Advanced Pathways to Research Program (A-PReP)

Boluwatife Afolabi, School of Dentistry
Mentor: Irina Stepanov, PhD, Division of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health

Kai Akimoto, Medical School (Duluth)
Mentor: Mary Owen, MD, Department of Family Medicine and Biobehavioral Health, 
Center of American Indian and Minority Health, Medical School (Twin Cities)

Adeboye Bamgboye, College of Pharmacy (Twin Cities)
Mentor: Lisa Coles, MS, PhD,  Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology, College of Pharmacy (Twin Cities)

Kate France, College of Pharmacy (Duluth)
Mentor: Jacob Brown, PharmD, MS, Department of Pharmacy Practice and Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy (Twin Cities)

Achal Jadhav, Medical School (Twin Cities)
Mentor: Chetan Shenoy, MBBS, MS, Cardiovascular Division, Medical School (Twin Cities)

Jason Kang, College of Education and Human Development
Mentor: Jurgen Konczak, PhD, School of Kinesiology, College of Education and Human Development

Jameson Moore, Medical School (Duluth)
Mentor: Robert McGovern, MD, Neurosurgery Department, Medical School (Twin Cities)

Noelia Morciglio, Ponce Health Sciences University
Mentor: Chetan Shenoy, MBBS, MS, Cardiovascular Division, Medical School (Twin Cities)

Chloe Perrizo, Center for Allied Health Programs
Mentor: Camille Sterner Sampers, EdD, OTR/L, Occupational Therapy

Kennedy (Kenny) Person, Medical School (Twin Cities)
Mentor: Walter Low, PhD, Neurosurgery Department, Medical School (Twin Cities)

Erin Shen, Medical School (Twin Cities)
Mentor: Stephanie Misono, MD, MPH, Division of Laryngology, Medical School (Twin Cities)

Chowdury Ibtida Tahmin, Medical School (Twin Cities)
Mentor: Ida-Arlaine Fonkoue, MD, PhD, Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Medical School (Twin Cities)

Janissa Thomas, Ponce Health Sciences University
Mentor: Ajay Israni, MD, MS, Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, School of Public Health

Karenna  Thomas, Yale School of Public Health
Mentor: Rebecca Shlafer, PhD, MPH, Department of Pediatrics, Medical School (Twin Cities)

Tenzin Yangchen, School of Public Health
Mentor: Richard Maclehose, PhD, Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, School of Public Health

Haoran Zhou, College of Education and Human Development
Mentor: Jerica Berge, PhD, MPH, Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, Medical School (Twin Cities)

Hailey Baker, UMN Medical School (Duluth)
Mentor: Katy Kozhimannil, PhD, MPA, School of Public Health

Mario Bertogliat, UMN Medical School (Twin Cities)
Mentor: David Darrow, MD, MPH, Department of Neurosurgery, Medical School (Twin Cities)

Josué Collazo-Lopez, Ponce Health Sciences University
Mentor: Rene Pierpont, PhD, Pediatrics, Medical School (Twin Cities)

Mohamed Dabour, UMN College of Pharmacy (Twin Cities)
Mentor: Beshay Zordoky, MSc, PhD, Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology, College of Pharmacy (Twin Cities)

Amanda Davis, UMN School of Nursing (Twin Cities)
Mentor: Sarah Hoffman, PHD, MPH, MSN, RN, Population and Health Systems, School of Nursing (Twin Cities)

Guldamla Kalender, UMN Medical School (Twin Cities)
Mentor: Alik Widge, MD, PhD, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Medical School (Twin Cities)

Doneila McIntosh, UMN College of Education and Human Development (Twin Cities)
Mentor: Jerica Berge, PhD, MPH, LMFT, CFLE, Family Medicine and Community Health, Medical School (Twin Cities)

Moataz Mohamed, UMN College of Pharmacy (Twin Cities)
Mentor: Pamala Jacobson, PharmD, FCCP, Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology, College of Pharmacy (Twin Cities)

Vineet Raman, UMN Medical School (Twin Cities)
Mentor: Elizabeth Rogers, MD, MAS, Medicine, Medical School (Twin Cities)

José Somohano-Short, Ponce Health Sciences University School of Medicine
Mentor: Britt Erickson, MD, Obstetrics, Gynecology and Women's Health, Medical School (Twin Cities)

Tou Thao, UMN College of Pharmacy (Duluth)
Mentor: Robert Straka. PharmD, FCCP, Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology, College of Pharmacy (Twin Cities)

