Ria Massoni

Ria
Massoni
B.S. Computational Biology; B.S. Science, Technology, and Society; M.S. Biology; Minor in Philosophy
2025 (M.S.)

Hometown: Holden, MA

Clubs/Activities/Extracurricular Involvement

Graduate Council Treasurer, Chair of the Student Senate’s Student Life Committee, Graduate Senator, 51st Undergraduate President (2022-2024), RPI Union Graphic Design and Social Media Manager, Phalanx Honor Society, National Residence Hall Honorary

Research Experience

Therapeutic Antibodies Co-op at Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc.: Designed and optimized homogeneous immunoassays to detect and characterize antibody binding interactions to purified target proteins and proteins expressed by whole cells.

Assay Development Internship at Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc.: Designed and validated clinical and non-clinical immunoassays to measure pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of antibody binding interactions in human serum.

Research in the Global Water Lab (under Dr. Kevin Rose and Dr. Jeremy Farrell): Developing a metagenomic pipeline to process and analyze 16s rRNA sequences from aquatic microbes and creating a machine learning model to predict genes present in microorganisms based on aquatic environmental conditions to model harmful algal bloom formation and toxin production at Lake George and Lake Chautauqua.

Research in the Fraser Laboratory: Conducted virtual screens of over 1,000 commercial medications using AutoDock Vina and QVina-W to discover potential competitive inhibitors of an enzyme essential to S. aureus’ cell wall formation and its ability to develop antibiotic resistance, and then constructed predictive models of protein-ligand interactions to isolate proteins with increased binding affinity to the target enzyme.

Why did you choose to attend RPI?

I chose RPI for the incredible biology research opportunities, the community of like-minded and driven individuals, and the beautiful campus in upstate New York.

What is your favorite RPI memory?

Watching the sunset on EMPAC hill with my closest friends right after finishing our final semester of undergrad.

What is your favorite thing to do in Troy?

I love to go to Bard and Baker (a board game cafe) and play board games with my friends late into the night!