Translational Research Development Program

Mariam Ahmed, MS

Primary mentor: Richard Brundage
Additional mentor: Gerald Raymond
Project title: A Model-based Approach to Optimize Lorenzo's Oil Therapy in X-Linked Adrenoleukodystrophy

Daniel Beisang, BS

Primary mentor: Michael Georgieff
Additional mentor: Marc Jenkins
Project title: Quantitative Assessment of the Diversity of the Neonatal T cell Repertoire

Bruno Bohn, MPH

Primary mentor: Anna Selmecki, Medical School
Additional mentor: Ryan Demmer, School of Public Health
Project title: The Oral Microbiome and Incident Candidiasis in Patients Receiving Chemotherapy

Tyler Bosch, PhD

Primary mentor: Lisa Chow
Additional mentor: Patrick Bolan
Project title: The Effect of High Intensity Interval Training on Liver Fat and Insulin Sensitivity in Adults with Obesity

Nicholas Brady

Primary mentor: Kathryn Schwertfeger
Additional mentor: Douglas Yee
Project title: JAK Inhibition Disrupts Inflammatory Homeostasis in Human Macrophages

Michael Burns, PhD

Primary mentor: Ran Blekhman
Additional mentor: Timothy Church
Project title: Using Virulence Genes in Stool as Markers of Colorectal Cancer

Jenna Dick

Primary mentor: Geoffrey Hart, Medical School
Additional mentor: Jeffrey Miller, Medical School
Project title: Understanding adaptive natural killer cells in malaria

Caroline Diep, BS, BA

Primary mentor: Peter Argenta
Additional mentor: Carol Lange
Project title: In vivo modeling of primary ovarian cancer cells in 3D culture systems

Amy Dwyer, PhD

Masonic Cancer Center
Primary mentor: Carol Lange, PhD, Department of Medicine, Medical School
Translational mentor: Doug Yee, MD, Department of Medicine, Medical School
Project title: Targeting the Progesterone Receptor in an ex vivo model using primary mammary epithelial cells

Patrick Ernst, PhD

Primary mentor: Forum Kandar, Medical School
Additional mentor: Brenda Ogle, College of Science and Engineering
Project title: Mitochondrial Dysfunction and Calcium Handling in Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy

Jeff Flynn, PhD

Primary mentor: Ryan Hunter
Additional mentor: Jordan Dunitz
Project title: Anaerobic bacterial consortia sustain the growth of pathogens in the upper airways of cystic fibrosis patients

Anne Frosch, MD

Primary mentor: George Ayodo
Additional mentor: Chandy John
Project title: The effect of HIV infection on malaria specific B cell subset frequency

Zachary Galliger

Biomedical Engineering PhD Program, College of Science and Engineering
Primary mentor: Angela Panoskaltsis-Mortari, PhD, Department of Pediatrics, Medical School
Translational mentor: Rafael Andrade, MD, Department of Surgery, Medical School
Project title: 3D Bioprinted HumanTracheal Graft for Pediatric Trachea Reconstruction in a Rabbit Model

Diego Garcia-Huidobro, MD

Primary mentor: Michele Allen
Additional mentor: Iris Borowsky
Project title: Feasibility of a One-To-One Parenting Intervention to Prevent Substance Use in Latino Youth

Benjamin Hanisch, MD

Primary mentor: Gregory Vercellotti
Additional mentor: Chandy John 
Project title: Impact of Iron Supplementation on Oxidative Stress in Children Recovering from Severe Malaria

Lauren Harasymiw, MD, PhD, MPH

Primary mentor: Kyriakie Sarafoglou, MD, Department of Pediatrics, Medical School
Translational mentor: Scott Grosse, PhD, National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
Project title: Prevalence and Implications of Mental Health Comorbidities in Children and Young Adults with
Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia

Rachel Hardeman, PhD, MPH 

Primary mentor: Diana Burgess
Additional mentor: Katy Kozhimannil
Project title: Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Birth Outcomes: Examining the Role of the Patient/Provider Relationship

Christopher Janson, MD

Primary mentor: Cornelius Lam
Additional mentor: Gunda Georg
Project title: High-Throughput Discovery with Unique Alzheimer's Cellular Model

Sakeen Kashem, BA

Primary mentor: Daniel Kaplan
Additional mentor: Maria Hordinksy
Project title: Langerhans cell function in controlling fungal immunity and commensalism

Carlos Perez Kerkvliet

Primary mentor: Carol Lange, PhD, Department of Medicine, Medical School

Translational mentors: Doug Yee, MD, Department of Medicine, Medical School and Andrew Nelson, MD, PhD, Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, Medical School

