MD/PhD Current Trainees

Entering 2024

Ariel Jalen Fernandez

Alma Mater: University of California – Los Angeles
Graduate Program: Interdisciplinary Program in Neuroscience

Logan Perry

Alma Mater: Texas A&M University
Graduate Program: Interdisciplinary Program in Neuroscience

Emily Sherman

Alma Mater: University of Maryland-College Park
Graduate Program: Tumor Biology Program

Joan Sobo

Alma Mater: Bowie State University
Graduate Program: Tumor Biology Program

Catherine Van Dongen

Alma Mater: College of William & Mary
Graduate Program: Tumor Biology Program

Entered 2023

Vlad Dobrin

Alma Mater: University of Maryland-College Park
Graduate Program: Interdisciplinary Program in Neuroscience

Andrew Schildcrout

Alma Mater: University of Chicago
Graduate Program: Bioethics

Zihao Sui

Alma Mater: University of Chicago
Graduate Program: Tumor Biology Program

Entered 2022

Chloe Casagrande

Alma Mater: Creighton University
Graduate Program: Interdisciplinary Program in Neuroscience

Elizabeth Chang

Alma Mater: Johns Hopkins University
Graduate Program: Interdisciplinary Program in Neuroscience

Margaret Sten

Alma Mater: University of California – San Diego
Graduate Program: Interdisciplinary Program in Neuroscience

Bryan Weselman

Alma Mater: College of William and Mary
Graduate Program: Tumor Biology Program
Thesis Mentor: Alejandro Villagra, PhD

Alvin Ya

Alma Mater: University of Maryland, College Park
Graduate Program: Tumor Biology Program
Thesis Mentor: Todd Waldman, MD, PhD

Entered 2021

David Allegakoen

Alma Mater: University of California-Berkeley
Graduate Program: Tumor Biology Program
Thesis Mentor: Jeffrey Toretsky, MD

Gina Choe

Alma Mater: University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
Graduate Program: Interdisciplinary Program in Neuroscience
Thesis Mentor: Chandan Vaidya, PhD

Madeline Hamborg

Alma Mater: The College of William & Mary
Graduate Program: NIH Oxford-Cambridge Scholars Program

Jacob Macro

Alma Mater: University of Connecticut
Graduate Program: Tumor Biology Program
Thesis Mentor: Samir Khleif, MD

Philip Pikus

Alma Mater: Bowdoin College
Graduate Program: Interdisciplinary Program in Neuroscience
Thesis Mentor: William Rebeck, PhD

Alexander Sukharev

Alma Mater: University of Maryland-College Park
Graduate Program: Interdisciplinary Program in Neuroscience
Thesis Mentor: Patrick Forcelli, PhD

Entered 2020

Matthew Amontree

Alma Mater: University of Florida
Graduate Program: Interdisciplinary Program in Neuroscience
Thesis Mentor: Kathy Conant, MD

Rohith Battina

Alma Mater: University of Maryland-College Park
Graduate Program: Pharmacology
Thesis Mentor: Anna Riegel, PhD

Alexander Lekan

Alma Mater: Georgetown University
Graduate Program: Tumor Biology Program
Thesis Mentor: Lou Weiner, MD

David McFall

Alma Mater: Princeton University
Graduate Program: Interdisciplinary Program in Neuroscience
Thesis Mentor: Patrick Forcelli, PhD

Anna Molotkova

Alma Mater: Georgetown University
Graduate Program: Tumor Biology Program
Thesis Mentor: Aykut Uren, MD

Entered 2019

Michel Fallah

Alma Mater: City University of New York Brooklyn College
Graduate Program: Interdisciplinary Program in Neuroscience
Thesis Mentor: Rebekah Evans, PhD
Funded by F30NS132399 “Dissecting functional subgroups and closed-loop circuits between the pedunculopontine nucleus and the basal ganglia”

Sidharth Jain

Alma Mater: New York University
Graduate Program: Tumor Biology Program
Thesis Mentor: Anton Wellstein, MD, PhD

