| Sarmi Basnet Profile basnet@wisc.edu James Gern Lab |
Education: Winona State Univ, Winona, MN University of Wisconsin-Madison Research: Studying virus-induced respiratory illnesses at the interface of virology, cell biology, genetics and immunology. |
| Lindsey Block Profile lnblock2@wisc.edu Ted Golos Lab |
Education: BS, Molecular and Cellular Biology, 2016 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Research: I study how Zika Virus affects placental function and development using IVF and an animal model. I am then trying to find a biomarker for infection of the placenta by isolating placental exosomes and analyzing their cargo. |
| Joshua Brand jabrand2@wisc.edu |
Education: BS, Biology, SUNY Geneseo Research: Rotating |
| Anil Kiran Chokkalla Profile chokkalla@wisc.edu Vemuganti Lab |
Education: Indian Institute of Technology Madras Research: Our lab investigates the role of non-coding RNAs and epigenetic regulation in post-stroke pathophysiology. My work is centered around understanding the molecular mechanism of long non-coding RNA (lncRNA), FosDT mediated epigenetic remodeling in post-stroke brain damage. |
| Stephan DaRodda Profile darodda@wisc.edu Dan Loeb Lab |
Education: UC Davis Research: I study Hepatitis B virus and the role of the envelope proteins in viral secretion by examing and comparing Duck Hepatis B virus to other Avihepadnaviruses, such as Snow goose Hepatitis B virus. |
| Caleb Dillingham Profile cdillingham@wisc.edu Sridharan lab |
Education: BS, Cellular Biology, 2013 University of Georgia Research: Our laboratory studies the epigenetic mechanisms regulating somatic stem cell reprogramming. I am particularly interested in the enzymatic activity of histone demethylases and the roles they play in reprogramming. |
| Ryan Donahue Profile rjdonahue@wisc.edu Rob Nickells Lab |
Education: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY Research: “My project focuses on understanding temporal dynamics of retinal ganglion cell commitment to apoptosis in the optic nerve crush model.” |
| Phu Duong Profile pduong2@wisc.edu John Svaren Lab |
Education: Northeastern Illinois University, Chicago, IL Research: My research project focuses on the epigenetic regulation of Schwann cell’s regenerative capacity. More specifically, I study the role of JMJD3, a histone demethylase, that may be a major player in the rate-limiting-steps for demyelination, debris clearance, development of new axon tracks, and remyelination. |
| Kim Edwards Profile kedwards22@wisc.edu David Gamm Lab |
Education: Indiana University Research: Choroideremia (CHM) is an X-linked recessive disorder characterized by progressive and irreversible vision loss as a result of degeneration of photoreceptors and retinal pigment epithelial cells (RPE). |
| Billy Erazo berazo@wisc.edu |
Education: BS, Industrial Microbiology, University of Puerto Rico Research: Rotating |
| Evan Flietner Profile eflietner@wisc.edu Jing Zhang Lab |
Education: UW Madison Research: Multiple myeloma (MM) is a hematological malignancy of mature plasma cells in the bone marrow. Successful MM treatment is dependent on CD8+ cytotoxic T cell responses against myeloma cells, but CD8 T cells from myeloma patients have been shown to be dysfunctional and unable to enact a proper immune response against the disease. My research focuses on restoring CD8 T cell function in the context of aggressive RAS-driven myeloma using combination immunotherapy. |
| Julia Gambardella Profile gambardella2@wisc.edu Marina Emborg Lab |
Education: Salve Regina University, RI Research: I am interested in the role of the neuronal protein tau in neurodegeneration. My research uses nonhuman primate models of disease, specifically an MPTP neurotoxin model of Parkinson’s disease (PD), and a MAPT R406W mutant model of frontotemporal dementia. I am currently mapping endogenous tau and phosphorylated tau distribution in the brains of healthy and diseased rhesus macaques using postmortem immunostaining methods and in vivo PET imaging. |
| Trey Gilpin Profile tgilpin@wisc.edu Zsuzsanna Fabry Lab |
Education: California State University – San Marcos, San Marcos, CA Research: I’m studying the migration of mycobacterium infected dendritic cells from the lung and adhesion molecules and chemokines that regulate dendritic cell migration across the blood brain barrier. |
| Cole Gilsdorf Profile cgilsdorf@wisc.edu Josh Lang Lab |
