ALUMNI

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2024 Graduates

Amelia Burch, PhD
BS, Neuroscience, Emory Univ., Atlanta, GA
Mentor: Herson, Paco
The role of the TRPM2 ion channel in synaptic and cognitive dysfunction following focal cerebral ischemia
Amelia Burch's Publications
Current Position: Returned to Medical School, CU Anschutz

Mason Kleinjan, PhD
BS, Biology, Univ. North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND
Mentor: Kennedy, Matthew J.
Investigating the Spine Apparatus and unconventional protein trafficking in neurons
Current Position: Instructor, CU Denver

Tyler Martinez, PhD
BA, Physics & French, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY
Mentor: Dell'Acqua, Mark L.
Synapse regulation by NFAT-dependent transcription.
Current Position: Medical Writer

2023 Graduates

Brian Lloyd, PhD
BM, Vocal Performance, Univ. of Denver, Denver, CO; BS, Biology, Univ. of Colorado, Denver, CO
Mentor: Aoto, Jason
Subsynaptic characterization of neurexins
Brian Lloyd's Publications on PubMed
Current Position: Return to medical school

Connor Hughes, PhD
BS, Biology, Univ. of Richmond, Richmond, VA
Mentor: Ford, Heide L.
I study the role of Eya transcriptional cofactors in regulation of the immune response in triple negative breast cancer
Current Position: Return to medical school

Austin Jolly, PhD
BA, Integrated Physiology, Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO
Mentor: Weiser-Evans, Mary C.M.
Investigating the contribution of vascular progenitor cells to pathologic vascular remodeling, fibrosis, and hypertension.
Current Position: Return to medical school

Jaqueline Turner, PhD
BA, Biochemistry and Integrative Physiology, Univ of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO
Mentor: Torres, Raul M. 
Lipid modulation of anti-tumor immunity and immunosurveillance
Jackie Turner's Publications on NIH
Current Position: Return to medical school

Gregory Wright, PhD
BS, Chemistry, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY; MS Chemistry & Bioinformatics, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY
Mentor: Black, Joshua C.
Investigating transient site-specific gain as a mechanism of gene amplification

Jonathan Tullis, PhD
BS, Chemistry, Santa Clara Univ., Santa Clara, CA
Mentor: Bayer, K.​​​​​​​​ Ulrich
Investigating DAPK1 localization and function in synaptic plasticity.
Jonathan Tullis' Publications on NIH

Nan Chen
BS, Pharmacy, China Pharmaceutical Univ.; M.S., Drug Discovery and Development, Drexel Univ.
Mentor: Doebele, Robert C.
Investigating how EGFR mediates early adaptive resistance to tyrosine kinase inhibitors in NSCLC driven by oncogenic fusion kinases
Nan Chen's Publications

2022 Graduates

Madison Furnish, PhD
BS, Biology, Univ. of Louisville, Louisville, KY
Mentor: Caino, Maria
Identification and characterization of novel effector proteins in the Rho-like GTPase Miro2 that alter metabolism and motility in prostate cancer.
Madison Furnish's Publications on PubMed
Current Position: Scientist I, Platform Biology Enveda Biosciences Boulder, CO

Faith Aguilar, MS
BS, Chemistry, University of Texas - Rio Grande Valley
Developing Choice: Issues and Implications of an Operant Choice Mouse Model

Philip Tatman, PhD
BS, Physiology and Biochemistry, Univ. of Washington, Seattle, WA
Mentor: Black, Joshua C.
Activation of the insulin receptor by histone three tail peptides.
Publications: View on Google Scholar
Current Position: Return to medical school

Michelle Foreman, MS
BS, Mathematical Biology, University of Houston, Houston, TX
Mentor: Black, Joshua
Investigating epigenetic dysregulation of the interferon receptor locus by PRC1 in trisomy 21
Michelle's content on RNA Journal
Michelle's publications on PubMed

Logan Tyler, PhD
BS, Biology, Villanova Univ., 2012; MPH., Epidemiology, Drexel Univ.
Mentor: Doebele, Robert C.
Investigating mechanisms of acquired resistance to tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) in human primary cell lines with driving receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) fusion mutations
Logan Tyler's Publications on PubMed
Current Position: Research Scientist OnKure Therapeutics Boulder, CO 

Joshua Garcia, PhD
BS, Biology, Univ. of New Mexico
Mentor: Smith, Katharine R.
Understanding mechanisms of inhibitory synapse down-regulation in vulnerable cell-types during OGD
Current Position: Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of California, San Francisco 

