David completed a bachelor's degree in Biology and German at Lewis & Clark College (Portland, OR) in 2004. Following graduation he worked at Oregon Health and Science University on gene therapy approaches for hearing loss and deafness. In 2008 he matriculated at the University of Utah and is researching new therapies for chronic myeloid leukemia targeting the persistent drug-resistant leukemic cells residing in the bone marrow. His clinical interests include biologic drug development and delivery, leukemia, oncology, and clinical trial management.
Henok Eyob is a graduate student in the laboratory of Alana Welm at the Huntsman Cancer Institute. He studies the role of the immune system in facilitating breast cancer metastasis. He is originally from Eritrea, graduating from the University of Asmara with a bachelor's degree in Biology. His clinical interests are all aspects of breast cancer, including diagnosis, treatment, and design and management of clinical trials. Following his PhD, he plans to continue on working on developing new therapeutics from bench to bedside.
Jodi is originally from Westmoreland, Jamaica. She completed her Bachelor of Arts degree in Biological Sciences and Chemistry at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, MA. Jodi is currently a graduate student in the lab of Dr. Douglas Grossman, where she studies Survivin, an Inhibitor of Apoptosis Protein, and its novel involvement in promoting Melanoma Metastasis.
Lisa earned her bachelor's degree in Zoological Sciences from North Dakota State University. At University of Utah, she joined the Dorsky lab in the Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy to study spinal cord regeneration using zebrafish as a model organism. Her clinical interests include tissue regeneration, solid organ transplantation, and immunology of transplant rejection.
Kelsi Kretschmann is a graduate student in the laboratory of Alana Welm at the Huntsman Cancer Institute. She studies the role of the Ron/MSP signaling pathway in the metastasis of breast cancer to bone. She is originally from Utah, graduating from the University of Utah with a bachelor's degree in Biology. Her clinical interests are all aspects of breast cancer, including diagnosis, treatment, clinical trials and understanding the gap between the clinical and scientific aspects of cancer treatment. Following her PhD, she plans to continue working with both clinicians and scientists to bridge the gap between these groups in order to help scientific discoveries translate to the clinic.
Savita received a bachelor's degree in Biotechnology and a Master's degree in Molecular and Human Genetics from Banaras Hindu University in India. After graduating she worked in a leading pharmaceutical industry in India for two years before she moved to the United States to pursue a PhD. In 2006 she joined the Molecular Biology program at the University of Utah and subsequently joined Steve Lessnick's lab in the department of Oncological sciences to pursue her thesis research. In the Lessnick lab she is working on understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying the pathogenesis of a highly aggressive pediatric malignancy called Ewing's sarcoma. The ultimate goal of her research is to identify more targeted therapy for patients afflicted with Ewing's sarcoma. Her clinical interests include identification of new biomarkers for characterization and classification of tumors, diagnostic tools and treatment strategies, drug development and delivery and design and implementation of clinical trials. After completion of her PhD, she plans to continue working on developing new therapeutics and identifying new disease biomarkers.
Andrew Zayachkivsky is a graduate student in Dr. Ed Dudek's laboratory in the department of Physiology. He studies animal models of seizures caused the perinatal stroke that could be used to test new, better medications and other therapeutic strategies. Additionally, he is interested in using new EEG technologies to develop biomarkers for development of epilepsy and brain injuries after stroke. Andrew graduated with bachelor's degree in Biology from Allegheny College in 2004 and worked in various research laboratories before starting graduate school. Following graduate school, he plans to continue doing translational research in academic institutions.
Andrea Schwager received her bachelor's degree in neuroscience and psychology at Drake University. She is currently in the lab of Dr. Sharif Taha in the Physiology Department. She is using electrophysiology to examine the effects of acute ethanol on the mesolimbic dopamine system in awake, behaving rats. This research is relevant to understanding mechanisms underlying addiction and relapse.
Nader obtained a bachelor's of science degree in Biology at the American University of Beirut, Lebanon in 2009. He is currently a graduate student in the lab of Dr. Andrea Bild, working on utilizing genomic approaches to better predict drug response in lung and breast cancer, with the purpose of devising an improved clinical approach to drug treatment. His clinical interests mainly reside in integrating genomics as means to personalize medicine and improve drug response in patients, as well as improving lung cancer treatment, diagnosis and screening. After his PhD, Nader aims to pursue his desire to work in bringing different methodologies and ideas to the translational research field.
Hannah Gordon is from Renton, WA and obtained her B.S. in Cellular and Molecular Biology from Pacific University in Forest Grove, OR. She works in the laboratory of Dr. Anthea Letsou on fatty acid regulation and neurodegeneration in Drosophila. Hannah's research interests include identifying target pathways and therapies for alleviation or correction of inherited fatty acid dysregulation, particularly in the leukodystrophies. After completing her PhD, Hannah plans to continue pursuing her translational research interests in a post-doctorate position with the ultimate goal of becoming a PI of a translational research laboratory.
Jessica Roberts is from Dallas, Texas and received her bachelor's of science degree from Texas A&M University. Jessica's general interests include drug metabolism and translational science. Her dissertation project is centered on evaluating the transcriptional regulation of lung cytochrome P450 enzymes in response to glucocorticoid treatment (the mainstay treatment for sasthma patients). She enjoys living in Salt Lake City because of all the outdoor activities that are prevalent, especially snowboarding in the winter and hiking in the summer.
Daniel completed his undergraduate education at the University of Idaho, and studied visual cognition through the Department of Psychology. He works with Dr. David Krizaj's in the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences studying calcium regulation within the context of both normal physiology and pathophysiology (including glaucoma). Daniel is interested in further understanding sensory neuroscience and applying this knowledge to improve our ability to treat and prevent diseases that afflict sensation. Following graduation from the University of Utah, Daniel plans to engage in an academic post-doctoral position studying sensory neuroscience with emphases in physiological, pathological, and translational research
Somaye is a graduate student in Dr. David Jones' lab, at Huntsman Cancer Institute. She studies the epigenetic of colon cancer. Her interests are finding the first events in tumorigenesis and helping to discover therapeutics to stop the upstream causes of cancers from happening and/or reduce their effects. Somaye received her bachelor's in biotechnology and master's of science in medical biotechnology from University of Tehran, Iran. She plans to continue working on colon cancer and make role in connecting bench to bedside for this disease.
Krystal is a graduate student in the laboratory of Mario Capecchi in the department of Human Genetics. She has chosen to model Clear Cell sarcoma in the mouse. Sarcomas as a group are very aggressive and affect an important sector of our population, children and young adults. Krystal generated a mouse that conditionally expresses EWS-ATF1 a characteristic fusion protein in Clear Cell sarcoma. The tumors obtained with this model express s100b and melanin, markers for the human Clear Cell sarcoma. This is the first model for this cancer generated and she is in the process of attempting to determine the cell of origin, as well as define the other genetic events responsible for initiation and progression of this cancer in the mouse.
