I was born and raised in Columbus, OH and attended Westerville South HS. During the summers following my Junior and Senior years, I was an apprentice in a molecular pathology lab that was led by Dr Thomas Prior. After earning my BS in biochemistry from Oakwood University, I moved to Brooklyn, NY and eventually began working as a lab technician at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, under Dr. David Weinstein, MD, PhD. Two years later, Dr. Weinstein founded GliaMed; a biotech company based on the novel interaction between an astrocytic ligand (CD81) and neuronal receptor (EPHA5) that re- established homeostasis following ischemic injury or disease. GliaMed also developed a set of small molecules, called regenerative immunophilin ligands (RIL), that facilitated stem cell-mediated regeneration in multiple composite tissues, after injury. While managing the RIL program, I completed the coursework for my MS in cell & molecular biology at Long Island University.

After GliaMed successfully exited, I briefly accepted a position at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, then went to Firmenich; a Swiss-based flavor & fragrance company. I re- wrote the protocol for isolating olfactory neuronal receptors and using calcium imaging to identify receptors of interest. My protocol dramatically improved throughput and was patented then used in The Gates Foundation’s mal-odor suppression initiative for developing countries. After three years, I accepted another position as a manager for the BioWatch program. While there, I led teams of two-to-four technicians who assayed environmental samples, from high-traffic areas in NYC, for the presence of bio-terror agents.

I finally grew tired of bench work, returned to Columbus, OH, and enrolled in OSU’s Fisher School of Business Full Time MBA Program. While matriculating, I co-founded a biotech company, called ReNovo Pharmaceuticals, that was based on unpatented RIL intellectual property. ReNovo won Rev1’s Spring 2016 Concept Academy and in 2017, was chosen among the first seven companies, from over 220 global applicants, for inclusion in Alexandria’s inaugural Launch Labs NYC Program. We changed the name to Lyganex Bio then merged with Rivertown Therapeutics; another startup that was co-founded by my mentor, Dr. David Weinstein. I served as the VP of Research for Rivertown. Recently, I accepted a Process Developer position with the Cell Therapy Lab at The James Cancer Center. Here, I perform translational research for experimental cell-based therapies that will be used as phase I trials. While performing my duties, I will pursue my doctorate in Translational Research. My goal is to promote bioscience innovation by providing ancillary support; either as a biotech board member/C-suite officer, venture capitalist, or director of an incubator.

I earned my undergraduate degree in 2015 from SUNY Geneseo, getting a B.S. in biochemistry and a minor in biomathematics. During my time at Geneseo, I had the opportunity to study sex-based differences in monocarboxylate-transporter-1 gene expression during a summer research project in the lab of Dr. Marilyn Morris in the Pharmaceutical Science department at the University at Buffalo. After graduating, I spent a year in the lab of Dr. Michael Ombrello at the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases in Bethesda, Maryland, where we used deep sequencing and bioinformatics pipelines to identify rare genetic variants that are associated with systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis. My research experiences at the NIH and UB helped me develop an interest in computational biology, which lead me to the lab of Dr. Ewy Mathe at OSU. I am currently working on developing tools for integrating metabolomic data and transcriptomic data on a pathway level, using hybrid integration approaches such as fuzzy logic modeling and linear modeling, as opposed to purely data-driven approaches such as Bayesian networks, or knowledge-driven approaches such as Boolean networks or Ordinary Differential Equations. I am interested in applying these techniques to identify novel, context-specific interactions between genes and metabolites, as well as to identify dysregulated biochemical pathways in sarcoma tumors.

I am from Harvard, IL, located halfway in between Chicago and Milwaukee. I earned a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio. During my time there, I studied abroad in Wittenberg, Germany, where I interned in a molecular cardiology lab at Martin Luther Universität. The focus of the research project was to find a way for cardiomyocytes to repair infarcts rather than collagen. Upon graduation from Wittenberg, I began as a research assistant in Dr. Paul Janssen’s laboratory here at The Ohio State University. During my time here, I have focused on skeletal muscle twitch kinetics of murine models in preclinical trials for innovative treatments for Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Combining my research experience has led me to be interested in the molecular and physiological aspects of cachexia in heart failure patients. I look forward to the training I will receive by the highly respected faculty at OSU.

