Alumni | Cell Plasticity Organ Design | Michigan Medicine

2021-2022

Zie Craig, Graduate Student

Molecular Cellular and Developmental Biology (MCDB)

Research: Characterizing the role of Anillin in junction remodeling during epithelial homeostasis and kidney disease

Mentor: Ann Miller, PhD Associate Professor, Molecular Cellular and Developmental Biology (MCDB)

Jessica Maung, Graduate Student

Molecular and Integrative Physiology

Research: Mechanisms of adipose tissue loss in a mouse model of familial partial lipodystrophy 2

Mentor: Ormond MacDougald, PhD Molecular and Integrative Physiology, Internal Medicine

Nafisa Nuzhat, Graduate Student

Cell and Developmental Biology (CDB)

Research: Investigating how the distal-end centriolar protein, CEP162, regulates axoneme extension during ciliogenesis and its underlying role in retinal dystrophy

Mentor: Jillian N. Pearring, PhD, Assistant Professor, Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences

Megan Schaller, Graduate Students

Molecular & Integrative Physiology

Research: The role of FMO-2/FMO5 to resist oxidative stress-induced intestinal barrier dysfunction

Mentor: Scott F. Leiser, PhD, Assistant Professor of Molecular & Integrative Physiology, Internal Medicine and Gerontology

Bridget Waas, Graduate Student

Cell and Developmental Biology

Research: Investigating Dual Roles for KIF17 in the Developing Cerebellum

Mentor: Benjamin Allen, PhD, James Douglas Engel Collegiate Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology

Daysha Ferrer-Torres, PhD

Internal Medicine

Research: A racially diverse living biobank to interrogate injury-repair in the human esophagus

Mentor: Jason Spence, PhD, H. Marvin Pollard Collegiate Professor of Gastroenterology Associate Professor

Erez Cohen, PhD

Cell and Developmental Biology

Research: The Role of Nulear Keratins in Organ Repair and Cellular Stress Response

Mentor: Pierre A. Coulombe, Ph.D. G. Carl Huber Professor and Chair Cell and Developmental Biology

Wenting Du, PhD

General Surgery

Research: The role of WNT signaling in the tumor microenvironment of pancreatic cancer

Mentor: Marina Pasca di Magliano, PhD, Professor, General Surgery

Typhanie Dumontet, PhD

Internal Medicine - MEND (Metabolism, Endo, & Diabetes)

Research: Role of the transcription factor Hhex in adrenal homeostasis and response to hormonal challenges

Mentor: Gary Hammer, PhD, Millie Schembechler Professor of Adrenal Cancer

2020-2021

Nicole Edwards, PhD

General Surgery

Research: Prevention of Traumatic Heterotopic Ossification via Modulation of Macrophage Migration and Function

Mentor: Marina Pasca di Magliano, PhD, Associate Professor, General Surgery

Co-Mentor: Yuji Mishina, PhD, Professor of Dentistry, Department of Biologic and Materials Sciences & Prosthodontics

Hiroki Ueharu, PhD

Department of Biologic and Materials Sciences & Prosthodontics

Research: Bone Morphogenetic Protein (BMP) signaling directs cell fate of cranial neural crest cells

Mentor: Yuji Mishina, PhD, Professor Biologic and Materials Sciences & Prosthodontics

2019-2020

Martha Luz Echevarria-Andino, Graduate Student

Cell & Developmental Biology (CDB)

Research: Investigating Novel Roles for Hedgehog Co-Receptors During Craniofacial Development

Mentor: Benjamin Allen, PhD, James Douglas Engel Collegiate Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology

Co-Mentor: Vesa Kaartinen, PhD, Biologic and Materials Science, School of Dentistry

Kevin McGowan, Graduate Student

Molecular & Integrative Physiology

Research: Establishing a role for intestinal telocytes in regulating the stem cell niche

Mentor: Linda Samuelson, PhD, John A. Williams Collegiate Professor of Gastrointestinal Physiology, Professor Molecular & Integrative Physiology, Professor Internal Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology Interim Director, Center for Organogenesis

