I was born and raised in Nigeria. At the age of eighteen, I moved to Brooklyn, New York to pursue higher education. I attended New York City College of Technology (City Tech) where I received my Associate degree in Science and my bachelor's degree in Biomedical Informatics. While at City Tech, I worked on projects that focused on elucidating the effect of in-utero cytokine exposure on fetal development, elucidating the interaction between porphyrins and serum albumin proteins in addition to my summer internship with the Leadership Alliance Program at Columbia University where I studied the effect of fever on viral replication. During my undergraduate research experiences, I was able to narrow down my research interest to the field of immunology. With this interest in mind, I joined the Altan-Bonnet's lab at the NCI as a post baccalaureate fellow after completing my undergraduate education. In this lab, I worked on highlighting T Cell intrinsic factors responsible for determining the favorable treatment outcomes of cancer patients undergoing immunotherapy. I hope to further pursue my interest in studying the role of immunology in the development and eradication of cancer at the Ohio State University with guidance and mentorship from the faculty of the university.
I am from Cairo, Egypt. I attended Al-Azhar University College of Pharmacy, and obtained my Bachelor’s degree in pharmaceutical sciences with excellent grade and honor. I then joined the department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, as a teaching assistant, where I started to pursue my graduate studies that resulted in earning a Master’s degree in Pharmacology and Toxicology with two first-author publications. During my graduate studies, I participated in numerous research projects and taught a verity of courses to the Pharmacy students in my home institution of Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt. In 2017, I was awarded a training research fellowship to The Ohio State University (OSU) for two years, which began in May 2018. Since then, I have been working and contributing in many research projects in Dr. Jay Zweier’s lab in The Davis Heart and Lung Institute. One of the lab projects is mainly about the role of Cytoglobin protein in the regulation of vascular tone and blood pressure through its main role in nitric oxide metabolism. The other project focuses on understanding the molecular and cellular mechanisms of conventional and electronic cigarettes-induced cardiovascular disease and vascular endothelial dysfunction. My research proposal is investigating the effect of electronic cigarettes exposure on cerebrovascular circulation, cognitive function and Alzheimer’s disease pathogenesis. This research proposal was recently funded by the NIH, which was a great motivation to continue my research and pursue my PhD studies at OSU through joining Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program (BSGP).
I was born and raised in Port Arthur, TX. For my undergraduate education, I attended the University of Texas at Austin where I earned my Bachelor of Science degree in Biochemistry. I first gained exposure to basic science research as an undergraduate student in the inorganic chemistry lab of Dr. Richard Jones through the Freshman Research Initiative. My research in the “Functional Materials Lab” focused on the synthesis and characterization of photoluminescent lanthanide-containing coordination complexes which have the potential for useful technological applications such as biomarkers in immunofluorescent assays. I then moved to Houston, Texas where I completed my her medical degree at Baylor College of Medicine in 2018. Following medical school, I moved to Columbus to begin medical residency training. I am currently a general surgery resident in The Ohio State University General Surgery Program. Following 2-years of clinical training, I entered research develop training and joined the Lab of Dr. Vidu Garg at Nationwide Children's Hospital where we investigate the genetic basis of congenital cardiovascular diseases. My current work focuses on investigating the pathogenesis, biomechanics, and embryologic origins of congenital heart disease associated aortopathy with the use of mouse models to define the underlying molecular mechanisms. My long-term aim is to pursue a career as an academic surgeon-scientist in the field of cardiothoracic surgery integrating translational research with my clinical practice. I am grateful for the opportunities provided by my program and look forward to growing in my skillset as a research scientist as part of the biomedical science graduate program.
I was raised in Orange County, California and have been passionate about science since early in high school. I received my Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry & Molecular Biology from the University of California, Davis where I worked in a plant genetics lab. After graduating, I started a position at a small biotech company where I helped optimize buoyancy-activated cell selection kits for different types of immune cells. This position sparked my interest in immunology. Next, I began to work as a research technician in the cancer cell signaling lab of Frank McCormick at the University of California, San Francisco. There I studied the Ras/MAPK signaling pathway, particularly how receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) signal to Ras. Combining my experiences, my research interests are in cancer immunology and I hope to discover novel mechanisms that will one day be able to help patients.
