MSTP Alumni
Alumni
Meet Our Program Graduates and Alumni from the past years:
2025
- Tova Bergsten
BA, Chemistry, Princeton University, 2015
PhD Dept: Pharmaceutical Sciences
Advisor: Joanna E. Burdette, PhD
Thesis: Investigating the Role of Metabolite Signaling in Primary Metastasis of High Grade Serous Ovarian Cancer
Residency: Pediatrics, Physician Scientist Training Program
Lurie Children’s/McGaw Medical Center of Northwestern
University, Chicago, IL - Nathan Calzadilla
BS, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, 2015
MSE, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, 2016
PhD Dept: Biomedical Engineering
Advisor: Waddah Alrefai, MD and Ravinder Gill, PhD
Thesis: Multi-Omic Approaches Reveal Novel Targets and
Mechanisms in Intestinal Inflammation and Gut-Liver Axis
Residency: Plastic Surgery, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL - Samuel Eallonardo
BS, Biological Sciences, University of Notre Dame, 2017
PhD Dept: Microbiology and Immunology
Advisor: Nancy E. Freitag, PhD
Thesis: The Role of Internalin B Regulation and Variation in the Vertical Transmission of Listeria
Monocytogenes
Residency: Internal Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical Center, New York, NY - Benjamin Gordon
BA, Developmental Biology and Genetics, Cornell University, 2014
PhD Dept: Physiology and Biophysics
Advisor: Jan Kitajewski, PhD
Thesis: Tumor-Derived JAGGED-1 Promotes Breast Cancer
Lymphovascular Invasion and Lymph Node Metastasis
Residency: General Surgery, Yale New Haven Hospital, New Haven, CT - Gregory Heller
BS, Biological Sciences, University of California, Riverside, 2014
PhD Dept: Neuroscience
Advisor: Ernesto Bongarzone, PhD
Thesis: Role of GALC in Adult Brain Myelination
Residency: Neurology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN - Kai Huang
BS, Biomedical Engineering, Northwestern University, 2016
PhD Dept: Biomedical Engineering
Advisor: Patricia Finn, MD and David Perkins, MD, PhD
Thesis: Immune Dysregulation in Inflammatory and Autoimmune Disorders
Residency: Internal Medicine/Physician Scientist, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI - Terilyn Stephen
BS, Chemistry/Biochemistry, University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2013
MS, Biochemistry, University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2016
PhD Dept: Neuroscience Advisor: Orly Lazarov, PhD
Thesis: The Cell Autonomous Role of Caveolin-1 in Adult
Hippocampal Neurogenesis
Residency: Anesthesiology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN
2024
- May Barakat
AB, Human Developmental and Regenerative Biology, Harvard University, 2016
PhD: Microbiology and Immunology
Thesis Advisor: Luisa DiPietro, DDS, PhD
Residency: Family Medicine, University of Illinois College of Medicine Chicago, Chicago, IL - Yishin Chang
BSE, Biomedical Engineering, Duke University, 2011
MS, University of California San Francisco, 2013
PhD: Biomedical Engineering
Thesis Advisor: Patricia Finn, MD and David Perkins, MD, PhD
Residency: Psychiatry/Research, Brigham & Womens Hospital, Boston, MA - Joseph Crutison
BS, Kinesiology, Iowa State University, 2014
PhD: Biomedical Engineering
Thesis Advisor: Thomas Royston, PhD
Residency: Translational Year, HCA Houston Healthcare, Kingwood, TX
Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, University of Washington, Seattle, WA - Hannah (Pennington) Kluger
BS, Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics, Western Kentucky University, 2015
PhD: Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics
Thesis Advisor: Bradley Merrill, PhD
Residency: Pediatrics/Research, Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Columbus, OH - Trevor Leonardo
BS, Cell Biology, University of California Davis, 2009
MS, Medical Sciences, Boston University School of Medicine, 2014
PhD: Microbiology and Immunology
Thesis Advisor: Luisa DiPietro, DDS, PhD and Kimberly Glass, PhD
Residency: Internal Medicine/Physician Scientist Training Program, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO - Olivia Ly
BS, Biomedical Engineering, Cornell University, 2014 ME, Biomedical Engineering, Cornell University, 2015
PhD: Biomedical Engineering
Thesis Advisor: Dawood Darbar, MBChB, MD
Residency: Thoracic Surgery, University of Maryland Medical Center, Baltimore, MD - Richard Marszalek
BS, Biochemistry, University of Illinois Chicago, 2012
PhD: Physiology and Biophysics
Thesis Advisor: R. John Solaro, PhD and Beata Wolska, PhD
Residency: Internal Medicine, University of Illinois College of Medicine Chicago, Chicago, IL - Michael Metrick
BS, Chemistry and Biotechnology, James Madison University, 2013
PhD: Chemistry, The University of Cambridge
Thesis Advisor: Byron Caughey, PhD and Michele Vendruscolo, PhD
Residency: Pathology-Anatomic and Clinical, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA - Daniel Principe
