Workshop Leader Bios

Jernee Bramble
Jernee Bramble is the Director of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Professional Development at Miles & Stockbridge, P.C., a leading full-service law firm with approximately 200 lawyers practicing in offices across the mid-Atlantic region including offices in Baltimore, MD, Washington, D.C. and Richmond, VA. Jernee was promoted to her current role in 2022, after serving as the Legal Recruiting Manager for the firm. Prior to joining Miles, Jernee served as an Associate Director in the Law Career Development Office at the University of Baltimore School of Law. Among her many duties, she provided comprehensive one-on-one career counseling and advising to law students and alumni regarding legal careers in private practice, government, and public interest sectors, supported employer relations and development efforts, and served as the student and employer liaison for diversity and inclusion initiatives, programs, and activities. Jernee received an M.A. from the George Washington University, where she majored in Organizational Learning and Leadership, and a B.S. in Biology from the Rochester Institute of Technology. She is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.

Amber Charlebois
After more than 20 years of teaching undergraduate organic and biochemistry, seven of which included a part-time role as Pre-Health Advisor, Dr. Charlebois decided to transition into a full time Pre-Health Advising. Her new role as Director of Pre-Health Professions at RIT allows her to be fully committed to developing programs, mentoring and advising students, establishing a pre-health committee, and creating a collaborative and fruitful Pre-Health Community on campus. She still loves Chemistry, evidenced by the periodic table blanket in her office, but is dedicated to helping RIT students from any major create their absolute best self in preparation for their application to health professional programs.

Maiah Johnson Dunn
Maiah Johnson Dunn tells heart-forward stories about New York wine. After a 13-year career in experiential marketing, Maiah transitioned to the wine writing and educating in 2020. As the Beverage Education Manager at New York Kitchen in Canandaigua, New York, Maiah’s focus is building a space for everyone to learn about New York’s craft agriculture–wine especially. Her classes include Wine for Normals, Exploring Black Wines, and DEI Over Wine. Maiah’s writing can be found in (585) magazine, City Newspaper, Decanter Magazine, and the recently published fifth edition of Jancis Robinson’s Oxford Companion to Wine. Maiah is a Wine Enthusiast Future 40 Tastemaker 2023 honoree and a fellow of the Wine Writers Symposium at Meadowood Napa Valley. She is also the 2022 New York Wine & Grape Foundation Unity Awards Consumer Award recipient for her support of New York wines and 2024 Colors of Success Inclusive Leadership Award Honoree. The Boston native lives (and loves) in Rochester, New York.

Brandy Freitas
Brandy Freitas is a research physicist-turned-data scientist based in Boston, MA. She completed her undergraduate degree in Biochemistry and Physics at RIT, where she was awarded a Goldwater Fellowship for excellence in research. As a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow and James Mills Pierce Fellow in Biophysics at Harvard University, Brandy specialized in single particle cryo-electron microscopy, with a focus on machine learning in automated protein structure determination. Passionate about getting young women into STEM, she spent several years after graduate school working with Science Club for Girls, a non-profit in Boston, building out programs and internship opportunities for teens from underrepresented communities. Brandy is currently the Director of Data Science and Analytics at syGlass, a startup that enables researchers to visualize, quantify, and analyze large scientific datasets in virtual reality.

Teresa Gibson
Teresa Gibson, PhD holds the position of Professor of Practice within the RIT College of Science, School of Mathematics and Statistics. With a rich professional background in consulting (including IBM Consulting), Dr. Gibson transitioned into academia, joining the faculty in Applied Statistics at RIT. Her experience in both industry and education has afforded her a unique perspective on the art of building and sustaining a robust professional network.

Linda Kerrigan
Linda Kerrigan ’02, MBA ’03 is Associate Director, Research & External Partnerships at Bristol Myers Squibb and has over twenty years experience in pharmaceutical drug development covering both Clinical Trial Sourcing and Research. Before her progressive roles at BMS she worked for over a decade at Celgene in portfolio sourcing and relationship management. Linda also spent five years with Wyeth Vaccines Research as a research scientist. Linda majored in biotechnology and completed her MBA, Technology Management through RIT’s 4 + 1 program.

Elena Lopez Peredo
Dr. Elena Lopez Peredo is interested in how plants adapt to new environments. She earned my PhD at the University of Oviedo (Spain) working on the assessment of the genetic stability of hops plants after in vitro culturing. Dr. Peredo was a Fulbright scholar at UCONN working on biogeography, speciation, and genomic adaptations to aquatic environments in submerged green plants. At the Marine Biological Laboratory, she worked on plant-microbe interaction over a range of environments and on the genetic basis of transition to land. In August 2023, Dr. Peredo moved to the College of Science at RIT where she is now an Assistant Professor in the Thomas H. Gosnell School of Life Sciences.

Stefan Schulze
Originally from Germany, Stefan went to college at the University of Potsdam (B.Sc. in Biochemistry in 2010) and then did his PhD at the University of Muenster (M.Sc. in 2013, Ph.D. in 2017) before coming to the US as a postdoc at the University of Pennsylvania. During these times he worked on phage-bacteria interactions, microalgal proteomics, and archaeal biofilm formation – with glycobiology as the connecting theme between these areas. With the beginning of the Fall semester 2022, Stefan started his lab as an Assistant Professor in the Gosnell School of Life Sciences at RIT, aiming to elucidate the functions of prokaryotic glycoproteins.

Melissa Scrimo
A seasoned change management and process improvement consultant with 30 years in the pharmaceutical industry. Melissa has led global initiatives across large, mid-size, and startup companies. As the founder of Applied Intelligence Consulting, she helps companies improve their operations. She works with clients to design, develop and implement key business processes and employee training programs to ensure that employees are equipped to do their jobs. Melissa's background includes roles as an instructional designer, trainer, and cell biologist. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Biotechnology from RIT, a Master of Arts in Biology from Villanova, and a Professional Certificate in Innovation and Technology from MIT.

Korinne Shaver
As a career services professional in the Office of Career Services and Cooperative Education at RIT, Korinne's goal is to help RIT students and alumni reach their career goals by providing comprehensive career development and job search services, and coordinate recruiting activities for companies interested in hiring RIT students and alumni. Currently, Korinne works with students in the Colleges of Science and Health Sciences & Technology.

Michael Wilson
Michael Wilson is a Systems Engineer working at L3Harris in Rochester. He has 25+ years of engineering experience in both commercial and aerospace industries working on space-based programs. Michael obtained his electrical engineering undergraduate degree from Clarkson University and graduated from RIT with an MBA in 1997. He serves on the Board at Pearce Church as Treasurer. Michael is a certified Dave Ramsey Financial Master Coach and provides financial coaching for people of all ages in critical areas like debt reduction, emergency savings, budgeting, investments, college savings, and estate planning.