233 S. 10th Street
Bluemle Life Sciences Building
Philadelphia, PA 19107
Sharanya is a second-year trainee in the Neuroscience PhD Program and is training in the laboratory of Dr. Angelo Lepore in the Department of Neuroscience. Sharanya is also a fourth-year student in the MD/PhD Program. She is working to understand the role of synaptic cell adhesion molecules in motor circuitry after cervical spinal cord injury.
Mark is a second-year trainee in the Biochemistry, Structural, & Molecular Biology PhD Program and is training in the laboratory of Dr. Michael Soniat in the Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology. Mark is investigating the regulation of DNA resection machinery at telomeres.
Jillian is a second-year trainee in the Biochemistry, Structural, & Molecular Biology PhD Program and is training in the laboratory of Dr. Lin Guo in the Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology. Jillian is working to further characterize RNA Binding Protein (RBP) phase behavior and Nuclear Import Receptor (NIR) interactions within stress granules.
Vanesa is a second-year trainee in the Neuroscience PhD Program and is training in the laboratory of Dr. Davide Trotti in the Department of Neuroscience and the Weinberg ALS Center. Vanesa is working to identify altered stress response mechanisms in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and their roles in triggering systemic innate immune activation.
Anna is a second-year trainee in the Biochemistry, Structural, and Molecular Biology (BSMB) PhD program and is training in the Laboratory of Dr. Erik Debler in the Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology. Anna investigates mechanisms of chromatin biology in the parasite Trypanosoma brucei, which may pave the way for new anti-parasitic therapies.
Brian is a third-year trainee in the PhD Program in Cell Biology & Regenerative Medicine and is training in the laboratories of Drs. Anjali Mishra and Christine Eischen of the Department of Pharmacology, Physiology, & Cancer Biology. Brian is also in the MD/PhD Program (in the fifth year of the MD/PhD Program). Brian is investigating novel cancer treatment targets that
control fundamental survival pathways in T-cell leukemia and
lymphoma.
Danielle is a third-year trainee in the Neuroscience PhD
Program and is training in the laboratory Dr. Diane Merry in
the Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology.
Danielle is working to understand the patterns of somatic
expansion of CAG repeats in spinal and bulbar muscular
atrophy and the role of DNA mismatch repair genes in
somatic expansion, symptom onset, and disease
progression.
Geethu is a third-year trainee in the PhD Program in Genetics, Genomics & Cancer Biology and is training in the laboratory of Dr. Andrew Aplin in the Department of Pharmacology, Physiology, & Cancer Biology. Geethu is also in the MD/PhD Program (in the fifth year of the MD/PhD Program). Geethu is studying how RAS-targeted therapies can stimulate antitumor immunity in acral melanoma through pyroptotic cell death.
Mustafa is a third-year trainee in the Biochemistry,
Structural, & Molecular Biology PhD Program and is training
in the laboratory of Dr. Zheng Ruan of the Department of
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology. Mustafa is working to
characterize the mechanism of neuromuscular junction
formation by defining novel binding interactions in Agrin-
MuSK-LRP4-mediated signaling.
Katie is a third-year trainee in the PhD Program in Biochemistry, Structural & Molecular Biology and is training in the laboratories of Drs. Anna Pluciennik and Michael Soniat in the Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology. Katie is studying DNA polymerase dynamics on repetitive DNA with a focus on somatic repeat expansion in the context of Huntington's disease.
Kerry is a fourth-year trainee in the Neuroscience PhD
Program and is training in the laboratory of Dr. Le Ma in the
Department of Neuroscience. Kerry’s research focuses on
the morphological development of sensory neurons and the
non-cell autonomous mechanisms that contribute to their
structural maturation and proper functioning.
Erin is a fourth-year trainee in the Genetics, Genomics, & Cancer Biology PhD Program and is training in the laboratory of Dr. Claudia Capparelli in the Department of Medical Oncology. Erin is studying the role of SOX10-deficient melanocytes in UV radiation-induced DNA damage and melanoma initiation.
