August 27, 2010–Cathy Wu and her colleagues at the Center for Bioinformatics & Computational Biology  (CBCB) are extremely pleased to welcome our new staff member Katie Lakofsky who will serve as our Educational and Outreach Coordinator.

Katie’s background includes experience in a variety of areas, including sales, marketing, bench-top research, teaching, and project planning. She earned her Master’s of Science in Plant and Soil Sciences from UD and has spent several years working for a small biotech start up. Her research projects have included plant pathology, microbiology, drug discovery and biofuel production.

She also has extensive experience in educational and outreach activities.  Katie helped to develop the core curriculum for the Biotechnology program for a local vocational high school and continues to serve on their career advisory board. Katie has participated in many science based community outreach programs.  She has served as a Biotechnology summer camp counselor, a New Castle County Science Expo judge and a representative for the Delaware Biotechnology Institute at various public events.  In addition, Katie is currently an Adjunct Instructor for Delaware Technical and Community College.

Katie’s responsibilities with CBCB are as varied as her experiences.  She will coordinate the CBCB education programs, including student recruitment, admission and advising.  She will direct the Center’s outreach activities, including development of outreach materials and organizing events. Additionally, she will also provide the necessary logistics to the research faculty with regard to the graduate program coordination, planning, scheduling and other program related activities.

We are excited to welcome Katie to our growing CBCB team and looking forward to seeing her positive impact on the Bioinformatics education program.