Jennie Seidberg

Jennie Seidberg is a graduate of the Master of Science in Genetic Counseling program. Maintaining a 4.0 GPA, she has consistently demonstrated exceptional performance in both advanced coursework and diverse clinical rotations, including general adult/cardiogenetics, cancer, reproductive, and ocular genetics.

Jennie is recognized by faculty for her confidence in patient sessions and her ability to connect authentically with families. Her significant scholarly contribution is her thesis research, The Impact of Genetic Diagnoses on Access to Individualized Education Programs, which explores how genetic diagnoses affect educational support for children with intellectual disabilities and Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Through her academic rigor and clinical expertise, Jennie has exemplified the role of a genetic counselor in contributing to both high-quality patient care and the wider research community.

Learn more about our  master's degree programs .

Alex John (AJ) Knutson, MD

Alex John (AJ) Knutson, MD, is a reproductive endocrinology fellow at URochester Medicine and a member of the inaugural cohort of the Advanced Certificate in Clinical Bioethics program. Recipient of the 2026 SMD Advanced Certificate Award for Practical Excellence, AJ maintained the highest grades in his cohort while demonstrating an exceptional ability to articulate complex ethical perspectives and navigate sensitive medical decision-making.

His scholarly contributions include a collaborative research project on the cost-effectiveness of non-disclosure preimplantation genetic testing for Huntington disease, which was accepted by the American Association for Reproductive Medicine.

Beyond his academic success, AJ has become a vital resource for his clinical team and the ethics consultation service, modeling a compassionate, integrative approach to reproductive care that bridges the gap between theoretical bioethics and real-world patient advocacy.

Learn more about our  advanced certificate programs .

Yi Pan, PhD

Yi Pan, PhD, is a recent graduate of the Biochemistry and Molecular Biology PhD program, and is the recipient of the 2026 Vincent du Vigneaud Award, presented annually to a graduating student whose thesis work is judged to be unique in potential for stimulating and extending research in the field.

His groundbreaking dissertation research focused on the functional roles of pseudouridine in nonsense suppression and translational recoding, work that has reshaped foundational concepts in RNA modification. Yi's most notable achievement was the identification and validation of a novel Ψ-Ψ (pseudouridine-pseudouridine) codon-anticodon base-pairing interaction, essentially discovering a “new code” that significantly improves the specificity and efficiency of genetic decoding.

In addition to this conceptual leap, he engineered several transformative molecular tools, including an updated Pseudo-Seq protocol for transcriptome-wide mapping and the PIMPT approach for site-specific tRNA modification. Recognized for his exceptional scholarship with awards such as the RNA Society Best Poster Presentation Prize and first-author publications in premier journals like Nature Chemical Biology, Yi is currently continuing his research as a postdoctoral associate at Yale University.

Learn more about our  PhD programs .

Elizabeth Plunk, PhD

Elizabeth Plunk, PhD, is a recent graduate of the Toxicology PhD program, and is the recipient of the 2026 Wallace O. Fenn Award.

Her pioneering thesis research investigated the toxicological effects of the understudied environmental pollutant Perfluorohexanoic acid (PFHxA) on mammalian neurodevelopment, a project she built from the ground up and for which she secured a prestigious NIH F31 fellowship.

Elizabeth's academic success is further highlighted by a prolific publication record, including multiple first-author papers in journals such as the European Journal of Neuroscience and the International Journal of Molecular Sciences. Beyond her research, she is recognized as a dedicated educator and mentor, earning the university-wide Edward Peck Curtis Teaching Award for her commitment to the next generation of scientists. Elizabeth is currently a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University, where she continues to apply the scientific rigor and leadership potential that marked her distinguished career at Rochester.