Current Trainees

Andrea is a second-year predoctoral trainee in the Neuroscience PhD Program and is training in the laboratory of Dr. Elena Blanco-Suarez in the Department of Neuroscience. Andrea is also in the MD/PhD Program (in the fourth year of the MD/PhD Program). Andrea is investigating subanesthetic ketamine as a pharmacological approach to enhance astrocyte-mediated neural plasticity and improve recovery late after ischemic stroke.

Emilee Brockner

Emilee is a second-year trainee in the Immunology & Molecular Pathogenesis PhD Program and is training in the laboratory of Dr. Fabienne Paumet in the Department of Microbiology & Immunology. Emilee is studying how IncA-mediated homotypic fusion promotes pathogenicity and alters the host immune response during Chlamydia infection.

Erin Gallagher

Erin is a second-year trainee in the Genetics, Genomics, & Cancer Biology PhD Program and is training in the laboratory of Dr. Claudia Capparelli in the Department of Medical Oncology. Erin is studying the role of SOX10-deficient melanocytes in UV radiation-induced DNA damage and melanoma initiation.

Joshua Okletey

Josh is a second-year trainee in the Cell Biology & Regenerative Medicine PhD Program and is training in the laboratory of Dr. Marco Tigano in the Department of Pathology & Genomic Medicine. Josh is developing a novel technology that combines genome-wide CRISPR screenings with subcellular resolution to investigate genetic modulators of mitochondrial (dys)functions.

Sarah Strock

Sarah is a second-year trainee in the Biochemistry, Structural, & Molecular Biology PhD Program and is training in the laboratory of Dr. Dmitry Temiakov in the Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology. Sarah is working to understand the mechanisms of mitochondrial replication by studying the function and interactions of the mitochondrial replisome.

William Auerbacher

Will is a third-year trainee in the Biochemistry, Structural, & Molecular Biology PhD program and is training in the laboratory of Dr. Richard Pomerantz in the Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology. William is working to identify the mechanism of action of a novel small-molecule inhibitor of ALC1 to aid in overcoming PARP inhibitor resistance in BRCA-associated cancers.

Juliana Benitez

Juliana is a third-year trainee in the Immunology & Microbial Pathogenesis PhD Program and is training in the laboratory of Dr. Luis Sigal in the Department of Microbiology & Immunology. Juliana is studying the mechanisms and cell populations responsible for antigen presentation to CD8 T-cells after mRNA vaccination.

Jacquelyn DePierro

Jacquelyn is a third-year trainee in the Biochemistry, Structural, & Molecular Biology PhD Program and is training in the laboratory of Dr. Lin Guo in the Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology. Jackie is working to identify and characterize novel short RNA oligonucleotides to mitigate FUS aggregation in the context of ALS and FTD.

Casey Durso

Casey is a third-year trainee in the Biochemistry, Structural, & Molecular Biology PhD Program and is training in the laboratory of Dr. Diane Merry in the Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology. Casey is studying biochemical approaches to target the enhanced interaction between the deubiquitinase USP7 and polyglutamine-expanded AR in spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy.

Mary O’Mara

Mary is a third-year trainee in the Immunology & Microbial Pathogenesis PhD Program and is training in the laboratory of Dr. Holly Ramage in the Department of Microbiology & Immunology. Mary is studying molecular interactions between viral and host proteins during flavivirus infection to identify novel mechanisms of host antiviral immunity and viral immune evasion.

Previous Trainees Currently Enrolled in the PhD Program

JodiRae DeDreu

Jodi is a fourth-year trainee in the Cell Biology and Regenerative Biology (CBRM) PhD Program and is training in the laboratory of Dr. Sue Menko in the Department of Pathology & Genomic Medicine. Jodi’s project is focused on investigating the function of immune cells that associate with the avascular lens.

Annie Londregan

Annie is a fourth-year trainee in the Biochemistry, Structural, & Molecular Biology PhD Program and is training in the laboratory of Dr. Scott Waldman in the Department of Pharmacology, Physiology, & Cancer Biology. Annie is studying the role of neuropod Guanylyl Cyclase C in ascending nociception.

Brittany Mahon

Brittany is a fourth-year trainee in the Biochemistry, Structural, & Molecular Biology PhD Program and is training in the laboratory of Dr. Christine Eischen in the Department of Pharmacology, Physiology & Cancer Biology. Brittany is studying the mechanisms underlying the regulation by MDM2 of the Mre11/Rad50/Nbs1 (MRN) DNA break repair complex in human cancers.

Samantha Thomas

Samantha is a fourth-year predoctoral trainee in the Neuroscience PhD Program and is training in the laboratory of Dr. Angelo Lepore in the Department of Neuroscience. Samantha is also in the MD/PhD Program (in the sixth year of the MD/PhD Program). Samantha is studying therapeutic strategies for targeted restoration of damaged neural circuitry following spinal cord injury.

Alana Williams

Alana is a fourth-year trainee in the Neuroscience PhD Program and is training in the laboratory of Dr. Le Ma in the Department of Neuroscience. Alana is studying the molecular mechanisms by which the neuronal proteins Robo and Slit are involved in the recognition and repulsion of self-avoidance in the dendrites of Purkinje cells.

Haley Wilson

Haley is a fourth-year trainee in the Genetics, Genomics, & Cancer Biology PhD Program and is training in the laboratory of Dr. Andrew Aplin in the Department of Pharmacology, Physiology & Cancer Biology. Haley is studying the evolution of heterogenous BRAF/MEKi+CDK4/6i resistance mechanisms and targeting site-specific resistant populations in cutaneous melanoma.

Jenna Aumiller

Jenna is a fifth-year trainee in the Biochemistry, Structural, & Molecular Biology PhD Program and is training in the laboratory of Dr. Philip Wedegaertner in the Dept. of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. Jenna is studying the role of Gβγ in the cellular regulation of mutationally activated Gα_q/11.

Melanie Goetz

Melanie is a fifth-year trainee in the Biochemistry, Structural, & Molecular Biology PhD Program and is training in the laboratory of Dr. Sara Meyer in the Dept. of Pharmacology, Physiology & Cancer Biology. Melanie is studying the role of p300/CBP in epigenetic-mutant Acute Myeloid Leukemia.

Zachary Walter

Zach is a fifth-year trainee in the Immunology and Microbial Pathogenesis PhD Program and is training in the laboratory of Dr. Holly Ramage in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology. Zach is studying the roles of post-translational modification of viral and host proteins during Flavivirus infection.

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