MSTP Students by Class Year

Ryan Chaffee

Research Interests: Cancer evolution, metastasis, and therapy resistance; Cell fate and lineage plasticity; Genome editing technologies and functional genomics

Undergraduate Institution: Dartmouth College

Personal Interests and Hobbies: Drawing, Fishing, Ultimate Frisbee, Records

Marina He

Research Interests: Cancer immunotherapy, immunology development, biochemistry

Undergraduate Institution: Vanderbilt University

Personal Interests and Hobbies: reading, mahjong, exploring new restaurants

Colin Kim

Research Interests: Human immunity, metabolism, genetics

Undergraduate Institution: Cornell University

Personal Interests and Hobbies: Coffee, soccer, classical music

Camille Kutter

Research Interests: metastasis, tumor microenvironment, immune interactions with tumor cells, ICI resistance

Undergraduate Institution: UCLA

Personal Interests and Hobbies: gardening, floral arrangement, dance, yoga, being outdoors!, coffee

Ernie Lee

Research Interests: Cancer Biology, Therapeutic Resistance and Metabolism

Undergraduate Institution: UCLA

Personal Interests and Hobbies: Running, basketball and photography

Mary Linares

Research Interests: neurobiology, cell biology, molecular biology, neurodegenerative disease

Undergraduate Institution: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Personal Interests and Hobbies: Dancing and crafting

Colby Lish

Research Interests: Structural biology, biophysical chemistry, rational drug design

Undergraduate Institution: Dartmouth College

Personal Interests and Hobbies: Singing, whistling, classical music, sailing, tennis, billiards

Benjamin Raufman

Research Interests: Biochemistry, drug delivery, structural biology

Undergraduate Institution: University of Maryland, College Park

Personal Interests and Hobbies: Pickleball, tennis, playing the saxophone

Philip Richardsen

Research Interests: Signaling biology Drug design Structural biology

Undergraduate Institution: Creighton University

Personal Interests and Hobbies: Singing, exploring the outdoors, trying new cafes, and gathering with friends.

Julia Scheithauer

Research Interests: Infectious disease, cancer metabolism

Undergraduate Institution: UCLA

Personal Interests and Hobbies: Hiking, cooking, playing with my cat, concerts

William Vasquez McTeigue

Research Interests: Gene therapies, ex vivo heart preservation, and transplant immunology

Undergraduate Institution: MIT

Personal Interests and Hobbies: Playing soccer, reading history, and meeting new people

Thomas Wynn

Research Interests: Neurological & Biological Computation and Computational Engineering

Undergraduate Institution: The University of Texas at Austin

Personal Interests and Hobbies: Tennis

Harrison Chong

Research Interests: Cell signaling, bioinformatics

Undergraduate Institution: University of Georgia

Personal Interests and Hobbies: Christianity

Lilly Edwards

Research Interests: AI/ML for drug target identification and therapeutic design

Undergraduate Institution: MIT

Personal Interests and Hobbies: Volleyball, rock climbing, crochet, running, reading

Dylan Feist

Research Interests: Musculoskeletal Regeneration, Wound Healing, Fibrosis, Metabolism, Polytrauma

Undergraduate Institution: Kansas State University

Personal Interests and Hobbies: Sudoku, Running, Swimming, Movie Score Fanatic, Foodie

Maanas Gupta

Research Interests: Cardiology

Undergraduate Institution: UT Austin

Personal Interests and Hobbies: Biking, Hiking, Backpacking, Cocktail Mixing

Lily Nguyen

Research Interests: biochemistry, nucleic acids, post translational modifications

Undergraduate Institution: UT Dallas

Personal Interests and Hobbies: cooking/baking, cross stitch, cozy video games

Alejandra Rivera

Research Interests: Metabolism, Analytical Chemistry, Biomedical Engineering

Undergraduate Institution: Texas A&M University

Personal Interests and Hobbies: Being a dog mom, traveling, hiking, weightlifting, puzzles, anime, planning events, cooking, baking, gardening

Jacob Weiss

Research Interests: Cancer Metabolism, Inborn Errors of Metabolism, Neurodegenerative disorders, Aging in the Brain

Undergraduate Institution: Pomona College

Personal Interests and Hobbies: Cooking, Reading, Lifting Weights, and TTRPGs

Madeline Brown

Graduate Program: GDD

PhD Mentors: Dan Siegwart and Ben Levi

Research Interests: Regenerative Biology, Drug Discovery, Fibrosis, Wound Healing, Metabolism in Wound Healing

Undergraduate Institution: UCSD

Personal Interests and Hobbies: Dogs, dog shows, running

Aidan Donnelly

Graduate Program: MM

PhD Mentors: Kevin Forsberg

Research Interests: Infectious Disease, Phage-Host Interactions,Phage Therapies

Undergraduate Institution: The Pennsylvania State University

Personal Interests and Hobbies: I enjoy woodworking, watchmaking, design, and visiting art museums. I also like traveling, watching movies, and working on hands-on projects.

