Postdoctoral Awards

Brandon Cieniewicz, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow, Stem Cell Transplantation & Regenerative Medicine
Project: Understanding Type 1 T regulatory cell (Tr1) recognition and killing of Acute Myeloid Leukemia

Karma McKelvey, MPH, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow, Adolescent Medicine
Project: Evaluation of Tobacco Prevention Toolkit 10 Session Curriculum

Krista M.Sigurdson, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow, Neonatology
Project: Developing measures for family-centered care in the NICU

Mark Christopher Wilkes, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow, Hematology and Oncology
Project: SATB1 Regulation in Erythropoiesis and the Pathogenesis of Diamond Blackfan Anemia

Denise Briggs, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow, Neurosurgery
Project: AMPK-Kinase Activation: A Therapeutic Approach for Mitochondrial Disease

Lang Chen, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Project: Representation and connectivity abnormality underlying face processing deficit in children with ASD

Julia Co, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow, Pediatrics, Infectious Diseases
Project: Elucidating Salmonella enterica Typhi infection using a novel human intestinal organoid model

Graham Erwin, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow, Biochemistry
Project: Engineering a better rotavirus vaccine

Marianne Goodwin, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow, Pediatrics, Stem Cell Transplantation and Regenerative Medicine
Project: Gene editing of the FOXP3 gene for the cure of IPEX syndrome

Xiaoyuan Han, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow, Perioperative and Pain Medicine
Project: Identifying a predictive immune signature of preterm birth with mass cytometry

Emily Hembacher, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow, Psychology,
Project: The Role of Selective Social Referencing in Children’s Language Development

Ngan F. Huang, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow, Cardiothoracic Surgery
Project: Bilayered Nanofibrillar Vascular Graft for Treatment of Congenital Heart Defect

Marko Jakovljevic, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow, Radiology, Pediatric Radiology
Project: Functional Ultrasound Imaging in the Neonate Brain using Coherent Flow Power Doppler

Mathieu  Le Gars, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow, Medicine, Infectious Diseases
Project: CD38 as a regulator of the NK cell immune response to influenza virus during pregnancy

Sooyeon Lee, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow, Medicine, Endocrinology and Metabolism
Project: The Role of Succinate Dehydrogenase Subunit B in β-cell Biology and Diabetes 

Soah Lee, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow, Cardiovascular Institute  
Project: Defining the requirement of sarcomeric protein alignment in gap junction formation in pediatric HCM

Jianfeng Li, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow, Orthopedic Surgery
Project: Engineering 3D in vitro co-culture models for deciphering pediatric brain tumor-vascular interactions

Qing Liu, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow, Genetics
Project: Mechanisms of drug-induced developmental toxicity during early cardiomyocyte differentiation

Feng Pan, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow, Pathology
Project: Enhancer/Super-enhancer in the control of leukemia stem cell oncogenic potential in AML

Szu-Yuan Pu, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow, Medicine, Infectious Diseases
Project: Roles of BMP2K in cell signaling and dengue viral infection

Kathryn Taylor, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow, Neurology and Neurological Science
Project: The role of activity-dependent BDNF in pediatric glioma proliferation

Belgin Yalcin, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow, Neurology
Project: Targeting Neuroligin-3 Secretion in the High-Grade Glioma Microenvironment

Yassan Abdolazimi, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow, Medicine Endocrinology
Project: The role of adenosine kinase in beta-cell replication

Abhishek Aggarwal, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow, Pediatrics, Endocrinology and Metabolism
Project: Vitamin D in obesity: friend or foe?

