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  • Dec 07, 2020

GHUCCTS Announces 2020-2021 Translational Biomedical Science (TBS) Program Scholars

The Georgetown-Howard Universities Center for Clinical and Translational Science (GHUCCTS) is proud to introduce our 2020-2021 Translational Biomedical Science (TBS) program scholars.

The goal of the TBS program is to prepare pre-doctoral students and post-doctoral fellows (MDs and PhDs) to serve as the critical link in advancing the translation of basic science into improved outcomes for health, aging and disease. The primary aim of the TBS program is to provide the training necessary for scientists to become the next generation of leaders in translational biomedical research. Emphasis is placed on teaching trainees how to build interdisciplinary collaborative research programs by providing them with dual mentored training experiences in preclinical and clinical research. The TBS Program leverages the rich partnerships that GHUCCTS has established among Georgetown University Medical Center (GUMC), Howard University College of Medicine (HUCM), MedStar Health Research Institute (MHRI), the Washington, D.C. Veterans Affairs Medical Center (DC VAMC) and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL).

PRE-DOCTORAL STUDENTS:

Joseph I. Aubee is a PhD candidate in the Howard University Department of Microbiology. His TL1 project explores the regulation and function of the i6A37 tRNA modification. His mentors are Karl M. Thompson, PhD and Jhansi Gajjala, MD at Howard University.

Paige Brooks is a PhD candidate in the Georgetown University Department of Biology. Her TL1 project focuses on cochlear spiral ganglion neuron survival. Her mentors are Thomas Coate, PhD at Georgetown University and Ronna Hertzano, MD, PhD at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.

Collis Brown is a PhD candidate in the Howard University Department of Pharmacology. Her TL1 project is to investigate the potential drug therapy for fragile X tremor/ataxia syndrome. Her mentors are Tamaro Hudson PhD and Sonya K Sobrian PhD at Howard University.

Sean Carey is a PhD candidate in the Georgetown University Department of Biology. His current project includes the glial response to pathogenic proteins and how resulting inflammation alters synaptic connections and plasticity. His mentor is Dr. Kathy Maguire-Zeiss at Georgetown University.

Shiva Hassanzadeh-Behbahani is a PhD candidate in the Georgetown University Department of Neuroscience. Her TL1 project is to investigate Frontostriatal Neural Injury in adults living with HIV under the mentorship of Dr. Xiong Jiang at Georgetown University and Dr. Ronald Ellis at the University of California, San Diego.

Chaz Hinzman is a PhD candidate in the Georgetown University Department of Biochemistry and Molecular and Cellular Biology. His TL1 project is to understand the role of Extracellular Vesicles in promoting Pancreatic Cancer Tumorigenesis under the mentorship of Dr. Amrita Cheema and Dr. Partha Banerjee at Georgetown University.

Bryce Jones is a MD/PhD candidate in the Georgetown University Department of Pharmacology and Physiology. His TL1 project is in chronic kidney disease under the mentorship of Dr. Moshe Levi at Georgetown University.

Plamen Nikolov is a PhD candidate in the Georgetown University Interdisciplinary Program in Neuroscience. His TL1 project explores internal models in speech production under the mentorship of Maximilian Riesenhuber, PhD and Peter Turkeltaub, MD/PhD at Georgetown University.

Lauren Rosko is a PhD candidate in the Georgetown University Interdisciplinary Program in Neuroscience. Her TL1 project focuses on the role of creatine synthesis in myelin integrity and behavior under the mentorship of Dr. Jeffrey Huang and Dr. Mark Burns at Georgetown University.

Alison Schug is a PhD candidate in the Georgetown University Interdisciplinary Program in Neuroscience. Her TL1 project includes the neuroanatomical and functional effects of bilingualism on dyslexia. Her mentors are Guinevere Eden, D.Phil. at Georgetown University and Nasheed Jamal, MD at UCLA.

POST-DOCTORAL FELLOWS:

Alexander Brunfeldt, PhD is a post-doctoral fellow at Georgetown University. His TL1 project focuses on the neurophysiological correlates of upper-extremity impairment and recovery in stroke survivors. His mentors are Alexander Dromerick, MD at Georgetown University; Barbara Bregman, PT, PhD at Georgetown University; and Peter Lum, PhD at The Catholic University of America.

Sarra Djemil, PhD is a post-doctoral fellow at Georgetown University. Her TL1 project focuses on plasticity and vulnerability of basal forebrain cholinergic neurons in Alzheimer's Disease. She earned her PhD in Pharmacology at Georgetown University. Her current mentorship is with Dr. Daniel T.S. Pak and Brent Harris at Georgetown University.

Martha Gay, PhD is a post-doctoral fellow at Georgetown University with an interest in liver cancer. She earned her PhD in Pharmacology from Howard University. Currently, Dr. Gay is a NIH TL-1 Chief Scholar. Her mentors are Dr. Jill Smith, Professor of Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology at Georgetown University, Dr. Alexander Kroemer, Assistant Professor of Surgery, Director Transplant Laboratory, MedStar Georgetown Transplant Institute University Medical Center, and Dr. Leena Halvinki-Clarke, Professor of Oncology at Georgetown University.

 For more information on our new and past scholars, please visit the TBS website.

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