Project title: Unraveling GR-driven regulation of cancer phenotypes in breast cancer

Sarah Kim, PharmD

Mentors: Jeanine Jarnes, Mahmoud Al-Kofahi, Chester Whitley
Project Title: Optimizing the Dose of Gene Therapy to Improve Clinical Efficacy

David Knorr, BS

Primary mentor: Michael Verneris
Additional mentor: Todd DeFor
Project title: Evaluation of the CD4+ T cell response against influenza following hematopoietic cell transplantation

Liliane Mukaremera, PhD

Primary mentor: Kirsten Nielsen
Additional mentor: David Boulware
Project title: Alteration of the innate immune response by different Cryptococcus neoformans morphologies in HIV and healthy individuals

Jessica Musselman, MS

Primary mentor: Julie Ross
Additional mentor: Jenny Poynter
Project title: Methylation of the BMP/TGFβ pathway and correlation with survival in childhood germ cell tumors

Emily Pisetsky, PhD

Primary mentor: Scott Crow
Additional mentor: Jim Hodges
Project title: Negative Affect and Substance Use as Momentary Mechanisms of Suicidality in Eating Disorders

Alexa Pragman, MD, PhD (current CTSI KL2 scholar)

Primary mentor: Chris Wendt
Additional mentors: Richard Isaacson and Cavan Reilly 
Project title: Comparison of the Oral and Lung Microbiota in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Sasha Prisco, MD

Mentors: Kurt Prins, Thenappan Thenappan
Mechanisms of right ventricular dysfunction in pulmonary arterial hypertension

Justin Ryder, PhD

Primary mentor: Aaron S. Kelly
Additional mentor: Kyle Rudser
Project title: Longitudinal assessment of novel biomarkers for predicting cardiovascular disease in youth

Brent Sorenson, MS

Primary mentor: Rajaram Gopalakrishnan
Additional mentor: Mark Herzberg
Project title: Tumor-targeted reduction of hyopxia-inducible factor in oral carcinoma by calprotectin

Anja Srienc

Primary mentor: Eric Newman
Additional mentor: Matthew Hunt
Project title: Cortical Spreading Depression as a Biomarker of Brain Injury During Neurosurgery

Boguang Sun, PharmD

Primary mentor: Robert Straka, College of Pharmacy
Additional mentor: Rui Zhang, Institute for Health Informatics
Project title: Optimizing the identification and prediction of statin intolerance to improve statin adherence using natural language processing and machine learning

Alena Svatkova, MD

Primary mentor: Igor Nestrasil
Additional mentor: Kyle Rudser
Project title: Revealing the Core of White Matter Alteration and Cognitive Deficits in Mucopolysaccharidosis Type 2

Brian Sweis

Primary mentors: Mark Thomas, PhD and A. David Redish, PhD, Department of Neuroscience in the College of Biological Sciences (primary co-mentors)

Translational mentor: Kelvin Lim, MD, and Sheila Specker, MD, Department of Psychiatry, Medical School

Project title: Translational approach to resolve neurobiologically distinct decision-making dysfunctions in addiction

Elizabeth Thompson, MS

Primary mentor: Eric A. Hendrickson
Additional mentor: Jakub Tolar
Project title: Gene therapy for Fanconi anemia using Cas9/CRISPR-mediated gene targeting

Diana Wallin, BS

Primary mentor: Michael K. Georgieff
Additional Mentor: Gregory Vercellotti
Project title: The effect of recombinant human erythropoietin (RhEpo) therapy on the hippocampus of anemic neonatal mice

Tonya Ward, PhD

Additional mentor: Cheryl A. Gale
Project title: Infant Fungal Microbiome and Allergic Disease Development

Alexa Weingarden, BA

Primary mentor: Alexander Khoruts
Additional mentor: Michael Sadowsky
Project title: Bacterial Bile Acid Metabolism in Fecal Transplantation Treatment of Clostridium difficile Infection

Andrea Wolf, BS

Primary mentor: Greg Beilman
Additional mentor: Raj Suryanarayanan
Project title: Formulation Optimization of a Low-Volume Resuscitation Fluid for Hemorrhagic Shock

Zhou Ye, PhD

Primary mentor: Conrado Aparicio, PhD, MSc Eng, Department of Restorative Sciences, School of Dentistry

Translational mentor: Hooi Pin Chew, PhD, Department of Restorative Sciences, School of Dentistry

Project title: Development of an Antibiofilm Resorbable Membrane for Treating Peri-Implantitis