Ian Donovan

Graduate Program: GDD

Caiden Golder

Caiden Golder

Graduate Program: GDD

PhD Mentors: Gerta Hoxhaj

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Tiffany Le

Graduate Program: BME, Imaging

Research Interests: Biomedical optics, engineering for global health and low-resource settings, low-cost and accessible medical device development

Undergraduate Institution: Vanderbilt University

Personal Interests and Hobbies: Exploring new places and trying new things and restaurants, reading, staying active (HIIT, ultimate frisbee, running, pickleball, maybe climbing TBD), learning languages, playing violin / piano, cooking, playing cards, watching performance arts performances, being in nature

Dalton Miller

Graduate Program: MB

PhD Mentors: Michael Rosen

Research Interests: Biomolecular condensates, stress granules, liquid-liquid phase separation

Undergraduate Institution: Boise State University

Personal Interests and Hobbies: Baking, hiking, birdwatching

Vivian Nguyen

Graduate Program: BME

Research Interests: Mathematical modeling of blood flow hemodynamics and geometrical deformations of plastic surgical flap translocations.

Undergraduate Institution: University of Arizona

Personal Interests and Hobbies: Playing the guitar and piano, scrapbooking, going on outdoor adventures.

Helen Xia

Graduate Program: BC

PhD Mentors: Glen Liszczak

Research Interests: biochemistry, low-complexity domains

Undergraduate Institution: University of Richmond

Personal Interests and Hobbies: tennis, hiking, raising plants, pottery

Runzhe (Vincent) Xu

Graduate Program: GDD

PhD Mentors: Eric Olson

Undergraduate Institution: UCLA

Leon Yim

Graduate Program: CMB

PhD Mentors: Vincent Tagliabracci

Research Interests: Molecular Biology, Kinases

Undergraduate Institution: MIT

Personal Interests and Hobbies: Photography, Running, Reading

Carlos Ayala Santos

Graduate Program: CMB

PhD Mentors: Juanma Povedano Selfa

Research Interests: Cancer biology, molecular genetics, and drug discovery

Undergraduate Institution: University of Puerto Rico Mayaguez

Personal Interests and Hobbies: Basketball, exercise, card collecting, and cooking

Jinia Chakraborty

Graduate Program: GDD

PhD Mentors: Rodney Infante

Research Interests: metabolism, cancer cachexia

Undergraduate Institution: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Personal Interests and Hobbies: fostering dogs, painting, reading

Katherine Clark

Graduate Program: BC

PhD Mentors: Yunsun Nam

Research Interests: tRNA biology, RNA methylation, translational regulation

Undergraduate Institution: Ohio State University

Personal Interests and Hobbies: yoga, running, swimming, cooking, reading

Allen Li

Graduate Program: CMB

PhD Mentors: Benjamin Nanes

Research Interests: Epidermal biology, structural biology, enzyme kinetics, cryo-EM, microscopy

Undergraduate Institution: Occidental College

Personal Interests and Hobbies: Cooking, astro-/wildlife photography, badminton, ping pong, exploring DFW food scene, procrastinating

Joshua Morin-Baxter

Graduate Program: BME

PhD Mentors: Yang Xie

Research Interests: Machine learning, Artificial intelligence

Undergraduate Institution: Columbia University

Personal Interests and Hobbies: Basketball, running, lifting

Trevor Nguyen

Graduate Program: NS

PhD Mentors: Zhongzheng Fu

Research Interests: Human cognition, computational neuroscience

Undergraduate Institution: University of Texas at Austin

Personal Interests and Hobbies: Sewing, making dumplings, putting hot coals on my Dutch oven, free clinic volunteering

Emily Oh

Graduate Program: NS

PhD Mentors: Maria Chahrour

Research Interests: Neurodevelopmental Disorders, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Human Genetics

Undergraduate Institution: Yale University

Personal Interests and Hobbies: Weightlifting, reality TV, cooking/baking, reading