Christophe Langouet-Astrie, PhD
BS, Biotechnology & Statistics Minor, James Madison Univ., Harrisonburg, VA; M.S., Biomedical Sciences and Biotechnology, Univ. of Colorado Anschutz, Denver, CO
Mentor: Schmidt, Eric P.
Glycosaminoglycan therapeutics to sequester pathogenic toxins in Sepsis.
Christophe Langouet-Astrie's Publications on PubMed
Current Position: Postdoctoral Scholar at the University of Washington, Seattle, WA,

2021 Graduates

Jessica Hsu, PhD
BS, Molecular Toxicology, Univ. of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA
Mentor: Ford, Heide L.
Utilizing zebrafish as a model organism to investigate the mechanisms by which developmental genes contribute to formation and progression of Rhabdomyosarcoma. 
Jessica Hsu's Publications on PubMed
Current Position: Research Scientist, Foresight Diagnostics Inc Aurora, CO

Alexander (Sascha) Strait, PhD
BS, Biological Science, Univ. of California, Davis, CA
Mentor: Wang, Xiao-Jing
TGF-β signaling regulates the response to immune checkpoint blockade in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.
Alexandra Strait's Publications on PubMed
Current Position: Research Scientist OnKure Therapeutics Boulder, CO

Sarah Cook, PhD
BS, Neurobiology, Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX
Mentor: Bayer, K.​​​​​​​​ Ulrich
Role of CAMKII T305-306 auto-phosphorylation in bi-directional synaptic plasticity (LTP vs. LTD)
Sarah Cook's Publications on PubMed
Current Position: Postdoctoral Fellow Hotchkiss Brain Institute Calgary, Alberta Canada

Robert Jones, PhD
BS, Biological Sciences, Univ. of Michigan, Dearborn, MI
Mentor: Theodorescu, Daniel
Investigating molecular determinants of chemosensitivity in bladder cancer.
Robert Jone's Publications on NCBI 
Current Position: Return to medical school 

Sean Korpela, PhD
BS, Biochemistry, Loyola Univ., Chicago, IL
Mentor: Heasley, Lynn E.
Inhibition of oncogenic signaling pathways can modulate T-cell inflammation
Sean Korpela's Publications on PubMed
Current Position: Senior Research Associate Invitae Boulder, CO

Wells LaRiviere, PhD
BA, Political Science, Reed College, Portland, OR; BS, Molecular Biology, Univ. of Connecticut, Storrs, CT
Mentor: Schmidt, Eric P.
The vascular and pulmonary glycobiology of critical illness.
Wells LaRiviere's Publications on PubMed
Current Position: Return to medical school 

Susana Restrepo, PhD
BS, Bio-Biotechnology, Univ. of Florida
Mentor: Aoto, Jason
Role of Neurexin3-alpha at the synapse.
Susana Restrepo's Publications on PubMed
Current Position: Scientific Consultant CBR International Corp. Boulder, CO

Andrew Riching, PhD
BS, Biochemistry & Music, Univ. of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI
Mentor: Song, Kunhua
Investigating regulation of cardiomyogenesis for cardiac repair.
Andrew Riching's Publications on PubMed
Current Position: Scientist 2 at Horizon Discovery, Lafayette, CO

2020 Graduates

​Ashley Bourke, PhD
BS, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Michigan State Univ., East Lansing, MI
Mentor: Kennedy, Matthew J.
Ashley Bourke's Publications on PubMed
Current Position: Postdoctoral Fellow Max Planck Institute for Brain Research Frankfurt, Germany DE

Evelyn Bordeaux, MS
BS, Biochemistry, Seattle Univ., Seattle, WA
Mentor: Sikora, Matthew J.
Investigating the unique regulation and functions of ER in ILC breast cancers.
Evelyn Bordeaux's Publications on PubMed

Danting Cao, PhD
BS, Southern Medical Univ., Guangzhou, China
Mentor: Petrache, Irina
Current Position: Senior Scientist Immunology and Respiratory Research Boehringer Ingelheim, Ridgefield, CT

Emily Wagner, MS
BS, Biotechnology, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY
Mentor: Nemenoff, Raphael A.
Investigating the role of chemokine CCL2 in the recruitment of macrophages to the tumor microenvironment of NSCLC
Current Position: Research Associate at Inscripta, Inc, Boulder CO

2019 Graduates

​Ivelisse Cruz-Torres, PhD
BS, Biology and Natural Sciences, Univ. de Puerto Rico en Cayay, Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico
Mentor: Herson, Paco
Current Position: Investigator Early Discovery Neurotherapeutic Area/Neurogenetics Research Unit Glaxo Smith Kline
Ivelisse Cruz-Torres' Publications on PubMed

