Recent Graduates

Congratulations to the following Pathology and Microbiology students who have defended successfully and graduated.

 romerodefense.jpg

Matthew Romero, PhD
Advisor: Dr. Rey Carabeo

Dissertation: “Synergetic Signaling between Secreted Effectors TarP and TmeA Regulates Actin Kinetics and Efficient Entry“

 schulzedissertation.jpg

 Dissertation: “Towards a Mode of Action for the Anti-Schistosomal Aryl Hydantoins”

 zachscott.jpg

Zachary Scott, PhD
Advisor: Dr. Prabagaran Narayanasamy

Dissertation:  “Investigating and Targeting Iron Metabolism in Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Klebsiella pneumoniae

Nathan Hatch, PhD
Advisor: Dr. Scot Ouellette

Dissertation: “Investigating Transcriptional Anomalies During Persistence in Chlamydia trachomatis

 headshot_002.jpeg

Christopher Horn, PhD
Advisor: Dr. Tammy Kielian

Dissertation: “The Glycolysis-HIF-1⍺ Axis Is a Critical Component of Granulocytic Myeloid-Derived Suppressor Cell Activity in Staphylococcus Aureus Biofilm Infection”

 nick_cropped.jpg

Nicholas Wood, PhD
Advisor: Dr. Scot Ouellette

Dissertation: “A Critical Assessment of the Role of ClpXP-Mediated Proteolysis in the Development and Differentiation of Chlamydia trachomatis

 melissa_holzapfel-1299_cropped.jpg

 

Melissa Holzapfel, MS
Advisor: Dr. Geoffrey Talmon

Dissertation: “Mechanisms of Mutated Myosin Vb Mediated Cholestasis in Microvillus Inclusion Disease”

 blake_with_tammy_kielian_2023.jpeg

Blake Bertrand, PhD
Advisor: Dr. Tammy Kielian

Dissertation: “The Interface between Host and Bacterial Metabolism during Staphylococcus Aureus Prosthetic Joint Infection”

Caitlin Molczyk, PhD
Advisor: Rakesh Singh, PhD

Dissertation: “Targeting the CXCR1/2 Axis in Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma”

Catherine Vornholt, MS
Advisor: Dr. Paul Fey

Non Thesis Program

   

Jian Li, PhD
Advisor: Dr. Xu Luo

Dissertation: “Overcoming Resistance to Drug-induced Apoptosis in Cancer Cells”

 

Opeoluwa Oyewole, PhD
Advisor: Dr. St. Patrick Reid

Dissertation: “Investigating the Role of Sphingosine Kinases during Alphavirus Infection”

 johnson

Samuel Johnson, PhD
Advisor: Dr. Siddappa Byrareddy

Dissertation: “Gut Commensals Modulate SIV/SHIV Pathogenesis and Therapeutics”

kathryn-cole-defense-picture-cropped.jpg

Kathryn Cole, PhD
Advisor: Dr. James Talmadge

Dissertation: "Leukocyte Subsets in the Peripheral Blood and Spleen of Gastrointestinal Cancer Patients" 

 m-jane-morwitzer-crop.jpg Jane Morwitzer, PhD
Advisor: Dr. St. Patrick Reid

Dissertation: “Exploring Host-Pathogen Interactions of the Ebola Virus Ribonucleoprotein Complex”

 

Logan Bulock, PhD
Advisor: Dr. Ken Bayles

Dissertation: “Metabolic heterogeneity and the roles of CodY and CcpA in central metabolism and S. aureus biofilm formation”

 

Edward Makarov, MS
Advisor: Dr. Santhi Gorantla

Co-Advisor: Dr. Larisa Poluektova

Thesis: “Humanized mice for brain infection of emerging viruses”

 

Omalla (Allan) Olwenyi, PhD
Advisor: Dr. Siddappa Byrareddy

Co-Advisor: Dr. Courtney Fletcher

Dissertation: “Immunological Factors associated with SIV/SHIV Persistence in Diverse Tissue Compartments”

 

Kimberly Ziegenhorn, MS
Advisor: Dr. Rakesh Singh

Non Thesis Program

lisa-jorgenson-headshot-2021-rev2.jpg

Lisa Jorgenson, PhD
Advisor: Dr. Elizabeth Rucks

Dissertation: "Understanding the impact of Chlamydia trachomatis infection on host vesicular trafficking"

