Program Alumni

Rey Ayon, MS

  • Graduated: 2017
  • Matriculated: 2014
  • Graduate Program: Evolutionary Biology
  • Advisor: Rachel Santymire

Daniel Ruiz, PhD

  • Graduated: 2019
  • Matriculated: 2014
  • Graduate Program: Molecular Metabolism and Nutrition
  • Thesis Advisor: Robert Sargis
  • Thesis Project: Developmental misprogramming of metabolism by environmental chemicals that disrupt glucocorticoid action

Eloesa McSorely, PhD

  • Graduated: 2020
  • Matriculated: 2014
  • Graduate Program: Public Health Sciences
  • Thesis Advisor: Diane Lauderdale
  • Thesis Project: Cognitive Aging in a Gene x Environment Context and Sleep and Cognition

Dayana Delgado, PhD

  • Graduated: 2021
  • Matriculated: 2015
  • Graduate Program: Public Health Sciences
  • Thesis Advisor: Brandon Pierce
  • Thesis Project : Genetic determinants of telomere length in a Bangladeshi population and disparities in genetic susceptibility to prostate cancer initiation

Cody Hernandez, PhD

  • Graduated: 2021
  • Matriculated: 2015
  • Graduate Program: Cellular and Molecular Biology
  • Thesis Advisor: Jonathan Staley
  • Thesis Project: Mechanism and Physiological Role of Prp22 in Mediating 3’ss Selection

Selina Baeza-Loya, PhD

  • Graduated: 2022
  • Matriculated: 2016
  • Graduate Program: Neurobiology
  • Thesis Advisor: Ruth Anne Eatock
  • Thesis Project: Investigating the contribution of sodium channel diversity to vestibular ganglion neuron firing patterns.
 

Nadya Ali, PhD

  • Graduated: 2022
  • Matriculated: 2017
  • Graduate Program: Evolutionary Biology
  • Thesis Advisor: Rachel Santymire
  • Thesis Project: Understanding Population Viability and the Mechanisms Behind Infertility in the Black-footed ferret (Mustelid nigripes)
 

Elaine Kouame, PhD

  • Graduated: 2022
  • Matriculated: 2016
  • Graduate Program: Immunology
  • Thesis Advisor: Bana Jabri
  • Thesis Project: The role of Reovirus in oral tolerance and celiac disease. 

Sarah Ann King

  • Graduated: 2023
  • Matriculated: 2018
  • Graduate Program: Developmental, Regeneration, & Stem Cell Biology
  • Thesis Advisor: Wu Xiaoyang
  • Thesis Project: Designing skin grafts/tissue engineering

Victor Mendoza

  • Graduated: 2023
  • Matriculated: 2018
  • Graduate Program: Mol. Metabolism & Nutrition
  • Thesis Advisor: Lev Becker
  • Thesis Project: The immune system & its role in diabetes and heart diease

Corey Smith, PhD

  • Graduated: 2019
  • Matriculated: 2014
  • Graduate Program: Medical Physics
  • Thesis Advisor: Patrick La Rivière
  • Thesis Project : Image Reconstruction in Fluorescence Microscopy

Juan Manuel Vazquez, PhD

  • Graduated: 2020
  • Matriculated: 2015
  • Graduate Program: Human Genetics
  • Thesis Advisor: Vincent Lynch
  • Thesis Project: The Role of Gene Duplication in Peto’s Paradox in Long-Lived Lineages

Eric McLean, MS

  • Graduated: 2020
  • Matriculated: 2015
  • Graduate Program: Cellular and Molecular Biology
  • Thesis Advisor: Jingyi Fei
  • Thesis Project: Single-cell Analysis of sRNA Expression during Salmonella Infection

Gabrielle Watkins, PhD

  • Graduated: 2021
  • Matriculated: 2014
  • Graduate Program: Neurobiology
  • Thesis Advisor: Christian Hansel
  • Thesis Project: Synaptic and intrinsic mechanisms of learning in the cerebellum

Matthew Perez-Neut, PhD

  • Graduated: 2021
  • Matriculated: 2015
  • Graduate Program: Cancer Biology
  • Thesis Advisor: Yingming Zhao
  • Thesis Project : Identification of novel histone mark reader proteins

Erick X. Bayala, PhD

  • Graduated: 2022
  • Matriculated: 2015
  • Graduate Program: Integrative Biology
  • Thesis Advisor: Marcus Kronforst
  • Thesis Project: How to paint a butterfly? The developmental basis of butterfly color pattern variation 
 

Roy Morgan, PhD

  • Graduated: 2022
  • Matriculated: 2015
  • Graduate Program: Genetics, Genomics, and Systems Biology
  • Thesis Advisor: Barbara Kee
  • Thesis Project: Transcriptional Regulation of NKT Cell Development by Ets1 Transcription Factor 

Evelyn Campbell, PhD

  • Graduated: 2022
  • Matriculated: 2016
  • Graduate Program: Microbiology
  • Thesis Advisor: Cathy Nagler
  • Thesis Project: An Investigation on the Role of TLR4 signaling on Saa induction and allergy development 

Alexis Thomas

  • Graduated: 2023
  • Matriculated: 2016
  • Graduate Program: Microbiology
  • Thesis Advisor: Pheobe Rice
  • Thesis Project: Determining the regulation of SCC element in Staphylococci spp