​Alicia Purkey, PhD
BA, Psychology, Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, Boulder, CO
Mentor: Dell'Acqua, Mark
Current Position: Scientist Recursion Salt Lake City, Utah
Alicia Purkey's Publications on PubMed

2018 Graduates

​Brent Fitzwalter, PhD
BS, Biochemistry, Univ. of Missouri, Columbia, MO
Mentor: Thorburn, Andrew
Current Position: Postdoctoral Fellow Broad Institute Boston, MA US
Brent Fitzwalter's Publications on PubMed
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​Andrew Goodspeed, PhD
BS, Biology, State Univ. of New York, Brockport, NY, 2012; M.S., Biology, State Univ. of New York, Brockport, NY
Mentor: Costello, James
Current Position: Research Associate University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus Aurora, CO

​Sarah Haeger, PhD, MD
BS, Chemical and Biological Engineering, Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO
Mentor: Tuder, Rubin
Current Position: Residency, Pulmonary Medicine, University of Colorado Anschutz 
Sarah Haeger's Publications on PubMed

​Brooke Sinnen, PhD
BA, Biological Science, Northwestern Univ., IL
Mentor: Kennedy, Matthew J.
Current Position: Scientist at Recursion Salt Lake City, UT
Brooke Sinnen's Publications on PubMed

2017 Graduates

​Brett Dunn, MS
BS, Biochemistry, Monmouth College, Monmouth, IL
Mentor: Aoto, Jason
Current Position: Intern Muse Biotechnolgy

​Jessica Spiltoir, PhD
BS, Biochemistry, Univ. of Vermont, VT
Mentor: Tucker, Chandra L.
Jessica Spiltoir's Publications on PubMed

2016 Graduates

​Rachel Carlson (Fickes), PhD
BS, Biochemistry, Creighton Univ., NE
Mentor: Voelker, Dennis R.
Current Position: Clinical Services Specialist Adaptive Biotechnologies
Rachel Fickes' Publications on PubMed

​Jovylyn Gatchalian, PhD
BS, Biochemistry, Univ. of California, San Di​​ego, CA
Mentor: Kutateladze, Tataiana G.
Current Position: Senior Scientist Kura Oncology, Inc. San Diego, CA
Jovylyn Gatchalian's Publications on PubMed

​Christina L. Wysoczynski-Horita, PhD
BS, Biology, Univ. of West Georgia, Carrollton, GA
Mentor: Churchill, Mair E. A.
Current Position: Production Manager Cytoskeleton Inc. Denver, CO
Christina Wzsoczynski-Horita's Publications on PubMed

2015 Graduates

​Kelsey Barcomb, PhD
BA, Neuroscience, Hamilton College, Clinton, NY
Mentor: Bayer, K.​​​​​​​​ Ulrich
Current Position: Post Doctoral Fellow Pharmacology Univ. of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus
Kelsey Barcomb's Publications on PubMed

​Wes Blakeslee, PhD
BA, Biochemistry, Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO
Mentor: McKinsey, Timothy A.
Current Position: Chief Clinical Officer at Rxrevu, Inc.
Wes Blakeslee's Publications on PubMed

​Hannah Edlin, MS
BS, Biochemistry/Molecular Biology, Univ. of California, Santa Barbara, CA
Mentor: Jones, David N. M.
Current Position: Student Pharmacy Univ. of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus
Hannah Edlin's Publications on PubMed

​Sarah Martin, PhD
BS, Biochemistry, North Central College, Naperville, IL
Mentor: Murphy, Robert C.
Current Position: Senior Scientist Servier Pharmaceuticals Boston, MA
Sarah Martin's Publications on PubMed

2014 Graduates

Wallace H. Liu, PhD
BS, Biochemistry a​​nd Cell Biology, Univ. of California, San Diego, CA
Mentor: Churchill, Mair E. A.
Current Position: Research Scientist Gilead Sciences Foster City, CA
Wallace Liu's Publications on PubMed

​Allison Ostriker, PhD
BA, Biochemistry, Bowdoin Coll., Brunswick, ME
Mentor: Nemenoff, Raphael A.
Current Position: Scientist II Dicerna Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Lexington, MA
Allison Ostriker's Publications on PubMed

​Jacki M. Rorabaugh, PhD
BS, Biology: Allied Health, Winona State Univ., Winona, MN
Mentor: Zahniser, Nancy R.
Current Position: Medical Science Liaison Teva Pharmaceuticals
Jacki Rorabaugh's Publications on PubMed

2013 Graduates

​J. Taylor Juergens, PhD
BS, Biology, Univ. of Colorado, Denver, Denver, CO
Mentor: Sather, William A.
Current Position: Senior Medical Science Liaison EMD Serono, Inc.