Education: BS, 2017 Biology, UW Madison Research: The Lang lab utilizes circulating tumor cells (CTCs) found in the peripheral blood as a liquid biopsy for cancer. My research revolves around identifying biomarkers found on CTCs that can be used to diagnose cancer type and stage, predict treatment response, or offer insight into the prognosis for a patient based on their specific biomarker profile. |
| Kirstan Gimse Profile gimse@wisc.edu Saha Lab |
Education: University of Wisconsin – Parkside, Kenosha, WI Research: Investigating signaling pathways involved with age associated cognitive decline. |
| Athena Golfinos Profile agolfinos@wisc.edu Shelby O’Connor Lab |
Education: BS, 2017 Biology, UW Madison Research: My current research involves investigating the viral dynamics and evolution of simian immunodeficiency virus using a barcoded SIV strain SIVmac239M. I am using this barcoded virus, as well as epitope variants, to understand how the course of SIV infection is modulated by treatment with an IL-15 superagonist. |
| Olivia Harwood Profile osayer@wisc.edu Shelby O’Connor Lab |
Education: BS, Biology, 2016, Colorado Mesa University Research: Our lab is interested in understanding the effects of N803, an IL-15 superagonist complex, on viremia and immune cell activation in SIV infection. Specifically, my research focuses on the role of vaccination in priming T cells to control SIV viremia after N803 treatment, and also the potential for N803 in combination with vaccination to elicit broadly neutralizing antibodies. |
| Marienela Heredia Profile heredia3@wisc.edu David Andes Lab |
Education: John Jay College of Criminal Justice NYC Research: My project will focus on the role of extracellular vesicles in mature biofilm development and drug resistance, and how secretion of these vesicles is regulated on a molecular level. |
| Margo Heston Profile mheston@wisc.edu Barbara Bendlin Lab |
Education: BS, 2015, Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University Research: Margo Heston studies how modifiable factors such as diet and living environment may impact the progression of Alzheimer’s disease. She uses computational tools to understand patterns among data sets including intestinal microbiota profiles (16S rRNA sequencing), metabolomics (mass spectroscopy) and sociodemographic data, and to identify their relationships with pathological biomarkers measured in and around the brain. |
| Anna Hoefges Profile hoefges@wisc.edu Paul Sondel Lab |
Education: BS, Biology, University of Bonn, Germany Master of Science in Molecular Medicine, Uppsala University, awarded in 2016 Research: Our lab focuses on cancer immunotherapy in childhood cancers and melanoma. One of my projects focuses on investigating KIR and KIR-ligand interactions and how the KIR genotype can affect the outcome of the administered cancer immunotherapy. |
| Rebecca Hutcheson Profile rhutcheson@wisc.edu William Sugden lab |
Education: BS, 2015, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Mercer Universtiy, Macon, GA Research: Our lab studies Epstein Barr Virus (EBV) to understand its molecular contributions to certain cancers. My work involves identifying cellular mutations within EBV positive Burkitt Lymphoma cells that provide growth advantages to tumor cells. |
| Michelle Koenig Profile mkoenig5@wisc.edu Thaddeus Golos Lab |
Education: BS, 2013, Environmental Biology, Beloit College Research: I study the immune environment of the uterus during pregnancy. I focus on the role that the uterine immune system plays in Zika Virus infection and how it contributes to congenital pathologies. |
| Andrew Lynch Profile arlynch2@wisc.edu Mark Burkard Lab |
Education: UW Eau Claire Research: Chromosomal instability (CIN), or gains and losses of chromosomes through missegregation, is a hallmark of human cancer and generates significant intratumoral genomic heterogeneity. However, the relevant rates of chromosome missegregation and the mechanisms by which cancer cells respond to these massive shifts in gene dosage are not well defined. My research focuses on answering these fundamental questions about the role of CIN in cancer progression using a combination of computational, cell biological, and single cell genomics approaches. |
| Morgan Mann Profile mwmann@wisc.edu Allan Brasier Lab |
