Current Graduate Students

Integrative Physiology & Molecular Medicine (IPMM) students

Emmanuel Adu-Agyekum – 1st year PhD IPMM student
MBBS (Biology), Kwame Nkrumah University of Science & Technology
Research Interest: Cardiovascular Physiology

Weilun Ai – 5th year PhD IPMM student
BS (Medicine), Jianghan University; MSc (Cell Biology), Capital Medical University
Supervisor:  Saraswathi Viswanathan
Research Interest: Alcohol-associated liver disease and alcoholic cardiomyopathy.

• Viswanathan Saraswathi, Narendra Kumar, Thiyagarajan Gopal, Saumya Bhatt, Weilun Ai, Carmen Ma, Geoffrey A Talmon , Cyrus Desouza. Lauric Acid versus Palmitic Acid: Effects on Adipose Tissue Inflammation, Insulin Resistance, and Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease in Obesity.  Biology (Basel). 2020 Oct 22; 9(11):346.  Abstract
• Gopal T, Ai W, Casey CA, Donohue TM Jr, Saraswathi V. A review of the role of ethanol-induced adipose tissue dysfunction in alcohol-associated liver disease. Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2021 Oct; 45(10):1927-1939. Abstract
• Saraswathi V, Kumar N, Ai W, Gopal T, Bhatt S, Harris EN, Talmon GA, Desouza CV. Biomolecules. Myristic Acid Supplementation Aggravates High Fat Diet-Induced Adipose Inflammation and Systemic Insulin Resistance in Mice. 2022 May 24; 12(6):739. Abstract

Shaurav Bhattarai – 3rd year PhD IPMM student
BVetMed, Tribhuvan University; MS (Microbiology), South Dakota State University
Supervisor: Howard E. Gendelman
Research Interest: Neurodegenerative disease, neuroimmunology, and Alzheimer's disease.
Social Chair - IPMM Student Body Committee

• Opeoluwa O Oyewole, Kyle Dunnavant, Shaurav Bhattarai, Yugesh Kharel, Kevin R Lynch, Webster L Santos, St Patrick Reid.  A Novel Sphingosine Kinase Inhibitor Suppresses Chikungunya Virus Infection. Viruses. 2022 May 24; 14(6):1123. Abstract

Kwadwo Boateng – 2nd year PhD IPMM student
OD (Optometry), Kwame Nkrumah University of Science & Technology
Supervisor: Wallace B. Thoreson
Research Interest: Ocular pathophysiology and retinal neurodegeneration

Deepan Chatterjee - 3rd year PhD IPMM student
BS/MS (Biotechnology), St. Xavier's College Kolkata
Supervisor: Robert E. Lewis
Research Interest: Understanding the potential roles of molecular scaffolds Kinase Suppressor of Ras 1 (KSR1) and KSR2 in Small cell lung cancer (SCLC).
Academic Chair - IPMM Student Body Committee

Adrian Flores - 5th year PhD IPMM Student
BA (Biology), Roosevelt University
Supervisor: Gurudutt Pendyala
Research Interest: The vulnerability of pre and postnatal oxycodone exposed offspring to nicotine abuse.

• Flores A, Gowen A, Schaal VL, Koul S, Hernandez JB, Yelamanchili SV, Pendyala G. Impact of Adolescent Nicotine Exposure in Pre- and Post-natal Oxycodone Exposed Offspring. J Neuroimmune Pharmacol. 2023 Jun 23. PMID: 37351737.  Abstract
• Odegaard KE, Chand S, Wheeler S, Tiwari S, Flores A, Hernandez J, Savine M, Gowen A, Pendyala G, Yelamanchili SV. Role of Extracellular Vesicles in Substance Abuse and HIV-Related Neurological Pathologies. Int J Mol Sci. 2020 Sep 15; 21(18):E6765. PMID: 32942668.  Abstract

Flobater Gawargi - 3rd year PhD IPMM Student
BS (Biology-concentration in Molecular Cell Physiology), Monmouth Univ
Supervisor: Paras Kumar Mishra 
Research Interest: Diabetic cardiomyopathy and RNA biology

• Kambis TN, Tofilau HMN, Gawargi FI, Chandra S, Mishra PK. Regulating Polyamine Metabolism by miRNAs in Diabetic Cardiomyopathy. Curr Diab Rep. 2021 Dec 13; 21(12):52. Abstract
• Yadav SK, Gawargi FI, Hasan MH, Tandon R, Upton JW, Mishra PK. Differential effects of CMV infection on the viability of cardiac cells. Cell Death Discov. 2023 Apr 3; 9(1):111. Abstract

Austin Gowen - 3rd year PhD IPMM Student
BS (Biology), University of Nebraska - Omaha
Supervisor: Sowmya Yelamanchili
Research Interest: Pre-natal drug exposure and its impact on mild traumatic brain injury-related biological and behavioral sequelae

