Graduate Students
Daniel Apicco
Program: Ph.D. Biomolecular Pharmacology/Biomedical Neuroscience
Advisor: Benjamin Wolozin, M.D., Ph.D., Professor of Pharmacology and Neurology
Research Summary: Dan’s research aims to understand the intersecting biology of tau and RNA binding proteins associated with stress granules in Alzheimer’s disease and other taupathies. Currently, he is working on elucidating specific stress signaling pathways involved in pathological tau aggregation.
Amanda Bolgioni
Program: Ph.D. Biomolecular Pharmacology
Advisor: David H. Farb, Ph.D., Professor and Chair of Pharmacology
Currently a first year student in laboratory rotations.
Joon Boon
Program: Ph.D. Biomolecular Pharmacology/Biomedical Neuroscience
Advisor: Benjamin Wolozin, M.D., Ph.D., Professor of Pharmacology and Neurology
Research Summary: Joon’s current research is focused on the role of LRRK2 in neurodegeneration.
Casey Carmichael
Program: Ph.D. Biomolecular Pharmacology/Biomedical Neuroscience
Advisor: Richard D. Wainford, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Pharmacology and Medicine, Division of Cardiovascular Medicine
Research Summary: Casey’s research is aimed at understanding central neural aspects of blood pressure regulation to identify the pathophysiology and potential therapeutic treatments for hypertension.
Meaghan Cogswell
Program: Ph.D. Biomolecular Pharmacology/Biomedical Neuroscience
Advisor: Shelley J. Russek, Ph.D., Professor of Pharmacology
Research Summary: Meaghan’s research investigates polymorphisms in the GABRA4 and GABRB1 subunit genes that occur in autistic patients and how these mutations may alter their transcriptional regulation during brain development.
Kimberly Coughlan
Program: Ph.D. Biomolecular Pharmacology
Advisor: Neil Ruderman, M.D./D.Phil., Professor of Medicine, Physiology and Biophysics
Research Summary: Kim’s research is focused on investigating novel aspects of insulin signaling and the development of insulin resistance in skeletal muscle.
Kelli Cox
Program: Ph.D. Biomolecular Pharmacology/Biomedical Neuroscience
Advisor: Rachel Litman Flynn, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Pharmacology & Medicine
Research Summary: Kelli’s work focuses on the telomere maintenance mechanisms employed by cancers to maintain an unlimited proliferative potential. Specifically, she’s working on further elucidating the alternative lengthening of telomeres mechanism by defining the role of SMARCAL1 in cancers that upregulate this mechanism.
Audrey DiMauro
Program: M.D./Ph.D. Biomolecular Pharmacology/Biomedical Neuroscience
Advisor: Howard Eichenbaum, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology and Pharmacology. Director, Center for Memory and Brain; Director, Cognitive Neurobiology Laboratory; Director, Center for Neuroscience.
Research Summary: Audrey’s research is aimed at understanding the encoding of spatial and non-spatial information within the hippocampal formation.
Iriny Ekladious
Program: Ph.D. Biomedical Engineering/Biomolecular Pharmacology
Advisor: Mark W. Grinstaff, Ph.D., Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Chemistry
Research Summary: Iriny’s work involves synthesizing, characterizing, and assessing the efficacy of pH-sensitive expansile nanoparticles for the local delivery of chemotherapeutic agents.
Larissa Estrada
Program: Ph.D. Biomolecular Pharmacology/Biomedical Neuroscience
Advisor: Douglas Rosene, Ph.D., Professor of Anatomy and Neurobiology
Research Summary: Larissa’s research is focused on the role of aggrecan in normal brain aging and mild cognitive decline.
Brian Fallica
Program: Ph.D. Biomedical Engineering/Biomolecular Pharmacology
Advisor: Muhammad Zaman, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Biomedical Engineering
Research Summary: Brian’s research is aimed at quantifying the effect of cytotoxic agents on tumor cell proliferation and migration in 3D cultures.
Jonathan Freedman
Program: M.D./Ph.D. Biomolecular Pharmacology
Advisor: Mark W. Grinstaff, Ph.D., Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Chemistry
Research Summary: Jonathan synthesizes novel CT contrast agents to image cartilage morphology and pathology in osteoarthritis.
Lisa Goldberg
Program: Ph.D. Biomolecular Pharmacology/Biomedical Neuroscience
Advisor: Camron D. Bryant, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Pharmacology and Psychiatry
Research Summary: Lisa’s work focuses on understanding the genetic underpinnings of behavioral traits associated with substance abuse by combining gene mapping with behavioral assays such as conditioned place preference. Currently, she is focusing on differentiating the opposing regulatory roles of the delta and epsilon isoforms of casein kinase 1 in sensitivity to drugs of abuse.
Trevor Grant
Program: Ph.D. Biomolecular Pharmacology
Advisor: Anurag Singh, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Pharmacology and Medicine
Research Summary: Trevor’s research aims to characterize novel therapeutic targets found in the aberrantly functioning signaling pathways of KRAS-driven pancreatic cancer.
