Fourth Year (Ph.D. Program in Pathology)

Andrew Campbell

As a graduate student at the University of Rochester, I plan to pursue hypothesis driven research that will add to the current understanding of human health and disease.  In my previous work, I was involved in studying the interaction of the immune system and leukemia cells following bone marrow transplantation.  Currently I am studying the developmental fate of glial restricted progenitor cell in order to determine its potential as a therapeutic for nervous system injury and disease.

Home town: Rochester, NY
M.S., Forensic Biology, SUNY at Albany

Mentor: Margot Mayer-Proschel

Hsing-Yu Chen (Warner)

Resistance to chemo-therapeutics is way too common and it is a priority to overcome in cancer treatment. Cancer stem cells have been identified as one of main causes of chemotherapy resistance. My research is concentrating on understanding the mechanism that tumor cells utilize to escape the current breast cancer therapy.

Home town: Taipei, Taiwan
M.S., Biology, New York University

Mentor: Mark Noble

Tulin Dadali

Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) is known to be critical in cellular responses, redox reactions, signaling, DNA repair as well as paracrine and autocrine functions. It is known that extracellular metabolites, such as ATP, are able to contribute to immune responses, however the role of extracellular NAD in immune function is still elusive. My primary research focuses on manipulating extracellular NAD levels to modulate cell trafficking, inflammation, and autoimmunity.

Home town: Rochester, NY
B.S., Biotechnology, Rochester Institute of Technology

Mentor: Frances Lund

Tzu-Chieh Ho (Kate)

My current research focuses on characterizing leukemia stem cells in acute myeloid leukemia after drug therapy.

Home town: Taipei, Taiwan
M.S., Biochemistry, National Taiwan University

Mentors: Michael Becker and Craig Jordan

Hsi-Min Hsiao (Jim)

I am interested in at looking at the effects of anti-Inflammatory and pro-resolving lipid mediator resolvin D1 on cigarette smoke-induced lung inflammation In vitro and In vivo.

Home town: Taipei, Taiwan
M.S., Biochemistry, National Cheng Kung University

Mentors: Patricia Sime and Richard Phipps

Yawen Ju

My current research is to investigate the formation of osteoclasts, which is a key point to understanding the mechanism of errosive arthritics.

Home town: Nanchang, Jiangxi, China
B.S., Pharmacy, China Pharmaceutical University

Mentor: Edward Schwarz

I-Hsin Kuo (Fiona)

My research interests involve studying epithelial tight junction defects in atopic dermatitis, the most common inflammatory skin disease in humans. I am currently characterizing the effect of innate immune receptors on regulation of skin barrier function.

Home town: Taipei, Taiwan
M.S., Toxicology, National Taiwan University

Mentor: Lisa Beck

Sara Montgomery

My research focus relates to elucidating the stage-specific impact of TNF-alpha receptor signaling in Alzheimer’s disease.  I am utilizing a mouse model of the disease completely devoid of cognate TNF-alpha receptor expression, and vector vector-based RNAi technology to selectively abrogate receptor expression at specific stages of the disease process in vivo.

Home town: Locke, NY
B.S., Biotechnology, Rochester Institute of Technology

Mentor: William Bowers

Michael Moses

My research interests involve cellular interactions and responses that elucidate a transformation to malignancy. I am currently studying the role of the estrogen receptor in molecular carcinogenesis of the prostate.

Home town: Geneva, NY
B.S., Biomolecular Science, Clarkson University

Mentor: William Ricke

Laura Nguyen

My current research is on HIV-1 vaccine development.

Home town: San Jose, CA
M.S., Immunology, University of California, Davis

Mentor: Baek Kim

Scott Peslak

My scientific interests are in hematopoiesis and radiation biology. My research currently focuses on the response of the erythroid hematopoietic lineage to radiation and the mechanisms underlying subsequent marrow recovery and autoregulation as well as mitigation of radiation damage in the bone marrow.

Home town: Peckville, PA
B.S., Biochemistry/Philsophy, University of Scranton
M.D./Ph.D. Program

Mentor: James Palis

Shanshan Shi

My research interest is the role of TGFb1 on tendon healing.

Home town: Beijing, China
B.A., Genetics, Ohio Weslyan University

Mentor: Regis O'Keefe

Julianne Smith

My research interests lie in stem cell and regenerative medicine. I am interested in microenvironmental effects on stem cells and/or cancer cells. Specifically, I enjoy studying hematopoiesis and other components of the bone marrow. I hope my work will be applicable to disease understanding and treatment.

Home town: Cleveland, OH
B.S., Microbiology & Immunology, University of Rochester

Mentor: Laura Calvi