BS, Biology, Loyola University Chicago, 2010
MS, Northwestern University McCormick School of Engineering, 2013
PhD: Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics
Thesis Advisor: Ajay Rana, MD
Residency: Internal Medicine/Physician Scientist Training Program, University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics, Madison, WI - Rachael Smith
BS, Neuroscience, University of Pittsburgh, 2011
MS, Avian Sciences, University of California Davis, 2015
PhD: Neuroscience
Thesis Advisor: Jeffrey Loeb, MD, PhD
Residency: Anesthesiology, MGB-Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA - Hannah Steinberg
BA, Liberal Arts, Sarah Lawrence College, 2012
MSPH, International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 2016
PhD: Microbiology and Immunology
Thesis Advisor: Nancy E. Freitag, PhD and Robert H. Gilman, MD
Residency: Internal Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA - Adam Szmelter
BS, Molecular and Cellular Biology and Chemistry University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, 2013
PhD: Biomedical Engineering
Thesis Advisor: David Eddington, PhD
Residency: Internal Medicine/MD Scientist, University of Chicago Medical Center, Chicago, IL - Paul Thomas
BS, Neuroscience, The Ohio State University, 2015
PhD: Biomedical Engineering
Thesis Advisor: Olusola Ajilore, MD, PhD
Residency: Anesthesiology, University of Chicago Medical Center, Chicago, IL
2023
- Russell Scott Dulman
BS, Biology, Duke University, 2013
PhD: Graduate Program in Neuroscience
Thesis Advisor: Subhash C. Pandey, PhD
Residency: Psychiatry/Research, University of Washington, Seattle, WA - Osama M. El-Sayed
BS, Biochemistry, University of Michigan, 2014
PhD: School of Public Health
Thesis Advisor: Lisa M. Powell, PhD
Residency: Internal Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI - Joseph R. Geraghty
BA and BS, Biochemistry, Spanish Language and Literature, State University of New York, (SUNY) College at Geneseo, 2014
PhD: Graduate Program in Neuroscience
Thesis Advisor: Jeffrey A. Loeb, MD, PhD
Residency: Neurology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA - Evguenia (Jane) Ivakhnitskaia
BA, Biological Sciences, Cornell University, 2013
PhD: Graduate Program in Neuroscience
Thesis Advisor: Mark Rosenblatt, MD, PhD, MBA, MHA
Residency: Ophthalmology, New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, New York, NY - Matthew L. Kleinjan
BS, Biochemistry, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, 2015
PhD: Physiology and Biophysics
Thesis Advisor: Jan Kitajewski, PhD
Residency: Pathology, University of Chicago Medical Center, Chicago, IL - Cutler Thomas Lewandowski
BS, Neuroscience, University of Minnesota, 2015
PhD: Pharmaceutical Sciences
Thesis Advisors: Brian Layden, MD, PhD and Greg Thatcher, PhD
Residency: Internal Medicine, Physician Scientist Training Program, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN - Kate Rahbari
BS, Biology, Temple University, 2013
PhD: Microbiology and Immunology
Thesis Advisor: Michael Federle, PhD
Residency: Obstetrics-Gynecology, University of Alabama, Birmingham, AL - Christina J. Su
BA, Molecular Biology, Princeton University, 2014
PhD, The California Institute of Technology, 2022
PhD: Systems Biology
Thesis Advisor: Michael Elowitz, PhD
Residency: Pathology, Stanford Health Care, Stanford, CA - Michael G. Sun
BS, Molecular Cellular Biology, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, 2014
PhD: Biomedical Engineering
Thesis Advisor: Mark Rosenblatt, MD, PhD, MBA, MHA
Residency: Ophthalmology, University of Illinois Chicago, Chicago, IL - Morgan Leigh Zenner
BS, Molecular and Cellular Biology, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, 2015
PhD: Pathology
Thesis Advisor: Larisa Nonn, PhD
Residency: Internal Medicine, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN
2022
- Catherine (Casey) Blaha
BA, Biology, Northwestern University, 2013
PhD: Biochemistry & Molecular Genetics
Thesis Advisor: Nissim Hay, PhD
Residency: Internal Medicine, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - Nathanial Campbell
BA, Chemistry, Brandeis University, 2009
PhD: Cornell University, Physiology, Biophysics & Systems Biology 2020
Thesis Advisors: Joao Xavier, PhD and Richard White, MD, PhD
Residency: Dermatology
PGY-1: Internal Medicine-Preliminary Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center
Chicago, Illinois
PGY-2: McGaw Medical Center of Northwestern University Chicago, Illinois - Allison (Kirchner) Ellis
BA, Neurobiology and Spanish, University of Wisconsin, Madison, 2013
PhD: Graduate Program in Neuroscience
Thesis Advisor: Jeffrey Loeb, MD, PhD
Residency: Dermatology
PGY-1: Transitional, AMITA St. Francis Hospital Evanston, Illinois
