diff --git a/app/team/page.tsx b/app/team/page.tsx
index 749c927a..b1b5dff5 100644
--- a/app/team/page.tsx
+++ b/app/team/page.tsx
@@ -42,13 +42,28 @@ export default function TeamPage() {
 
                     {category.members.map((member) => (
                         <div key={member.name} className={styles.teamMember}>
-                            {/* eslint-disable-next-line @next/next/no-img-element */}
-                            <img
-                                src={member.imageSrc}
-                                alt={member.name}
-                                width={member.imageWidth ?? undefined}
-                                height={member.imageHeight ?? undefined}
-                            />
+                            {member.imageSrc ? (
+                                /* eslint-disable-next-line @next/next/no-img-element */
+                                <img
+                                    src={member.imageSrc}
+                                    alt={member.name}
+                                    width={member.imageWidth ?? undefined}
+                                    height={member.imageHeight ?? undefined}
+                                />
+                            ) : (
+                                <div
+                                    className={styles.avatarPlaceholder}
+                                    aria-label={`${member.name} (photo pending)`}
+                                >
+                                    {member.name
+                                        .split(' ')
+                                        .map((part) => part[0])
+                                        .filter(Boolean)
+                                        .slice(0, 2)
+                                        .join('')
+                                        .toUpperCase()}
+                                </div>
+                            )}
                             <div>
                                 <h4>
                                     {member.url ? (
diff --git a/app/team/team.module.css b/app/team/team.module.css
index de7057f6..5754556d 100644
--- a/app/team/team.module.css
+++ b/app/team/team.module.css
@@ -21,6 +21,21 @@
     object-fit: cover;
 }
 
+.avatarPlaceholder {
+    flex-shrink: 0;
+    width: 160px;
+    height: 160px;
+    border-radius: 4px;
+    background: #e6e8eb;
+    color: #4a5563;
+    display: flex;
+    align-items: center;
+    justify-content: center;
+    font-size: 48px;
+    font-weight: 500;
+    letter-spacing: 1px;
+}
+
 .teamMember h4 {
     margin: 0 0 2px 0;
 }
diff --git a/lib/data/team.ts b/lib/data/team.ts
index d5864c07..28012c6e 100644
--- a/lib/data/team.ts
+++ b/lib/data/team.ts
@@ -24,8 +24,8 @@ export interface TeamMember {
     affiliation: string;
     /** Institution website URL */
     affiliationUrl?: string;
-    /** Path to team member image (relative to /public) */
-    imageSrc: string;
+    /** Path to team member image (relative to /public). Optional — page renders an initials placeholder when absent. */
+    imageSrc?: string;
     /** Image width in pixels (for consistent layout) */
     imageWidth?: number;
     /** Image height in pixels (for consistent layout) */
@@ -204,6 +204,18 @@ export const TEAM_DATA: TeamCategory[] = [
             },
         ],
     },
+    {
+        title: 'Research Associates',
+        level: 'h3',
+        members: [
+            {
+                name: 'Vibhav Setlur',
+                url: 'https://github.com/VibhavSetlur',
+                role: 'Research Associate',
+                affiliation: 'Argonne National Laboratory',
+            },
+        ],
+    },
     {
         title: 'Developers',
         level: 'h3',
diff --git a/tests/unit/api/biochem.test.ts b/tests/unit/api/biochem.test.ts
index 6b6e14d2..b32b0f12 100644
--- a/tests/unit/api/biochem.test.ts
+++ b/tests/unit/api/biochem.test.ts
@@ -15,8 +15,17 @@ describe('Biochem API Integration Tests', () => {
 
   beforeAll(async () => {
     biochemApi = await loadBiochemApi();
+    // Race the live probe against an internal timeout so the catch path runs
+    // (marking isApiAvailable = false) before the vitest hookTimeout aborts the
+    // hook itself. Otherwise CI fails on slow networks even though the suite is
+    // designed to skip gracefully when the API is unreachable.
     try {
-      const res = await biochemApi.getReactions({ limit: 1 });
+      const res = await Promise.race([
+        biochemApi.getReactions({ limit: 1 }),
+        new Promise<never>((_, reject) =>
+          setTimeout(() => reject(new Error('Biochem API probe timed out after 7s')), 7000),
+        ),
+      ]);
       expect(res.docs).toBeDefined();
     } catch (e: unknown) {
       console.warn('Biochem API is unavailable, skipping tests:', getErrorMessage(e));