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Spotlight on Alumni

Class of 2013

Maria Amaya  PhD dissertation completed 2013
The Role of the Nucleosome Remodeling and Histone Deacetylase (NuRD) Complex in Fetal γ-Globin Expression
Adviser: Gordon Ginder
Current Position: Completing MD studies at VCU (MD/PhD student)
E-mail: amayaml@vcu.edu

Sawsan Atia  MS, 2013
Systematic Analysis of ABC Transporters in Streptococcus sanguinis
Adviser: Ping Xu
Current Position:
E-mail: atiass@vcu.edu

Lori Hill  MD/PhD., 2013
Racial/Ethnic Differences in the Genetics of Preeclampsia
Adviser: Jerome Strauss
Current Position: Resident, University of Arizona, Tucson
E-mail: lhwalsh@vcu.edu

Vijay Menon   PhD, 2013
Ligand Modulation of a Dinuclear Platinum Compound Leads to
Mechanistic Differences in Cell Cycle Arrest and Apoptosis
Adviser: Nicholas Farrell
Current Position: Postdoctoral Associate, Massey Cancer Center
E-mail: menonv@vcu.edu

Ancydimpy Nalli   MS, 2013
Regulation of Gastrointestinal Smooth Muscle Function
by Hydrogen Sulfide
Adviser: Srinavasa M. Karnam
Current Position: PhD student, VCU School of Medicine
E-mail: nallia@vcu.edu

Siddharth Saini  PhD, 2013
Mechanisms by which XRCC3 mediates Breast Cancer Cell Invasion via Cyclophilin A
Adviser: Aylin Marz
Current Position: Postdoctoral Associate, Massey Cancer Center
E-mail: sainis2@vcu.edu

Prashant Thakkar   PhD, 2013
Elucidation of Mechanisms Generating 5-Hydroxymethyl Cytosine (5hmC) in Mammalian Mitochondria
Adviser: Shirley Taylor
Current Position: Postdoctoral Associate, Massey Cancer Center
E-mail: pvthakkar@vcu.edu

Sai Yanamandra  MS, 2013
Role of Porphyromonas gingivalis Extracytoplasmic
Function (ECF) Sigma Factor, sigG
Adviser: Janina Lewis
Current Position:
E-mail: ssyanamandra@vcu.edu

Class of 2012

Tamer Hadi  PhD dissertation completed 2012
The Role of p62 in Osteoclastogenesis and Paget's Disease of Bone
Adviser: Jolene Windle
Current Position: Completing MD studies at VCU (MD/PhD student)
E-mail: haditm@vcu.edu

Tong Zhou  M.S., 2012
Role of Tyrosyl-DNA Phosphodiesterase (TDP 1) on Repair of 3’-Phosphoglycolate (3’- PG) Terminated DNA Double-Strand Breaks (DSBS) and in Response to Oxidative Stress
Adviser: Lawrence Povirk
Current Position: Research Specialist, Dept. of Pharm/Tox, VCU
E-mail: tzhou@vcu.edu

Hoon Shim  Ph.D. dissertation completed 2012
The Role of R7 Regulators of G Protein Signaling in the Retina
Adviser: Ching-Kang Jason Chen
Current Position: Completing MD studies at VCU (MD/PhD student)
E-mail: shimh@vcu.edu

Suehyb Alkhatib  M.S., 2012
Characterizing the role of Nucleosome Remodeling Factor (NURF) in tumorigenesis and metastatic progression using mouse models of breast cancer
Adviser: Joseph Landry
Current Position: Medical student, Florida International University
E-mail: alkhatibs@vcu.edu

Joyce Balinang  M.S., 2012
Regulation of mtDNMT1 in Response to Oxidative Stress
Adviser: Shirley Taylor
Current Position: PhD student, VCU School of Medicine
E-mail: balinangj@vcu.edu

Sukhada Bhave  M.S., 2012
Investigating Synergy Between Ribonucleotide Reductase Inhibitors and CMV Antivirals
Adviser: Michael McVoy
Current Position: PhD student, VCU School of Medicine
E-mail: bhavesm@vcu.edu

Heather Herman  M.S., 2012
The Role of Sulfatide in the Development and Maintenance of Nodal and Paranodal Domains in the Peripheral Nervous System
Adviser:  Jeffrey Dupree
Current Position: Research Specialist, UVA School of Medicine
E-mail: hermanhf@vcu.edu

