SEA’s Virtual fellows lead committees of virtual interns in science policy research.
Yus Sharifuddin is a molecular toxicologist who currently serves as a senior lecturer at the Biohealth
Science Division, ISB, University of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He received his B.Sc. in Genetics and Ph.D. in Health and Medical Sciences from Swansea University, United Kingdom. He is a recipient of the John Hayward Prize in Biological Sciences; served for a year as a Residence Tutor and
was an active member of various committees within the School of Medicine, Swansea University including the Research Committee and the Higher Degrees sub-committee. Always an avid reader, he has a soft spot for politics and international relations. Yus developed profound interests in the relations between science and public policies after a meeting with the House of Commons Select Committee for Science and Technology (now known as Innovation, Universities, Science and Skills Committee) as part of the Voice of the Future programme few years ago. A dedicated Trekkie, he also enjoys running and kickboxing. During his current tenure as an SEA fellow, Yus will be focusing on climate change legislation and policies.
Catherine (Cathy) Vrentas is a molecular biologist and science outreacher. She grew up in State College, PA, where her interest in science was sparked by nature explorations in her backyard, her high school biology and earth science teachers, and her experience with the National Science Olympiad program. She received her B.S. from Penn State University in 2003 and received her Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2008; her thesis research explored bacterial genetics and the way bacteria adapt to starvation for nutrients. While in graduate school, Cathy was a founder of the Biology Outreach Club (BOC), a group of graduate students doing science outreach in the community, especially with underserved populations. Currently, Cathy is a Biotechnology Outreach Specialist with UW-Madison and UW-Extension; in this position, she travels around the state teaching people about DNA, wind energy, microbiology, and how to think like a scientist. She works with the Wiscon
sin 4-H program and designed this year’s 4-H National Youth Science Day experiment, “Biofuel Blast.” In spring 2010, Cathy will begin a postdoctoral research position at the University of Pennsylvania, studying yeast genetics. Cathy is an avid volunteer in her free time, including experience caring for foster children at the Madison Respite Center, coaching high school students in the Science Olympiad program, and traveling to Capitol Hill with the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Public Policy program.
David Warmflash is an astrobiologist, writer, and lead investigator for the Planetary Society’s Living Interplanetary Flight Experiment (LIFE), which is scheduled to begin a roundtrip journey to the Martian moon, Phobos, riding within the Russian Space Agency’s Phobos-Grunt probe. He holds a B.S. from the University of Massachusetts/Amherst, and an M.D. from Tel Aviv University/Sackler Faculty of Medicine. In 2003, he completed the NASA Astrobiology Institute’s postdoctoral fellowship program, working under the mentorship of Dr. David S. McKay at NASA’s Johnson Space Center (JSC), in Houston, TX. Also in association with JSC, he has conducted research related to space medical issues. His interest in science policy, and science diplomacy in particular, developed as a result of his spearheading the Planetary Society’s GOBBSS project, in which Israeli and Palestinian students worked together as co-investigators on a microbiology experiment that flew on the ill-fated mission of the shuttle Columbia (STS-107), in 2003. Thus, his focus as an SEA fellow will be on international science policy, including issues of energy and space.