I was born in Santa Ana, California, and raised in Minneapolis, Minnesota. I graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2017 with a degree in Mathematics, specialization in Physiology, and a minor in biology. During my undergraduate years, I was involved in research in the Mathematics Department creating stochastic models for epithelial cancer growth. Simultaneously, I was performing cell culture experiments in the Department of Medicine to better understand the progression of human diseases. After graduating, I became a research technician, where I continued my passion for biomedical sciences and where I began to apply my mathematical skills into bioinformatics. We are interested in studying the heterogeneity of cardiopharyngeal mesoderm, an embryonic population, which has a unique bipotent ability to generate cardiac and skeletal myogenic progenitors. We aim to generate Mesp1+ cranial skeletal myogenic progenitors and to determine their cell fate through single-cell RNA sequencing. Research has allowed me to be in an environment where I am consistently being challenged and learning. I have found this experience to be very rewarding. I hope to apply my knowledge to biomedical research as a lifelong career. My research interests are biomedical informatics, cancer biology, and immunology. I’m looking forward to learning from and being mentored by distinguished faculty in biomedical sciences.

In adult skeletal muscle, myogenesis counteracts acute and chronic damage by promoting muscle regeneration and subsequent growth. When muscles regenerate following injury or exercise, mRNA translation becomes de-repressed, thus allowing for muscle differentiation and repair. The cumulative effect of activating myogenesis and translation to promote the repair of damaged myofibers is enhanced rates of protein synthesis, which can consequently result in increases in muscle fiber cross-sectional area (hypertrophy). I work in the Accornero lab, where we work to understand regulation of gene expression and post-transcriptional control of protein synthesis during muscle stress and pathologic conditions. My project is aimed at understanding how post-transcriptional RNA modifications and translational control of protein synthesis contribute to reparative growth in hypertrophic and dystrophic skeletal muscles.

I was born in Denver, CO but later moved to Fort Wayne, IN where I spent most of my childhood. I attended Indiana University in Bloomington, IN where I earned a Bachelor of Science in Neuroscience and a Bachelor of Arts in Chemistry with High Distinction. I was an active member in the IU Run Club and IU Democrats while also working as a Medical Scribe in the Emergency Department at the IU Health Bloomington Hospital. My experiences would lead me to pursue a career in neuroscience research by joining a biotechnology startup in San Francisco shortly after graduation. As a Research Associate at System1 Biosciences, I helped drive the company’s mission of better modeling neurodevelopmental diseases and neurological disorders as a platform for therapeutic development. Through my work, I became interested in exploring the genetic factors contributing to disease and experimental therapeutics. I’m very excited to begin my training as a physician-scientist through the MSTP at The Ohio State University.

Tuberculosis (TB), caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M.tb), infects one fourth of the world’s population, and has recently become the number one cause of death due to an infectious disease worldwide. A group particularly susceptible to M.tb is the elderly, with over 50% of TB deaths seen in those aged 50 years and older. The exact reasons the elderly are so susceptible to M.tb infection are not clear, but one major contributing factor is believed to be “inflammaging,” that is, the increase of the basal inflammatory state of an individual as they age. Aged mice exhibit different immune responses to M.tb than younger counterparts. Using a mouse model, I study how the increased inflammation associated with age impacts the control of primary M.tb infection, and how this is related to the eventual failure of old mice to control the disease. By furthering our understanding of how inflammaging alters the immune response to M.tb infection, we can develop ways to modulate inflammation to prevent M.tb-related mortalities in the aged. These findings may additionally have the potential to relate to any disease in which inflammation is a significant risk factor.

I’m originally from Solon, OH, a suburb of Cleveland. I graduated from the University of Pittsburgh in 2011 with a Bachelor of Science in Biology. After graduation, I was a lab technician at UPitt, where I collected and processed patient blood samples to study genetic susceptibility to pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer. I have also worked as an inpatient hospital care attendant at UPMC. For the last 4 years, I have been a lab technician for Dr. Alexander Yatsenko at Magee Women’s Research Institute in Pittsburgh. My research focused on studying the genetics of male infertility through whole exome sequencing of patients with non-obstructive azoospermia, bioinformatics, and transgenic mouse models. Going forward, I have a strong interest in studying molecular genetics, and I’m glad to be pursuing it here with the talented OSU community.