I was born and raised in Muncie, Indiana. While in Muncie, I completed my undergraduate and postgraduate education at Ball State University. I earned my Bachelor of Science degree in Pre-Medicine and Biology. During my undergraduate studies, I was introduced to my first principal investigator (PI). The goal of our research was to improve chemosensitivity in T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL). This experience is what opened my eyes to the importance of cancer research. This experience is also the reason why I pursued a Master of Science degree in Biology and Biotechnology. My previous research allowed me to isolate proteins that were thought to have critical roles in blunting the propagation of the death signal. We believed that by identifying aberrantly expressed proteins, or ectopically expressed transcription factors, we could improve existing treatment strategies for T-ALL. In the end, key players driving chemoresistance were targeted by siRNA technology to minimize resistance and improve chemosensitivity. To conclude, I am proud to be a Buckeye! I believe that this program will help enhance my previous background of different biological aspects, as well as, initiate new perspectives for cancer research. Being fundamentally sound is important in any aspect of life. Being able to make connections, and generate new ideas, brings me bona fide happiness.
I was born and raised in Syracuse, New York. I then attended James Madison University and graduated with a BS degree in Biotechnology. At JMU I researched aquatic microbiology and the relationship between the toxic cyanobacteria Microcystis and the bacteria within the phycosphere. After graduation I then worked as a Research assistant under Dr. Christopher Turner at SUNY Upstate where we studied focal adhesion dynamics and how they can affect cytoskeletal elements within the cell. I’m currently interested in researching the communication within the TME between immune, tumor and other resident cells.
I was raised in Northwest Indiana near Chicago, just a few minutes from the Indiana Dunes National Park. In 2021, I graduated from Purdue University with a Bachelor of Science in Neurobiology and Physiology and a minor in Chemistry. During my undergraduate studies, I discovered my passion for translational research and molecular biology while working under the mentorship of Dr. Andrea Kasinski. Her lab focused on lung cancer research, specifically non-small cell lung cancer, which is the leading cause of cancer-related death among both men and women. My project examined the functional role of extracellular vesicles (EVs) in recruiting and reprogramming cells in the tumor microenvironment. I studied how EVs impart cancerous hallmarks, including enhanced proliferation and migration, as well as anchorage-independent growth and epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition. After graduating, I continued studying EVs at the National Institute on Aging (NIA, NIH) under the mentorship of Dr. Michele K. Evans. My research focused on EVs as biomarkers for age-related health disparities, such as frailty and hypertension. This experience allowed me to combine my passion for investigating the role of social determinants of health with molecular biology and sparked my interest in immunology. During this time, I developed my skills in biostatistical modeling using R, which cultivated my zeal for computational biology and bioinformatics. Currently, as part of the Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program (BSGP), I am a member of Dr. Christopher Oakes' lab, where we examine cancer epigenetics in hematological malignancies. My primary research interests lie in cancer biology, tumor immunology, and bioinformatic applications of machine learning models for multi-omic analyses.
I am a student in the biomedical informatics program where I am working with Dr. Dongjun Chung on the development of novel statistical models for network data. I came to OSU in January of 2020 with Dr. Chung from the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, where I was a PhD student in biostatistics. I received my BS in statistics in 2017 from the University of South Carolina in Columbia, SC. At USC, I developed an interest in the quantitative sciences through classes in probability and statistical computing, and learned about how these areas are crucial to biomedical sciences through collaborative research during my time at MUSC. Some of my previous research has involved statistical models for predicting dangerous water quality events around Charleston, SC and the development of Bayesian statistical models for longitudinal and multivariate data. While at OSU, I hope to make contributions to the field on network modeling – a powerful tool that is used for important biomedical research tasks such as characterizing the interactive behavior of genes in a pathway. I am excited to pursue this research at OSU with Dr. Chung and the other talented faculty on campus. Go Buckeyes!
I was grew up in Midland, Michigan. While in high school, I had the opportunity to work as a hospice volunteer. This early exposure to direct patient care had a tremendous impact on me and taught me the importance of a patient-centered approach. For my undergraduate training, I attended at The Ohio State University. I studied Biomedical Science and earned a Bachelor of Science in May 2020. As an undergraduate, I was a member of Dr. Federica Accornero’s lab where I studied the striated muscle-specific protein, melusin in the context of muscular dystrophy. My hope is to combine my passion for patient care and scientific inquiry and pursue a career as a physician scientist. Currently, I am interested in translational therapeutics for cancer, where I am particularly interested in studying these questions from a molecular perspective.
I was born and raised in Lexington, MA and am graduating from Tufts University with a B.S. in Biology in May 2021. I additionally spent my junior year enrolled at Pembroke College, Oxford where I studied biological sciences. Through research experiences at Tufts and Oxford and industry experience, I have become interested in computational biology and bioinformatics and in their respective applications in personalized medicine. As a graduate student at Ohio State, I am looking forward to developing my computational skills and joining a supportive research community.
