Student Profiles Miller School of Medicine

Nayab Ahmad

Mentor: Alan Pollock, Ph.D. & Anis Ahmad, Ph.D.
Project: Expanding the Therapeutic Index of Radiation Therapy through Lipid-Based Normal Tissue Protection

Shaza Sayed Ahmed

Mentor: Emiliano Cocco, Ph.D.
Project: Overcoming off-target resistance to targeted therapy in tumors driven by fusion kinases

Ahram Ahn

Mentor: Antonio Barrientos, Ph.D.
Project: RNA Structural Dynamics of Cox1 mRNA Translation: Elucidating the Role of Yeast Translational Activators

Abdulraof Alqrache

Mentor: Martin Rivas, Ph.D.
Project: Cohesin Alterations in Gastric Cancer

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Mohammed Alnukhali

Mentor: Anis Ahmad, Ph.D.
Project: TBA

Ace Armand

Mentor: Luisa Cimmino, Ph.D.
Project: Identifying a causal role for 5hmC loss in Clonal Hematopoiesis

Akash Ashokan

Mentor: Shanta Dhar, Ph.D.
Project: Mechanistic study of blood brain barrier crossing nanoparticle’s entry into the mitochondria

Abdiel Badilo-Martinez

Mentor: Hassan A. Ali, Ph.D., M.S.M.
Project: Mechanism-of-Action of RO48, a kinase inhibitor that promotes robust CNS axon growth

Angela Bernasconi

Mentor: John Burnett Ph.D. and Anh Pham, M.D., Ph.D.
Project: Cardiac Aging

Olivia Bosquet

Mentor: Sylvia Daunert, PharmD, MS, Ph.D.
Project: Gold Nanoparticles for Targeted Delivery of a Prostate Cancer Treatment

John Brabson

Mentor: Luisa Cimmino, Ph.D.
Project: Oxidized mC modulates synthetic lethality to PARP inhibitors for the treatment of leukemia

Lizeth Camacho

Mentor: Flavia Fontanesi, Ph.D.
Project: Understanding the biogenesis of Supercomplexes in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Arnab Chakraborty

Mentor: Shanta Dhar, Ph.D.
Project: Investigating migratory mechanisms of mitochondrion targeted nanotherapeutics

Joel Costoya Jr.

Mentor: Joaquin Jimenez, M.D
Project: Application of Growth Hormone-Releasing Hormone Antagonists vs. Acute Myeloid Leukemia

Mazzen Eldeeb

Mentor: Flavia Fontanesi, Ph.D.
Project: The role of yeast respiratory supercomplexes in metabolic adaptation

Antonio Fontanella

Mentor: Mentor: Alessia Fornoni, M.D., Ph.D., FASN
Project: The role of renal ApoM deficiency in S1P-mediated glomerular injury

Simonetta Gaumond

Mentor: Joaquin Jimenez, M.D,
Project: Alpha-1 Adrenergic Receptor Agonism for the Prevention of Chemotherapy-Induced Alopecia

Andrew Gelsomini

Mentor: David Lombard, M.D., Ph.D.
Project: Exploring Metabolic Rewiring in Chordoma

Rohit Gentle

Mentor: Izidore Lossos, M.D.
Project: Investigating the role of LMO2 in the DNA Damage Response

Harris Goldsmith

Mentor: Stephen Lee, Ph.D.
Project: Reducing the metabolic burden of rRNA synthesis promotes healthy longevity in Caenorhabditis elegans

Nadezda Gryaznova

Mentor: Antonio Iavarone, M.D. & Anna Lasorella, M.D.
Project: Tumor Microenvironment of Glioblastoma Multiforme Subtypes

Sengwoo Hong

Mentor: Antonio Barrientos, Ph.D
Project: Processing Mechanisms of Non-Canonical Junctions in Human Mitochondrial Transcripts

Erikka Hill

Mentor: Sylvia Daunert
Project: Bacterial Quorum Sensing Molecules As Targets For Detection And Intervention