Lensa Toka, UMN Medical School (Twin Cities)
Mentor: Katie Loth, PhD, MPH, Family Medicine and Community Health, Medical School (Twin Cities)

Emily Walck, UMN Medical School (Duluth)
Mentor: Jakub Tolar, MD, PhD, Pediatrics, Medical School (Twin Cities)

Laylia Yang, Melendy Scholar, UMN College of Pharmacy (Twin Cities)
Mentor: Jeffrey Bishop, PharmD, MS, BCPP, FCCP, Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology, College of Pharmacy (Twin Cities)

Jessica Barry, College of Pharmacy (Twin Cities)
Mentor: Mentor: Angela Birnbaum, PhD, FAES

Katherine Carosella, College of Liberal Arts
Mentor: Mentor: Kathryn Cullen, MD

Victor Corral, Medical School (Twin Cities)
Mentor: Hai Dang Nguyen, PhD

Lucas Kosobuski, College of Pharmacy (Duluth)
Mentor: Laura Palombi, PharmD, MPH, MAT, AE-C

Xintian Lyu, College of Pharmacy (Twin Cities)
Mentor: Ilo Leppik, MD

Rejowana Rouf, Medical School (Twin Cities)
Mentor: Chetan Shenoy, MBBS, MS

Jacquelyn Sertic, College of Education and Human Development
Mentor: Jürgen Konczak, PhD

Chowdhury (Tasnova) Tahsin, Medical School (Twin Cities)
Mentor: Manda Keller-Ross, PhD, DPT, PT

Srilakshmi (Prasanna) Vankina, Medical School (Twin Cities)
Mentor: Anne Blaes, MD

Weijie Zhang, Bioinformatics and Computational Biology (Rochester)
Mentor: R. Stephanie Huang, PhD

Yingbo Huang, College of Pharmacy
Mentor: R. Stephanie Huang, PhD, Associate Professor, College of Pharmacy

Shray Malik, Medical School
Mentor: Chetan Shenoy, MBBS, Associate Professor, Cardiovascular division

Emmanuel Okematti, Medical School
Mentor: Christopher Streib, MD, Assistant Professor, Neurology

Saeun Park, School of Public Health
Mentor: Sarah Cusick, PhD, Assistant Professor, Pediatrics

Andrea Wiglesworth, College of Liberal Arts
Mentor: Kathryn Cullen, MD, Associate Professor, Child & Adolescent Psychiatry

Zarin Rahman, Medical School
Mentor: Elizabeth Rogers, MD, Assistant Professor, Pediatrics

Ibrahim Abdelgawad, College of Pharmacy
Mentor: Beshay Zordoky

Jenna Langer, Medical School - Duluth
Mentor: Catherine McCarty

Andres Lim, College of Pharmacy
Mentor: Jeffrey Bishop

Joshua Merickel, College of Veterinary Medicine
Mentor: Gerard O'Sullivan

Jennifer Nelson, College of Pharmacy
Mentor: Robert Straka

Siddhee Sahasrabudhe, College of Pharmacy
Mentor: Reena Kartha

Yuting Shan, College of Pharmacy
Mentor: Stephanie R. Huang

Jena Velji-Ibrahim, Medical School
Mentor: Noam Harel

Fan Wang, College of Pharmacy
Mentor: Melanie Nicol

Grey Wiebe, School of Nursing
Mentor: Sarah Hoffman

Parker Johnson, College of Pharmacy
Project title: Plasma alpha-synuclein as potential biomarker in Type 1 Gaucher Disease
Mentor:  Reena Kartha

Anita Kwashie, College of Liberal Arts
Project title: Neural Correlates of Cognitive Control
Mentor: Angus McDonald, III

Kathleen Miley, School of Nursing
Project title: Baseline gray matter pathology and correlates of cognitive impairment in the Community Based Cognitive Training in First Episode Psychosis Study
Mentor: Sophia Vinogradov

Kalpit Modi, Medical School
Project title: Patterns of cardiac replacement fibrosis in cancer cardiotoxicity
Mentor: Chetan Shenoy

Claire Park, College of Liberal Arts
Project title: The Role of Parent Stress and Neighborhood Variables in Child Executive Functioning
Mentor: Simone French

Michelle Patregnani, Medical School-Duluth
Project title: Severity of mental illness as a predictor for treatment outcomes in a trial of opioid versus non-opioid treatment
Mentor: Erin E. Krebs

Boguang Sun, College of Pharmacy
Project title: Using SNP frequencies for Very Important Pharmacogenes (VIPs) to Predict and Compare Algorithm-based Warfarin Dosing Recommendations Between Hmong and non-Hmong Asian Populations
Mentor:  Robert J. Straka

