Alumni Profiles

Ashley Beecham, Ph.D.

Mentor: J. McCauley, Ph.D.
Degree Granted: 2019
Dissertation: Leveraging Admixture in US Minority Populations to Elucidate the Genetic Underpinnings of Multiple Sclerosis
Post-Doctorate: Assistant Scientist, Lab of Dr. Jacob McCauley, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Department of Human Genetics
Current Position: Postdoc

Dana Bis, Ph.D.

Mentor: Stephan Züchner, M.D., Ph.D.
Degree Granted: 2019
Dissertation: Identifying the Genetic Architecture and Cellular Pathways of Inherited Axonopathies
Post-Doctorate: Assistant Scientist, Lab of Dr. Stephan Züchner, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Department of Human Genetics
Current Position: Genomic Data Scientist at GeneDx (Hospital & Healthcare), Gaithersburg, Maryland

Chong Li, Ph.D.

Mentor: R.G. Zhai, Ph.D.
Degree Granted: 2018
Dissertation: Understanding Rare Neurological Disorders Using Drosophila Models: Mechanistic Characterization of Neurotoxicity in Snyder-Robinson Syndrome
Post-Doctorate: Lab of Dr. Jurgen Knoblich, The Institute of Molecular Biotechnology (IMBA), Vienna Bioscenter, Austria
Current Position: Postdoc

David Sant, Ph.D.

Mentor: G. Wang, Ph.D.
Degree Granted: 2018
Dissertation: An Integrated Bioinformatic and Statistical Analysis of NGS Data Relevant to Diabetic Retinopathy
Post-Doctorate: University of Utah School of Medicine, Department of Biomedical Informatics
Current Position: Assistant Professor, Noorda College of Osteopathic Medicine

Feifei Tao, Ph.D.

Mentor: Stephan Züchner, M.D., Ph.D.
Degree Granted: 2018
Dissertation: Identifying Genetic Modifiers in Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease Type 1A
Post-Doctorate: Lab of Dr. Stephan Züchner, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine
Current Position: Scientist, Eisai Pharmaceutical Company, Inc., Andover, Massachusetts

Tania Arguello, Ph.D.

Mentor: C. Moraes, Ph.D.
Degree Granted: 2017
Dissertation: The role of the Methionyl-tRNA Formyltransferase (MTFMT) in mammalian mitochondria
Post-Doctorate: Lab of Dr. Carlos Moraes, University of Miami, Department of Neurology
Current Position: Assistant Scientist, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine

Kinsley Belle, Ph.D.

Mentor: D. Dykxhoorn, Ph.D.
Degree Granted: 2017
Dissertation: Parkinson Disease Related Phenotypes and Gene Expression Modeled in Patient Specific Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells
Initial Position: Private Industry Sector, Covance, Ocala, Florida
Post-Doctorate: Scholar and Course Assistant, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California
Current Position: Research Assistant Professor, Ohio State University, Human Genetics

Bohdan Khomtchouk, Ph.D.

Mentor: C. Wahlestedt, M.D., Ph.D.
Degree Granted: 2017
Dissertation: Histone modification ChIP-seq algorithm engineering and high performance bioinformatics graphics and analysis software for computational epigenetics
Post-Doctorate: American Heart Association Postdoctoral Fellow, Stanford University, Stanford, California
Current Position: Assistant Professor of Medicine, Section of Genetic Medicine, The University of Chicago, Department of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois

Patrice Persad, Ph.D.

Mentor: W. Scott, Ph.D.
Degree Granted: 2017
Dissertation: Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) Variant-Nuclear DNA Variant Interactions and Gene-Dietary Exposure Interactions in Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD)
Post-Doctorate: Lab of Dr. Kenneth Goodman, University of Miami Bioethics Department
Current Position: Sr. Research Associate 3 - Biostatistics, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Department of Ophthalmology, Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, Miami, Florida

Vasileios Stathias, Ph.D.

Mentor: N. Ayad, Ph.D. / S. Schürer, Ph.D.
Degree Granted: 2017
Dissertation: Data-driven Identification of Patient-specific Drug Combinations for Treating Glioblastoma
Post-Doctorate: Lab of Dr. Stephan Schürer, University of Miami, Department of Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology.
Current Position: Assistant Scientist, University of Miami, Department of Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology

Zhi Liu, Ph.D.

Mentor: G. Beecham, Ph.D.
Degree Granted: 2016
Dissertation: Identifying Genetic Risk Factors for Coronary Artery Angiographic Stenosis in a Genetically Diverse Population
Post-Doctorate: Research Fellow, National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), Bethesda, Maryland
Current Position: Data Scientist, Astrazeneca

Hemalatha Raju, Ph.D.

Mentor: N. Tsinoremas, Ph.D.
Degree Granted: 2016
Dissertation: Development of computational methodology to detect differentially expressed noncoding RNAs and their putative targets
Post-Doctorate: None
Current Position: Associate Data Sciences and Biometrics, Biorasi LLC (clinical research)

Horacio Ramirez, Ph.D.

