mirna is a 4th year Biological Engineering PhD student. She was born basking in the Mediterranean sun of Cairo, Egypt. With a natural interest in engineering, as a child, Mirna often found herself taking apart toys to discover how they were designed and built. Her love for science and her fascination by engineering disciplines led her to pursue a B.E. in Biomedical Engineering at Stony Brook University. While at SBU, Mirna worked on her own independent research studying evolutionary reversibility and adaption using engineered yeast. Through her undergraduate research experience, Mirna gained a deeper appreciation of good science communication. As a comm lab fellow, she is passionate about empowering scientists to make a bigger impact through effective communication.

 

Mirna is also passionate about environmental sustainability. She views her research in the Voigt lab as an opportunity to tackle one of the biggest global problems we face today: Plastic pollution. Her work is focused on engineering microbes to sustainably biodegrade and upcycle plastic. Outside the lab, Mirna enjoys cooking, hiking, and swimming.