Megan Conlon, Medical School Duluth
Project title: Can inclusion criteria of Mindful Movement be modified to include individuals with disabilities?
Mentor: Roni Evans, DC, PhD

Aileen Scheibner, College of Pharmacy
Project title: Preparative Regimen Exposure-Response Relationships in Nonmyeloablative Stem Cell Transplants: Correlative Pharmacokinetics
Mentor: Pamala Jacobson, PharmD, FCCP

Rosemary Fister, School of Nursing
Project title: Identifying Homelessness in a Community Health Center
Mentor: John Song, MD, MPH, MAT

Luis Ortega, Medical School
Project title: Latino Parent-Child Relationships and Substance Use
Mentor: Michele Allen, MD, MS

Ali Alhadab, College of Pharmacy
Project title: Optimize Sertraline Therapy in the Treatment of HIV-associated Cryptococcal Meningitis
Mentor: Richard Brundage, PharmD, PhD

Laurel Davis, College of Education and Human Development
Project title: Mental Health Outcomes Among Youth with Incarcerated Parents in Minnesota
Mentor: Rebecca Shlafer, PhD

Colleen Doyle, College of Education and Human Development
Project title: Understanding the Health Effects of Early Life Stress: Individuals
Mentor: Megan Gunnar, PhD

Amy Feng, Medical School
Project title: Myocardial Repair Using Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell Derived Tri-Lineage Tissue-Engineered Patches
Mentor: Jianyi Jay Zhang, MD, PhD

Ghada Elnashar, College of Pharmacy (Melendy)
Project title: Characterization of Oxidative Stress and Inflammation in Type 1 Gaucher Disease
Mentors: James Cloyd, PharmD and Reena Kartha, PhD

Hyunjoon Kim, College of Pharmacy
Project title: Developing Effective Immunotherapy Agents for Treating Bladder Cancer
Mentor: Thomas Griffith, PhD

Alex Loeks-Johnson, Medical School
Project title: CRISPR-Cas9 Bacterial Endonuclease System to Induce Gene-correction of a Mutation in the Plakoglobin Gene in Patient Stem Cells
Mentor: Jakub Tolar, MD, PhD

Natalie Schmitz, College of Pharmacy
Project title: Analyze the Baclofen Concentration Data and Estimate Pharmacokinetic Parameters, including Cmax, Tmax, AUC, and Oral Bioavailability using WinNonLin (Pharsight) software
Mentor: James Cloyd, PharmD

Natalie Schwehr, School of Public Health
Project title: Model an Adaptive Treatment Policy for Adults with Relapse-remitting MS (RRMS)
Mentor: Karen Kuntz, ScD

Kathryn Thomas, Medical School
Project title: Assessing Cardioprotection with Pharmacological Pre- or Post-conditioning Agents in an Acute Surgical Model
Mentor: Paul Iaizzo, PhD

Ya-Feng (Jay) Wen, College of Pharmacy - Duluth
Project title: Develop a Genomic-based Drug Selection Strategy to Select Patients with HU who are Better Candidates to have Better Clinical Responses to Allopurinol
Mentor: Robert Straka, PharmD

Erin Casey, Institute of Child Development
Mentor: Rebecca Shlafer
Project title: Understanding Extended Visitation in Minnesota's Women's Prison

Dorothy Curran, Medical School
Mentor: Michele Allen
Project title: Parent-Training Program's Effects on Youth's Smoking Susceptibility: Exploring a Dose-Response Relationship

Benjamin Eidenschink, Medical School
Mentor: Julia Davydova
Project title: CRaD vector delivery of NIS-Mediated Radioiodine

Elizabeth Jarrett, Medical School
Mentor: Iris Borowsky
Project title: The relationship between adolescent self-perception of weight, mental health, and social protective factors

Brett Kistner, College of Pharmacy
Mentor: Angela K. Birnbaum
Project title: The Clinical Significance of Anti-Epilepsy Concentration Fluctuations & Co-Medication Type on Outcome Measures in Elderly Nursing Home Residents

Gregory Laffen, College of Pharmacy
Mentor: Robert J. Straka
Project title: Investigating the Genetic Determinants of The Uricosuric Action of Fenofibrate

David Matson, Medical School
Mentor: David W. Polly
Project title: Effect of osteoporotic vertebral compression fracture

Benjamin Otopalik, Medical School
Mentor: Kelvin Lim
Project title: Transcranial direct current stimulation as a novel therapy for medication

