April Sayers

April Sayers is a senior in BSE from Front Royal, Virginia pursuing the Biotechnology track as well as minors in Biomedical Engineering and Chemistry. She is completing an Accelerated Master’s at Virginia Tech and then seeing where life takes her, perhaps working for the Department of Defense (DoD) after graduation. Down the road, April hopes to complete a PhD in genetics and become a professor, continuing to pursue genetic research as well as teaching and guiding the next generation of passionate students.

April is a transfer student, bringing a unique experience to the BSE Ambassador program and undergraduate outreach. Talking with BSE ambassadors is how she originally decided on BSE and Virginia Tech.

She spent the Summer of 2023 at the University of Missouri in their Translational Biomedicine REU researching the role of mPGES-1 in arthritis resolution in mice infected with Borrelia burgdorferi, the bacterium that causes Lyme disease.

April is a part of the first cohort of the new Defense Civilian Training Corp (DCTC) program, piloted at 4 universities in 2023 including Virginia Tech. DCTC is a congressionally funded curriculum-based talent development program, preparing scholars for careers in the DoD. In the Summer of 2024, she completed an internship at the DEVCOM Soldier Center in Natick, Massachusetts working on a project exploring the uses and acceptability of 3D-printed food for the US military. 

In her free time, April enjoys hiking, camping, and traveling. She plays oboe in the Blacksburg Community Band and helps coach and design shows for her alma mater high school winterguard team. On campus, she’s Co-Vice President for the Virginia Tech chapter of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE) and served as the Vice President for the VT ASABE Fountain Wars team last year, which she plans to be involved with again this year. April is looking forward to helping future students find, join, and become involved in the BSE department.