​Jill Neiman, PhD
BS, Biochemistry, Muhlenberg College, Allentown, PA
Mentor: Wang, Xiao-Jing
Current Position: Medical Doctor Family Medicine, Colville, WA
Jill Neiman's Publications on PubMed

Sarah M. Rogstad, PhD
BS, Biology and Chemistry, Harvey Mudd Coll., Claremont, CA
Mentor: Wu, Christine C.
Current Position: Chemist Food and Drug Administration
Sarah Rogstad's Publications on PubMed

2012 Graduates

James J. Galligan, PhD
BS, Physiology, Michigan State Univ., East Lansing, MI
Mentor: Petersen, Dennis R.
Current Position: Assistant Professor Univ. of Arizona
James Galligan's Publications on PubMed

​Wallace R. Helton, PhD
BS, Exercise and Sport Science, Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins, CO
Mentor: Wu, Christine C.
Current Position: Medical Science Liaison Medical Affairs - Neurodegenerative Diseases EMD Serono, Inc.
Wallace Helton's Publications on PubMed

​Patrick M. Hutchins, PhD
BA, Chemistry, Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY
Mentor: Murphy, Robert C.
Current Position: Global Product Manager TSI Incorporated
Patrick Hutchins' Publications on PubMed

​Heather E. Caballes, PhD
BA, Biology, BS, Psychology, Clarkson Univ., Potsdam, NY
Entered Program: 2007
Mentor: Bayer, K. Ulrich
Current Position: Assistant Research Professor Pediatrics-Neurology Univ. of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus
Heather Caballes' Publications on PubMed

​Prince Tieku, MS
BS, Microbiology, Univ. of Georgia, Athens, GA
Entered Program: 2010
Mentor: Churchill, Mair E.A.
Current Position: Pharmacy Univ. of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus
Prince Tieku's Publications on PubMed

James T. Whitehurst, PhD
MS, Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Georgetown Univ., Washington, DC
Mentor: Kieft, Jeffrey S.
Current Position: Director of Research Aalto Scientific, Ltd
James Whitehurst's Publications on PubMed

​Sarah M. Williams, MS
BS, Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Univ. of California, San Diego, CA
Mentor: McKinsey, Timothy A.
Current Position: Principal Clinical Research Specialist Medtronic
Sarah Williams' Publications on PubMed

​Dorothy J. Yamamoto, PhD
BA, Psychology, Univ. of Colorado, Denver, Denver, CO
Mentor: Zahniser, Nancy R.
Current Position: Postdoctoral Associate Radiology Univ. of Colorado Denver
Dorothy Yamamoto's Publications on PubMed

2011 Graduates

​Tressa M. Allington, PhD
BS, Chemical Engineering, Iowa State Univ. of Science and Technology, Ames, IA
Mentor: Schiemann, William P.
Current Position: Associate Director, Research Quality Operations Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc

2010 Graduates

​Rebekah Vest, PhD
BS, Zoology, Brigham Young Univ., Provo, UT
Mentor: Bayer, K. Ulrich
Current Position: Adjunct Professor of Physiology and Biological Sciences Mt. San Antonio College

​Brian M. Ziemba, PhD
BS, MCD Biology/Biochemistry, Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO
Mentor: Jones, David N. M.
Current Position: Senior Research Associate Integrative Physiology of Aging Laboratory Univ. of Colorado Boulder

2009 Graduates

Henrick Horita, PhD
BS, Biology, Univ. of Washington, Seattle, WA
Mentor: Thorburn, Andrew M.
Current Position: Scientist Cytoskeleton Inc.

​Kelli Jonakin, PhD
BS, Biochemistry, Univ. of Puget Sound, Tacoma, WA
Mentor: Wu, Christine C.e
Current Position: Global Marketing Manager - Pharma/Biopharma SCIEX

​Bruce Mandt, PhD
BA, Psychology, Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison, WI
Mentor: Zahniser, Nancy R.
Current Position: Director of Postdoctoral Office Graduate School Univ. of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus

​Anna Nelson, PhD
BA, Psychology, Boston College, Boston, MA
Mentor: Zahniser, Nancy R.
Current Position: Director Medical Student Education Oregon Health & Science Univ.

​Pedro Peña, PhD
BS, Biochemistry, Old Dominion Univ., Norfolk, VA
Mentor: Kutateladze, Tatiana G.
Current Position: Postdoctoral Fellow Biotechnology Institute Univ. of Minnesota