Clarissa Pham

Graduate Program: BC

PhD Mentors: Daniel Siegwart

Sameer Rajesh

Sameer Rajesh

Graduate Program: NS

PhD Mentors: Nader Pouratian

Research Interests: Computational modeling of human neurophysiology, cognitive/affective neuroscience, structural neuroimaging

Undergraduate Institution: UC Berkeley

Personal Interests and Hobbies: 8-ball pool, basketball, ultimate frisbee

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Albert Son

Graduate Program: BC

PhD Mentors: Vincent Tagliabracci

Research Interests: Protein Biochemistry, Enzymology, Structural Biology

Undergraduate Institution: UT Austin

Personal Interests and Hobbies: Hiking, Fishing, Shooting, Golf, Tennis, and other outdoor activities.

Andres Vasquez

Graduate Program: CMB/ 3MD

PhD Mentors: Jae Mo Park

Research Interests: Neurology, Neuro-Oncology, Cancer, Neuroscience, Imaging

Undergraduate Institution: Rice University

Personal Interests and Hobbies: Baseball, Running

Keyi Yin

Graduate Program: CMB

PhD Mentors: James Collins

Research Interests: Parasitology and evolutionary genetics

Undergraduate Institution: Johns Hopkins University

Personal Interests and Hobbies: history and literature, bird-watching, fountain pens, trivia

Cecilia Yip

Graduate Program: CMB

PhD Mentors: Jennifer Gill

Research Interests: Metabolic drivers of metastasis

Undergraduate Institution: Austin College

Personal Interests and Hobbies: Singing, floral crafting, birding, reading

Ian Chambers

Graduate Program: NS

PhD Mentors: Peter Tsai

Research Interests: Systems Neuroscience, cerebellar contributions to cognition and learning

Undergraduate Institution: Rhodes College

Personal Interests and Hobbies: Music, guitar, video games, tennis, NFL, NBA, sailing, board sports, Marvel, anime.

Shao-Po Huang

Graduate Program: CAN

PhD Mentors: Isaac Chan

Research Interests: cancer biology, immunotherapy, systems biology, bioinformatics

Undergraduate Institution: University of Texas at Austin

Personal Interests and Hobbies: reading sci-fi, playing badminton/pickleball, traveling, trying new cuisines, spending time with friends

Soumya Kulkarni

Graduate Program: NS/3MD

PhD Mentors: Jeff Zigman and Joseph Takahashi

Research Interests: Neural control of metabolism, circadian biology, hypothalamic circuits

Undergraduate Institution: University of Michigan

Personal Interests and Hobbies: cooking, working out, exploring new coffee shops

Vishruth Mullapudi

Graduate Program: BME

PhD Mentors: Milo Lin

Undergraduate Institution: University of Texas at Dallas

Personal Interests and Hobbies: Reading, video and bowr

Nicholas Sutliff

Graduate Program: GDD

PhD Mentors: Sarah Shahmoradian

Research Interests: Pathology, Neuropathology, Neurodegenerative Disease

Undergraduate Institution: University of Washington

Personal Interests and Hobbies: Reading (Fiction), Movies, Video Games, 3D Printing, Casual Cooking (BBQ and more), Hiking, Fishing

Nataliya Tod

Graduate Program: BME

PhD Mentors: Nian Wang

Research Interests: MRI, neuroimaging, MSK imaging, osteoarthritis, joint diseases

Undergraduate Institution: UCLA

Personal Interests and Hobbies: gardening, kayaking, fishing

Eric Chen

Graduate Program: GDD

PhD Mentors: Hao Zhu

Research Interests: Cancer, liver, alcohol

Undergraduate Institution: University of Pennsylvania

Personal Interests and Hobbies: Eating, concerts, volleyball

Brennan Confer

Graduate Program: IMM

PhD Mentors: Robert Orchard

Research Interests: Host-Pathogen interactions, zoonosis, innate immune mechanisms, and autoimmunity

Undergraduate Institution: Westmont College

Personal Interests and Hobbies: Mountaineering, hiking, camping, climbing and board games with friends when it's too hot for the rest.

