Alumni
Undergraduate Students (excluding summer students)
Kimberlee S. Mix
Undergraduate, Worcester Polytechnic Institute
1997-1998
Winner: WPI Provost’s Award - Most Outstanding Senior Research Project, 1998
Subsequent Position: Graduate Student, Dartmouth College (Ph.D. awarded 9/03)
Subsequent and Current Positions: Assistant Professor (tenure track), Associate Professor (tenured). Loyola University New Orleans
Ph.D. Students
Cynthia J. Guidi
Graduate Student, UMass Chan Medical School
1998-2003
Ph.D. recipient: UMass Chan Medical School, 2003
Subsequent Position: Postdoctoral Scholar, U. Virginia Health Science Center. Mentor: Mitchell Smith, Ph.D.
Recipient: American Cancer Society Postdoctoral Fellowship
Subsequent Position: Postdoctoral Scholar, U. Virginia Health Science Center. Mentor: Victor Engelhard, Ph.D.
Subsequent Positions: Scientist II, Scientist III, Senior Scientist, Principal Scientist, ImmunoGen, Inc., Waltham, MA
Current Position: Associate Director, Translational Sciences, Revitope Oncology, Cambridge, MA
Nunciada Salma
Graduate Student
2000-2006
Recipient: Zelda Haidak Memorial Scholar Fellowship, 2003
Ph.D. recipient: 2006
Subsequent Position: Postdoctoral Scholar, Massachusetts General Hospital. Mentor: David E. Fisher, M.D., Ph.D.
Recipient: American Heart Association Postdoctoral Fellowship
Subsequent and Current Positions: Research Specialist, Research Associate, Massachusetts General Hospital, lab of Dieter Manstein, M.D.
Concetta G. A. Marfella
Graduate Student
2002-2007
Recipient: Zelda Haidak Memorial Scholar Fellowship 2005, 2006
Ph.D. recipient: 2007
Subsequent Position: Postdoctoral Scholar, Boston Children’s Hospital. Mentor: Laurie Jackson-Grusby, Ph.D.
Current Position: Head of Global Medical Writing Science, Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Boston, MA
Caroline S. Dacwag Vallaster
Graduate Student
2002-2008
Recipient: Zelda Haidak Memorial Scholar Fellowship, 2004
Ph.D. recipient: 2008
Subsequent Position: Postdoctoral Scholar, Massachusetts General Hospital. Mentor: Kenneth Chien, M.D., Ph.D.
Current Position: Principal Scientist, Analytical Development, Obsidian Therapeutics, Cambridge, MA
Yu-Jie Hu
Graduate Student
2009-2015
Ph.D. recipient: 2015
Subsequent and Current Position: Science Teacher, Ming-Dao High School, Taichung City, Taiwan
A. Rasim Barutcu
Graduate Student (joint with GS Stein)
2012-2016
Ph.D. recipient: 2016
Subsequent Position: Postdoctoral Scholar, Harvard University. Mentor: John Rinn, Ph.D.
Current Position: Postdoctoral Scholar, University of Toronto. Mentor: Ben Blencowe, Ph.D.
Recipient: Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship (Canadian Institutes of Health Research)
Recipient: Canadian Institutes of Health Research Fellowship
Postdoctoral Scholars and PhD-level staff
David A Hill, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Scholar 1998-2004
Instructor 2005-2006
Recipient: ACS Postdoctoral Fellowship, 2000
Recipient: American Heart Association Scientist Development Grant, 2006 (declined)
Subsequent Positions: Associate Scientist, Senior Scientist, Athena Diagnostics, Inc., Worcester, MA
Current Position: Staff Scientist, Quest Diagnostics, Marlborough, MA
Ivana L. de la Serna, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Scholar 1998–2003,
Research Assistant Professor 2004–2005
Recipient: NIH Postdoctoral Fellowship, 2000
Recipient: Medical Foundation Fellowship, 2002
Recipient: American Heart Association Scientist Development Grant, 2004
Recipient: Transition to Independence Position (TIP) of the NIEHS (K22 Award), 2004
Subsequent Position: Assistant Professor (tenure-track), Dept. Biochemistry and Cancer Biology, University of Toledo Health Science Campus
Current Position: Associate Professor (tenured), Dept. Biochemistry and Cancer Biology, University of Toledo Health Science Campus
Kanaklata Roy, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Scholar, 2000-2003
Subsequent Position: Postdoctoral Scholar, Brudnick Neuropsychiatric Institute. Mentor: Haley Melikian, Ph.D.
Current Position: Registered Pharmacist, Walgreens, Flint, MI
Hengyi Xiao, Ph.D.