Patrick Atkinson, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow, Otolaryngology, Head & Neck Surgery (ENT)
Project: Profiling hair cell progenitors to reprogram supporting cells of the inner ear after hearing loss

Ka yam Chak, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow, Neurology
Project: TGF- Beta1 signaling and miR-21 biogenesis during development of epilepsy

Gustavo de Alencastro, PhD, MSc
Postdoctoral Fellow, Pediatrics Human Gene Therapy
Project: Promoterless adeno-associated viral (AAV) vector targeting for the treatment of inherited liver diseases

Daniel Dever, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow, Pediatrics Cancer Biology
Project: Efficient ?Beta-globin Targeting in Hematopoietic Stem Cells Using rAAV6 and Engineered Nucleases

Anna Geraghty, BA, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow, Neurology
Project: Neurotrophin regulation of adaptive gliogenesis and remyelination post pediatric chemotherapy

Nina Huber, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Project: Development of an in vitro human cellular model for studying childhood narcolepsy

Caitlin Karanewsky, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow, Biochemistry
Project: The mouse lemur as a new model for human obesity

Mehmet Kurt, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow, Bioengineering
Project: Are younger brains more susceptible to concussions?

Jing Liu, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow, Structural Biology
Project: Structural studies of HCMV entry glycoprotein complexes and their interactions with neutralizing antibodies

Karim Majzoub, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow, Microbiology and Immunology
Project: Genetic screens to identify Zika virus host factors

Clement Marshall, MD
Postdoctoral Fellow, Surgery, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
Project: Identification of the Cell Responsible for Scar Formation

Nadine Martinez, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow, Obstetrics and Gynecology
Project: Immunological effects of preeclamptic exosomes on PBMCs

Sandra Catherine Abel Nielsen, MSc, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow, Pathology
Project: Analysis of hygiene hypothesis factors during B cell development in infancy and childhood

Heshan Peiris, BSc, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow, Developmental Biology
Project: Creating systems to assess gene function in human beta cells

Shailaja Rao, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow, Pediatrics Critical Care Medicine
Project: Endothelial-specific loss of IKK? impairs pulmonary endothelial angiogenesis and alveolarization

Tiffany Joy Sinclair, MD
Postdoctoral Fellow, Surgery, Pediatric Surgery
Project: Metabolic prematurity and nutritional practices impact risk of disease in the preterm infant

Simone Thair, BSc, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow, Emergency Medicine
Project: Personalized Dynamic Regulome for Pediatric Sepsis

Vijay Vedula, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow, Pediatrics, Cardiology
Project: Heart failure assessment in single right ventricle physiology using patient-specific modeling

Ann Weber, PhD, MPH, MS
Postdoctoral Fellow, Pediatrics, Neonatal and Developmental Medicine
Project: A study of risks and disparities for preterm birth using multilevel data from 2.7 million births

Koshika Yadava, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow, Medicine, Infectious Diseases
Project: Potentiating lasting tolerance to allergens in asthma

Elisa Zhang, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow, Genetics
Project: The friend and enemy within: syncytins and cell fusion events

Mingtao Zhao, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow, Cardiovascular Institute
Project: Personalized cardiac drug testing using human iPSC-CMs from pediatric long QT patients

Kristina Bezold, BS, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow, Pediatrics/Cardiology
Project Title: Understanding the Link Between Myosin Mutations and Energetic Stress in the Pathophysiology of Pediatric Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy

Fikri Birey, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Project Title: A novel 3D neural culture platform to study cortical interneurons in neurodevelopmental disorders

Charles Blackshear, MD
Postdoctoral Fellow, Surgery Pediatric Surgery/ Craniofacial Surgery
Project Title: Cell-Assisted Lipotransfer to Improve Autologous Fat Graft Retention & Radiation-Induced Skin Injury

Guang Gao, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow, Medicine, Pulmonary & Critical Care Medicine
Project Title: The role of HH-10 in the treatment of Pediatric Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis

Justyna Janas, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow, Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine
Project Title: A Interrogating inhibitory synaptic transmission in the human iN cell-based model of Neurofibromatosis-1 (NF1)

Atilio Jesus Duque-Afonso, MD
Postdoctoral Fellow, Pathology
Project Title: The role of ZAP70/PLCγ2 signaling pathway in pre-B ALL pathogenesis and targeted therapy

Lijuan Ji, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow, Pediatrics Endocrinology
Project Title: Per3 Regulation of Adipocyte Progenitor Cell Proliferation

Katherine Kaplan, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow, Psychiatry and Behavioral Studies
Project Title: Improving Adolescent Sleep with Combined Psychosocial Intervention and Millisecond Light Exposure

Kaveh Laksari, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow, Bioengineering
Project Title: Brain resonance: the culprit behind brain trauma in sports?