Neuromodulation is emerging as one of the fastest-growing fields in medical technology by providing patients, whom otherwise have exhausted all other treatment options for their neurological condition, a renewed hope for overcoming their disability. However, though the neuromodulation field is rapidly advancing and the number of applications grow, pertinent issues regarding the physical and functional integration of neuroelectronic implants, significantly compromise future improvement in reliability and longevity of implantable devices. To address these challenges, my research in the lab of Dr. Liang Guo, PhD, focuses on designing board-level multicellular circuits, namely Integrated Biocircuits. The goal of our research is to engineer implantable neuromodulation devices in which the structural components and input/output functions are made using only living cells. Integrating the functions of the body’s innate cellular circuit designs into implantable biodevices could allow natural, plastic, and highly specific therapies to targeted neuronal populations in a manner which neither requires an external power source nor causes long-term immune rejection. Thus, the success of this technology will potentially lead to the development of a more effective and reliable neuromodulation system for treating neurological diseases.

I am a lifelong native of Columbus, Ohio. I attended The Ohio State University, where I studied Biochemistry and earned my Bachelor of Science degree in May 2015. During my undergraduate years, I volunteered in Dr. Randy Nelson’s lab, where I studied clock genes and circadian rhythm. Following graduation, I worked as a Research Assistant in Dr. Lei Cao’s lab. There, I studied environmental enrichment, metabolism, cancer biology, social isolation, gene therapy, adeno-associated viruses, autism, and aging. My previous research experiences and mentors have motivated me to pursue a career in medical research. My research interests are broad, but I have a particular interest in how environmental factors can modulate metabolic disease and cancer progression. I am excited to begin learning and training with the BSGP.

I grew up in beautiful San Francisco, California. As a high school student, I saw first-hand how my grandfather's cancer was treated, with an arsenal of pills that were supposed to cure his disease, yet they harnessed even more dreadful effects than cancer itself. My frustration with how his cancer was treated led to my interest and a long-term goal of developing targeted medicines with lower toxicity to normal cells. After graduating high school, I attended University of California Santa Cruz where I worked in Dr. Todd Lowe’s non-coding RNA lab. My project focused on elucidating the potential protective roles that tRNA halves play in response to critical stresses such as aging and further understanding other non-canonical roles that tRNAs can play in a cell. During my summers as an undergrad, I also interned at the biopharmaceutical company Boehringer-Ingelheim (BI) in Fremont, California. In 2015, I graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Bioengineering and a minor in Bioinformatics. Following graduation, I took a 2 year scientist position at BI where I worked on technology development for improving continuous processing for biologics manufacturing. At BI I worked on perfusion bioreactors, media development, and automated scale down models for perfusion. My experiences in both academia and industry have given me a passion for solving problems in science with a particular interest in cancer immunotherapies and chemical engineering. It is my aspiration to build upon these skills at Ohio State and work collaboratively with talented engineers, physicians, and cancer biologists. By understanding how cells become cancerous, I hope to use my graduate education to develop and utilize technologies that will help improve cancer treatment.

I grew up in Bucks County Pennsylvania, about 45 minutes outside of Philadelphia. I earned by Bachelor of Science degree in Biology and Biochemistry from Virginia Tech in May of 2009. I worked briefly in academia and then in industry at TechLab, Inc., developing a novel vaccine candidate for Entamoeba histolytica. This work inspired me to learn more about host-pathogen interactions and in August of 2011, I joined Dr. Michelle Parent’s laboratory at the University of Delaware in pursuit of my Master of Science Degree. I studied the immune response to Vibrio parahaemolyticus infection and earned my degree in May of 2013. Next, I became an Adjunct Lecturer at Roanoke College, where I taught for two semesters before joining the laboratory of Dr. Ken Oestreich at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at Virginia Tech in October of 2013. While I joined Dr. Oestreich’s lab as a Laboratory Coordinator/Research Specialist, I have deeply enjoyed the work and decided to return to graduate school in the Fall of 2018. Now, I am continuing my research in the Oestreich lab in pursuit of my Ph.D., studying the role of novel transcriptional complexes in regulating both T helper cell fate as well as lymphocyte mimicry and metastatic potential in breast cancer. I recently received a 2019 Graduate Women in Science Fellowship to pursue aspects of this work. Ultimately, it is my hope that this work will provide insight into novel immunotherapeutic targets to treat human disease.