Anuya Paranjape  M.S., 2012
Mechanism of regulation by a transcriptional regulator OxyR in Porphyromonas gingivalis
Adviser: Janina Lewis
Current Position: PhD student, VCU School of Medicine
E-mail: paranjapear@vcu.edu

Meredith Weck  M.S., 2012
Transferrin binding protein B structure, function and export in Neisseria gonorrhoeae
Adviser: Cynthia Cornelissen
Current Position: PhD student, Vanderbilt University
E-mail: weckml@vcu.edu

Class of 2011

Priyadarshan Damle  PhD.,  2011
Helper Phage Capsid Size Redirection by Staphylococcal Pathogenicity Island SaPI1
Involves Internal Scaffolding Proteins
Adviser: Gail Christie
Current Position: Postdoctoral Associate, Division of Hematology & Oncology, Dept. of Internal Medicine, MCV/VCU
E-mail: damlepk@vcu.edu

Stephen Dollery   PhD., 2011
Identification and characterization of low pH-triggered conformational changes in the herpes simplex virus glycoprotein B
Adviser: Anthony Nicola
Current Position: Postdoctoral Fellow, NIAID, National Institutes of Health
E-mail: stephen.dollery@nih.gov

Anne L. Sauer   Ph.D., 2011
Inhibition of cytomegalovirus genome maturation by the halogenated benzimidazoles
Adviser: Michael McVoy
Current Position:  Research Associate, Dept. of Pediatrics, MCV/VCU
E-mail: s2alsaue@vcu.edu
 

Class of 2010

Sami Amr   PhD., 2010
Identification and Characterization of a Second Wolfram Syndrome Gene
Adviser: Rita Shiang
Current Position: Director of Sequencing for Partners Health Care; Center for Personalized Medicine, Harvard Medical School
E-mail: amrsami@hotmail.com

Omar Mian   Ph.D., 2010
The Role of the Methyl DNA Binding Domain Protein 2 (MBD2) in Breast Cancer
Adviser: Gordon Ginder
Current Position:  Resident, Radiation Oncology, Johns Hopkins University
E-mail: mianoy@vcu.edu

Debasmita Basu  M.S., 2010
Ex vivo expansion of tumor-specific T cells with sequential common gamma chain cytokines render them refractory to MDSC upon adoptive immunotherapy
Adviser: Masoud Manjili
Current Postion: Novartis Healthcare Pvt. Ltd, Hyderabad, India
E-mail: deb.basu1981@gmail.com

Siddharth Saini M.S., 2010
Role of XRCC3 in Acquisition and Maintenance of Invasiveness through Extracellular Matrix in Breast Cancer Progression
Adviser: Aylin Rizki
Current Position:  Postdoctoral Associate, Massey Cancer Center, VCU
E-mail: sainis2@vcu.edu

Sinduja Ethiraj  M.S., 2010
Cell-Cell Junction Signaling Regulating DNA Double Strand Break Repair in Breast Cells
Adviser: Aylin Rizki
Current Position: Research associate, Dept. of Human & Molecular Genetics, VCU
E-mail: ethirajs@vcu.edu

Jenishkumar Patel  M.S., 2010
Environmental Responses of Two-component Systems in S. sanguinis
Adviser: Ping Xu
Current Position: Research associate, Philips Institute, VCU School of Dentistry
E-mail: jrpatel@vcu.edu

Asheel Patel  M.S., 2010
Determination of Structure of Hepatitis B Virus E Antigen
Adviser: Darrell Peterson
Current Position: Troikaa Parmaceuticals, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India
E-mail: akpatel@troikaapharma.com        
 

Class of 2009

Jennifer Fettweis  Ph.D., 2009
Characterization of an Intracellular Signaling Pathway in the Context of Mammalian Innate Immunity
Adviser: Paul Fawcett
Current Position:  Postdoctoral Associate, Department of Microbiology & Immunology, VCU
E-mail: fettweisjm@vcu.edu

Michael Harwich  Ph.D., 2009
Transcriptional Profiling of Staphylococcal Bacteriophage 80a and Regulatory Interactions with Pathogenicity Island SaPI1
Adviser: Gail Christie
Current Position:  Postdoctoral Associate, Department of Microbiology & Immunology, VCU
E-mail: harwichmd@vcu.edu

Alexandra Racanelli  PhD., 2009
Transcriptional, Epigenetic, and Signaling Events in Antifolate Therapeutics
Adviser: Richard Moran
Current position: Resident, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY
E-mail: racanelliac@vcu.edu