Mentor: M. Tomic-Canic, Ph.D.
Degree Granted: 2016
Dissertation: De-regulation of MicroRNA and Gene Expression in Diabetic Foot Ulcers Lead to a Dampened Inflammatory Response, Inefficient DNA Repair, and Inhibition of Cell Migration
Post-Doctorate: Lab of Dr. Marjana Tomic-Canic, University of Miami, Department of Dermatology and Cutaneous Surgery
Current Position: Senior Field Application Scientist, QIAGEN, Miami/Ft. Lauderdale, Florida

Brook DeRosa, Ph.D.

Mentor: D. Dykxhoorn, Ph.D.
Degree Granted: 2015
Dissertation: Functional Characterization of Altered Neurodevelopmental Mechanisms in Autism Using Patient-Specific iPSCs
Post-Doctorate: Lab of Dr. Bryan O’Roak – Oregon Health Sciences University in Portland Oregon
Current Position: Associate Scientist, John P. Hussman Institute for Human Genomics

YoSon Park, Ph.D.

Mentor: M. Pericak-Vance, Ph.D.
Degree Granted: 2015
Dissertation: Pathway to Autism Spectrum Disorders: Finding Patterns of Common Genetic Variation Underlying the Complex Disorder
Post-Doctorate: Faculty Researcher, University of Pennsylvania, Department of Pharmacology, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Current Position: N/A

Lei Cao, Ph.D.

Mentor: K. Walz, Ph.D.
Degree Granted: 2014
Dissertation: Characterization of PTLS-like Phenotypes in a Conditional Rai1 Transgenic Mouse Model and Study of Rai1 Molecular Function
Initial Position:  Student, University of Detroit, Mercy School of Dentistry
Current Position: Associate Dentist, Hometown Family Dental Centers, Fayetteville, North Carolina

Monique Courtenay, Ph.D.

Mentor: W. Scott, Ph.D.
Degree Granted: 2014
Dissertation: Gene-environment Interaction in Age-Related Macular Degeneration: Exogenous Estrogen, Cigarette Smoking, and VEGF Pathway Polymorphisms
Post-Doctorate: Lab of Dr. Margaret Pericak-Vance, Hussman Institute for Human Genomics, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine
Initial Position:  Medical University of South Carolina
Current Position: Medical Resident, Howard University, Washington, DC

Michael Gonzalez, Ph.D.

Mentor: Stephan Züchner, M.D., Ph.D.
Degree Granted: 2014
Dissertation: Identifying Novel Genes and Genetic/Phenotypic Spectra for Inherited Neurodegenerative Disorders Using Next-Generation Sequencing
Initial Position: Bioinformatics / Private Sector
Current Position: Bioinformatics Engineer III, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia

Athena Hadjixenofontos, Ph.D.

Mentor: J. McCauley, Ph.D.
Degree Granted: 2014
Dissertation: On the allelic architecture of multiple sclerosis in Sardinia
Post-Doctorate: Yale University
Initial Position: Director of Engagement, University of Miami, Department of Computational Science
Current Position: Data Scientist / Analytic Consultant, Wells Fargo Financial Services

James Hicks, Ph.D.

Mentor: W. Scott, Ph.D.
Degree Granted: 2014
Dissertation: Identification of Genetic Determinants of Aging Traits
Post-Doctorate: Washington University at St. Louis
Current Position: Senior Data Scientist, Deloitte, Lake Mary, Florida

Crystal Humphries, Ph.D.

Mentor: M. Pericak-Vance, Ph.D.
Degree Granted: 2014
Dissertation: Deciphering Transcription and Methylation Specific to Late-Onset Alzheimer’s Disease
Post-Doctorate: Ilya Shmulevich Group, Institute for Systems Biology, Seattle, Washington
Initial Position: Data Scientist / Machine Learning / Computational Geneticist, Amazon, Seattle, Washington
Current Position: Data Science Instructor, University of Washington / Data Scientist, Zymergen, Inc., Seattle, Washington

Sarah Linker, Ph.D.

Mentor: D. Hedges, Ph.D. / D. Dykxhoorn, Ph.D.
Degree Granted: 2014
Dissertation: Examining Selective Pressures Shaping Retrotransposon Distribution Within Genes
Post-Doctorate: Gage Lab at Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, California
Current Position: Staff Scientist, Salk Institute for Biological Studies, Laboratory of Genetics, La Jolla, California

Sicen Liu, Ph.D.

Mentor: D. Dykxhoorn, Ph.D.
Degree Granted: 2014
Dissertation: Characterization of role of Conserved Oligomeric Golgi (COG) Complex in early HIV events
Post-Doctorate: Lab of Dr. Dr. Dykxhoorn, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine
Current Position: Homemaker – San Francisco, California

Daniel Kinnamon, Ph.D.

Mentor: E. Martin, M.D.
Degree Granted: 2013
Dissertation: Statistical Methods to Address the Challenges Posed by Rare Variants and Missing Genotypes in Case-Control Resequencing Studies
Post-Doctorate: None
Current Position: Research Assistant Professor, Ohio State University, Human Genetics