Kinjal Sanghavi, College of Pharmacy
Mentor: Pamala Jacobson
Project title: Genetically guided dosing of tacrolimus in kidney transplant recipients

Robert Sjoholm, Medical School
Mentor: John Song
Project title: Respite Care: Effects on the Perceived Health and Health Care Utilization

Racheal Harlos
Mentor: Susan Everson-Rose
Project Title: Factors mediating depression and cardiovascular disease risk in middle-aged woman by race

Ashley Hasti
Mentor: Mindy Kurzer
Project Title: Green Tea and Reduction of Breast Cancer Risk

Sarah Hoffman
Mentor: Cheryl Roberston
Project Title: Karen Refugees: Health Correlates of Trauma Exposure

Angela Jeong
Mentor: Ling Li
Project Title: Prenylated proteins as therapeutic targets for Alzheimer’s Disease

G. Mauricio Mejia Ramirez
Mentor: Simone French
Project Title: Evaluation of visual information for childhood obesity prevention in Latino Americans

Malek Okour
Mentor: Richard Brundage
Project Title: Correlations between biomarkers and therapeutic outcomes: Application to mycophenolic acid and kidney transplantation

Rebecca Pulk
Mentor: Pamala Jacobson
Project Title: Effect of the POR*28 variant on tacrolimus troughs in kidney transplant recipients

Youssef Roman
Mentor: Robert Straka
Project Title: Analysis of single nucleotides polymorphisms (SNPs) in Hmong population and hyperuricemia

David Satzer
Mentor: Aviva Abosch
Project Title: Relationship between deep-brain stimulation electrode location and electrical current delivery

Dane Schaleben-Boateng
Mentor: Michele Allen
Project Title: Promoting educator‐student connectedness and positive youth development in Latino, Somali and Hmong youth

Joyce Trost
Mentor: Teresa Kimberley
Project Title: Electromyography impairment in patients with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy

Anthony Wiseman
Mentor: Pamela Jacobson
Project Title: Relationship between clinical outcomes and pharmacokinetic measures, activity measurements and genotypes in patients receiving RIC HCT

Elizabeth Aby
Mentor: Jerrold Vitek
Project Title: Clinical Assessment of the Reliability and Feasibility of ParkinTune in Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) Programming

Gina Danielson
Mentor: L'Aurelle Johnson
Project Title: The Effect of Obesity and Development on Hepatic Drug Metabolism

Alicia Gunterus
Mentor: Jatinder Lamba
Project Title: The Effect of CD20 Polymorphism on Rituximab Response in CLL Patients

Krista Johnson
Mentor: James Cloyd
Project Title: A study comparing blood and plasma assay methods for measurement of topiramate concentrations

Suresh Kumar Agarwal
Mentor: James Cloyd
Project Title: A Meta-Analysis of the Absorption Characteristics of Diazepam Following Alternative Routes of Administration for Acute Repetitive Seizures

Susan Lee
Mentor: Ruby Nguyen
Project Title: Comparing Diagnostics of OB Ultrasounds in Obese Minority Women

Craig Meyer
Mentor: Pamela Schreiner
Project Title: Self-reported depression and discrimination and brain tissue volume

Sara Moran
Mentor: Mark Kirstein
Project Title: Oxaliplatin and OSI-906 in the Treatment of Pancreatic Cancer

Adam Nelson
Mentor: Pamela Jacobson
Project Title: The Pharmacogenetics that Effect Mycophenolate Pharmacokinetics

Sarah Parker
Mentor: Bruce Blazar
Project Title: Characterization of Distinct iPS Cells for Potential Therapy in Hurler Syndrome
LeeAnna Pederson

Mentor: Robert Straka
Project Title: Consideration of Genetic Variations of UGT2B7 and APOE Genes Within the Pharmacogenomics for Hypertriglyceridemia in Hispanics Trial

Gina Piscitello
Mentor: Susan Everson-Rose
Project Title: How psychosocial stressors such as hostility, anxiety, anger, discrimination, and depression differ in the way they affect progression of paw and adiposity in African-American women versus non-Hispanic Caucasian women

Casey Sautter
Mentor: Chandy John
Project Title: Health Problems of International Adoptees

Faduma Sharif
Mentor: Kola Okuyemi
Project Title: Factors that Contributed to High Retention Rate in Quit Smoking Study in Homeless Population

Liz Yang
Mentor: Mark Kirstein
Project Title: Administration Sequence of OSI-906 and Gemcitabine in Treatment of Pancreatic Cancer