BTP Students

 

Francesca Ansonfrancesca-copyNIH Trainee 2016-2018
fanson@umass.edu
Graduate Program: Chemistry
Lab: Jeanne Hardy and Sankaran Thayumanavan
Research Interests:  Characterize and expand the formulation of potent apoptosis inducing nanogels using combinations of enzymes and small molecule therapeutics for targeted delivery.
margaux-audettMargaux Audett, NIH Trainee 2016-2018
maudett@umass.edu
Graduate Program: Molecular and Cellular Biology
Lab: Thomas Maresca
Research Interests: Kinetochore proteins in the spindle assembly checkpoint during cell division.
Hyerim Ban, UMass Fellow 2021-2022
hban@umass.edu
Graduate Program: Molecular and Cellular Biology
Lab: Lauren Andrews and Jessica Schiffman
Research Interests: Developing new approaches for genetic manipulation across the genome-wide scale for engineering cell responses and aiding the design of material properties
Cameron Butova, NIH Trainee 2015-2017
cbutova@gmail.com
Graduate Program: Molecular and Cellular Biology
Lab: Scott C. Garman
Research Interests: Investigate the molecular basis of the inherited metabolic disease known as Fabry disease.
Brandon Clarke, UMass Fellow 2020-2021
bstuntebeck@umass.edu
Graduate Program: Polymer Science and Engineering
Lab: Greg Tew
Research Interest: The design of bottlebrush network tissue mimics with tunable properties
Kristalle Cruz, UMass Fellow 2018-2020
kgcruz@umass.edu
Graduate Program: Chemistry
Lab: Jeanne Hardy
Research Interest: Structural studies of emerging alpha-viral proteases for antiviral development.
Amber de Neve, NIH Trainee 2020-2021
adeneve@umass.edu
Graduate Program: Plant Biology
Lab: Madelaine Barlett
Research Interests: Understanding the genetic mechanisms controlling floral development
Kerianne Dobosz, UMass Fellow 2015-2017
kdobosz@engin.umass.edu
Graduate Program: Chemical Engineering
Lab: Jessica Schiffman
Research Interests: Create a new generation of UF membranes with higher flux and lower operating costs for tailored biofouling and selectivity.
Connor Giles, NIH Trainee 2020-2021
cgiles@umass.edu
Graduate Program: Chemical Engineering
Lab: Jungwoo Lee
Research Interests: Engineering the tumor microenvironment to investigate dormancy
Greg Gregory, NIH Trainee 2020-2022
ggregory@umass.edu
Graduate Program: Plant Biology
Lab: Sam Hazen
Research Interests: Investigating gene regulation determinants to facilitate increased plant productivity through synthetic biology
Ian Graham, UMass Fellow 2020-2022
ijgraham@umass.edu
Graduate Program: Environmental Engineering
Lab: Caitlyn Butler
Research Interests: Using metagenomic analyses to investigate microbial community composition, activity and genetic potential, particularly with applications towards wastewater treatment and resource recovery
Neha Gupta, UMass Fellow 2019-2021
nehagupta@umass.edu
Graduate Program: Veterinary and Animal Sciences
Lab: Rafael Fissore
Research Interests: Mechanism of Calcium homeostasis in mammalian eggs.
Thomas Harrington, UMass Fellow 2021-2023
taharrington@umass.edu
Graduate Program: Molecular and Cellular Biology
Lab: Madelaine Bartlett
Research Interests: Understanding the genomic architecture of plant development.
 Hannah Hendrickson, NIH Trainee 2020-2022
hhendrickson@umass.edu
Graduate Program: Plant Biology
Lab: Sibongile Mafu
Research Interests: Biochemical characterization of sesquiterpene synthase genes in Medicago truncatula to identify potentially useful natural plant products.
Hyuna Kim, UMass Fellow 2018-2020
hyunakim@umass.edu
Graduate Program: Molecular & Cellular Biology
Lab: Shelly Peyton
Research Interest: Understanding how extracellular matrix alteration relates to drug responses on breast cancer cells.
Nathan Kuhlmann, NIH Trainee 2017-2019
nkuhlmann@umass.edu
Graduate Program: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Lab: Peter Chien
Research Interests: Uncovering the structural details of adaptor hierarchy mediated protein degradation using the novel system that governs the cell cycle progression of Caulobacter Crescentus.