Stephanie How

Mentor: Ahn Pham M.D., Ph.D.
Project: TBA

Arianna Insenga

Mentor: Alessia Fornoni, M.D., Ph.D., FASN & Sandra Merscher, Ph.D.
Project: Defining the Role of S1PR4 in Podocyte Injury and Inflammatory Signaling

Alexia Kafkoutsou

Mentor: Sylvia Daunert, PharmD, MS, Ph.D.
Project: Clinical Assessment of Carcinogen Exposure and Vaginal Microbiome

Rohit Kumar

Mentor: David Lombard, M.D., Ph.D.
Project: TBA

Nga Le

Mentor: Zhao-Jun Liu, M.D., Ph.D.
Project: Dilated Cardiomyopathy Mouse Model Induced by the Activation of Endothelial Notch1 Signaling Pathway

Mengrui Li

Mentor: Sylvia Daunert, PharmD, MS, Ph.D.
Project: Role of vitamin E and cannabinoids in regulating cellular lipid homeostasis relevant for macrophages foam cells formation

Monica Lopez Cruz

Mentor: Stefan, Kurtenbach, Ph.D.
Project: TBA

Maddison Marshall

Mentor: Daniel Pelaez, Ph.D.
Project: Targeting the Eph Receptor Pathway for Optic Nerve Regeneration

Zoe Manalo

Mentor: David B. Lombard, M.D., Ph.D.
Project: New Insights into Solitary Fibrous Tumors

Gabbie McWilliams

Mentor: Sylvia Daunert, PharmD, MS, Ph.D.
Project: The use of exosomes to deliver tumor-suppressive miRNA-7 for cervical cancer therapeutics

Betty Nugba

Mentor: Martin Rivas, Ph.D
Project: Role of Cohesin in promoting Epithelial Mesenchymal Transition in breast cancer progression

Kevin Nuno

Mentor: Sylvia Daunert, PharmD, MS, Ph.D.
Project: Quorum Sensing Modulation in the Microbiome and Detection of Quorum Sensing Molecules in Clinical Chemistry

Ayodele Omotoso

Mentor: Sapna Deo, Ph.D. & Sophia George, Ph.D.
Project: Single cell analysis of high grade serous ovarian cancer

Ana Peci

Mentor: Luisa Cimmino, Ph.D.
Project: Cancer Epigenetics

Alejandra Planells Devesa

Mentor: Sylvia Daunert, PharmD, MS, Ph.D.
Project: Design of BPA Binding Peptides Employing a Molecular Docking and Machine Learning Approach

Gwenyth Pieklo

Mentor: Michal Toborek, M.D., Ph.D
Project: Comorbid HIV Infection and Methamphetamine Use Differentially Alter Gut-Brain Axis Dysregulation

Johnny Pisano

Mentor: Scott Welford, Ph.D.
Project: TBA

Michael Qui

Mentor: Maria E. Figueroa, M.D.
Project: PRAME as a Potential Driver of Malignancy and Therapeutic Target in Chronic Myelomonocytic Leukemia

Arthur Rech-Tondin

Mentor: Giacomo Lanzoni, Ph.D.
Project: Harnessing the Immunomodulatory Effect of Mesenchymal Stem Cells for Application in Type 1 Diabetes

Marie Roche

Mentor: Xue Zhong Liu, M.D., Ph.D.
Project: Probing the Role of Epigenetic Mechanisms in Presbycusis Using a Genome-wide Methylation Analysis

Shrita Sarkar

Mentor: Shanta Dhar, Ph.D.
Project: Patient Derived Glioma Stem Cell Modulation For Improved Therapeutic Outcome

Sarah Schmidlin

Mentor: Michal Toborek, M.D., Ph.D.
Project: Latent HIV Infection Affects Gap Junction Communication in Blood-Brain Barrier Pericytes

Joey Schulz