Advanced Trainees

Many fabulous students have completed training in the BTP!

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.

 


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.

 


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.

 


Darya Tourzani, NIH Trainee 2018-2020
dtourzan@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.

 


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.

 


Neha Gupta, UMass Fellow 2019-2021
nehagupta@umass.edu
Graduate Program: Veterinary and Animal Science
Lab: Rafael Fissore
Research Interests: Mechanism of Calcium homeostasis in mammalian eggs

 


Deborah Snyder,   NIH Trainee 2019-2021
djsnyder@umass.edu
Graduate Program: Polymer Science and Engineering
Lab: Todd Emrick
Research Interests: A Sustainable Redesign of Polymer Zwitterions.

 


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

 


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

 


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

 


Ian Graham, UMass Fellow 2020-2021
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


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

 



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 products.


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


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.


Jewel Medeiros, UMass Fellow 2020-2022
jmmedeiros@umass.edu
Graduate Program: Chemistry
Lab: Thai Thayumanavan
Research Interests: Designing polymeric delivery vehicles for RNA delivery

Justyne Ogdahl, NIH Trainee 2020-2021
jogdahl@umass.edu
Graduate Program: Molecular and Cellular Biology
Lab: Peter Chien>: Understand the mechanism by which bacterial and mitochondrial Lon’s dynamic conformation cycle engages with substrates, small molecules and DNA in order to regulate degradation

Narciso Pavon, NIH Trainee 2020-2022
npavon@umass.edu
Graduate Program: NSB
Lab: ChangHui Pak
Research Interests: Fabricating a new generation of cerebral organoids capable of characterizing the spatiotemporal dynamicity of neurodevelopment. cell division.

Ayousha Shahi, UMass Fellow 2020-2021
ashahi@umass.edu
Graduate Program: Plant Biology
Lab: Sibongile Mafu
Research Interests: Understanding the role of specialized metabolites in fungi.

 


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


Thomas Harrington, UMass Fellow 2021-2023
taharrington@umass.edu
Graduate Program: Molecular and Cellular Biology
Lab: Madelaine Bartlette
Research Interests: Understanding the genomic architecture of plant development.

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

 


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

 


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

 


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
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.

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