I received a Bachelor of Arts in Biology from Concordia College-New York. During my training as Discovery PREP scholar, I worked with Dr. Michael Bailey in the Center for Microbial Pathogenesis. My current research project focuses on the effects of the microbiota and stress on colitis and behavior in rodents. Outside of the laboratory, I am an Emergency Medical Technician and Pharmacy technician. I enjoy serving others and I also love learning about new cultures and languages. My research experience as a Discovery PREP trainee, undergraduate career, and passion for science motivated me to pursue a career in Biomedical Sciences research. My interests include immunology, infectious diseases, gut-brain relationship, epidemiology, the pathology of cancer, molecular biology, and genetics. I am looking forward to pursuing these interests and receiving training from the dedicated and talented faculty and staff in the Biomedical Sciences Program at The Ohio State University.

I grew up in Ashburn, Virginia and attended Shenandoah University where I obtained a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Biology. During my time at Shenandoah University, I spent 2 years studying fungal endophytes within the American and Chinese chestnut trees to identify fungal species that may contribute to chestnut blight resistance. The goal of the chestnut project is to one day restore the American chestnut tree to its former glory. In 2017, I did a summer research project at The Ohio State University in their Research Experience for Undergraduates (OSU REU) in the lab of Dr. Craig Burd. In Dr. Burd’s lab, I cloned fluorescence tags onto Growth Regulation by Estrogens in Breast Cancer 1 (GREB1). Growing evidence shows that GREB1 is an important component of cell proliferation in cancers of the breast, ovaries, and prostate and may be a useful therapeutic target. After graduating from Shenandoah, I started a post-baccalaureate fellowship at the National Cancer Institute (NCI). At NCI, I started in the Laboratory of Cancer Biology and Genetics (LCBG)’s Mouse and Genotyping Core Facility and then moved to the Laboratory of Pathology (LP) during my second year. In LP, I studied how Tissue Inhibitor of Metalloproteinases (TIMPs) affect invasion and metastasis while optimizing advanced 3D organotypic cultures to study how TIMPs, specifically TIMP2, could be used to treat metastatic disease.

I was raised in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. I attended Cardinal Stritch University, where I majored in Biology and minored in Chemistry and Biotechnology. During my college years I worked various jobs ranging from Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA), laboratory assistant to the Department of Natural Sciences at Cardinal Stritch, and student intern at the BloodCenter of Wisconsin. My junior year of college, I secure two internship at the Medical College of Wisconsin Program for Undergraduate Research Experience (PURE) and Summer Research for Undergraduate Research Experience (SPURE) with Dr. Richard Robinson. My projects focused on host and pathogen interaction with an emphasis on immune response. This work will be useful in helping people with compromised immune systems fight off mycobacterium infections. My Research interests are focused around translational medicine. The objective of my research is to develop novel treatments for pathogenic bacterial species.

I was born in Utica, New York and I have lived in Central New York for much of my life. I am a Clarkson University graduate in Bimolecular Science. I graduated in the spring of 2019 with honors and is a McNair scholar. During my time as an undergraduate, I conducted research at Clarkson University, The Trudeau Institute, and Mississippi State University. My research interests pertain to the intersection of immunology, microbiology, and applied genomics and the interdisciplinary use of these fields to understand and combat disease. I am most interested in vaccine development, antibiotic resistance, and pathogen-host recognition and response.

