{"id":20,"date":"2025-09-30T17:10:16","date_gmt":"2025-09-30T17:10:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/faculty.eng.fau.edu\/assis\/?page_id=20"},"modified":"2026-11-10T19:13:41","modified_gmt":"2026-11-10T19:13:41","slug":"people","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/faculty.eng.fau.edu\/assis\/people\/","title":{"rendered":"PEOPLE"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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Raquel Assis,<\/strong> Principal Investigator<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Raquel received a BS in Psychology and Zoology from the University of Florida in 2006 and a PhD in Bioinformatics from the University of Michigan in 2011. She completed an NIH postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California, Berkeley in 2013, joined the Department of Biology at Penn State as faculty in 2014, and moved to the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at Florida Atlantic University in 2019. Her research focuses on developing novel methods to uncover connections between genotype and phenotype.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Contact: rassis@fau.edu<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Zach Cohen<\/strong>, Postdoctoral Researcher<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zach received a BS in Biology from the University of Florida in 2012, an MS in Entomology from Cornell University in 2015, and a PhD in Entomology from the University of Wisconsin in 2021. He worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) from 2021 to 2025 and joined the Assis and DeGiorgio groups in 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Contact: TBD<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Roberth Anthony Rojas Chavez<\/strong>, Postdoctoral Researcher<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anthony received a BS in Molecular Biology from the Colorado College in 2019 and a PhD in Microbiology from the University of Iowa in 2024. He joined the Center for Omics technologies and Data Engineering (CODE)<\/a> in 2026, where he collaborates with our group and others across the university.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Contact: rrojaschavez@fau.edu<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Wen Zhang<\/strong>, Postdoctoral Researcher<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wen received a BS in Computational Mathematics and Applied Software from Shanghai Normal University in 2002, an MSE in Software Engineering from East China Normal University in 2005, a PhD in Computational Mathematics from Shanghai University in 2009, and an MS in Applied Mathematics from Michigan Technological University in 2012. He held research positions at Baylor College of Medicine, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and Florida Atlantic University. He joined the Center for Omics technologies and Data Engineering (CODE)<\/a> in 2026, where he collaborates with our group and others across the university.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Contact: zhangw@fau.edu<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Perry LaBoone<\/strong>, Ph.D. Student in Computer Science<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perry received a BS in Electrical Engineering from the University of Florida in 1979, an MS in Computer Engineering from Florida Atlantic University in 1986, an MBA from the University of North Florida in 1994, and an MAcc from the University of North Florida in 1999. He is also a registered Professional Engineer and a Certified Public Accountant (CPA). He joined the Assis group in 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Contact: plaboone@fau.edu<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Ksenia Macias Calix<\/strong>, Ph.D. Student in Computer Science<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ksenia received a BS in Biochemistry from Florida International University in 2020 and an MS in Bioengineering from Florida Atlantic University in 2021. She worked in the Assis group during her MS studies and rejoined us in 2023 as a PhD student.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Contact: kmaciascalix2019@fau.edu<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Antara Anika Piya<\/strong>, Ph.D. Student in Computer Science<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Antara Anika received a B.S. in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from Ahsanullah University of Science and Technology in 2014. She joined the Assis group in 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Contact: apiya2021@fau.edu<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Eric Tran<\/strong>, Ph.D. Student in Computer Science<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eric received a B.S. in Microbiology from the University of California, Davis in 2015, an M.S. in Bioinformatics and Genomics from the University of Oregon in 2021, and an M.S. in Computer Science from Georgia Institute of Technology in 2023. He is currently working as a bioinformatician at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) while pursuing his Ph.D. in Computer Science. He joined the Assis group in 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Contact: trane2023@fau.edu<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Alex Ramlogan<\/strong>, M.S. Student in Computer Science<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alex received a B.S. in Computer Science from the University of Central Florida in 2024. She will be joining the Assis group in Fall 2026!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Contact: aramlogan2020@fau.edu<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Terrence Agbonkhese<\/strong>, Research Volunteer<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Terrence received a BS in Neuroscience from Florida Atlantic University in 2021 and an MS in Biomedical Engineering from Florida Atlantic University in 2024. He joined the Assis group in 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Contact: eagbonkhese2018@fau.edu<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Shradha Nair<\/strong>, BS Student in Biomedical Engineering<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shradha is a sophomore at FAU High School who is jointly pursuing a BS in Biomedical Engineering. She joined the Assis group in 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Contact: snair2024@fau.edu<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alumni<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Priscilla Xu, BS Student in Biomedical Engineering, FAU (2025 – 2026)

Andre Luiz Campelo Dos Santos, Research Scientist, FAU (2021 – 2025)

Uwaise Ibna Islam, MS Student in Computer Science, FAU (2022 – 2025)

Ria Kanjilal, Postdoctoral Researcher, FAU (2022 – 2024)

Nafis Erfan, MS Student in Computer Science, FAU (2022 – 2024)

Mahsa Alemrajabi, PhD Student in Physics, FAU (2021 – 2024)

Andrew Goldberg, PhD Student in Computer Science, FAU (2022 – 2023)

David Laloum, Postdoctoral Researcher, FAU (2021 – 2022)

John Davidian, MS Student in Artificial Intelligence, FAU (2021 – 2022)

Saheed Oseni, PhD Student in Integrative Biology, FAU (2021)

Srabanti Datta, PhD Student in Electrical Engineering, FAU (2021)

Xueyuan Jiang, PhD Student in MCIBS, Penn State (2016 – 2019)

Balaji Kumar, PhD Student in Biology, Penn State (2016 – 2019)

Juan Cerda, PhD Student (rotation) in Bioinformatics and Genomics, Penn State (2017)

Brent Perry, Undergraduate Researcher, Penn State (2014 – 2017)

Jacob Heldenbrand, MS Student in MCIBS, Penn State (2015 – 2016)

Soufieh Hakimzadeh, Undergraduate Researcher, Penn State (2015 – 2016)

Janne Olson, Undergraduate Researcher, Penn State (2015)

Will Rosenow, Undergraduate Researcher, Penn State (2014)

Nabeel Ahmed, PhD Student (rotation) in Bioinformatics and Genomics, Penn State (2014)<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Raquel Assis, Principal Investigator Raquel received a BS in Psychology and Zoology from the University of Florida in 2006 and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":101,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"disabled","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-20","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/faculty.eng.fau.edu\/assis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/20","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/faculty.eng.fau.edu\/assis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/faculty.eng.fau.edu\/assis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/faculty.eng.fau.edu\/assis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/101"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/faculty.eng.fau.edu\/assis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/faculty.eng.fau.edu\/assis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/20\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":182,"href":"https:\/\/faculty.eng.fau.edu\/assis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/20\/revisions\/182"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/faculty.eng.fau.edu\/assis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}