I grew up in the greater Seattle area and attended the University of Washington (UW) for my undergraduate Biology degree and minor in Global Health. While at UW I worked at the Woodland Park Zoo where I studied endangered Partula snail biology and contributed to the Western Pond Turtle reintroduction project. I volunteered at a farm animal rescue, wildlife center, and worked as an ambulatory equine veterinary assistant. I also volunteered in a structural biology lab studying muscular dystrophy and an evolutionary biology lab studying mammalian bite force, which included many hours dissecting mammal heads. My courses in biomedical sciences and public health led me to peer TA for an immunology and infectious disease course. I also volunteered at the Center for One Health Research writing summaries and literature reviews. I received my MPH in Veterinary Public Health in 2019 where I studied zoonotic diseases, epidemiology, hospital surveillance, and antimicrobial stewardship. My research project focused on drug resistant gram-negative bacteria present at the OSU Veterinary Medical Center and helped inform infection control protocols. I look forward to further understanding the role of the immune system across species.
Originally from Bloomington, Illinois I attended the University of Missouri to obtain my degree in Biological Sciences. Although I entered with the intention of studying plant biology my interest slowly shifted towards medicine as I learned more about drug-gene interactions. After completing my undergraduate degree, I worked for three years under Dr. Tim Peterson in both an academic and industry setting, at Washington University and BIOIO, LLC respectively. With Dr. Peterson I worked on identifying drug targets through CRISPRi/a screening and elucidating the mechanism of action for a novel insulin-sensitizing NASH/diabetes drug. Since joining the BSGP at OSU I have joined a lab focused on identifying novel genes and approaches to treat cancer. I'm interested in performing translational research and am excited to learn from every opportunity at OSU as well as from the talented researchers here.
I was born in Charleston, South Carolina and grew up in the neighboring state of North Carolina, outside of Charlotte. During my undergraduate years I attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry in May of 2018. After graduating I worked under Dr. Steven Park in Charlotte, NC where I studied synergistically lethal drug combinations in Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma (NHL), as well as worked to develop new immunotherapies for translation to clinic. In the summer of 2022, I moved here to Columbus as a first-year student in the Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program and joined the lab of Dr. Jennifer Woyach, who studies Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL). I currently have a few projects in lab which focus on characterizing protein mutations in CLL and their impact on the tumor microenvironment, as well as testing novel small molecule inhibitors in CLL cells. Through our work we hope to better understand CLL and establish new therapeutic options for patients suffering from this disease.
I am from Delaware, Ohio, located north of Columbus. I studied at Walsh University and graduated in May of 2018 with a Bachelor of Science in Biology, where I worked with Dr. Robert Phillips on a project investigating the efficacy of multi-modal exercise programs to treat Parkinson’s patients. During breaks from school, I worked at Grady Memorial Hospital and Riverside Methodist Hospital as a rehabilitation technician, where I saw my research impact in a clinical setting. I began working at the Ohio State University as a research technician in Dr. Zachary Schultz’s group after graduation. My project utilizes surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy to probe a potential drug target, integrin αvβ3, in living human colon cancer cells. I am motivated to bridge basic science research with clinical applications, making the Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program an engaging and exciting environment in which to study. I am eager to further develop my skills as a research scientist in hopes of serving others by positively affecting patients’ lives through the knowledge I help develop in lab.
I am originally from Chittagong; Bangladesh, which is in the southern part of Asia. I completed my Bachelor's and Master’s in Biochemistry and Biotechnology from the University of Science and Technology, Chittagong(USTC), Bangladesh. During My master’s I worked full-time as the first female andrologist in my region in an in-vitro fertilization lab and it was such a tiring routine that anyone can imagine. But that whole clinical research on embryology and reproductive techniques made my passion for knowing more about human diseases mainly cancer. In 2018 I started my second master’s degree in Biomedical science, where the research focus was to develop RNA-based therapy for acute myocardial infarction. This whole new platform gave me a new thought to work toward cancer and even more strongly when I lost my father to Liver cancer. After I completed my master’s degree, I worked at the Ohio state university with Dr. Kalpana Ghoshal as Research Assistant on a Hepatocellular cancer project. Finally, I decided that I will learn the gene therapy approach to cure cancer and I joined the nationwide children's hospital as a Research Associate in Dr. Kathrin Meyer's lab. Currently, I started my Ph.D. research at the Ohio state university on the Neurological disorder, called NF2 (a rare disease) to cure the disease phenotype Vestibular schwannoma tumor using gene therapy.
I am from Lancaster, Ohio. I graduated from Otterbein University in 2020 with a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. After graduation, I started at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Dr. Yusen Liu’s laboratory working on a sepsis model. We specifically looked at the role of MKP-1 and its constituents in E. coli and C. albican infection. I worked at NCH for a year before applying to the Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program for summer enrollment in 2022. My background is largely in molecular biology and immunology, so I plan to continue down these avenues for future works at OSU.
