BOLIE SCHOLARS
Bolie Family Endowment for the Molecular Biology Graduate Program
In 2012, the Bolie Family established the Victor W. and Earleen Bolie Graduate Scholarship fund, which is dedicated to pre-doctoral training in the Molecular Biology Graduate Program. This generous endowment enables our program to fund training activities
that enhance the scientific and professional development of our trainees. Each year we use the Bolie Graduate Scholarship funds to fund:
Bolie Travel Award. Each trainee in Molecular Biology Graduate Program receives one of these awards during their pre-doctoral training, which enables them to travel to national or international conferences and present their work.
Bolie Mini-Sabbatical. The Bolie Mini-Sabbatical enables pre-doctoral trainees to travel for 1-2 weeks to a laboratory outside University of Colorado to learn new techniques and experimental approaches that expand their training beyond the expertise of their thesis laboratory.
Bolie Scholar Award. Each year, three Bolie Scholar Awards are given to outstanding senior pre-doctoral trainees in recognition of their scientific and educational contributions.
Meet the Bolie Scholars for 2026-2027!
I graduated from the University of California San Diego in 2018 with a BS in General Biology and a minor in Law and Society. As an undergraduate, I worked on clinical psychiatric studies looking at pediatric traumatic brain injuries in collaboration with Rady Children’s Hospital. After graduating from UCSD, I was employed in the biotech industry at two different companies over the next 4 years. Most of my industry experience comes from working in R&D where I focused on new product development, resulting in three commercially available kits for detecting glycan expression in tissue sections.
I began my graduate career in Fall 2022 and joined the lab of Dr. Matthew Taliaferro to conduct my thesis work. My research focuses on investigating the mechanisms, regulation, and consequences of nutrient-sensitive mRNA localization and translation in the intestinal epithelia using both cell line and mouse models. I have shown that mTOR activity regulates the apicobasal localization of one class of mRNAs downstream of nutrient availability. The RNA binding protein LARP1 is necessary for regulating the localization of these mRNAs and loss of LARP1 results in altered lipid and nucleotide metabolism both in vitro and in vivo.
During my time in the Molecular Biology Program and at Anschutz, I have served as a student member of the Admissions Committee and a GAC mentor to fellow Molecular Biology graduate students. I am additionally the organizer of the RNA Chalk Talk series. Outside of the lab, I enjoy bowling, playing pool, and baking.
I am a PhD candidate in the labs of Dr. Neel Mukherjee and Dr. Heide Ford, where I study mRNA translational control in the context of cancer metastasis. Cancer cells are particularly well equipped to survive and spread under microenvironmental stressors, including hypoxia, a common stressor in breast cancer. My work has revealed the critical roles of the translation initiation factors eIF3d and eIF3e in modulating the translational response to hypoxia and promoting metastatic phenotypes. My research is highly computational; I integrate sequencing data, including ribosome profiling, RNA-seq, and RIP-seq, with machine learning methods.
Before graduate school, I earned my BA at Colorado College, where I studied molecular biology and biochemistry and worked in the laboratory of Dr. Sara Hanson. I was also a summer intern here at CU Anschutz in the laboratory of Dr. Sujatha Jagannathan. After graduating, I spent three years working in public health at the OMNI Institute and through a two-year Public Health Associate Program fellowship with the CDC, where I developed computational and science communication skills. I joined the Molecular Biology program through the Biomedical Sciences Program in 2022.
Beyond my thesis work, I coordinate the Colorado RNA Club, which connects RNA researchers across the state. I also serve as a mentor to first-year PhD students and REU summer students. Outside the lab, I love to trail run and spend time with friends and my large fuzzy orange cat, Reddington.
Before graduate school, I earned my BA at Colorado College, where I studied molecular biology and biochemistry and worked in the laboratory of Dr. Sara Hanson. I was also a summer intern here at CU Anschutz in the laboratory of Dr. Sujatha Jagannathan. After graduating, I spent three years working in public health at the OMNI Institute and through a two-year Public Health Associate Program fellowship with the CDC, where I developed computational and science communication skills. I joined the Molecular Biology program through the Biomedical Sciences Program in 2022.
Beyond my thesis work, I coordinate the Colorado RNA Club, which connects RNA researchers across the state. I also serve as a mentor to first-year PhD students and REU summer students. Outside the lab, I love to trail run and spend time with friends and my large fuzzy orange cat, Reddington.
I graduated from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México in 2019 with a degree in Biology, where my early research took me into the world of cellular and molecular oncology. Before starting my PhD, I spent a few years working as a research assistant, first at the Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Médicas y Nutrición Salvador Zubirán in Mexico City, and later in the Department of Surgery at CU Anschutz. During that time, I studied how SARS-CoV-2 affects the liver and helped establish galectin-3 as a prognostic biomarker in cirrhosis, biliary atresia, and liver transplantation, work that ultimately led to seven peer-reviewed publications.
I joined the Molecular Biology Program in 2023 and am now a PhD candidate in Dr. Matthew Burchill's lab, where I'm digging into how type 1 conventional dendritic cells (cDC1s) drive pathological CD8+ T cell responses in metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH). Along the way, I've also engineered an XCR1-targeting CAR-T cell that can selectively deplete cDC1s, giving me a direct way to test how this immune axis shapes disease progression.