Stephen Luebker, PhD
Advisor: Dr. Scott Koepsell

Dissertation: “Gene Expression Profiling of Mapk Pathway Inhibitor Resistance in Melanoma”

   

Paran Goel, MS
Advisor: Dr. Rakesh Singh

Thesis: “Neutrophils in Pancreatic Cancer Progression”

 

Jennifer Endres, MS
Advisor: Dr. Ken Bayles

Thesis: “The Staphylococcus aureus lrgAB operon encodes a holin-like protein involved in pyruvate transport”

Thomas Troia, MS
Advisor: Dr. Kurt Fisher

Non Thesis Program

 

Abdulelah Alqarzaee, PhD
Advisor: Dr. Vinai Thomas

Dissertation: Staphylococcal ClpXP protease targets the cellular antioxidant system to eliminate fitness-compromised cells in stationary phase

 

Raina Barnes, MS
Advisor: Dr. Rakesh Singh
Non Thesis Program

 

Matthew Martens, PhD
Advisor: Dr. Paul Davis

Dissertation: Marinopyrrole Derivatives as Putative Anti-Parasitic Molecules Promoting Initiation of Programmed Cell Death in Toxoplasma gondii

 

Insha Mushtaq, PhD
Advisor: Dr. Hamid Band

Dissertation: Role of endocytic machinery regulators in EGFR traffic and viral entry

 

Austin Sanford, PhD
Advisor: Dr. Paul Davis

Dissertation: Characterization of Di-Aryl Urea Compounds Against Acute and Chronic Toxoplasma gondii

Yongji Zeng, PhD
Advisor: Dr. Jixin Dong

Dissertation: The Role of VGLL4 and MARK2-HDAC axis in Mitosis and Cancer

Jonathan Herskovitz, PhD
Advisor: Dr. Howard Gendelman
MD/PhD Scholars Program

Dissertation: Multistrain HIV-1 Elimination: A CRISPR-Cas9 and Theranostics-based Approach

 wangcheng2020

Cheng Wang, PhD
Advisor: Dr. Kai Fu

Dissertation: Identification of clonal evolution pattern and mutation event associated with relapsed diffuse large B-cell lymphoma using next-generation sequencing

Kathleen Hecker, MS
Advisor: Dr. Elizabeth Rucks

Non Thesis Program

 

Paroma Roy, PhD
Advisor: Dr. Paul Fey

Dissertation: Glycan-dependent adherence and skin colonization of Staphylococcus epidermidis mediated by the surface protein Aap

Connor Rose, MS
Advisor: Dr. Marilynn Larson

Non Thesis Program

 

Itidal Reslane, MS
Advisor: Dr. Paul Fey

Thesis: Arginine Biosynthesis in Staphylococcus aureus.

 

Joel Frandsen, PhD
Advisor: Dr. Prabagaran Narayanasamy

Dissertation: Flavonoid and cannabidiol neural glyoxalase pathway enhancement against aging and Alzheimer’s disease.

 

Macy Wood, PhD
Advisor: Dr. Elizabeth Rucks

Dissertation: Insights into the chlamydial niche: the dynamic roles of inclusion membrane (Inc) proteins in Chlamydia trachomatis development

 bartlettmaggie2020

Maggie Bartlett, PhD
Advisor: Dr. Sanchez-Lockhart

Dissertation: Fundamental differences in the B cell locus, V(D)J repertoire, and Marburg virus epitope recognition of the Egyptian rousette bat that may allow for asymptomatic presentation.

Jiayu Yu, PhD
Advisor: Dr. Javeed Iqbal

Dissertation: Molecular Pathogenesis of a Novel Subgroup of Peripheral T-cell Lymphomas.

Kai Huang, PhD
Advisor: Dr. Xu Luo

Dissertation: Mechanism of BAX/BAK Activation in Apoptotic Signaling.

Tayla Heavican, PhD
Advisor: Dr. Javeed Iqbal

Dissertation: Molecular Insights into Major Peripheral T-cell Lymphoma Entities with Advances in a Representative Model System.