I was born and raised in Alpine, Utah, a small but growing town in central Utah located right up against the Wasatch Mountains. I attended Brigham Young University, where I studied Biochemistry and earned my Bachelor of Science degree in April of 2018 while also minoring in Music. My research in Biochemistry began in June 2011 as a junior in high school where I received an internship working with Dr. Daniel Simmons of the Department of Biochemistry at Brigham Young University. His work aligned with my interest in studying pathology and novel enzyme processes. I was able to continue to work with Dr. Simmons throughout my high school and college studies assisting in and leading multiple projects studying cyclooxygenase and nucleobindin. Following graduation in 2018, I was hired to work as a lab specialist with Dr. Simmons at his startup research company, Intronex. My greatest contribution at Intronex was developing a process to purify an enzyme from the cyclooxygenase family and measure its activity. I also spent a summer in 2017 with Dr. Randy Jensen at the Huntsman Cancer Institute studying hypoxia in meningiomas and gliomas and how hypoxia affects radiation treatment in these cancers. I’ve loved the time I’ve spent doing research and it has motivated me to continue to pursue a career in medical research. I have a particular interest in studying immunology and cancer biology, and I look forward to the training I’ll receive under the amazing faculty in the program.

I am originally from Columbus, Ohio. I earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Zoo and Conservation Science from Otterbein University in Westerville, Ohio in April 2017. Although I began college wanting to pursue veterinary medicine, it was after a summer research fellowship in Dr. Oliver Ryder’s genetics lab at the San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research that I determined that research was my true passion. During that summer, I investigated a possible genetic cause of iron overload in browsing species of rhinoceros. I used that data as the basis of my undergraduate honors thesis. After graduation, I began working as a research assistant in Dr. Ray Hershberger’s lab at the Ohio State University, using molecular genetics techniques to study dilated cardiomyopathy. The knowledge and experience that I have gained in this position solidified my interest in pursuing a career in biomedical research. Right now, my strongest interests are in genomic and precision medicine, but I am open to new research focuses and am looking forward to expanding my knowledge and learning other techniques.

I completed my undergraduate studies at Allegheny College in Meadville, Pennsylvania, and I graduated magna cum laude in May of 2015 with a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry and a minor in French. My research under the mentorship of Dr. John Gunn focuses on microbial pathogenesis and experimental therapeutics. Our laboratory studies the human-specific pathogen Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi, which causes typhoid fever, an acute systemic disease that remains endemic in developing regions. The spread of S. Typhi has been shown to be driven by asymptomatic chronic carriage of the bacterium in the gallbladder, as chronic carriers can intermittently shed the bacterium in feces and transmit the disease by contaminating food or water (think Typhoid Mary). Our lab has shown that chronic carriage of S. Typhi is mediated by the formation of adherent bacterial communities called biofilms on the surface of gallstones. These biofilms are highly resistant to antibiotic therapy; therefore, the treatment option for chronic carriers is currently limited to surgical removal of the gallbladder, an intervention which is costly, invasive, and particularly high-risk in typhoid-affected areas. My project therefore aims to identify, characterize, and test novel anti-biofilm therapies capable of preventing and/or disrupting Salmonella biofilms that could be further developed as preventative or therapeutic measures for chronic S. Typhi infections. Currently, I am testing small molecule-based, antibody-mediated, and enzymatic strategies against Salmonella biofilms and am investigating the mechanisms by which these agents compromise biofilm formation and structural maintenance.

I was born in Loudonville, Ohio, a small farm-town located in Ashland County. I attended The Ohio State University, where I studied Biology and received my Bachelor of Science degree in May 2019. During my time at Ohio State I worked as a teaching assistant for general chemistry courses and participated in research. I joined Dr. William Carson’s lab, which has an immune-based focus on cancer treatments, in the fall of 2017 as an undergraduate research assistant and then was awarded the Pelotonia Fellowship in June 2018. My project focused on targeting an immunosuppressive cell type known as Tumor-associated macrophages, in order to reduce immunosuppression and migration of suppressive cells in the tumor microenvironment. My research experience has inspired me to pursue a career in medical research with a focus on immunology and cancer biology.