Nusara Satproedprai  Ph.D., 2009
Adaptor Specificity in the Toll-like Receptor 2 Pathway
Adviser: Paul Fawcett
Current Position: Medical Scientist, National Institute of Health, Division of Medical Sciences at Ministry of Public Health, Thailand
E-mail: arasun_s@yahoo.com

Eri Kamura  M.S., 2009
Exploring the Methylation Status of RAI1 and the RAI1 Consensus Binding Sequence
Adviser: Sarah Elsea
Current Position: Research Assistant, Center for Interdisciplinary Cardiovascular Sciences, Brigham & Women's Hospital, Boston, MA
E-mail: ekamura@partners.org

Bijal Vyas  M.S., 2009
Retinoic Acid Induced 1 Gene Analysis in Humans and Zebrafish
Adviser: Sarah Elsea
Current Position:
E-mail: indian_chika@hotmail.com

Huixin Wang  M.S., 2009
EPS8-mediated Oncogenesis
Adviser: Andrew Yeudall
Current Position: Research technician, Philips Institute of Oral and Craniofacial Molecular Biology, VCU
E-mail: hwang2@vcu.edu

Joseph Bertsche M.S., 2009
Histone Deacetylase Inhibitors and Innate Immunity in Septic Shock
Adviser: Paul Fawcett
Current Position: Laboratory Technician, AI Biotech, Richmond, VA
E-mail: jbertsche@aibiotech.com

Class of 2008

Linying Xie  M.S., 2008
Creation of a Mouse with a Humanized fpgs Gene Compatible with Normal Development
Adviser: Richard Moran
Current Position: Laboratory Specialist Sr., Massey Cancer Center, VCU
E-mail: lxie@vcu.edu

Anthony Pomicter  M.S., 2008
Discovery and Initial Characterizations of Neurofascin 155 high and Neurofascin 155 low
Adviser: Jeff Dupree
Current Position: Senior Laboratory Specialist, Huntsman Cancer Institute, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT
E-mail: tonypomicter@gmail.com

Lathika Mohanraj  Ph.D., 2008
Regulation of MDM2 mediated NFkB2 pathway in human lung cancer
Adviser: Swati Deb
Current position: Postdoctoral Associate, Department of Pathology, VCU
E-mail: mohanrajl@vcu.edu

Mahesh Ramamoorthy  Ph.D., 2008
Crosstalk Between MDM2 and AKT Signaling Pathway in Oncogenesis
Adviser: Swati Deb
Current position: Postdoctoral associate, National Institute on Aging, Baltimore, MD
E-mail: ramamoorthym@vcu.edu

Alison Kuchta  Ph.D., 2008
Characterization of the Cytomegalovirus Alkaline Nuclease Active Site
Adviser: Michael McVoy
Current position: Resident, UCSF School of Medicine, San Francisco, CA
E-mail: alkuchta@vcu.edu
 

Class of 2007

Jia He  Ph.D., 2007
Identification and characterization of metal uptake loci in Porphyromonas gingivalis
Adviser: Janina Lewis
Current position: Research Scientist, Obetech Obesity Research Center, Virginia Biotechnology Research Park, Richmond, VA
E-mail: janjan0924@hotmail.com
 

Michelle Holser  M.S., 2007
A New Model for Treacher Collins: Characterizing the Zebrafish TCOF1 Ortholog
Adviser: James Lister
E-mail: michelleholser@gmail.com
 

Jeremy Rupon   M.D./Ph.D., 2007
The role of DNA methylation and methyl binding domain protein 2 in the regulation of human embryonic and fetal beta type globin genes
Adviser: Gordon Ginder
Current position: Pediatrics Residency, Massachusetts General Hospital
E-mail: jwrupon@vcu.edu
 

Heather Strange  M.S., 2007
Mechanism of iron transport employed by Neisseria gonorrhoeae: Contribution of Ferric Binding Protein A
Adviser: Cynthia Cornelissen
Current position:  Research Associate, Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, OH
E-mail: heather.strange@nationwidechildrens.org

Sandra M. Tallent  Ph.D., 2007                                                               
Identification and characterization of helper phage gene products involved in mobilization of staphylococcal pathogenicity island SaPI1
Adviser: Gail Christie
Current position: Microbiologist, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, FDA
E-mail: sandra.tallent@fda.hhs.gov