Student Profiles
- Elizabeth Adams
- Seckin Akgul
Mentor: Yuan Zhu
seckinak@umich.edu
Determination of the role of tumor suppressor genes and oncogenes in nervous system tumors- Steve Allen
Mentor: Sofia Merajver
allensg@umich.edu
Interplay of macrophages and inflammation with early breast malignancy and chronic mastitis- Erik Anderson
Mentor: Cunming Duan
anderser@umich.edu
Peptide growth factors act to control vertebrate growth, development, and aging- Hilary Archbold
Mentor: Kenneth Cadigan
hilaryar@umich.edu
Wingless Response Elements: Characterising the bi-partite binding motif of the transcription factor dTCF- Katherine Baldwin
Mentor: Roman Giger
koelzekt@umich.edu
Nervous System Regeneration: Molecular Mechanisms that Limit Axonal Regeneration Following Spinal Cord Injury, Optic Nerve Injury and Multiple Sclerosis- Shauna Marie Bennett
- Mario Blanco
- Nathan Blewett
Mentor: Aaron Goldstrohm
blewett@umich.edu
Regulation of messenger RNA stability, translation and localization by RNA-binding proteins, mRNA untranslated regions, and nucleases. Genetic mechanisms of cancer and obesity- Nadejda Bozadjieva
Mentor: Ernesto Bernal-Mizrachi
nibozad@umich.edu
The role of Akt/mTORC1 signaling in pancratic alpha cell phisiology- Arthur Brannon III
Mentor: Marina Pasca di Magliano
abiii@umich.edu
Initiation and progression of pancreatic cancer with a focus on signaling pathways- Elaina Breznau
Mentor: Ann Miller
ebreznau@umich.edu
Investigating how the small GTPase Rho regulates cytokinesis normally and how the Rho signaling pathway may become mis-regulated in cancers- Daniela Burgos-Ojeda
Mentor: Ronald Buckanovich
danivane@umich.edu
Internal Medicine Division of Hematology Oncology Obstetrics and Gynecology Division of Gynecologic Oncology- Randi Burns
- Jeff Calhoun
Mentor: Lori Isom
calhoujd@umich.edu
Role of voltage-gated sodium channel beta subunits in neurite extension and axon guidance- Jennifer Chase
Mentor: Ivan Maillard
chasejen@umich.edu
Notch signaling, T cell differentiation and homeostasis, and hematopoietic stem cells- Albert (Tzong-Yang) Chen
- Andrew Chervenak
Mentor: Kate Barald
apcher@umich.edu
The Role of Zic1 and Zic2 in Cell Fate Specification During Inner Ear Development- Jooho Chung
Mentor: Ivan Maillard
jooh@umich.edu
Transcriptional dynamics of notch signaling in peripheral T-cells- Erika Cline
Mentor: Nils Walter
ecline@umich.edu
Developing a Synthetic Mimic of Promoter Searching by RNA Polymerase- Meredith Collins
Mentor: Marina Pasca di Magliano
macoll@umich.edu
Kras in pancreatic cancer: tumor initiation, progression, and maintenance- Ishita Das
Mentor: JoAnn Sekiguchi
idas@umich.edu
Role of a specific DNA nuclease in resolution of replication stress and maintenance of genome stability- Katie Dumas
- Tamar Feinberg
Mentor: Stephen J. Weiss
tyfei@umich.edu
Matrix metalloproteinase mobilization and function in branching morphogenesis- Nicole Gabreski
Mentor: Brian Pierchala
ngab@umich.edu
Functions of several splice variants of RET, a receptor tyrosine kinase, during development in the mouse- Krista Geister
Mentor: Sally Camper
kgeister@umich.edu
Roles of Natriuretic Peptide Receptor 2 and a Novel Gene in Skeletal Development, Ovulation, and Spermatogenesis- Laurie Griffin
Mentor: Anthony Antonellis
lbgriff@umich.edu
Identifying genes responsible for inherited neurodegenerative diseases; and Obtaining a better understanding of peripheral nervous system development- Alexander Holtz
Mentor: Ben Allen
amholtz@umich.edu
Cell surface regulation of Sonic Hedgehog signaling, focusing on the interaction of pathway antagonists in mouse neural tube development- Brooke Horton
Mentor: Anuj Kumar
bnhorton@umich.edu
Mechanisms underlying synapse formation and neurogenesis in the hippocampus- Mangala Sidhar Iyengar
Mentor: Ronald Buckanovich
miyengar@umich.edu
Role of immune cells in ovarian cancer angiogenesis and tumor antigen recognition- Derek Janssens
- Ray Joe
Mentor: Christin Carter-Su
raymjoe@umich.edu
Determining the cellular basis for the Phenotype observed in patients with mutation in the adapter protein SH2B1 which includes severe early onset obesity- Morgan Jones
Mentor: Ivan Maillard
jonesmor@umich.edu