Guang Li, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow, Cardiovascular Medicine
Project Title: Characterizing atrial cardiomyocyte lineage commitment at single cell level

Yingmei Li, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow, Neurosurgery
Project Title: Cell-free tumor DNA to characterize and monitor medulloblastoma

Jennifer Lumb, BSc, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow, Microbiology and Immunology
Project Title: Comprehensive identification of interferon-induced influenza antiviral factors

Sandra Cathrine Abel Nielsen, PhD, MSc
Postdoctoral Fellow, Pathology
Project Title: B cell responses to infection, vaccination, and allergens in early infant life

Jonathan Nizar, MD
Postdoctoral Fellow, Medicine Nephrology

Project Title: Elucidating the Mechanism of Enhanced Proximal Tubule Sodium Reabsorption and Blood Pressure in the Metabolic Syndrome

Amanda McBean, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Project Title: Postnatal Maternal and Lighting Cues and the Infant's Developing Rest-Activity Rhythm

Aarthi Padmanabhan, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Project Title: Development of brain systems underlying social rewards in autism

Laurence Pellerin, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow, Pediatrics Allergy and Immunology
Project Title: In vitro induction of peanut-specific T regulatory type 1 cells from food allergic patients

Piera Smeriglio, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow, Orthopaedic Surgery
Project Title: Epigenetic regulation of cartilage development by TET-mediated hydroxymethylation

Darshan Trivedi, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow, Biochemistry
Project Title: Characterization of Pediatric Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Mutations in Myosin Binding Protein C

Cheuk Ying (Janica) Wong, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow, Pediatrics Endocrinology
Project Title: A novel regulator of adipose tissue development

Arjun Adhikari, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow, Biochemistry
Project Title: Biophysical characterization of pediatric hypertrophic cardiomyopathy mutations in β- cardiac myosin

Margot Bowen, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow, Radiation Oncology Radiation and Cancer Biology
Project Title: The role of p53 in driving developmental defects

Joseph Cheng, PhD, MEng, BS
Postdoctoral fellow, Radiology Pediatric Radiology
Project Title: Fast Magnetic Resonance Imaging for Congenital Heart Disease

Stephen Chmura, PhD
Postdoctoral fellow, Pediatrics Allergy and Immunology
Project Title: Programming and Modulating Human Neonatal CD4 T-Follicular Helper Cells

Jorge Luis Davila, PhD
Postdoctoral fellow, Pathology
Project Title: Deciphering the role of DGCR8 haploinsufficiency in the context of human 22q11.2DS

Megan Ealy, PhD
Postdoctoral fellow, Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery
Project Title: Cranial placode induction from human embryonic stem cells for the study of branchiootorenal syndrome

Tanya Evans, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Project: Neurodevelopmental Basis of Persistent Mathematical Learning Disabilities

Corinne Fairchild, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow, Developmental Biology
Project Title: Defining novel cell signaling mechanisms via specialized filopodia using single cell live imaging

Michelle Graham, PhD
Postdoctoral fellow, Pediatrics Immunology, Allergy, and Rheumatology
Project Title: The Role of Innate Immune Cells in Immune Tolerance during Peanut Allergen Challenge

Elvis Huarcaya Najarro, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow, Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery
Project Title: Disruption of Wnt secretion via conditional deletion of porcupine and wntless in the developing mouse cochlea

Sunhee Hwang, PhD
Postdoctoral fellow, Chemical and Systems Biology
Project Title: Generation of allosteric chaperones for glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency

Xinyi Jiang, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow, Orthopaedic Surgery
Project Title: Harnessing Stem Cell Homing and Nanoparticles for Targeted Drug Delivery to Pediatric Brain Tumors

Jennifer Johnston, PhD
Postdoctoral fellow, Pediatrics Cancer Biology
Project Title: Targeting a fVIII transgene to endogenous promoters to correct hemophilia A without disrupting local gene expression

Chiou-Hong Lin, PhD
Postdoctoral fellow, Pathology
Project Title: Define the role for PGDH in normal hematopoietic stem cell functions

Yin Liu, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow, Biochemistry
Project Title: Molecular diversity of laryngeal sensory neurons at single-cell resolution

Hyang Mi Moon, PhD
Postdoctoral fellow, Neurosurgery
Project Title: Toll-like Receptor-selective Placental Vulnerability in Neurodevelopmental Disorder

Bernard Ng, BASc, MASc, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow, Neurology and Neurological Sciences
Project Title: Identifying Neuroimaging and Genetic Biomarkers for Psychiatry Disorders in Children

Ozge Oztan, PhD
Postdoctoral fellow, Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences
Project Title: Arginine vasopressin as a treatment for children with autism: randomized placebo- controlled trial

Carolin Purmann, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Project Title: Genome-wide molecular effects of the large 22q11.2 CNV in an iPSC-based model of neuronal development

Minyoung Youn, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow, Pediatrics Hematology/Oncology
Project Title: The role of Inflammatory Signaling in the Pathogenesis of Diamond-Blackfan Anemia

Sheena Abraham, PhD           
Postdoctoral Fellow, Medicine 
Project Title: Role of nicotinic cholinergic pathway in retinopathy of prematurity

Adi Barzel, PhD           
Postdoctoral Fellow, Pediatrics            
Project Title: Gene targeting for the immunotherapy of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia

Jamie Bergen, PhD     
Postdoctoral Fellow, Bioengineering
Project Title: Designing Cystine-Knot Peptides as Targeted Drug Carriers for an Intractable Pediatric Brain Tumor

Viola Caretti, MD, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow, Neurology
Project Title: Neuroglial Interactions in the Glioma MicroenvironmentJoseph Castellano, PhD

Postdoctoral Fellow, Neurology Medicine
Project Title: Effects of cranial irradiation therapy on systemic/neurogenic communication and cognitive function

Can Cenik, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow, Genetics
Project Title: A human neuronal model to study the role of translational dysregulation in autism spectrum disorder

Harini Chakravarthy, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow, Developmental Biology
Project Title: Generation of insulin producing beta-cells in vivo from adult islet alpha-cells

Hongqing Du, PhD      
Postdoctoral Fellow, Pediatrics            
Project Title: A novel factor promoting muscle development

Yana Emmy Hoy, PhD 
Postdoctoral Fellow, Medicine             
Project Title: Safety and Efficacy of Probiotics in Infants and Children in Bangladesh

Wei Jiang, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow, Pediatrics Human Gene Therapy
Project Title: Epitope mimicry may contribute to pandemic H1N1 association with childhood narcolepsy

Gwanghyun Jung, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow, Pediatrics Cardiology
Project Title: B-adrenergic receptor signaling pathways in human induced pluripotent stem cell- derived cardiomycocytes

Michael Kareta, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow, Pediatrics
Project Title: Investigating Rb-mediated dedifferentiation on the formation and growth of human Retinoblastomas

Pawel Karol Mazur, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow, Pediatrics Hematology/Oncology and Stem Cell Transplant
Project Title: A novel scaffold-kinase blockade therapeutic strategy in Ras-driven pediatric leukemias

Sandra Melo, PhD; BSc
Postdoctoral Fellow, Dermatology
Project Title: Molecular mechanisms underlying p63-regulated networks during early human skin development