Julia Guzova
Program: Ph.D. Biomolecular Pharmacology
Advisor: John W. Davis, Ph.D., Director, Pfizer Drug Safety R & D, Investigative Toxicology MA
Research Summary: Research focus will be on understanding the mechanism of action and identifying the pathway(s) responsible for skin rash caused by a broad spectrum of marketed kinase inhibitors in a non-target tissue/cell type such as primary human keratonocytes. The goal will be development of a predictive in vitro cutaneous cytotoxicity model for characterizing future kinase inhibitors.
Nicholas Harrison
Program: Ph.D. Biomolecular Pharmacology
Advisor: David H. Farb, Ph.D., Professor and Chair of Pharmacology
Currently a first year student in laboratory rotations.
Kristen Hokenson
Program: Ph.D. Biomolecular Pharmacology/Biomedical Neuroscience
Advisor: Shelley J. Russek, Ph.D., Professor of Pharmacology
Research Summary: Kristen’s research is focused on the role of cell cycle proteins in the etiology of neurological diseases.
Leah Huiting
Program: Ph.D. Biomolecular Pharmacology
Advisor: David H. Farb, Ph.D., Professor and Chair of Pharmacology
Currently a first year student in laboratory rotations.
Natasha Khatri
Program: Ph.D. Biomolecular Pharmacology/Biomedical Neuroscience
Advisor: Hengye Man, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Biology and Pharmacology
Research Summary: Natasha is studying the mechanisms of neurotoxicity in prion diseases and developing assays to measure toxicity in vitro.
Elizabeth Kieras
Program: M.A. Biomolecular Pharmacology/Pfizer
Advisor: Lori Fitz, Ph.D., Principal Research Scientist II, Pfizer BioTherapeutics R&D, Inflammation and Immunology Research Unit
Research Summary: Elizabeth is studying the biology of immunological factors with an emphasis on the mechanisms of binding interactions between immune modulators and their cognate binding partners to understand the molecular pathways underlying immune dysregulation for development of drug candidates that target rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, inflammatory bowel disease and other inflammatory diseases.
Kendra Kobrin
Program: M.D./Ph.D. Biomolecular Pharmacology/Biomedical Neuroscience
Advisor: Gary B. Kaplan M.D., Professor of Psychiatry and Pharmacology
Research Summary: Kendra is studying drug addiction, learning, and its effects on synaptic plasticity.
Leah Kressin
Program: Ph.D. Biomolecular Pharmacology
Advisor: Karen N. Allen, Ph.D., Professor of Chemistry
Research Summary: Leah’s research aims to understand the biochemical and structural basis of interactions between PGC-1a, PPARa, and Lipin-1a leading to transcriptional co-activation of triglyceride and phospholipid metabolism-linked genes.
Zhuting Li
Program: Ph.D. Biomedical Engineering/Biomolecular Pharmacology
Advisor: Shelley J. Russek, Ph.D., Professor of Pharmacology
Research Summary: Zhuting’s work centers around the role of stress on the developing brain and susceptibility to epilepsy. He is currently studying the regulation of GABA-A receptors by transcription factors involved in mitochondrial biogenesis.
Amy Lin
Program: Ph.D. Biomolecular Pharmacology/Biomedical Neuroscience
Advisor: Benjamin Wolozin, M.D./Ph.D., Professor of Pharmacology and Neurology
Research Summary:
Melissa McLoed
Program: Ph.D. Biomolecular Pharmacology/Biomedical Neuroscience
Advisor: Christopher V. Gabel, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Physiology and Biophysics
Research Summary: Melissa studies the time- and space-dependent role of calcium on neural cell regeneration in laser ablated axons.
Cari Meisel
Program: Ph.D. Biomedical Engineering/Biomolecular Pharmacology
Advisor: Catherine M. Klapperich, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Biomedical Engineering
Research Summary: Currently a first year student in laboratory rotations.
Christine Nykyforchyn
Program: Ph.D. Biomedical Engineering/Biomolecular Pharmacology
Advisor: Catherine M. Klapperich, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Biomedical Engineering
Research Summary: Currently a first year student in laboratory rotations.
Emily Palmer
Program: Ph.D. Biomedical Engineering/Biomolecular Pharmacology
Advisor: Tyrone Porter, Ph.D, Assistant Professor, Biomedical Engineering
Research Summary: Emily is developing targeted nanoemulsions that will restore chemosensitivity to ovarian cancer cells through delivery of siRNA (research website).
Nicole Piche-Nicholas
Program: Ph.D. Biomolecular Pharmacology/Pfizer
Advisor: Lioudmila Tchistiakova, Ph.D., Directory, Engineered Immune Protein Group, Pfizer Global Biotherapeutics
Research Summary: Nicole is characterizing the interaction between the Neonatal Fc Receptor FcRn and IgG antibodies to understand which regions of IgGs alter affinity to FcRn; additionally, she is attempting to establish a relationship between IgG affinity for FcRn and in vivo half-life.
