Meet our lab alumni!
Undergraduate Students (excluding summer students)
Kimberlee S. Mix
Undergraduate, Worcester Polytechnic Institute
1997-1998
Winner: WPI Provost’s Award - Most Outstanding Senior Research Project, 1998
Subsequent Education: Graduate Student, Dartmouth College (Ph.D. awarded 9/03)
Current Position: Associate Professor (tenured). Loyola University New Orleans
Ph.D. Students
Cynthia J. Guidi
Graduate Student, UMass Chan Medical School
1998-2003
Ph.D. recipient: UMass Chan Medical School, 2003
Subsequent Position: Postdoctoral Scholar, U. Virginia Health Science Center. Mentor: Mitchell Smith, Ph.D.
Recipient: American Cancer Society Postdoctoral Fellowship
Current Position: Director, Biology, Revitope Oncology, Cambridge, MA
Nunciada Salma
Graduate Student
2000-2006
Recipient: Zelda Haidak Memorial Scholar Fellowship, 2003
Ph.D. recipient: 2006
Subsequent Position: Postdoctoral Scholar, Massachusetts General Hospital. Mentor: David E. Fisher, M.D., Ph.D.
Recipient: American Heart Association Postdoctoral Fellowship
Current Position: Research Associate, Massachusetts General Hospital, lab of Dieter Manstein, M.D.
Concetta G. A. Marfella
Graduate Student
2002-2007
Recipient: Zelda Haidak Memorial Scholar Fellowship 2005, 2006
Ph.D. recipient: 2007
Subsequent Position: Postdoctoral Scholar, Boston Children’s Hospital. Mentor: Laurie Jackson-Grusby, Ph.D.
Current Position: Vice-President and Head of Global Medical Writing Science, Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Boston, MA
Caroline S. Dacwag Vallaster
Graduate Student
2002-2008
Recipient: Zelda Haidak Memorial Scholar Fellowship, 2004
Ph.D. recipient: 2008
Subsequent Position: Postdoctoral Scholar, Massachusetts General Hospital. Mentor: Kenneth Chien, M.D., Ph.D.
Current Position: Associate Director, Analytical Development, Obsidian Therapeutics, Cambridge, MA
Yu-Jie Hu
Graduate Student
2009-2015
Ph.D. recipient: 2015
Current Position: Science Teacher, Ming-Dao High School, Taichung City, Taiwan
Rasim Barutcu
Graduate Student (joint with GS Stein)
2012-2016
Ph.D. recipient: 2016
Subsequent Position: Postdoctoral Scholar, Harvard University. Mentor: John Rinn, Ph.D.
Subsequent Position: Postdoctoral Scholar, University of Toronto. Mentor: Ben Blencowe, Ph.D.
Recipient: Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship (Canadian Institutes of Health Research)
Recipient: Canadian Institutes of Health Research Fellowship
Current Position: Senior Bioinformatician, Scitovation, Durham, NC
Postdoctoral Scholars and PhD-level staff
David A Hill, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Scholar 1998-2004
Instructor 2005-2006
Recipient: ACS Postdoctoral Fellowship, 2000
Recipient: American Heart Association Scientist Development Grant, 2006 (declined)
Current Position: Scientific Director, Quest Diagnostics, Marlborough, MA
Ivana L. de la Serna, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Scholar 1998–2003,
Research Assistant Professor 2004–2005
Recipient: NIH Postdoctoral Fellowship, 2000
Recipient: Medical Foundation Fellowship, 2002
Recipient: American Heart Association Scientist Development Grant, 2004
Recipient: Transition to Independence Position (TIP) of the NIEHS (K22 Award), 2004
Current Position: Associate Professor (tenured), Dept. Biochemistry and Cancer Biology, University of Toledo Health Science Campus
Kanaklata Roy, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Scholar, 2000-2003
Subsequent Position: Postdoctoral Scholar, Brudnick Neuropsychiatric Institute. Mentor: Haley Melikian, Ph.D.
Current Position: Registered Pharmacist, Walgreens, Grand Blanc, MI
Hengyi Xiao, Ph.D.