Chunyi Zhou, PhD
Advisor: Dr. Paul Fey

Dissertation: Acid Resistance Mechanisms in Staphylococcus aureus

   

Lingyun Wu, PhD
Advisor: Dr. Rakesh Singh

Dissertation: IL-17-CXCR2 Axis Promotes Breast Cancer Metastasis and Therapy Resistance

 

Jiuli Zhou, PhD
Advisor: Dr. Jixin Dong

Dissertation: The Role of Zyxin in Mitosis and Colon Cancer

Mohammad Awaji, PhD
Advisor: Dr. Rakesh Singh

Dissertation: The CXCR2-Dependent Role of Cancer-Associated Fibroblasts in Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma

 

Kelsey Yamada, PhD
Advisor: Dr. Tammy Kielian

Dissertation: Monocyte anti-inflammatory activity is dictated by metabolic status during Staphylococcus aureus biofilm infection

 

Xuan Zhang, PhD
Advisor: Dr. Kai Fu

Dissertation: Targeting oncogenic protein synthesis in MYC driven B cell lymphoma

Tian Tian, PhD
Advisor: Dr. Kai Fu

Dissertation: Role of Rac1-PAK Pathway in Aggressive B-cell Lymphomas

 

Seth Stauffer, PhD
Advisor: Dr. Jixin Dong

Dissertation: Cyclin-Dependent Kinase 1-Mediated AMPK Phosphorylation Regulates Mitotic Progression and Links to Antitubulin Cytotoxicity

Saraswoti Khadge, PhD
Advisor: Dr. James Talmadge
Co-Advisor: Dr. Geoffrey Thiele

Dissertation: Dietary Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids Regulate Mammary Tumor Growth and Metastasis by Modulating Tissue Microenvironments

Tra-My Hoang, PhD
Advisor: Dr. Paul Fey

Dissertation: Regulation of icaADBC by IcaR and TcaR in Staphylococcus epidermidis

Amanda Bartling, MS
Advisor: Dr. Marilynn Larson

Thesis: Francisella tularensis Insertion Sequence Elements Contribute to Differential Gene Expression

 

Thandiwe Jere, MS
Advisor: Dr. Kaihong Su

Thesis: MicroRNA expression and disease correlation in a Hispanic Lupus cohort

Kholud Alharthi, MS 
Advisor: Dr. Rakesh Singh

Non Thesis Program

 

Navatha Shree Polavaram, PhD
Advisor: Dr. Kaustubh Datta

Dissertation: Elucidation of the function of Neuropilin 2 in osteoclasts in promoting prostate cancer bone metastasis

Julia Sommer, PhD
Advisor: Dr. Hesham Ali

Dissertation: “Focus: A Graph Approach for Data-Mining and Domain-Specific Assembly of Next Generation Sequencing Data”

 

Xingcheng (Cindy) Chen, PhD
Advisor: Dr. Jixin Dong

Dissertation: The Role of Hippo Pathway in Mitosis and Cancer

Anna graduation photo

 

Anna Staudacher, MS
Advisor: Dr. Tammy Kielian

Thesis: Redirection of the immune response to Staphylococcus aureus infections

Wellems graduation photo

 

Dianne Wellems, MS
Advisor: Dr. Paul Fey

Thesis: Functional Importance of Proline Transporters in Staphylococcus aureus

Bushra Bakhsh, MS
Advisor: Dr. Catherine Gebhart

Non Thesis Program

  

Cortney Halsey, PhD
Advisor: Dr. Paul Fey

Dissertation: Amino acid catabolism in Staphylococcus aureus

  Tyler Scherr, PhD
Advisor: Dr. Tammy Kielian
Dissertation: Staphylococcus aureus biofilms interfere with  macrophage antimicrobial responses through differential gene regulation, toxin production, and purine metabolism

 

 K. Jacob Fischer, MS
Advisor: Dr. Keer Sun

Thesis: Inflammatory Monocytes in Post-Influenza Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus Pneumonia

 

Chao Wang, PhD
Advisors: Drs. Rakesh Singh and Wing-Chung (John) Chan

Dissertation: Mutations affecting epigenetic regulators  and their role in peripheral T-cell lymphomas

  

Bei Jiang, PhD
Advisors: Drs. Kai Fu and  Wing-Chung (John) Chan

Dissertation: Molecular Pathogenesis of natural  killer/T-cell lymphomas

   

 Ian Windham, PhD
Advisor: Dr. Ken Bayles

Dissertation: Regulation of cid-mediated cell death  in Staphylococcus aureus

   

Joseph Rohr, PhD
Advisors: Drs. Javeed Iqbal and
Wing-Chung (John) Chan

Dissertation: Activating mutations of proximal T-cell signaling molecules in peripheral T-cell lymphomas