Emilee is a fourth-year trainee in the Immunology & Molecular Pathogenesis PhD Program and is training in the laboratory of Dr. Fabienne Paumet in the Department of Microbiology & Immunology. Emilee is studying how IncA-mediated homotypic fusion promotes pathogenicity and alters the host immune response during Chlamydia infection.
Josh is a fourth-year trainee in the Cell Biology & Regenerative Medicine PhD Program and is training in the laboratory of Dr. Marco Tigano in the Department of Pathology & Genomic Medicine. Josh is developing a novel technology that combines genome-wide CRISPR screenings with subcellular resolution to investigate genetic modulators of mitochondrial (dys)functions.
Sarah is a fourth-year trainee in the Biochemistry, Structural, & Molecular Biology PhD Program and is training in the laboratory of Dr. Dmitry Temiakov in the Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology. Sarah is working to understand the mechanisms of mitochondrial replication by studying the function and interactions of the mitochondrial replisome.
Andrea is a fourth-year trainee in the Neuroscience PhD
Program and is training with Dr. Elena Blanco-Suarez (San Diego
State University) and Dr. Scott Waldman in the Department of
Pharmacology, Physiology, & Cancer Biology. Andrea is also in the
MD/PhD Program (in the sixth year of the MD/PhD Program). Andrea
is investigating subanesthetic ketamine as a pharmacological
approach to enhance astrocyte-mediated neural plasticity and
improve recovery late after ischemic stroke.
Will is a fifth-year trainee in the Biochemistry, Structural, & Molecular Biology PhD program and is training in the laboratory of Dr. Richard Pomerantz in the Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology. Will is working to identify the mechanism of action of a novel small-molecule inhibitor of ALC1 to aid in overcoming PARP inhibitor resistance in BRCA-associated cancers.
Jackie is a fifth-year trainee in the Biochemistry, Structural, & Molecular Biology PhD Program and is training in the laboratory of Dr. Lin Guo in the Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology. Jackie is working to identify and characterize novel short RNA oligonucleotides to mitigate FUS aggregation in the context of ALS and FTD.
Casey is a fifth-year trainee in the Biochemistry, Structural, & Molecular Biology PhD Program and is training in the laboratory of Dr. Diane Merry in the Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology. Casey is studying biochemical approaches to target the enhanced interaction between the deubiquitinase USP7 and polyglutamine-expanded AR in spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy.
Mary is a fifth-year trainee in the Immunology & Microbial Pathogenesis PhD Program and is training in the laboratory of Dr. Holly Ramage in the Department of Microbiology & Immunology. Mary is studying molecular interactions between viral and host proteins during flavivirus infection to identify novel mechanisms of host antiviral immunity and viral immune evasion.
Jodi is a sixth-year trainee in the Cell Biology and Regenerative Biology PhD Program and is training in the laboratory of Dr. Sue Menko in the Department of Pathology & Genomic Medicine. Jodi’s project is focused on investigating the function of immune cells that associate with the avascular lens.
Annie is a sixth-year trainee in the Biochemistry, Structural, & Molecular Biology PhD Program and is training in the laboratory of Dr. Scott Waldman in the Department of Pharmacology, Physiology, & Cancer Biology. Annie is studying the role of neuropod Guanylyl Cyclase C in ascending nociception.
Brittany is a sixth-year trainee in the Biochemistry, Structural, & Molecular Biology PhD Program and is training in the laboratory of Dr. Christine Eischen in the Department of Pharmacology, Physiology & Cancer Biology. Brittany is studying the mechanisms underlying the regulation by MDM2 of the Mre11/Rad50/Nbs1 (MRN) DNA break repair complex in human cancers.
Alana is a sixth-year trainee in the Neuroscience PhD Program and is training in the laboratory of Dr. Le Ma in the Department of Neuroscience. Alana is studying the molecular mechanisms by which the neuronal proteins Robo and Slit are involved in the recognition and repulsion of self-avoidance in the dendrites of Purkinje cells.
Samantha defended her PhD thesis in February 2025, after training in the laboratory of Dr. Angelo Lepore in the Department of Neuroscience, investigating therapeutic strategies for targeted restoration of damaged neural circuitry following spinal cord injury. Samantha is also in the MD/PhD Program (currently in the eighth year of the MD/PhD Program.