I was born in the District of Columbia and raised in the quaint, rural town of Dunkirk, Maryland. I attended North Carolina State University in Raleigh and earned my Bachelor of Science degree in Genetics in May 2017. In the summer of 2015, I joined a two year internship experience at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS/NIH) in Research Triangle Park, NC. I worked on several collaborative projects with Dr. Shepherd Schurman of the Clinical Research Unit and Dr. Negin Martin of the Viral Vector Core. Over the course of two years, I participated in a genotype-phenotype association study whereby single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) of the RNA Component of the Mitochondrial RNA Processing Endoribonuclease (RMRP) gene were identified in North Carolina residents and characterized for their likelihood of predicting or expressing Cartilage Hair Hypoplasia (CHH) disease-like symptoms. I also created several in-vivo and in-vitro CRISPR/Cas9 models which sought to either knock-down or regulate expression of the essential RMRP gene. Finally, I created a lentiviral cell line stably expressing NSAID Activated Gene 1 (NAG-1) and it’s SNP variant (H6D) to be used in live mouse studies to characterize their ability to reverse obesity in obese C57bl/6 mice. The research I conducted here helped me realize my passion for personalized medicine and utilizing gene therapy to cure previously incurable diseases. Through my active participation in Dance Marathon at NC State, I have a special interest in rare childhood diseases and hope to work closely with the Gene Therapy Group at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in downtown Columbus.

I was born in Cleveland, Ohio and graduated from The Ohio State University with a Bachelor of Science in Biology in 2019. During my time at Ohio State, I worked under the guidance of Dr. Wael Jarjour in the Division of Rheumatology and Immunology. I completed an honors thesis working on the development of an extracellular vesicle-derived miRNA antagonist cocktail as a potential therapeutic treatment for systemic lupus erythematosus. Additionally, I spent a summer doing research under Dr. Mitchell Drumm at Case Western Reserve University. Upon graduation from Ohio State, I returned to spend a year doing research on cystic fibrosis and glycogen storage disease in Dr. Drumm’s lab. My beneficial and formative experiences in both of these labs led to my decision to pursue a career in research. I would like to return to my background in immunology in the future and hope to continue my education in the field of immunology and cancer immunotherapy while in the Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program.

I was born in Kolkata and raised in Singapore and Bangalore. I will be graduating from VIT University, Tamil Nadu, India with my Bachelor's degree in Biotechnology. As an undergraduate project student, I gained my research experience by working on developing an in vitro cell line model for Leukocyte Adhesion Deficiency type 1. This project was done at the gene therapy lab under the guidance of Dr. Everette Nelson. My learning here is reinforcing my interest in biomedical research. I look forward to joining the program and gaining a significant amount of knowledge and experience; while having a lot of fun doing it. I am interested in studying autoimmune diseases and virology. I hope to further develop these interests with the help of the distinguished faculty at Ohio State University.

Born and raised in Maharashtra, India. I completed my bachelor’s degree in biotechnology in 2014. After that, I joined VIT University in Vellore, India for an MS in biotechnology, where research and core curriculum were given equal credits. In my master’s thesis, I tried to see the consequence of consuming profoundly used drug Metformin, along with easily available antioxidants and found out that this combination might lead to adverse effects on life span and other health parameters in mice. Following the MS program, I joined IISER, Pune and worked on neuro-epigenetics in collaboration with professor Vidita Vaidya’s lab at TIFR, Mumbai, where we focused on how epigenetic modifications play role in adult neurogenesis. After a year, I got an opportunity to work as a research associate at Boston University, School of medicine with professor Konstantin Kandror. I started off with finding how Insulin controls leptin production in adipocytes and majorly focused on molecular mechanisms leading to cellular clock resetting by Insulin. During this time, I attended, Dr. Willa Hsueh’s talk and got intrigued by the ongoing translational research at The Ohio State University, I decided to join her lab for my doctoral studies. Our lab works in the field of Immunometabolism; to figure out a way to understand and overcome inflammation driven complications. I am looking forward to be a graduate from such a diverse place and contribute in whichever small way I can to the field. 

Before coming to Ohio, I grew up in Scottsdale, AZ and attended both New York University and Arizona State University for my undergraduate education. I spent my freshman year at NYU and studied Chemistry while doing research in DNA Nanotechnology. During my time at ASU, I earned a degree in Biochemistry and participated in a number of research labs including organic synthesis of xenonucleic acids and development of fluorescent polymers. Outside of the labs, I worked with clinicians to cultivate my clinical interest in pursuit of my medical education. I spent my time shadowing Iva Smolens, a cardiothoracic surgeon in Mesa, Arizona. I graduated from Arizona State in 2017 with a Bachelor’s of Science in Biochemistry and began my MD/PhD training at The Ohio State University in Fall of 2017. After completing my second year of medical school I joined the lab of Dr. Rosa Lapalombella and Dr. John Byrd studying Acute Myeloid Leukemia. I have a number of projects currently which include development of an AML mouse model, investigation of a potential tumor suppressor gene, and working with a pharmaceutical company for drug development testing. In the long run I hope to combine my clinical work with my research to help understand patients both in the clinic and in the lab.