Richard Youngblood, Graduate Student

Biomedical Engineering

Research: Developing A 3D Niche Microenvironment To Improve hESC-Derived p-Cell Maturation For Treatment of Type l Diabetes

Mentor: Lonnie Shea, PhD, William and Valerie Hall Chair, Biomedical Engineering Steven A. Goldstein Collegiate Professor, Biomedical Engineering

Co-Mentor: Jason Spence, PhD, Associate Professor, Internal Medicine

Ann Laszczyk, PhD, Postdoctoral

Pathology

Research: Defining the role of Pax proteins in adult renal epithelial cells

Mentor: Greg Dressler, PhD, Professor, Collegiate Professor of Pathology Research, Department of Pathology

Co mentor: Sanjeev Kumar Patel, PhD, Associate Professor, Nephrology, Internal Medicine

Eun Kyung Choi, PhD, NTF

Nutritional Sciences, School of Public Health

Research: Exploring the Roles of Manganese in Infammatory Bowel Disease

Mentor: Young-ah Seo, PhD, Assistant Professor, Nutritional Sciences

Co-Mentor: Yatrick Shah, PhD, Horace W. Davenport Collegiate Professor of Physiology, Professor Molecular & Integrative Physiology, Professor Internal Medicine

2018-2019

Abhishek Sinha, PhD

Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology

Mentor: Kenneth Cadigan, PhD, Professor Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology

Co-Mentor: Gary Hammer, MD, PhD, Millie Schembechler Professor of Adrenal Cancer, Molecular & Integrative Physiology/Internal Medicine (MEND)

Gabriel Manske, Graduate Student

Human Genetics Department

Research: Investigating the Contribution of Sperm Chromatin to Development

Mentor: Sue Hammoud, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Human Genetics, Assistant Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Assistant Professor of Urology

Gloria Jih, Ph.D.

Internal Medicine

Research: Molecular function of the Trithorax group protein ASH1L in hematopoiesis

Mentor:Ivan Maillard, Professor of Medicine, Cellular and Molecular Biology and Immunology, University of Pennsylvania

Co-Mentor: Yali Dou, Professor of Medicine, Pathology/Biological Chemistry, University of Southern California

Joyce Thompson, PhD

General Surgery

Research: Transcriptional and epigenetic regulation of early pancreatic neoplasia by Bmi1

Mentor: Filip Bednar, Assistant Professor of Surgery

Co-Mentor: Marina Pasca di Magliano, PhD, Associate Professor, General Surgery

Michael Czerwinski, PhD

Internal Medicine - Gastroenterology

Research: Using scRNA-seq to characterize the cellular make up of the human intestine and its stem cell niche

Mentor: Jason Spence, PhD, H. Marvin Pollard Collegiate Professor of Gastroenterology Associate Professor

Sim Namkoong, PhD

Molecular & Integrative Physiology

Research: TranscriptomicAnalyses of NAFLD and NASH at a Single Cell Resolution

Mentor: Jun Hee Lee, PhD, Associate Professor Molecular & Integrative Physiology Research Associate, Professor Gerontology

Co-Mentor: Hyun Min Kang, PhD, Associate Professor of Biostatistics

2017-2018

Elizabeth Mills, PhD

The Molecular & Behavioral Neuroscience (MBNI)

Research: Strategies for stimulating CNS repair in fish and mammals

Mentor: Daniel Goldman, PhD, Bernard W. Agranoff Collegiate Professor of Neuroscience, Professor Biological Chemistry Research, Professor Michigan Neuroscience Institute

Co-Mentor: Jack Parent, PhD, William J Herdman Professor of Neurology, Co-Director, Epilepsy Program

Kyriel Pineault, Graduate Student

Cellular & Developmental Biology

Research: Measuring the progenitor potential of Hox11-expressing skeletal mesenchymal cells using a novel Hoxa11CreERᵗ² allele

Mentor: Deneen Wellik, PhD, Chair and Professor, Cell & Regenerative Biology, University of Wisconsin - Madison

Co-Mentor: Ernestina Schipani, MD, PhD, Professor Orthopaedic Surgery, Professor Internal Medicine/Division of Endocrinology, Professor Cell and Developmental Biology