Margaret Cervantes

Graduate Program: GDD

PhD Mentors: Ralph DeBerardinis

Jeffrey Huang

Graduate Program: GDD

PhD Mentors: Ezra Burstein

Research Interests: Regulation of integral membrane protein trafficking by endolysosomal system

Undergraduate Institution: UCLA

Personal Interests and Hobbies: Hiking and board games

Chidinma Nnadi

Graduate Program: GDD

PhD Mentors: Joshua Mendell

Research Interests: RNA biology

Undergraduate Institution: Johns Hopkins University

Personal Interests and Hobbies: Reading

Emma Parks

Graduate Program: IMM

PhD Mentors: Maralice Conacci-Sorrell

Research Interests: Tumor immunology, cancer metabolism

Undergraduate Institution: Carnegie Mellon

Personal Interests and Hobbies: Reading, running, cooking, and singing

Cyrus Rastegar

Graduate Program: MB

PhD Mentors: Jose Rizo-Rey

Research Interests: Cryo-EM & NMR

Undergraduate Institution: Johns Hopkins University

Personal Interests and Hobbies: Hiking & Biking

Henry Roseman

Graduate Program: BME/ 3MD

PhD Mentors: Prashant Mishra

Research Interests: Liver transplantation, metabolism, mitochondrial biology

Undergraduate Institution: Washington University in St. Louis

Alexander Vidal

Graduate Program: BC

PhD Mentors: Steven Kliewer

Research Interests: Biochemistry

Undergraduate Institution: Texas A&M

Personal Interests and Hobbies: Soccer, Languages, Piano

Naureen Wajahat

Graduate Program: CMB

PhD Mentors: Rodney Infante

Research Interests: cancer biology, protein function, neuroscience

Undergraduate Institution: UT Dallas

Personal Interests and Hobbies: yoga, reading, coffee

Lois Warden

Graduate Program: BC

PhD Mentors: Michael Shiloh

Research Interests: Infectious diseases, host-pathogen interactions, drug design

Undergraduate Institution: Trinity University

Personal Interests and Hobbies: Crossword puzzles, learning languages, and running

Kelly Wong

Graduate Program: BME

PhD Mentors: Hao Zhu

Philip Brown

Graduate Program: GDD/ 3MD

PhD Mentors: Kimberly Reynolds

Research Interests: Systems Biology, metabolism, computational biology, microbiology, antibiotic sensitivity

Undergraduate Institution: Cornell University

Personal Interests and Hobbies: Fishing, fly-tying, animal fostering, camping, boating, DIY home maintenance, and table-top games.

Mary Burns

Graduate Program: BC

PhD Mentors: Jennifer Kohler

Research Interests: Glycobiology, mucins, IBD

Undergraduate Institution: University of Richmond

Personal Interests and Hobbies: My dogs, running, baking bread, reading

Daniel Caballero

Graduate Program: BC

PhD Mentors: Benjamin Tu

Research Interests: endocrinology, mitochondria, metabolism, stress granules

Undergraduate Institution: Yale

Personal Interests and Hobbies: running, reading, singing, travel, sports

Charles Edgar

Graduate Program: CMB/ 3MD

PhD Mentors: Samuel McBrayer

Research Interests: Cancer metabolism, cancer neuroscience

Undergraduate Institution: Texas Christian University

Personal Interests and Hobbies: Cooking, running, live music

Miranda Jankovic

Graduate Program: NS

PhD Mentors: Genevieve Konopka

Research Interests: neuroscience, neurodevelopment

Undergraduate Institution: UT Austin

Personal Interests and Hobbies: art, video games, hiking

Peter Leung

Graduate Program: CAN

PhD Mentors: Todd Aguilera

Research Interests: Tumor immunology, phage display, radiation oncology

Undergraduate Institution: University of Chicago

Personal Interests and Hobbies: Tennis, playing with son

Roger Liang

Graduate Program: CAN

PhD Mentors: Hao Zhu and Ralph DeBerardinis

Research Interests: Diet, metabolism, cancer, healthspan

Undergraduate Institution: Rice university

Personal Interests and Hobbies: Making music, lifting, hyrox

Mark Mannino

Graduate Program: CAN

PhD Mentors: Sean Morrison

Research Interests: Cancer biology

Undergraduate Institution: University of Missouri-Columbia

Personal Interests and Hobbies: Exercise, sports, reading

Cameron Menezes

Graduate Program: CMB

PhD Mentors: Prashant Mishra

Research Interests: Mitochondrial biology, Metabolism, Human Genetics

Undergraduate Institution: University of Chicago

Personal Interests and Hobbies: Cooking, Biking, my dog, Liverpool Football Club

Stefanie Moye

Graduate Program: CAN

PhD Mentors: Benjamin Levi

Research Interests: aberrant wound healing, metabolism, cancer biology

Undergraduate Institution: UCLA

Personal Interests and Hobbies: spending time with my family, hiking, running, trying out new coffee shops

