June 6, 2025
Founded in 2001, the Sigler Prize is awarded to one or two graduating MB&B seniors who have demonstrated excellence in
scholarship and research. This prize was founded in memory of Paul Sigler, who was a distinguished member of the faculty in the
MB&B department. Paul Sigler was one of the world’s leading structural biologists on the mechanisms by which gene expression is
controlled, transmembrane signaling is accomplished, and correct folding of proteins is assisted by chaperonins. The 2025 Sigler
prize winners are Hannah Barsouk and Zoe Pian.
Hannah Barsouk is a senior undergraduate and joint B.S./M.S. student in MB&B.They are in the Breaker Lab, where they have been studying
the role of an Ornate, Large, Extremophilic (OLE) class of non-coding bacterial RNAs in antibiotic resistance and ribosome stalling. They are
excited about having received an honorable mention and incredibly grateful to the Breaker Lab and all of its members for their support,
mentorship, and friendship these last four years. Hannah will be starting at a PhD program in biochemistry this fall at Stanford University.
Zoe Pian (‘25) graduated with a B.S. in Molecular Biophysics & Biochemistry and an Advanced Language Certificate in French. She was
an undergraduate researcher most recently in the Howard Lab, collaboratively developing a light microscopy technique to detect
defects in microtubules. Outside of the lab, she is a musician and member of the Yale Guild of Carillonneurs and the Guild of Carillonneurs of North America. She is also an avid teacher, having served as a tutor for New Haven public school students through the Yale Education & Tutoring Initiative and as a volunteer in the Education department of the HAVEN Free Clinic. She now works as a STEM subject tutor for high school students and intends to pursue an M.D. toward a physician scientist career, where she hopes to combine her interests in basic science, education, and patient care.