During my time at Anschutz, I've served as a TA for the program's bioinformatics course, built several productive research collaborations applying those skills, and currently sit on the Molecular Biology Admissions Committee. I've also enjoyed mentoring rotation students, undergrads, and even high schoolers as they find their footing in science. Looking ahead, I plan to pursue postdoctoral training in translational immunology and eventually move into a faculty role focused on tackling chronic liver disease.
Outside of the lab, I enjoy skiing, playing soccer, board games, and cooking!
I joined the Molecular Biology Program in 2023 and am now a PhD candidate in Dr. Matthew Burchill's lab, where I'm digging into how type 1 conventional dendritic cells (cDC1s) drive pathological CD8+ T cell responses in metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH). Along the way, I've also engineered an XCR1-targeting CAR-T cell that can selectively deplete cDC1s, giving me a direct way to test how this immune axis shapes disease progression.
During my time at Anschutz, I've served as a TA for the program's bioinformatics course, built several productive research collaborations applying those skills, and currently sit on the Molecular Biology Admissions Committee. I've also enjoyed mentoring rotation students, undergrads, and even high schoolers as they find their footing in science. Looking ahead, I plan to pursue postdoctoral training in translational immunology and eventually move into a faculty role focused on tackling chronic liver disease.
Outside of the lab, I enjoy skiing, playing soccer, board games, and cooking!
Former Bolie Scholars
Name | Research Interest | Bolie Scholar Award Year |
| Andrew Neumann | Focus on the regulation of polarity of the actin cytoskeleton during cell migration. | 2024 |
| Devi Rao | 2024 | |
| Kathryn Walters | Defining and targeting RBP-driven translational control and identification of de novo translation products underlying autoimmunity | 2024 |
| Alyssa Margolis | Understanding the role of arginine metabolism in Salmonella pathogenesis and resistance to oxidative stress. | 2023 |
| Luuli Tran | Understanding the gene regulatory networks that drive neural progenitors in the dorsal forebrain towards an oligodendrocyte fate. | 2023 |
| Chloe Barrington Ham | Synonymous codon usage: regulator of mRNA stability and translation initiation. | 2023 |
| Katie Hoff | The impact of TUBA1A Tubulinopathy mutations on the regulation of microtubule dynamics. | 2022 |
| Arely Diaz | RNA-binding protein function in fat metabolism using Drosophila melanogaster | 2022 |
| Juila Ceglowski | TTLL12 Regulates Tubulin and Ciliogenesis in Polarized Epithelia | 2022 |
| Rachel Jones | Structure and evolution of a distinct class of exoribonuclease-resistant RNA (xrRNA) structures found in Flaviviruses. | 2021 |
| Linnea Wethekam | Understanding how cells regulate the expression of the α- and β-tubulin and the consequences of expression imbalance. | 2021 |
| Claire Gillette | The role of RNA-binding proteins in regulating energy homeostasis | 2021 |
James Till | Mechanisms of Nitric Oxide-induced gentamicin tolerance in Salmonella | 2020 |
Cayla Jewett | Membrane trafficking pathways in cell polarization and lumen formation. | 2020 |
Kristin Dahl | mTOR regulation of oligodendrocyte cytoskeleton rearrangement during myelination | 2020 |
Emily Duncan | Rab GTPase-mediated ubiquitylation in cell migration and invasion. | 2019 |
Laura White | RNA repair and translational regulation | 2019 |
Katie Yergert | Molecular Mechanisms Underlying mRNA Localization to Myelin Sheaths | 2019 |
Patrick Cherry | RNA processing regulates the Unfolded Protein Response | 2018 |
Gabby Li | Intrinsic control of microtubule dynamics | 2018 |
Tessa Arends | The role of alternative splicing in B cells | 2017 |
Erik Linklater | Regulation of cancer cell migration and invasion by Rab40b. | 2017 |
Cassi Estrem | Dynein regulation by its microtubule track and its influence on microtubule dynamics to properly position the mitotic spindle in budding yeast. | 2017 |
Margaret Balas | Long noncoding RNAs in heterochromatin establishment and maintenance | 2016 |
Kelsey Hazegh | Determining the method and mechanism by which split ends and alan shepard contribute to fat regulation in Drosophila and whether it has a conserved role in mammalian cells. | 2016 |
Hannah Scarborough | Targeting lung cancers | 2015 |
Louis Cicchini | Innate Host Immune Recognition during Human Papillomavirus Infection | 2015 |
Ryan Sheridan | The Role of RNA Polymerase II Elongation Control in Transcription Dynamics | 2015 |
Julie Woodman | The role of phosphorylation in regulating the Scc2 cohesin deposition factor | 2014 |
Seth Welsh | The functions of Early B Cell Factor 1 (EBF1) in transcriptional repression and human leukemia | 2014 |
Alexandra Antonioli | Determining the roles of factor H-Related proteins in Complement Regulation | 2014 |
Becky Fusby | The role of human SPT6 in transcription regulation by RNA polymerase II | 2013 |
Juliette Peterson | Gene-environment interactions influence on the risk for neural tube defect | 2013 |
Michael Holliday | Allosteric Communication Networks and Enzymatic Regulation as Mediated by Conformational Dynamics in the Cyclophilin Family of Peptidyl-Prolyl Isomerases | 2013 |