T32 Pharmacological Sciences Training Program (PSTP)

Marcy Balunas, PhD

Charles Brooks III, PhD

Timothy Cernak, PhD

Martin Clasby, PhD

George Garcia, PhD

Amanda Garner, PhD

Jolanta Grembecka, PhD

Roland Kersten, PhD

Pavel Nagorny, PhD

Allison Narayan, PhD

Nouri Neamati, PhD

Zaneta Nikolovska-Coleska, PhD

Emily Scott, PhD

Peter Scott, PhD

Jonathan Sexton, PhD

David Sherman, PhD

Terra Sztain, PhD

Shaomeng Wang, PhD

Brandon Bordeau, PhD

Ashlee Brunaugh, PhD

Wei Cheng, PhD

James Moon, PhD

Gustavo Rosania, PhD

Anna Schwendeman, PhD

Steven Schwendeman, PhD

Duxin Sun, PhD

Peter Tessier, PhD

Guizhi (Julian) Zhu, PhD

2022 Cohort

Derrick Ousley, PhD, 
Thesis: “Genome and Transcriptome Mining of Macrocyclic Plant Peptide Natural Products for Multi-omics guided Drug Discovery”
Advisor: Roland Kersten, PhD

Mariana Romero-Gonzalez, PhD, 
Thesis: “Mechanistically Guided Design of an Inhaled Synergistic Antibiotic Combination Therapy”
Advisor: Ashlee Brunaugh, PhD

Livia Stanger, PhD, Associate Consultant,  ZS
Thesis: “Antithrombotic Therapies: Targeting Novel Approaches to Improve the Treatment of Cardiovascular Disease”
Advisor: Mike Holinstat, PhD

2021 Cohort

Adam Ard, PhD, Postdoctoral Research at University of Michigan
Thesis: ”Discovery and SAR-Guided Development of Small-Molecule SERCA2a Activators for Cardiovascular Applications”
Advisor: Martin Clasby

Adaeze Eneli, PhD, Postdoctoral Research Fellow at University of Michigan
Thesis: “Understanding the Critical Quality Attributes Influencing Doxil? Performance In Vitro and In Vivo”
Advisor: Anne Schwendeman, PhD

Kassidy Jungles, PhD, Medical Writer, Precision AQ
Thesis: ”The Implementation of Combination Therapies for the Treatment of Triple Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC)”
Advisor: James Rae, PhD

Sophia Meyer, PhD, Principal Scientist at Intero Biosystems
Thesis: ”Single-Cell Multiplexed Imaging to Enhance Prediction, Detection, and Mechanistic Understanding of Drug Efficacy and Toxicity in Hepatic and Intestinal Systems”
Advisor: Jonathan Sexton, PhD

Tenzin Ngodup, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow
Thesis: “Role of Hypoxia in Fibroblast Reprogramming in Pancreatic Cancer”
Advisor: Kyoung Lee, PhD

Claire Shudde, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow at Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation
Thesis: ”Cytokine-Independent Activation of STAT5 Promotes the Persistence and Function of CD4+ Regulatory T Cells”
Advisor: Adam Courtney, PhD

2020 Cohort

Shreeya Bakshi, PhD, Postdoctoral Researcher at University of Michigan
Thesis: “Better Retained than Forgotten: Investigation of SCN1B intron 3 Retention and Its Link to Developmental and Epileptic Encephalopathy”
Advisor:  Lori Isom, PhD

Elyse Frydendall, PhD, Consultant, Boston Consulting Group
Thesis: “Human Cytochrome P450 Enzymes in Drug and Fatty Acid Metabolism”
Advisor: Emily Scott, Ph.D.