Education: BS, University of Oklahoma Research: My graduate research in Dr. Allan Brasier’s Laboratory focuses on the role of Bromodomain-containing Protein 4 (BRD4) in the transcriptional activation of airway inflammation and the Epithelial-to-Mesenchymal Transition (EMT) observed in Airway Remodeling. In the course of this research, I use a variety of methods – including Cell Culture Immunofluorescence and Mass Spectrometry – to probe for alterations in signaling pathways induced by BRD4 activation and to study the role of BRD4 Protein Interaction Partners. |
| Steven Mayerl Profile mayerl@wisc.edu David Gamm lab |
Education: BS, Biology, 2014 Humboldt State University, Arcata, CA Research: Work in our lab focuses on using stem cell technology to explore the cellular and molecular events that occur during human retinal differentiation and development as well as the generation of cells for human retinal disease modeling. |
| Ivy McDermott imcdermott@wisc.edu |
Education: BS, Molecular/Cellular/Developmental Biology, University of Colorado Boulder Research: Rotating |
| Aisha Maia Mergaert Profile mergaert@wisc.edu Miriam Shelef Lab |
Education: Knox College Galesburg, IL Research: In Dr. Shelef’s lab, I work on several projects to probe the mechanisms of systemic inflammation with a focus on citrullination. |
| Gage Moreno Profile gkmoreno@wisc.edu David O’Connor Lab |
Education: BS, 2018, Genetics, UW Madison Research: Our lab is interested in understanding if newly discovered viruses in nonhuman primates pose a threat of causing disease in humans. My research focuses on using novel sequencing techniques to blend the high throughput of target-specific sequencing with the sensitivity of metagenomics for virus characterization and discovery. |
| Nicole Muench Profile nmuench@wisc.edu Robert Nickells Lab |
Education: University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point Research: My research focuses on targeting the apoptotic activity of the BAX protein. We hypothesize that targeting BAX therapeutically will substantially reduce RGC and optic nerve degeneration after optic nerve injury. |
| Jenna Nagy Profile jnagy2@wisc.edu Raunak Sinha Lab |
Education: Ohio State University Research: First, I propose to characterize the influence of synaptic and circuit mechanisms, such as presynaptic inhibition, on retinal circuit function. Second, I propose to characterize the influence of molecular factors, such as Synaptotagmin 17, on retinal circuit function and formation. |
| Athanasios Papadas Profile papadas@wisc.edu Fotis Asimakopoulos Lab |
Research: Investigating dendritic cell (DC) based vaccines into a novel Ras driven myeloma model. Exploring therapeutic implications of DC vaccines in combination with different immunomodulatory agents. |
| Hemanth Potluri Profile hpotluri@wisc.edu Douglas McNeel Lab |
Education: Research: The McNeel lab focuses on prostate cancer immunotherapy. Specifically, my work focuses on studying the immunomodulatory effects of Targeted Radionuclide Therapy (TRT). My goal is to design rational combination therapy approaches with TRT, prostate-specific cancer vaccines, and checkpoint blockade. |
| Trent Prall prall@wisc.edu David O’Connor Lab |
Education: BS Genetics, UW Madison Research: Our research centers around the investigation of immune receptor gene families such as the Major Histocompatibility Complex and Leukocyte Receptor Complex. Immunogenetic regions exhibit high amounts of interhost and intrahost genetic diversity. Furthermore, the copy number variation within a single individual can vary substantially. This complex genomic architecture suffers from the challenges of short read assembly. Therefore, our understanding of the large-scale genetics of these regions is limited despite their importance in pathology. |
| Hassler Rengifo Profile hrengifo@wisc.edu Gopal Iyer Lab |
Education: BS, 2017, Biology, San Diego State University Mayo Clinic College of Medicine Post-Baccalaureate Research Education Program Trainee 2017-2018 Research: Current ongoing work in the lab consists of mapping viral integration sites in oncogenic, naturally-infected human papillomavirus (HPV) cell lines and solid tumors and understanding the basis of viral DNA replication and virus-host interactions and the role of specific HPV viral proteins and their individual roles that contribute to the formation of cell cycle dysregulation and DNA damage responses. We take on multidisciplinary approaches both in methodology and in approach to scientific questions at hand to understand this ancient co-evolving virus that nature has selected for and that has led to successful co-existence of the virus with humans. |
