Yolanda is a postdoc in the Arkin lab and a Life Sciences Research Foundation (LSRF) fellow sponsored by Astellas Pharmaceuticals. She received her Bachelor’s from McGill University in Biochemistry. She completed her PhD in Chemical Biology with Emily Balskus at Harvard University where she characterized a new glycyl radical enzyme responsible for 4-hydroxyproline metabolism that is prevalent among gut anaerobes. In the Arkin lab, she is working to identify phage factors that influence bacterial physiology through multiple approaches – computational tools, data mining, and functional genomics. Outside of the lab, she can be found active in the outdoors, travelling, cooking, and filling up space with plants.