Robyn Murphy

Graduate Program: BC

PhD Mentors: Yunsun Nam

Research Interests: -RNA biochemistry -protein biochemistry -small molecule development -RNA modification

Undergraduate Institution: Creighton University

Personal Interests and Hobbies: -running -baking and cake decorating -spending time outdoors (hiking, camping) -reading

Chase Pagani

Graduate Program: GDD

PhD Mentors: Benjamin Levi

Research Interests: Musculoskeletal Repair, Metabolism, Wound Healing

Undergraduate Institution: Colgate University

Personal Interests and Hobbies: Soccer, snowboarding, golfing, music production and concerts

Gabriella Quinn

Graduate Program: IMM

PhD Mentors: Lora Hooper

Research Interests: Immunology, Bioinformatics

Undergraduate Institution: Cornell University

Personal Interests and Hobbies: Animal Welfare and animal rescue

Tarun Srinivasan

Graduate Program: CAN

PhD Mentors: Andrew Koh and Lora Hooper

Research Interests: Gut microbiome, host-microbe interactions, anti-tumor immunity, immune-related adverse events

Undergraduate Institution: Columbia University

Personal Interests and Hobbies: Running, tennis, traveling, spending time with family

Tommy Tan

Graduate Program: NS

PhD Mentors: Peter Tsai

Ryan Beckner

Graduate Program: BC

PhD Mentors: Glen Liszczak

Lifeng Chen

Graduate Program: MB

PhD Mentors: Michael Rosen

Research Interests: Emergent behavior, phase separation, genome organization, AI

Undergraduate Institution: Boston College

Personal Interests and Hobbies: Tennis

James Elder

Graduate Program: MB

PhD Mentors: Milo Lin

Research Interests: Computational Systems Biology, Bio/Clinical Informatics, Biomedical Engineering

Undergraduate Institution: Dartmouth College

Personal Interests and Hobbies: Woodworking, Gardening, Music

Holly Guo

Graduate Program: BC

PhD Mentors: Deepak Nijhawan

Research Interests: Cancer drug development

Undergraduate Institution: Johns Hopkins University

Personal Interests and Hobbies: Trying out new restaurants, taking group workout classes, spending time with family and my 2 cats!

Benjamin Kroger

Graduate Program: CAN

PhD Mentors: Stephen Chung

Research Interests: Malignant hematology

Undergraduate Institution: Duke University

Kartik Kulkarni

Graduate Program: GDD

PhD Mentors: Nikhil Munshi

Research Interests: Cardiac Biology, Gene Regulation, Spatial Organization of the Genome

Undergraduate Institution: University of Houston

Personal Interests and Hobbies: Tennis, Pickleball, Poker,

Caitlin Leedy

Graduate Program: NS

PhD Mentors: William Dauer

Research Interests: Neuroscience, movement disorders

Undergraduate Institution: Northeastern University

Personal Interests and Hobbies: Cooking and hanging out with my dog

Gabrielle Lessen

Graduate Program: IMM

PhD Mentors: Lenette Lu

Research Interests: Immunology, Glycobiology, Infectious Disease

Undergraduate Institution: Texas A&M University

Personal Interests and Hobbies: Singing, playing piano, working out, video games, trying restaurants, volleyball, basketball, any side quests you can imagine

Peter Luo

Graduate Program: GDD

PhD Mentors: Ondine Cleaver

Research Interests: Developmental biology, vascular biology

Undergraduate Institution: Duke University

Personal Interests and Hobbies: Reading, coffee, film photography, going to concerts

Gianna Maggiore

Graduate Program: GDD

PhD Mentors: Hao Zhu

Undergraduate Institution: UT Dallas

Personal Interests and Hobbies: hiking, reading, fitness, arts and crafts, dog walks

Haley Moore

Graduate Program: NS

PhD Mentors: Genevieve Konopka and Bradley Lega

Research Interests: Cognitive genomics

Undergraduate Institution: TCU

Personal Interests and Hobbies: Animal rescue

Roshan Ravishankar

Graduate Program: BME

PhD Mentors: Gaudenz Danuser

Research Interests: computational biology, cell biology, systems biology

Undergraduate Institution: University of Pennsylvania

Personal Interests and Hobbies: guitar, reading, movies, jiu-jitsu, lifting weights, running

Milan Savani

Graduate Program: CMB/ 3MD

PhD Mentors: Samuel McBrayer

Research Interests: metabolism, glioma

Undergraduate Institution: University of Pennsylvania

Personal Interests and Hobbies: cooking, travel, theater, live music, movies