Akshaya Ganesh is a graduate student in Dr. Volker Briken's lab.

Megan joined Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics as a Program Specialist and is now a Program Coordinator.
A plant virologist and longtime “The X-Files” scientific adviser, Simon is donating $15 million to support two endowed professorships, one in virology and another in RNA or plant biology; multiple postdoctoral fellowships; and multiple graduate fellowships.
Over 200 students from our college graduated in August 2025.
Rui Yin (Ph.D. ’24, biological sciences) harnesses the power of AI to take on the challenges of drug discovery at Absci.
This summer we celebrated the retirement of Dr. David Straney from CBMG after over 35 years supporting and mentoring students at UMD. We wish Dr. Straney all the best in his well-deserved retirement!
This summer we celebrated the retirement of Dr. Steve Mount from CBMG after over 30 years supporting and mentoring students in the department. We wish Dr. Mount all the best in his well-deserved retirement!
Last week we celebrated the retirement of our former chair Dr. Norma Andrews from CBMG after 16 years working for the department. We wish Dr. Andrews all the best in her well-deserved retirement!
Nine tenured/tenure-track faculty members, six instructional faculty members and 11 research faculty members were promoted in summer 2025.
Postdoc Kyle Brumfield and Distinguished University Professor Rita Colwell are working with an inter-university team to help mitigate the threat from waterborne pathogens.