Instructor, UMass Chan Medical School, 2002-2006
Subsequent Position: Research Assistant Professor, University of Florida, Dept. Chemical Engineering
Current Position: Associate Professor, Laboratory of Aging Research, State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy, West China Hospital, West China Medical School, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, PR China
Yasuyuki Ohkawa, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Scholar, 2003-2007
Subsequent Positions: Assistant Professor (tenure-track), Associate Professor (tenured), Kyushu University Medical School
Current Position: Professor (tenured) and Director, Medical Institute of Bioregulation, Kyushu University Medical School
Rajini Mudhasani, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Scholar (joint with SN Jones), 2004-2009
Recipient: American Heart Association Postdoctoral Fellowship, 2006
Subsequent Position: Research Faculty, Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education and US Army Institute Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (AMRIID), Fort Detrick, Frederick, MD
Current Position: Principal Investigator, US Army Institute Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (AMRIID), Fort Detrick, Frederick, MD
Nathalie Cohet, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Scholar (joint with JA Nickerson), 2006-2008
Subsequent Position: Inward Investment Manager in Life Sciences at ADERLY (the Lyon, France economic development agency)
Current Position: Director, Novéka !, St-Étienne, France
Chandrashekara Mallappa, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Scholar, 2007-2010
Subsequent Position: Postdoctoral Scholar, Dartmouth Medical School. Mentor: Jay Dunlap, Ph.D.
Current Position: Lead, Business Analysis, UST HealthProof, Aliso Viejo, CA
Scott E. LeBlanc, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Scholar, 2007-2014
Research Specialist, 2014-2016
Recipient: NIH Postdoctoral Fellowship, 2010-2013
Subsequent Position: Adjunct Instructor, Clark University
Current Position: Car Wash Program Analyst, EG America, Westborough, MA
Brian T. Nasipak, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Scholar, 2007-2014
Subsequent Position: Business Insight Analyst, Decision Resources, Burlington, MA
Subsequent and Current Position: Director, New Product Planning, Dianthus Therapeutics, Inc., New York, NY
Ok Hyun Cho, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Scholar, 2009-2011
Subsequent Position: Postdoctoral Scholar, UMass Chan Medical School. Mentor: Joon-Soo Kang, Ph.D.
Current Position: unknown
Manuel Hernández Hernández, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Scholar, 2009-2012
Subsequent Position: Postdoctoral Scholar, Ottawa Health Research Institute. Mentor: Michael Rudnicki, Ph.D.
Current Position: Principal Investigator, Centro de Investigación sobre el Envejecimiento CINVESTAV-IPN, Mexico City, MX
Qiong (Joae) Wu, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Scholar (joint with JA Nickerson), 2010-2015
Instructor, 2015-2016
Current Position: Assistant Professor, Dept. Biochemistry and Molecular Biotechnology, UMass Chan Medical School
Tara L. Conforto, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Scholar, 2013-2014
Subsequent Position: Account Project Manager, yet2.com (technology marketing), Needham, MA
Current Position: Associate Director, Novartis Institute for Biomedical Research, Cambridge, MA
Teresita Padilla-Benavides, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Scholar, 2014-2016
Instructor, 2016
Subsequent Position: Instructor, Dept. Biochemistry & Molecular Pharmacology, UMass Chan Medical School
Recipient: UMass Chan Faculty Diversity Scholar Award
Current Position: Assistant Professor (tenure track), Dept. Molecular Biology & Biochemistry, Wesleyan University, Middleton, CT
Hanna Witwicka, Ph.D.
Research Specialist 2016-2019
Subsequent Position: Study Coordinator, Charles River Labs, Shrewsbury, MA
Current Position: Research Scientist II, Charles River Labs, Shrewsbury, MA
Dominic Haokip, PhD
Postdoctoral Scholar, 2016-2018
Subsequent and Current Position: Assistant Professor, Department of Botany, United College, Lambung, Chandel, Manipur University, Manipur, India
Pablo Reyes-Gutierrez, Ph.D.
Research Specialist 2018-2020
Subsequent position: Scientist, Merck, Boston, MA
Current position: Research Associate, Dept. Immunology, Yale University, New Haven, CT
Sabriya A. Syed, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Scholar 2016-2021
Recipient: NIH Postdoctoral Fellowship, 2019-2021
Subsequent and Current Position: Associate Research Scientist, Jackson Labs, Farmington, CT
Tapan Sharma, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Scholar 2016-2022
Subsequent position: Postdoctoral Associate, Gene Therapy Center, UMass Chan Medical School
Current position: Instructor, Gene Therapy Center, UMass Chan Medical School