Nancy Luo

Alma Mater: Johns Hopkins University
Graduate Program: Interdisciplinary Program in Neuroscience
Thesis Mentor: William Rebeck, PhD
Funded by F30AG082448 “Characterizing Entorhinal Cortex Circuit Dysfunction in an APOE Mouse Model of Chemotherapy-Induced Cognitive Impairment”

Christopher Priestly-Milianta

Alma Mater: University of California-San Diego
Graduate Program: Tumor Biology Program
Thesis Mentor: Samir Khleif, MD

Noah Steinberg

Alma Mater: Lafayette College
Graduate Program: Interdisciplinary Program in Neuroscience
Thesis Mentor: Max Reisenhuber, PhD and Kareem Zaghloul, MD, PhD
Funded by F30MH134507 “The Neural Mechanisms Underlying Categorical Decision Making”

Entered 2018

Matthew D’Antuono

Alma Mater: Brown University
Graduate Program: Tumor Biology Program
Thesis Mentor: Nagi Ayad, PhD

Richard Klein

Alma Mater: Davidson College
Graduate Program: Interdisciplinary Program in Neuroscience
Thesis Mentor: Peter Bandettini, PhD and Ashley VanMeter, PhD

Rachael Maynard

Alma Mater: University of South Carolina Columbia
Graduate Program: Tumor Biology Program
Thesis Mentor: Lou Weiner, MD

Madeline Marcelle

Alma Mater: University of Pittsburgh
Graduate Program: Interdisciplinary Program in Neuroscience
Thesis Mentor: Elissa Newport, PhD and William Gaillard, MD
Funded by F30DC020642 “Development of White Matter Language Tracts after Early Life Epilepsy and Stroke”

David Saxon

Alma Mater: Claremont McKenna College
Graduate Program: Interdisciplinary Program in Neuroscience
Thesis Mentor: Joshua Corbin, PhD and Stefano Vicini, PhD

Entered 2017

Daniel Chapman

Alma Mater: Eckerd College
Graduate Program: Interdisciplinary Program in Neuroscience
Thesis Mentor: Mark Burns, PhD
Funded by F30NS122281 “Interrogating Synaptic Mechanisms Underlying Contextual Fear Conditioning Amnesia in Rodent Model of Highly Repetitive Mild Traumatic Brain Injury“

Tyler Ketchabaw

Alma Mater: Boston University
Graduate Program: Interdisciplinary Program in Neuroscience
Thesis Mentor: Peter Turkeltaub, MD, PhD

Alec McIntosh

Alma Mater: Simpson College
Graduate Program: Tumor Biology Program
Thesis Mentor: Chunling Yi, PhD
Funded by F30CA264884 “The Oncogenic functions of YAP/TAZ in Renal Cell Carcinoma“

YoungRok Park

Alma Mater: Johns Hopkins University
Graduate Program: Tumor Biology Program
Thesis Mentor: Todd Waldman, MD, PhD

Entered 2016

Megan Barefoot

Alma Mater: Georgetown University
Graduate Program: Tumor Biology Program
Thesis Mentor: Anton Wellstein, MD, PhD
Funded by F30CA250307 “Decoding the Tissue of Origin of Cellular Damage from Cell-free DNA in Liquid Biopsies“

Gregory Gallanis

Alma Mater: University of Southern California
Graduate Program: Tumor Biology Program
Thesis Mentor: Anton Wellstein, MD, PhD

Bryce Jones

Alma Mater: Notre Dame University
Graduate Program: Pharmacology
Thesis Mentor: Moshe Levi, MD
Funded by F30DK129003 “Obeticholic acid as a novel treatment for Alport syndrome“

Entered 2014

Safwan Hyder

Alma Mater: University of Missouri-Columbia
Graduate Program: Pharmacology
Thesis Mentor: Patrick Forcelli, PhD
Funded by F30NS110318 “Optogenetic and chemogenetic manipulations of striatal output pathways for seizure control“