I grew up in Rayland, Ohio, which is a small village in the eastern part of the state and graduated in 2016 from West Liberty University, where I majored in Biology and minored in Chemistry. In the summer of 2015, I was a part of a research internship at West Liberty University where I began a project under the guidance of Dr. Joseph Horzempa studying the bacterium Francisella tularensis. The time that I spent in the lab over that summer led me to pursue a career in biomedical research which brought me to Ohio State University. After my first rotation in Dr. Kristin Stanford’s physiology lab, I decided to return to the field of microbial pathogenesis. I then rotated in Dr. Kevin Mason’s and Dr. Paul Stoodley’s labs and decided to join Dr. Stoodley in studying Pseudomonas aeruginosa. My project specifically focuses on the molecular mechanisms that generate variants of P. aeruginosa in response to antibiotic therapy which is a growing problem worldwide. I have learned a lot so far during my time at OSU and am looking forward to continuing my studies under the outstanding faculty here.

I was born and raised in Sacramento, California where I attended Sacramento State University and earned my Bachelor of Science in May 2017. I started off as a civil engineering major for one semester, I quickly realized from taking several biology classes in high school that I wanted to continue studying biology. The beginning of my undergraduate experience I had aspirations of going to medical school, but after taking an introductory cellular and molecular biology course I immediately appreciated research dedicated to signal transduction pathways and biological mechanisms for diseases. Soon after this time in April 2015 I was extremely fortunate to begin undergraduate research in a microbiology lab with Dr. Robert Crawford. The overarching focus of the lab was in host-pathogen interactions of the skin microbiome, where I worked on projects relevant to wound healing and acne vulgaris infection. The work that other lab members and I accomplished has helped to understand these states of dysbiosis, and aid in establishing alternative therapeutics to antibiotics. As a PhD student it will be a tremendous honor to work with the well-recognized faculty of the Ohio State University and physicians of Nationwide Children's Hospital committed to host-pathogen interactions of common infections.

I was born and raised in Columbus, OH. In 2019, I graduated from Washington and Lee University with a degree in Chemistry. As an undergraduate and for the year following my graduation, I worked with Drs. Peter White and Kim McBride at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, using bioinformatics techniques and computer programming to identify novel genetic mutations implicated in the etiology of congenital heart defects. My previous projects include the creation of a program that uses protein expression data from multi-level experiments to construct a genetic pathway for the pathogenesis of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease propagated by diet and estrogen in rats; variant analysis on the genomic data obtained from whole exome and whole genome sequencing of over 1,000 patients and family members with heart defects; and the development of a web app to automate and improve the analysis of wound healing assays. I have proficiency in the coding languages Python and Bash, as well as, familiarity with R. My personal research interests involve utilizing how bioinformatics, data science, and computer programming to enhance our understandings of molecular and cellular mechanisms.

I was born and raised in Steubenville, Ohio, a small town on the eastern border of Ohio just west of Pittsburgh. After leaving Steubenville, I studied biology at The Ohio State University, earning a Bachelor of Science in biology with a minor in forensic science in 2017. During my time as an undergraduate, I volunteered at Nationwide Children’s Hospital as well as The Ohio State University’s Wexner Medical Center. I also volunteered in Dr. Ramiro Garzon’s hematology laboratory where I aided in the processing of blood samples for clinical trials, became acquainted with mouse models of disease and performed various benchtop experiments. Upon my graduation in 2017, I was offered a position as a research assistant by Dr. Parvathi Ranganathan. For the past two years, I have worked under Dr. Ranganathan’s mentorship studying acute graft-versus-host disease, a fatal complication of bone marrow transplantation. Upon noticing my dedicated interest in the disease and my passion for research, Dr. Ranganathan agreed to mentor me throughout the duration of my graduate studies as a part of the Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program. With her guidance as well as the guidance of the faculty of the program, I hope to grow as a scientist and to develop the skills and knowledge necessary to advance research in the field of immunology and to tackle this deadly disease.

