VP&S Graduate Students Awarded NIH Fellowships

Twenty-one graduate students at VP&S successfully competed for NIH fellowships in the second half of 2024. Research education leadership, directors of graduate studies, and thesis mentors came together at an event in December to celebrate the students' accomplishments.

The students, their mentors, and their projects are listed below.

Amanda Anqueira

Neurobiology and Behavior, PI: Sarah Canetta

“Impact of developmental serotonin on prefrontal cortex parvalbumin interneuron excitability and cognitive behavior” (1F31MH138134-01A1(link is external and opens in a new window))

Isabel Bravo

Neurobiology and Behavior, PI: Christoph Kellendonk

“Impact of social environment on cognitive development and thalamocortical maturation” (1F31MH136812-01(link is external and opens in a new window))

Elizabeth Moran Brewer

Neurobiology and Behavior, PI: Ai Yamamoto

“Synaptic TDP43 in the Adult Mouse Brain” (1F99NS141397-01(link is external and opens in a new window))

Nicholas Edward Bulthuis

Neurobiology and Behavior, PI: Christine Denny

“The impact of Alzheimer's disease on novel genetic signatures of hippocampal memory traces” (1F31AG090071-01(link is external and opens in a new window))

Noah Chen

Cellular, Molecular, and Biomedical Studies, PI: Nick Arpaia

“Improving bacterial cancer therapeutics” (1F30CA287792-01(link is external and opens in a new window))

Margot Kay Chirikjian

Nutritional and Metabolic Biology, PI: Utpal Pajvani

“Acetylation as a novel post-translational modification of MafA” (1F31DK137600-01A1(link is external and opens in a new window))

Elizabeth Marie Cordoves 

Biomedical Engineering (MD-PhD), PI: Gordana Vunjak-Novakovic

“Engineering a strategy for the preservation and rehabilitation of living allogenic heart valves” (1F30HL174098-01A1(link is external and opens in a new window))

Brooke Greer Dirvin

Genetics and Development, PI: Wellington Cardoso

“Investigating the Genetic and Epigenetic Control of Basal Cell Identity” (1F31HL176168-01)

Natalie Catherine Edwards

Neurobiology and Behavior, PI: Adam Brickman

“Synergistic contributions of cerebrovascular disease and neuroinflammation to Alzheimer's disease in adults with Down syndrome” (1F31AG090091-01(link is external and opens in a new window))

Jake Anders Gertie

Cellular, Molecular, and Biomedical Studies, PI: Hachung Chung

“Determining how a single-residue PKR mutation found in patients with familial dystonia causes aberrant PKR activation” (1F31NS139626-01(link is external and opens in a new window))

Kevin Gonzalez

Neurobiology and Behavior, PI: Attila Losonczy

“Subcellular plasticity mechanisms of hippocampal-dependent memory formation and consolidation” (1F99NS139551-01(link is external and opens in a new window))

Kyle Helms 

Cellular, Molecular and Biomedical Studies, PI: Christopher Makinson

“Interrogation of non-canonical roles of VGSCs in neurodevelopmental epilepsy” (1F31NS137770-01(link is external and opens in a new window))

Michelle Jin

Neurobiology and Behavior (MD-PhD), PI: Christine Denny

“Investigating the Impacts of Pharmacological Slow Wave Sleep Enhancement on Cognition and Memory Traces in an Alzheimers Disease Model” (1F30AG084312-01A1(link is external and opens in a new window))

Max Chen Lauring

Cellular, Molecular, and Biomedical Studies, PI: Uttiya Basu

“RNA Decay of LINE-1 Retrotransposons as a New Mechanism to Maintain B Cell Genome Integrity” (1F30AI179182-01A1(link is external and opens in a new window))

Richard Li Cheng Pan

Neurobiology and Behavior (MD-PhD), PI: Shawn Liu

“Epigenetic and Neuronal Mechanisms of MECP2 Reactivation to rescue Rett Syndrome” (1F30HD115371-01(link is external and opens in a new window))

Aleksandra Recupero

Neurobiology and Behavior, PI: Franck Polleux

“Impact of Species-Specific Synaptic Maturation Timing on Cortical Circuit and Behavioral Development” (1F30MH136683-01(link is external and opens in a new window))

Belen Sundberg

Cellular, Molecular, and Biomedical Studies, PI: Anum Glasgow

“Elucidating the complex allosteric regulation of PFK-1, a broadly evolutionarily conserved glycolytic enzyme” (1F31AI184134-01(link is external and opens in a new window))

Stephen Tang

Cellular, Molecular, and Biomedical Studies, PI: Sam Sternberg

“Mechanisms of reverse transcriptase mediated phage resistance in Enterobacteriaceae” (1F30AI183830-01(link is external and opens in a new window))

Julia Anh Urban

Systems Biology, PI: Tal Korem

“Deciphering the role of the vaginal microbiome in spontaneous preterm birth via consideration of host genetics” (1F31HD115394-01A1)

Daniel Eric Whisenant

Microbiology (Biological Sciences), PI: Uttiya Basu

“Investigating the role of chromatin-associated RNA processing in Early B-cell development” (1F31AI188882-01)

Allen Peter Zinkle

Cellular, Molecular, and Biomedical Studies, PI: Filippo Mancia

“Mechanistic insights into lipid A modification by the phosphoethanolamine transferase MCR-1” (1F31AI181556-01(link is external and opens in a new window))