Bailey Lab welcomes new PhD student Elvar Bjarkason!

First-year Biochemistry and Molecular Biology PhD student Elvar Bjarkason has joined the Bailey lab! Elvar did his ScM research in the Bailey lab in 2019-2020, studying how Type I CRISPR systems respond to mutations in target sequences.

As a first-year PhD student Elvar rotated in other labs, but the Bailey lab’s research, a fit for his interest in nucleic acids and how they interact with proteins, and the lab’s positive and collaborative culture drew him back to our lab.

“I had some truly excellent options for a thesis lab, but I felt that the Bailey lab was going to provide the best environment for me to thrive both professionally and personally,” Elvar said.

During his ScM, Elvar became interested in structural biology, and will apply that interest to understanding how CRISPR-associated proteins change their shapes while binding and cleaving their targets for his PhD research.  

We’re glad to have Elvar in the lab again – welcome back!