Natalia Harris, PhD, Postdoctoral Researcher at University of Michigan
Thesis:’ Enzymatic and Structure-Guided Diversification of Nitrogen-Containing Heterocycles from Natural Products for Therapeutic Applications”
Advisor: David Sherman, PhD and Janet Smith, PhD

Emily Makowski, PhD, Senior Scientist, Genentech
Thesis: "Multi-Objective Engineering of Therapeutic Antibodies"
Advisor: Peter Tessier, PhD

Francisco Sanchez-Conde, PhD, Consultant, Trinity Life Sciences
Thesis: ”hERG1 Nuclear Peptide: Probing a Novel hERG1 Subdomain as a Mechanism of Sudden Death Syndromes”
Advisor: David K. Jones, PhD

Glory Velazquez, PhD, Adjunct Chemistry Professor, Ana G. Mendez University 
Thesis: “Antibiotic Discovery of Inhibitors of Transcription Factors-RNA Polymerase Protein-Protein Interactions in Mycobacterium tuberculosis”
Advisor: George Garcia, PhD

2019 Cohort

Kristen Hong Dorsey, PhD, Advisor, Eli Lilly and Company
Thesis: "Evaluation of Lipid-Based Nanoparticles for the Treatment of Cardiovascular Diseases"
Advisor: Anna Schwendeman, PhD

Jesse Wotring, PhD, Medicinal Chemist
Thesis: "Rapidly Translational Drug Discovery Using High Content Imaging: Applications to Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease and the COVID-19 Pandemic"
Advisor: Jonathan Sexton, PhD

Chi-Chi Ukachukwu, PhD, Eli Lilly and Company
Thesis: "The hERG1 PAS Domain: An Anti-arrhythmic Drug Target and Master Regulator of IKr"
Advisor: David K. Jones

Kelsey Kochan, PhD, FDA Pharmacologist
Thesis: "Characterization of Positive Allosteric Modulators of the Mu Opioid Receptor"
Advisor:  John Traynor, PhD

2018 Cohort

Josh Lott, PhD, Medical Science Liaison, Merz Aesthetics
Thesis: "Delineating the Specificity of Cannabinoid Effects by Investigating Cannabinoid Receptor-1 Trafficking and Signaling"
Advisor: Manoj Puthenveedu, PhD

Alina Morales, Scientific Associate, Viscira
Thesis: "Regulation of Chromaffin Cell Exocytosis via Endogenously Secreted Signaling Molecules Acetylcholine and PACAP"
Advisor: Arun Anantharam, PhD

Andrea Pesch, PhD, Sr Regulatory Affairs Specialist, Loxo Onocology
Thesis: "Targeting DNA Damage, Apoptosis, and the Cell Cycle for the Radiosensitization of Aggressive Forms of Breast Cancer"
Advisors: Corey Speers, MD, PhD and James Rae, PhD

Garrett Dow, PhD, Senior Development Scientist, Beckman Coulter
Thesis: "Elucidation of DNA-Binding and Dimerization Activities of the Master Virulence Transcription Factor, VirF, From Shigella flexneri to Aid in Virulence-Targeted Inhibitor Design for Treatment of Shigellosis"
Advisor: George Garcia

Jennifer Diaz-Espinosa, PhD, Advisor, Eli Lilly and Company
Thesis: "Mechanistic Analysis and Quantification of Clofazimine"
Advisors: Kathleen Stringer, Ph.D. and Haojie Zhu, PhD

Rachel Torrez, PhD, Postdoctoral Scholar, Univ of Utah
Thesis: "Structural and Functional Analysis of Human Dicer"
Advisors: Amanda Garner, Ph.D. and Melanie Ohi, PhD

2017 Cohort

Jason Albert, PhD, Presidential Management Fellow | Dept. of Energy
Thesis: "Metal-HisTag Coordination for Remote Loading of Biomacromolecules into PLGA Microspheres"
Advisor: Steven Schwendeman, PhD

Sarah Burris, PhD, Postdoctoral Researcher University of Michigan
Thesis: "Human Cytochrome P450 Enzymes in Steroidogenesis and Drug Metabolism"
Advisor: Emily Scott, Ph.D.

Nnamdi Edokobi, PhD, Scientist | Choate, Hall & Stewart LLP
Thesis: "The Role of Voltage-Gated Sodium Channel Gene Scn1b in the developing pediatric heart"
Advisor: Lori L. Isom, PhD

Julie Philippe Gupta, PhD, Life Sciences Consultant, Putnam Associates
Thesis: "Ankyrin-B is Lipid-Modified by S-Palmitoylation to Promote Dendritic Membrane Scaffolding of Voltage Gated Sodium Channel Nav1.2 in Neurons"
Advisor: Paul Jenkins, PhD