Aritra Kundu, UMass Fellow 2017-2019
akundu@umass.edu
Graduate Program: Chemical Engineering
Lab: Shelly Peyton
Research Interests: Engineering a synthetic 3-D lung to understand how an aggressive (MDA-MB 231) and a non-aggressive (BT-474) metastatic breast cancer cell line alter the lung ECM to create a favorable microenvironment for breast-to-lung metastasis.
Nathanael Kuzio, NIH Trainee 2020-2022
nkuzio@umass.edu
Graduate Program: Chemistry
Lab: Jeanne Hardy
Research Interests: Characterization and development of small molecule inhibitors of viral proteases through structure-activity relationship (SAR) optimization human oocytes
Matthew Lebovich, NIH Trainee 2018-2020
mlebovich@umass.edu
Graduate Program: Chemical Engineering
Lab: Lauren Andrews
Research Interests: Integrating complex genetic circuits into probiotic organisms for therapeutic and diagnostic uses .
xiangan-copyXiangan LiUMass Fellow 2016-2018
xianganli@umass.edu
Graduate Program: Chemical Engineering
Lab: Michael Henson
Research Interests: Biofilm metabolic modeling with genome-scale time and spatial resolution.
Bin Liu
binliu@chem.umass.edu
Graduate Program: Polymer chemistry and physics
Lab: Sankaran Thayumanavan
Research Interests: Biomolecular delivery and targeted immunotherapy.
Emily Lopes, NIH Trainee 2020-2022
emlopes@umass.edu
Graduate Program: Molecular and Cellular Biology
Lab: Rafael Fissore
Research Interests: Investigating potential crosstalk between voltage gated and TRP family channels in oocytes as well as identifying novel channels in human oocytes
Marjorie Marin, UMass Fellow 2020-2022
mmarin@umass.edu
Graduate Program: Public Heath
Lab: Alicia Timme-Laragy
Research Interests: Understanding how early life exposure to environmental contaminants like per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) impact the developing pancreas and beta-cell function.
Jessica McGory, NIH Trainee 2020-2022
jmcgory@umass.edu
Graduate Program: Molecular and Cellular Biology
Lab: Tom Maresca
Research Interests: Investigating the role of intrinsically disordered kinetochore proteins involved in the spindle assembly checkpoint during cell division.
Danny McSweeney, NIH Trainee 2019-2021
dmcsweeney@umass.edu
Graduate Program: Molecular and Cellular Biology
Lab: ChangHui Pak
Research Interests: Investigating synaptic adhesion molecules and their contributions to neurodevelopmental disorders, like schizophrenia and autism.
Jewel Medeiros, UMass Fellow 2020-2022
jmmedeiros@umass.edu
Graduate Program: Chemistry
Lab: Thai Thayumanavan
Research Interests: Designing polymeric delivery vehicles for RNA delivery
Anh Nguyen, UMass Fellow 2019-2021
apnguye0@umass.edu
Graduate Program: Chemical Engineering
Lab: Ashish Kulkarni
Research Interests: Development of stimuli-responsive nanotheranostic platform to enhance anticancer immune response and monitor the response in real time.
Justyne Ogdahl, NIH Trainee 2020-2021
jogdahl@umass.edu
Graduate Program: Molecular and Cellular Biology
Lab: Peter Chien
Research InterestsUnderstand the mechanism by which bacterial and mitochondrial Lon’s dynamic conformation cycle engages with substrates, small molecules and DNA in order to regulate degradation
Safia Omer, UMass Fellow 2015-2017
somer@mcb.umass.edu
Graduate Program: Biology
Lab: Wei-Lih Lee
Research Interest: Research spindle dynamics during mitosis in budding yeast.
Bidur PaudelUMass Fellow 2015-2017
bpaudel@vasci.umass.edu
Graduate Program: Veterinary and Animal Sciences
Lab: Pablo Visconti
Research Interests: Structural studies of protein kinases.
Narciso Pavon, NIH Trainee 2020-2022
npavon@umass.edu
Graduate Program: Neuroscience and Behavior
Lab: ChangHui Pak
Research Interests: Fabricating a new generation of cerebral organoids capable of characterizing the spatiotemporal dynamicity of neurodevelopment.