Diana Mendus, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow, Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery
Project Title: The role of thrombospondins in development of epilepsy

Nitya Nair, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow, Medicine Gastroenterology & Hepatology
Project Title: Molecular and phenotypic characterization of human intestinal and circulating rotavirus-specific B lymphocytes

Gregory Neveu, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow, Medicine Infectious Diseases
Project Title: Advancing host-targeting anti-dengue virus strategies to the clinic

Alison Ondrus, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow, Chemical and Systems Biology
Project Title: Next-Generation Therapies for Hedgehog Pathway-Dependent Childhood Cancers

Manish Saggar, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Project Title: Creative brain development in children: insights from functional neuroimaging

Kshemendra Senarath-Yapa, MA, MBBC, MRCS
Postdoctoral Fellow, Surgery Plastic Surgery
Project Title: Enhancing Calvarial Healing through inhibition of TGFB signaling

Riccardo Sibilano, MSc, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow, Pathology
Project Title: HVEM-mediated mast cell function in asthma

David Simpson, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow, Pediatrics Hematolgoy/Oncology and Stem Cell Transplant
Project Title: Elucidating the mechanism of action of a long non-coding RNA in the pathogenesis of Ewing's sarcoma

Parameth Thiennimitr, MD, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow, Urology
Project Title: The Role of Uropathogenic Escherichia coli Nitrate Respiration in Urinary Tract Infection

Minyoung Youn, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow, Pediatrics Hematology/Oncology
Project Title: The role of Fox proteins in the pathogenesis of Diamond Blackfan Anemia

No postdoctoral awards granted for FY 2012. 

Tzu-Chun Chen, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow, Microbiology and Immunology
Project Title: Role of exosome-mediated cell spread in microRNAs in asthma pathogenesis

Maria Jose Costa (Da Silva Teixeira Costa), PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow, Pediatrics
Project Title: Per3 is an inhibitor of adipogenesis

Xiujun Fan, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow, Obstetrics and Gynecology     
Project Title: Inducible placenta-specific transgene expression: a mouse model of preeclampsia

Jue Feng, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow, Pathology
Project Title: Defining the oncogenic role of E2A-PBX1 using a conditional mouse model

Yang Geng, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow, Pediatrics;
Project Title: Regulation of Local Synaptic Protein Synthesis by the Fragile X Mental Retardation Protein during learning

Wei Jiang, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow, Pediatrics
Project Title: DM/Ig interaction in class II restricted antigen presentation

Marianna Kiraly, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow, Pediatrics
Project Title: The effect of suppressed placental allopregnanolone on the functional properties of developing GABAergic circuits and cortical rhythmicity

Lukasz Kowalik, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow, Chemical and Systems Biology
Project Title: Development of photoactived tools to probe brain morphogenesis

Katherine Krueger, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow, Pediatrics
Project Title: A multi-purpose mouse model to explore Period3 function in cell fate decisions

Henriette Macmillan, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow, Pediatrics
Project Title: HLA-DM/Immunoglobulin interaction as a novel target for diabetes

Aurelien Marabelle, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow, Medicine
Project Title: Immunotherapy of Childhood Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia

Bethsaida Nieves, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow, Pediatrics
Project Title: Modeling initiation and progression in Ewing's sarcoma

Laurent Reber, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow, Pathology
Project Title: Importance of mast cells versus basophils in the pathophysiology of peanut allergy

Stephanie Schulz-Geske, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow, Pediatrics
Project Title: The Role of Heme Oxygenase-1 in murine model of early necrotizing enterocolitis

Matthew Vitalone, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow, Pediatrics
Project Title: An integrative study of chronic allograft injury in pediatric renal transplantation

Jer-Yen Yang, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow, Developmental Biology
Project Title: Mechanisms of Hedgehog Target Gene Selection in Pediatric Brain Tumor

Li Zhu, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow, Pathology
Project Title: The Role of LEDGF and Histone Methylation in Leukemogenesis