Postdoctoral Awards
“The MCHRI postdoctoral support allows me to investigate possible mechanisms that underpin symptoms in Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID), a type of eating disorder which onsets in childhood and can lead to psychosocial impairment and severe medical sequelae. This grant enables me to collect important pilot data characterizing interoceptive processes, a potential biological marker for dysregulated eating behavior. We hope these data will support the identification of treatment targets and improve physical and psychosocial outcomes for ARFID.”
Nandini Datta, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow, Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences
FY 2025 Awards
Priscila Chiavellini, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow, Obstetrics and Gynecology (Reproductive, Stem Cell and Perinatal Biology)
Study Title: Partial Reprogramming of the Ovaries as a Novel Approach to Enhanced Fertility and Healthspan.
Hanmin Guo, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences (Major Laboratories and Clinical & Translational Neurosciences Incubator)
Study Title: Unraveling the Contribution of Structural Variants to Autism: Identification and Risk Prediction.
Wouter Huiting, MS, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow, Chemical and Systems Biology
Study Title: NCOR1 Self-Assembly and Templating as an Epigenetic Pivot in Development and Disease.
Yellappa Palagani, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow, Cardiothoracic Surgery (Pediatric Cardiac Surgery)
Study Title: Innovative Technique to Develop an Adjustable Pulmonary Artery Band for Congenital Heart Disease.
Saumel Perez Rodriguez, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow, Medicine (Infectious Diseases and Geographic Medicine)
Study Title: Development of a Phage-Based Gene Delivery Platform for Restoring Wild-Type CFTR Expression on the Human Lung Epithelia.
Praveesh Valissery, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow, Pediatrics (Infectious Diseases)
Study Title: Mapping Erythrocyte Determinants of Plasmodium Falciparum Invasion.
Carla Huerta Lopez, MSc, PhD Postdoctoral Fellow, Materials Science and Engineering Study Title: Bioengineered Fallopian Tube Model for Mechanistic Studies of Hydrosalpinx.
Hye Na Kim, PhD Postdoctoral Fellow, Pediatrics (Hematology, Oncology, Stem Cell Transplantation & Regenerative Medicine) Study Title: Defective Erythroblast Maturation and Bone Marrow Microenvironment of Diamond-Blackfan Anemia (DBA)
Emmy Li, PhD Postdoctoral Fellow, Bioengineering Study Title: Understanding the Mechanism of Maternal Immune Activation as a risk factor for Neurodevelopmental Disorders.
Julia Plank, PhD Postdoctoral Fellow, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences (Interdisciplinary Brain Sciences) Study Title: Identifying the Brain Networks Underlying Cognitive Function in Children With Noonan Syndrome.
Liu Yang, PhD Postdoctoral Fellow, Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine Study Title: AI-Driven Risk Prediction and Ventilation Optimization for Data-Driven Respiratory Support in Neonatal Intensive Care Units.
Past Awards
"The MCHRI postdoctoral support enables me to investigate the interplay of neurobiology, genetics, and behavior to improve our understanding of specific learning disorders in childhood. My research aims to identify neurobiological mechanisms underlying learning and to use neuroimaging data for the prediction of reading and mathematical skills in children at high genetic risk for specific learning disorders. Ultimately, we hope this research will allow early identification of learning impairments and development of targeted interventions that will ensure better learning outcomes in children."
Iliana Irini Karipidis, PhD
Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences
2020 MCHRI Funded Postdoctoral Fellow
Project Title: Functional Brain Signatures of Learning in Children with Sex Chromosome Aneuploidies: A Model For Neuroendophenotypes in Specific Learning Disorders
"X monosomy (XO) is the most common chromosomal abnormality in miscarriage, with nearly 99% of conceptuses aborting early in pregnancy. This suggests a crucial contribution of the sex chromosomes to early placental development that is not currently appreciated. MCHRI has made it possible for me to leverage the natural experiment of sex chromosome aneuploidy in placenta to investigate the mechanisms of sex-linked pregnancy loss and complication risk."
Amy Braun, PhD
Obstetrics & Gynecology (Maternal Fetal Medicine)
2020 MCHRI Funded Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Project Title: Determining the Role of Sex Chromosomes in Normal and Abnormal Placentation with Implications for Pregnancy and Child Health
"I am trying to determine how polymorphism in MHC-II locus alters B-cell repertoire and predisposed an individual to autoimmune disorders like type-1 diabetes (T1D) or juvenile diabetes. The MCHRI award will be instrumental to help me achieve the plans as an experimentalist. My immediate future plan is to use data generated from this project to apply for a K99 award to pursue further avenues using in murine model of autoimmune T1D."
Debopam Ghosh, PhD
Pediatrics (Human Gene Therapy)
2019 MCHRI Funded Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Project Title: MHC Class-II Molecule H2-M Affects the Development and Function of B-1 Cells
"I’m looking forward to the opportunity to use qualitative research to engage with diverse families about how they experience care in California Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICUs). This MCHRI award [postdoctoral support] has allowed me to incorporate family perspectives into the development of measures for family centered care in NICUs."
Krista Sigurdson, PhD
Pediatrics (Neonatal & Developmental Medicine)
2018 MCHRI Funded Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Project Title: Developing Measures for Family-Centered Care in the NICU