 Poonam Phalak, UMass Fellow 2015-2017
pphalak@umass.edu
Graduate Program: Chemical Engineering
Lab: Michael Henson
Research Interests: Biofilm metabolic modeling with genome-scale time and spatial resolution.
Akaansha Rampal, UMass Fellow 2021-2023
arampal@umass.edu
Graduate Program: Molecular and Cellular Biology
Lab: Shelly Peyton and Richard Vachet
Research Interests: Characterizing and comparing the distribution of extracellular matrix proteins in synthetic 3D hydrogels versus tissues
 Monika Roy, NIH Trainee 2017-2019
monikaroy@umass.edu
Graduate Program: Environmental Health Sciences
Lab: Alicia Timme-Laragy
Research Interests: Understanding how environmental contaminants impact cellular and organ development of the pancreas and impact subsequent metabolic disease outcomes.
Patrick Ryan, NIH Trainee 2021-2023
prryan@umass.edu
Graduate Program: Molecular and Cellular Biology
Lab: Jungwoo Lee
Research Interests3D in vitro models to study bone cancer metastasis 
Ayousha Shahi, UMass Fellow 2020-2022
ashahi@umass.edu
Graduate Program: Plant Biology
Lab: Sibongile Mafu
Research Interests: Understanding the role of specialized metabolites in fungi.
heather-sherman-original-copy_btpHeather Sherman, NIH Trainee 2016-2018
hsherman@umass.edu
Graduate Program: Molecular and Cellular Biology
Lab: Barbara Osborne and Lisa Minter
Research Interests: Spatiotemporal analyses of signaling cascades in activated CD8 T cells.
Khushboo Singh, UMass Fellow 2017-2019
ksingh@umass.edu
Graduate Program: Chemistry
Lab: Sankaran (Thai) Thayumanavan
Research Interests: Developing a platform for conjugation of a monoclonal antibody (mAb), specific for a tumor antigen, on to a polymeric nanogel composed of polyethylene glycol (PEG) as the hydrophilic unit and pyridyl disulfide (PDS) as the hydrophobic unit.
Morgan Smith, NIH Trainee 2021-2023
mornsmith@umass.edu
Graduate Program: Polymer Science and Engineering
Lab: Maria Santore
Research Interests: Investigating and controlling bacteria response through bacterial and biomaterial mechanics
Deborah Snyder, NIH Trainee 2019-202021
djsnyder@umass.edu
Graduate Program: Polymer Science and Engineering
Lab: Todd Emrick
Research Interests: A Sustainable Redesign of Polymer Zwitterions
Nidhi Thaker, UMass Fellow 2021-2022
nthaker@umass.edu
Graduate Program: Molecular and Cellular Biology
Lab: Rafael Fissore and Meg Stratton
Research Interests: Investigating the role of CaMKII in embryogenesis and organogenesis
Madeline Tompach, NIH Trainee 2021-2022
mtompach@umass.edu
Graduate Program: Molecular and Cellular Biology
Lab: Alicia Timme-Laragy
Research Interests: Investigating the impacts of preconception and embryonic exposure to per- and polyfluorinated substances (PFAS) on nutrient utilization and β cell development.
darya-tourzaniDarya Tourzani, NIH Trainee 2018-2020
dtourzani@umass.edu
Graduate Program: Veterinary and Animal Services
Lab: Pablo Visconti
Research Interests: Investigating the impact of metabolic changes in spermatozoa on early embryo development.
ning_btpNing-Hsuan Tseng, UMass Fellow 2016-2018
ntseng@umass.edu
Graduate Program: Molecular and Cellular Biology
Lab: Shelly Peyton
Research Interests: Drug-mediated evolutionary genomics in breast cancer.
Jacob Ullom, NIH Trainee 2021-2023
jullom@umass.edu
Graduate Program: Molecular and Cellular Biology
Lab: Leonid Pobezinsky
Research Interests: Understand the mechanism by which T cells of the adaptive immune system differentiate into either terminal effectors or memory cells upon activation.
Jiacheng Wang, UMass Fellow 2021-2023
jiachengwang@umass.edu
Graduate Program: Chemical Engineering
Lab: Michael Henson
Research Interests: Investigating the impact of public versus private metabolism on the stability of microbial communities within natural hosts