The roles of telomere capping and histone methylation in hematopoietic stem cell maintenance- Charlie Kuang
Mentor: Cheng-Yu Lee
ckuang@umich.edu
A Novel Role of Fizzy/Cdc20 in Maintaining Neural Stem Cells in Drosophila- Yi-Chun (Jennifer) Lai
- Jamie Lane
- Sarah Lang (Kampert)
Mentor: Margaret Westfall
skampert@umich.edu
Combination of Phosphomimetic Substitutions within Cardiac Troponin I Cause Functional Cross-Talk- Brian Larsen
- David Larsen
Mentor: Hisashi Umemori
djlarsen@umich.edu
The mechanism of functional neural circuit and synapse formation in the nervous system, using genetically-engineered mice and cultures- Jeremy Linsley
Mentor: John Kuwada
jlinsley@umich.edu
A Novel Member of the Excitation-Contraction Complex in Zebrafish- David Lorberbaum
Mentor: Scott Barolo
dslorber@umich.edu
Transcriptional control of gene regulation and focus on characterizing enhancer function using Drosophila melanogaster- William Lu
Mentor: JoAnn Sekiguchi
luwill@umich.edu
Elucidating the mechanisms underlying regulation of the Artemis DNA repair factor- Matthew Marek
- Gabriel Martinez Santibanez
- Esha Mathew
- Yevgeniya Mironova
Mentor: Roman Giger
mironova@umich.edu
Nogo receptors in the healthy central nervous system by studying synaptogenesis, synaptic plasticity, and regulation of signaling pathways such as mTOR- John Moldovan
- Heather(Krueger)Moore
Mentor: Celina Kleer
kruegerh@umich.edu
Understanding the function of EZH2 as a determinant of breast cancer invasion and metastasis- Andrea Morris Spencer
Mentor: Stephen Ragsdale
almor@umich.edu
Regulation of biliverdin reductase and heme degradation through protein-protein interactions- Andy Polzin
Mentor: Patrick Hu
polzinaj@umich.edu
Evolutionarily conserved signal transduction pathways that are dysregulated in human disease- Ajay Prakash
- Jennifer Ro
Mentor: Scott Pletcher
jenro@umich.edu
Role of the central nervous system in nutrient homeostasis and dietary restriction response- Carla Ramos
Mentor: David Antonetti
cjram@umich.edu
Investigations into the formation and loss of the blood-brain and blood-retinal barrier in normal vascular biology, diabetes and cancer- Andrea Ramos
Mentor: Scott Barolo
airamos@umich.edu
Mechanisms of Gene Transcription Across the Hedgehog Signaling Gradient- Ciara Reyes
Mentor: Ann Miller
ccreyes@umich.edu
Investigating how the small GTPase Rho regulates cytokinesis normally and how the Rho signaling pathway may become mis-regulated in cancers- Jose Rodriguez-Nieves
- Marijo Roiko
- Nadia Sedastian
- Jen Shadrach
Mentor: Brian Pierchala
jenshad@umich.edu
Neuronal growth factors guide the development and maintenance of the nervous system- Christian Shively
Mentor: Anuj Kumar
chashive@umich.edu
Filamentous growth of Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Candida albicans- Becky Simon
Mentor: Ormond MacDougald
simonbec@umich.edu
Chemosensory receptor activity as a regulator of adipogenesis and adipocyte metabolism- Elisabeth Starnes
Mentor: Diane Robins
starnese@umich.edu
The role of androgen receptor genetic variants in prostate cancer initiation, progression and response to therapy- Ilea Swinehart
- Daniel Treisman
- Chris Walczak
- Guoxiao (Grace) Wang
Mentor: Jiandie Lin
gracewgx@umich.edu
Role of Nrg4 and Otop1 in brown adipose tissue metabolism and systemicenergy balance- Hanxiao Wang
Mentor: Alnawaz Rehemtulla
hanxiaow@umich.edu
Regulation of FADD (Fas-Associated protein with Death Domain) through ubiquitination- Michael Waterson
Mentor: Scott Pletcher
mjwater@umich.edu
Combines genetic, biochemical, and behavioral techniques to understand the nature of aging and the causes of aging-related disease- Natasha Weiser
Mentor: John Kim
nweiser@umich.edu
microRNAs and other classes of endogenous small noncoding RNAs regulate fundamental biological processes- Corinne Weisheit
Mentor: William Dauer
weisheit@umich.edu
Characterizing the behavioral and histochemical phenotype of novel mouse models of primary dystonia- Heiko Yang
Mentor: Yukiko Yamashita
heiko@umich.edu
Mechanisms how adult stem cells (or tissue-specific stem cells) maintain tissue homeostasis, using the Drosophila male germ line as a model system- Richard Yau