| Corelle Rokicki Profile crokicki@wisc.edu Tim Kamp Lab |
Education: University of Massachusetts – Amherst Research: “Once cardiomyocytes die within the heart, the remaining cells do not have a natural, robust mechanism of regeneration. Thus, the dead tissue is replaced with fibrotic scarring and overall remodeling of the remaining myocardium. My project is focused on the proliferative capacity of cardiomyocytes by using induced pluripotent stem cell derived cardiomyocytes and testing whether various interventions could potentially induce proliferation within these terminally differentiated cells.” |
| Anna Marie Rowell Profile arowell2@wisc.edu Ted Golos Lab |
Education: University of Oklahoma Research: Listeria monocytogenes (Lm) causes a mild infection in healthy adults but is associated with serious pregnancy complications, including miscarriage, stillbirth, preterm birth, neonatal sepsis and meningitis. However, the effect and mechanism of Lm pathogenesis during pregnancy at the maternal-fetal interface and impact on the host microbiome are not understood. Emerging studies have found connections between overall health and patient microbial diversity, which may link causation for susceptibility to disease and inflammation. To adapt this concept to a non-human primate model, current 16S bacterial rRNA sequencing techniques will be utilized to define the changes in microbial diversity in response to listeriosis in pregnancy. |
| Kaetlyn Ryan ktryan2@wisc.edu |
Education: BS, Biochemistry/Chemical Engineering/Human Biolgy, North Carolina State University Research: Rotating |
| Kjell Sandstorm ksandstrom2@wisc.edu |
Education: BS, Biochemistry, University of Minnestoa-Twin Cities Research: Rotating |
| Lauren Sarko sarko@wisc.edu |
Education: BS, Biological Sciences, Pennsylvania State University Research: Rotating |
| Nicholas Donald Van Sciver Profile vansciver@wisc.edu Shannon Kenney Lab |
Education: Worcester Poly Institute Research: EBV is associated with epithelial cell malignancies, but in-vitro EBV infection of epithelial cells is very inefficient. I investigate what innate immune pathways block EBV infection of epithelial cells with the goal of establishing novel EBV epithelial cell models. |
| Phoenix Shepherd pshepherd@wisc.edu |
Education: BS, Biology, UW Madison Research: Rotating |
| Benjamin Wancewicz Profile wancewicz@wisc.edu Ying Ge Lab |
Education: BS, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, UC Davis, 2014 Research: My research focuses on understanding the metabolic dysfunction present in diabetic cardiomyopathy using mass spectrometry-based metabolomics and proteomics. |
| Szu-Tsen Yeh syeh8@wisc.edu Robert Redfield Lab |
Education: UC San Diego Research: I am currently working on the characterization of genome engineered Wisconsin Miniature Swines (WMS) that are developed for human compatible tissue or organs. We use novel strategies to achieve the classic triple knockouts in swine and are currently exploring knockin of different genes for better humanization of the tissues. I am helping the development of screening and monitoring protocol for pig-to-primate xenotransplantation as well as screening for previously unknown targets to prolong xenotransplantation-graft survival. |
| Katie Zarbock Profile kzarbock@wisc.edu Federico Rey Lab |
Education: St. Paul College – MN Research: My research centers on the intersections between diet, the gut microbiota, and microbial metabolites in the context of Alzheimer’s Disease (AD). As certain risk factors for AD (e.g. obesity, insulin resistance) are causally impacted by the gut microbiota, and as there are significant differences between the diversity and taxa of the gut microbiota of individuals with AD as compared to cognitively normal age- and sex-matched controls, I strive to elucidate roles that specific microbial taxa, genes, or metabolites play in the pathogenesis, exacerbation, and amelioration of AD pathology. |
| Qijun Zhang Profile qzhang333@wisc.edu Federico Rey Lab |
Education: University of Science and Technology of China Research: My research focuses on integrating genomics, metagenomics, transcriptomics, and metabolomics by systems genetics approaches to understand complex traits and identify host genetic elements that control gut microbial functions and metabolism in genetically diverse mouse populations. |