Instructor, UMass Chan Medical School, 2002-2006
Subsequent Position: Research Assistant Professor, University of Florida, Dept. Chemical Engineering
Current Position: Associate Professor, Laboratory of Aging Research, State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy, West China Hospital, West China Medical School, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, PR China
Yasuyuki Ohkawa, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Scholar, 2003-2007
Subsequent Positions: Assistant Professor (tenure-track), Associate Professor (tenured), Kyushu University Medical School
Current Position: Professor (tenured), Medical Institute of Bioregulation, Kyushu University Medical School
Rajini Mudhasani, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Scholar (joint with SN Jones), 2004-2009
Recipient: American Heart Association Postdoctoral Fellowship, 2006
Subsequent Position: Research Faculty, Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education and US Army Institute Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (AMRIID), Fort Detrick, Frederick, MD
Subsequent Position: Senior Scientist II, The Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine and US Army Institute Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (AMRIID), Fort Detrick, Frederick, MD
Subsequent and Current Positions: Asst. Professor, Principal Investigator, US Army Institute Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (AMRIID), Fort Detrick, Frederick, MD
Nathalie Cohet, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Scholar (joint with JA Nickerson), 2006-2008
Subsequent Position: Inward Investment Manager in Life Sciences at ADERLY (the Lyon, France economic development agency)
Subsequent Positions: Entrepreneur Support, Program Manager, Life Sciences sector, CREALYS, Lyon, France
Current Position: Operational Manager, Novéka !, St-Étienne, France
Chandrashekara Mallappa, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Scholar, 2007-2010
Subsequent Position: Postdoctoral Scholar, Dartmouth Medical School. Mentor: Jay Dunlap, Ph.D.
Subsequent Positions: Healthcare Data Analyst IV, Senior Business Analyst Blue Cross Blue Shield, Boston, MA
Current Position: Business Information Consultant, Anthem, Boston, MA
Scott E. LeBlanc, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Scholar, 2007-2014
Research Specialist, 2014-2016
Recipient: NIH Postdoctoral Fellowship, 2010-2013
Subsequent Position: Adjunct Instructor, Clark University
Brian T. Nasipak, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Scholar, 2007-2014
Subsequent Positions: Business Insight Analyst, Senior Business Insight Analyst, Decision Resources, Burlington, MA
Subsequent and Current Position: Manager, Associate Director, Forecasting and Analytics, Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Cambridge, MA
Ok Hyun Cho, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Scholar, 2009-2011
Subsequent and Current Position: Postdoctoral Scholar, UMass Chan Medical School. Mentor: Joon-Soo Kang, Ph.D.
J. Manuel Hernández Hernández, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Scholar, 2009-2012
Subsequent Position: Postdoctoral Scholar, Ottawa Health Research Institute. Mentor: Michael Rudnicki, Ph.D.
Subsequent Position: Assistant Professor, Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social. Centro Medico Nacional Siglo XXI, Mexico City
Subsequent Position: Research Associate, Ottawa Health Research Institute.
Current Position: Group Leader at Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del IPN, Mexico City, MX
Qiong (Joae) Wu, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Scholar (joint with JA Nickerson), 2010-2015
Instructor, 2015-2016
Subsequent and Current Positions: Instructor, Asst. Professor, Dept. Pediatrics, UMass Chan Medical School
Tara L. Conforto, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Scholar, 2013-2014
Subsequent Positions: Account Project Manager, Senior Project Leader, Innovation Services Manager, yet2.com (technology marketing), Needham, MA
Current Position: Manager, Novartis Institute for Biomedical Research, Cambridge, MA
Teresita Padilla-Benavides, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Scholar, 2014-2016
Instructor, 2016
Subsequent Position: Instructor, Dept. Biochemistry & Molecular Pharmacology, UMass Chan Medical School
Recipient: UMass Chan Faculty Diversity Scholar Award
Current Position: Assistant Professor (tenure track), Dept. Molecular Biology & Biochemistry, Wesleyan University, Middleton, CT
Hanna Witwicka, Ph.D.
Research Specialist 2016-2019
Current position: Study Coordinator, Charles River Labs, Shrewsbury, MA
Dominic Haokip, PhD
Postdoctoral Scholar, 2016-2018
Current Position: Assistant Professor, Department of Botany, United College, Lambung, Chandel, Manipur University, Manipur, India
Pablo Reyes-Gutierrez, Ph.D.
Research Specialist 2018-2020
Subsequent position: Scientist, Merck, Boston, MA
Current position: Research Associate, Dept. Immunology, Yale University, New Haven, CT
Sabriya A. Syed, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Scholar 2016-2021
Recipient: NIH Postdoctoral Fellowship, 2019-2021
Subsequent and Current position: Associate Scientist, Jackson Labs, Farmington, CT