• Shahjin F, Guda RS, Schaal VL, Odegaard K, Clark A, Gowen A, Xiao P, Lisco SJ, Pendyala G, Yelamanchili SV. Brain-Derived Extracellular Vesicle microRNA Signatures Associated with In Utero and Postnatal Oxycodone Exposure.  Cells 2019 Dec 19; 9(1):21.  Abstract
• Gowen A, Shahjin F, Chand S, Odegaard KE, Yelamanchili SV. Mesenchymal Stem Cell-Derived Extracellular Vesicles: Challenges in Clinical Applications.  Front Cell Dev Biol. 2020 Mar 12; 8:149.  Abstract
• Azadmanesh J, Gowen AM, Creger PE, Schafer ND, Blankenship JR. Filamentation Involves Two Overlapping, but Distinct, Programs of Filamentation in the Pathogenic Fungus Candida albicans.  G3 (Bethesda). 2017 Nov 6; 7(11):3797-3808.  Abstract

• Chapp AD, Behnke JE, Driscoll KM, Hahka T, LaLonde Z, Shan Z, Chen QH.  Elevated L-lactate Promotes Major Cellular Pathologies Associated with Neurodegenerative Diseases. Neurosci Bull. 2021 Mar; 37(3):380-384. Abstract
• Slotkowski R, Van Ormer M, Akbar A, Paetz O, Hahka T, Thompson M, Freeman A, Hergenrader A, Sweeney S, Korade Z, Genaro-Mattos T, Hanson C, Anderson-Berry A, Thoene M. Nutrients.  Retinol and Pro-Vitamin A Carotenoid Nutritional Status during Pregnancy Is Associated with Newborn Hearing Screen Results. Nutrients. 2023 Feb 4; 15(4):800. PMID: 36839158. Abstract
• Akbar A, Duvall S, VanOrmer M, Slotkowski R, Hahka T, Genaro-Mattos T, Korade Z, Hanson C, Anderson Berry A, Thoene M. Nutrients.  Plasma Retinol Concentrations and Dietary Intakes of Mother-Infant Sets in Singleton versus Twin Pregnancy. 2023 May 30; 15(11):2553. PMID: 37299515.  Abstract

Kajal Kamra - 5th year PhD IPMM Student
BS (Zoology), University of Delhi; MS (Physiology & Neuroscience), Wright State University
Supervisor: Hanjun Wang
Research Interest: Physiology and neural mechanisms that regulate breathe abnormality in acute lung injury condition.
Chair - IPMM Student Body Committee

• Kamra K, Karpuk N, Zucker IH, Schultz HD, Wang HJ. The superior cervical ganglion is involved in chronic chemoreflex sensitization during recovery from acute lung injury. Front Physiol. 2023 Feb 8; 14:1101408. Abstract
• Kamra K, Karpuk N, Adam R, Zucker IH, Schultz HD, Wang HJ. Time-dependent alteration in the chemoreflex post-acute lung injury. Front Physiol. 2022 Oct 20; 13:1009607. Abstract

• Sveeggen TM, Kosmach A, Bagher P. What Is Next for Connexin and Pannexin?  J Vasc Res. 2023 Aug 16:1-4. PMID: 37586339. Abstract

• Wojtkiewicz M, Linda Berg Luecke L, Castro C, Burkovetskaya M, Mesidor  R, Gundry RL.  Bottom-up proteomic analysis of human adult cardiac tissue and isolated cardiomyocytes. J Mol Cell Cardiol. 2021 Aug 24; 162:20-31. PMID: 34437879.  Abstract

• Van Hook MJ, Monaco C, Bierlein ER, Smith JC. Neuronal and Synaptic Plasticity in the Visual Thalamus in Mouse Models of Glaucoma. Front Cell Neurosci. 2020; 14:626056.  Abstract
• Przygrodzka E, Monaco CF, Plewes MR, Li G, Wood JR, Cupp AS, Davis JS. Protein Kinase A and 5' AMP-Activated Protein Kinase Signaling Pathways Exert Opposite Effects on Induction of Autophagy in Luteal Cells. Front Cell Dev Biol. 2021 Nov 8; 9:723563. Abstract
• Plewes MR, Przygrodzka E, Monaco CF, Snider AP, Keane JA, Burns PD, Wood JR, Cupp AS, Davis JS. Prostaglandin F2α regulates mitochondrial dynamics and mitophagy in the bovine corpus luteum. Life Sci Alliance. 2023 May 15; 6(7):e202301968. Abstract

Adedayo Ogunware - 1st year PhD IPMM Student
BS (Biochemistry) Lago State University; MS (Biology) University of Texas-San Antonio
Research Interest: Development, Inflammation, and Degeneration of the Nervous System.

Dalton Staller

• Kumar V, Sethi B, Staller DW, Xin X, Ma J, Dong Y, Talmon GA, Mahato RI. Anti-miR-96 and Hh pathway inhibitor MDB5 synergistically ameliorate alcohol-associated liver injury in mice. Biomaterials. 2023 Apr; 295:122049. Abstract
• Mahato R, Kumar V, Sethi B, Staller D.  Gemcitabine elaidate and ONC201 combination therapy inhibits pancreatic cancer in a KRAS mutated syngeneic mouse model. Res Sq. 2023 Jul 11:rs.3.rs-3108907. PMID: 37503215. Abstract