I was born and raised in Buck County PA, which is about 45 minutes north of Philadelphia. I attended Washington & Jefferson College, a small school just south of Pittsburgh, where I earned degrees in Chemistry and German Language in May of 2017. During undergrad, I had the opportunity to research with Dr. Michael Leonard on an organic synthesis of a naturally occurring serine-protease inhibitor that helps cyanobacteria avoid the detoxification process of water. I also had the chance to research with Dr. Robbie Iuliucci on an analytical chemistry study where we stabilized polymorphic drugs with paramagnetic relaxation agents to speed up characterization by solid-state NMR spectroscopy. After graduating from W&J, I attended Georgetown University where I completed the special master’s program in physiology and earned my M.S. in physiology. I then began working as a research assistant for Dr. Gina Sizemore here in the radiation oncology division at The Ohio State University studying the effects of PDGFRB signaling in the tumor microenvironment of metastatic breast cancer. These experiences have made me excited to begin working towards my PhD with the talented faculty at OSU.

I was born and raised in Coleman, Michigan, which is located in the Central Michigan area. I attended Central Michigan University, where I studied Biomedical Science and earned my Bachelor of Science degree in May 2016. During my time as an undergrad I worked with Dr. Stephen Juris focusing on the bacterial pathogenVibrio cholerae by attempting to identify mutated Actin Crosslinking Domain (ACD) plasmid sequences that allow Saccharomyces cerevisiae to survive Wild-Type ACD expression. I also completed my Master of Science degree at CMU. My graduate research with Dr. Stephen Juris focused on the biochemical interactions of the VcRTXA toxin produced by Vibrio cholerae specifically by attempting to identify the Actin-ACD binding sites of VcRTXA in vitro. This work will be used in the future for drug-discovery purposes with the goal of creating a new cost-efficient drug to be used to fight Cholera in developing countries. My research experience and my time at CMU have motivated me to pursue a career in medical research. I have a particular interest in immunology and microbial pathogenesis, and I look forward to being trained by the dedicated and talented faculty of the program.

I graduated from Penn State University in 2018 with a B.S. in Kinesiology, and have a great interest in women’s health. During my undergraduate career at Penn State, I was a research assistant in the Women’s Health and Exercise Laboratory under Mary Jane De Souza. While in the lab, I completed my undergraduate honors thesis on energy imbalance in female athletes and the effects that energy deficiency has on the gut and reproductive system. Upon entering graduate school, I joined Daniel Stover’s laboratory. Here, my projects focus on using bioinformatics tools to explore how the genetic landscape underlying breast cancer relates to clinical outcomes for patients.

I grew up in Livonia, Michigan, which is a suburb about twenty minutes outside of Detroit. I graduated from the College of Wooster in 2017 where I earned my Bachelor of Arts in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. During my sophomore year, I began working in a plant pathology lab at the Ohio Agricultural and Research Development Center researching how plant viruses can suppress the natural defense system of the host. My work at the OARDC culminated into a summer internship and a Senior Independent Study. It provided me the motivation to pursue a PhD. Although, I enjoyed my time studying plant pathology I have always been passionate about human health, and I am excited to start learning and investigating the molecular mechanisms behind health and disease. I have not committed to a specific lab, but my research interests include cellular physiology and genetics.

I was raised in Michigan and went to Central Michigan University for my undergraduate degree in Biomedical Sciences. My sophomore year, I was accepted into the McNair Scholars program that enlightened me on what it means to earn a PhD. McNair was my leap into research and built my fire for research. My Honors Capstone project was focused on redundant pathways compensating for the loss of sax-3/ROBO in pancreatic cancer in the lab of Dr. Jamie Alan. Upon earning my B.S. degree, I attended Vanderbilt University and earned my Master of Science in Molecular Pathology and Immunology. While there, my project focused on the role of tissue factor isoforms in Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome and determining alternate pathways for treatment. After finishing my Master’s degree, I began research in the lab of Dr. Peter Mohler focused on the genetics of families with rare, familial cardiovascular diseases such coronary artery disease and sudden cardiac death. Dr. Mohler’s lab has strengthened my passion for translational research and patient-based basic science.