Lissa Riley
Program: Ph.D. Graduate Program for Neuroscience/Biomolecular Pharmacology
Advisor: Irina V. Zhdanova, M.D., Ph.D., Professor of Anatomy & Neurology
Research Summary: Elizabeth is interested in neural development, and is currently studying the genetics of pathways that may lead to psychiatric diseases such as schizophrenia.
Elizabeth Shenk
Program: Ph.D. Biomedical Engineering/Biomolecular Pharmacology
Advisor: Rhoda Alani, M.D., Chair of the Department of Dermatology, and Joyce Wong, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Biomedial Engineering
Research Summary: Elizabeth is creating a 3D model of a tumor in order to study the preferential metastasis of melanoma.
Mariel Seiglie
Program: Ph.D. Neuroscience
Advisor: Valentina Sabino, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Pharmacology and Psychiatry
Research Summary: Mariel’s research is focused on elucidating the neurobiological substrates underlying stress systems associated with anxiety and withdrawal.
Conor Smith
Program: Ph.D. Biomolecular Pharmacology/Biomedical Neuroscience
Advisor: David H. Farb, Ph.D., Professor and Chair of Pharmacology
Research Summary: Conor is currently working on confocal microscopic imaging of calcium in cultured rat cortical neurons following exposure to pregnenolone sulfate, a potential endogenous cognitive enhancer that stimulates the trafficking of NMDA receptors to the surface of neurons.
Tara Stewart
Program: Ph.D. Biomolecular Pharmacology/Biomedical Neuroscience
Advisor: David H. Farb, Ph.D., Professor and Chair of Pharmacology
Research Summary: “T” employs molecular biological and pharmacological approaches in her research, using in vivo electrophysiology to elucidate how alpha5 GABA-A receptors contribute to spatial memory by recording activity from hippocampal place cells.
Kavitha Sugunan
Program: Ph.D. Biomolecular Pharmacology/Biomedical Neuroscience
Advisor: David H. Farb, Ph.D., Professor and Chair of Pharmacology
Research Summary: Kavitha’s current research is focused on studying the endogenous modulatory effects of pregnenolone sulfate on neurotransmission and its role in mediating synaptic plasticity.
Michael St. Andre
Program: Ph.D. Biomolecular Pharmacology
Advisor: Carl Morris, Ph.D.
Research Summary:
Melissa Thompson, DVM
Program: Ph.D. Biomolecular Pharmacology
Advisor: Richard Cohen, M.D.
Research Summary: Melissa is examining the potential of the sarco/endoplasmic reticulum ATPase (SERCA) as a therapeutic target to improve vascular relaxation.
Tracey Tucker
Program: Ph.D. Biomolecular Pharmacology/Biomedical Neuroscience
Advisor: Carmela Abraham, Ph.D., Professor of Biochemistry
Research Summary: Tracey is exploring the anti-aging protein Klotho’s function by studying disease-related variants.
Tara Vanderweyde
Program: Ph.D. Biomolecular Pharmacology/Biomedical Neuroscience
Advisor: Benjamin Wolozin, M.D., Ph.D., Professor of Pharmacology and Neurology
Research Summary: Tara is working with cells, mice, and human tissue investigating the role of stress granules in normal aging as well as in Alzheimer’s Disease.
Megan Varnum
Program: Ph.D. Biomolecular Pharmacology
Advisor: Tsuneya Ikezu, M.D./Ph.D., Professor of Pharmacology and Neurology
Research Summary: Megan is focusing on the role of CD200 in Alzheimer’s Disease.
Kathryn Walsh
Program: Ph.D. Biomolecular Pharmacology
Advisor: Richard D. Wainford, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Pharmacology and Medicine, Division of Cardiovascular Medicine
Research Summary: Kathryn is examining the role of norepinephrine and salt intake in renal sodium homeostasis in salt-sensitive hypertension with the goal of developing an exosomal sodium transporter profile for targeted diuretic therapy
Maya Woodbury
Program: Ph.D. Graduate Program for Neuroscience/Biomolecular Pharmacology
Advisor: Tsuneya Ikezu, M.D./Ph.D., Professor Pharmacology and Neurology
Research Summary: Maya is studying the molecular characterization of growth factors and glia-derived cytokines and their effect on neuroregeneration.
Neema Yazdani
Program: Ph.D. Biomolecular Pharmacology/Biomedical Neuroscience
Advisor: Camron D. Bryant, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Pharmacology and Psychiatry
Research Summary: Neema’s work is aimed at studying the genetic basis of methamphetamine addiction. Currently, he is working to identify and characterize which one of four candidate genes is responsible for the differences in methamphetamine sensitivity among mouse strains.