PGY-2: University of Illinois College of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois - Artemis Gogos
BA, Biochemistry, Grinnell College, 2014
PhD: Microbiology & Immunology
Advisor: Michael Federle, PhD
Residency: Pediatrics, University of Colorado School of Medicine-Denver, Aurora, Colorado - Joshua Jones
BS, Mathematics, University of Illinois at Chicago, 2012
PhD: Pharmacology & Regenerative Medicine
Thesis Advisors: Asra Malik, PhD and Richard Minshall, PhD
Residency: Diagnostic Radiology
PGY-1: Transitional, Emory University School of Medicine
Atlanta, Georgia
PGY-2: Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia - Cory Reiter
BS, Molecular Biology, focus in Cognitive Neuroscience-University of Denver, 2011
PhD: Graduate Program in Neuroscience
Thesis Advisor: Ernesto Bongarzone, PhD
Residency: Obstetrics-Gynecology, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Indiana
2021
- Alexander Agelidis
BA, Molecular and Cell Biology, UC-Berkeley, 2009
PhD: Microbiology & Immunology
Thesis Advisor: Deepak Shukla, PhD
Residency: Internal Medicine-PSTP, Scripps Clinic, La Jolla CA - Matthew Durst
BA, Anthropology, Chemistry: Biochemistry, Washington U.-St. Louis, 2012
PhD: Biochemistry & Molecular Genetics
Thesis Advisor: Arnon Lavie, PhD
Residency: Pediatrics, University of Toledo, Toledo, OH - Laura Hardy
BA, Biology, Swarthmore College, 2012
PhD: Pharmacognosy
Thesis Advisor: Joanna Burdette, PhD
Residency: Pediatrics-PSTP, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, Cincinnati, OH - Matthew Macdougall
BS-Honors, Queen’s University at Kingston, 2010; MSc, Lab Medicine &
Pathobiology, Toronto, 2012
PhD: Biochemistry & Molecular Genetics
Thesis Advisor: Bradley Merrill, PhD
Residency: Pediatrics-PSTP, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA - Christopher Manzella
BS, Chemistry, St. John Fisher College, 2013
PhD: Physiology & Biophysics
Thesis Advisor: Ravinder Gill, PhD
Residency: Internal Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA - Allan Perez-Rathke
BS, Computer Science, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 2005;
MS, Computer Science, University of Illinois at Chicago, 2011
PhD: Bioengineering
Thesis Advisor: Jie Liang, PhD
Residency: Internal Medicine-PSTP, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN - Adam Schafer
BS, Biochemistry, Indiana University-Bloomington, 2013
PhD: Microbiology & Immunology
Thesis Advisor: Lijun Rong, PhD
Residency: Internal Medicine, Indiana University - Cody Schott
BA, Molecular Biology & Genetics, Northwestern University, 2013
PhD: Microbiology & Immunology
Thesis Advisors: Patricia Finn, MD and David Perkins, MD, PhD
Residency: Internal Medicine-PSTP, University of Colorado, Denver, CO - Alexander Ticho
BA, Chemistry, St. Olaf College, 2012
PhD: Physiology & Biophysics
Thesis Advisor: Waddah Alrefai, MD
Residency: Internal Medicine-PSTP, Mayo Clinic, Rochester - Ben Turturice
BS, Molecular Biology & Biochemistry, Loyola University-Chicago, 2012
PhD: Microbiology & Immunology
Thesis Advisors: Patricia Finn, MD and David Perkins, MD, PhD
Residency: Internal Medicine-PSTP, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA - Alexandria Nicole Young
BS/BA, Molecular Biology & Anthropology, University of Pittsburgh, 2012
PhD: Pharmacognosy
Thesis Advisor: Joanna Burdette, PhD
Residency: Ob/Gyn, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston MA
2020
- Tiffani Berkel
BA, Molecular & Cellular Biology, UIUC, 2011
PhD: Graduate Program in Neuroscience
Thesis Advisor: Subhash Pandey, PhD
Residency: Psychiatry, Washington University-Barnes Jewish Hospital, St. Louis MO - Mir Isaamullah
BA, Neurosciences, Vanderbilt University, 2013
PhD: Graduate Program in Neuroscience
Thesis Advisor: Kamal Sharma, PhD
Residency: Anesthesiology, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI - Evan Kyzar
BS, Neuroscience, Tulane University, 2012
PhD: Graduate Program in Neuroscience
Thesis Advisor: Subhash Pandey, PhD
Residency: Psychiatry-PSTP Columbia University, Presbyterian
Hospital, New York, NY - Alejandra Marinelarena
BA, Molecular & Cellular Biology, Harvard University, 2011
PhD: Department. Microbiology & Immunology
Thesis Advisor: Bellur Prabhakar, PhD
Residency: Internal Medicine– PSTP, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL - Amanda Mennie
BS, Biology: Genetics and Biotechnology University of Iowa, 2007
PhD: Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Genetics
Thesis Advisor: Toru Nakamura, PhD
Residency: Internal Medicine –PSTP University of Texas Southwestern, Dallas TX - Farah Shareef
BS, Bioengineering, University of Illinois at Chicago, 2006
PhD: Bioengineering
Thesis Advisor: Michael Cho, PhD
Residency: Internal Medicine, Advocate Illinois Masonic, Chicago, IL - Matthew Tobin
BS, Neuroscience, University of Michigan, 2011
PhD: Graduate Program in Neuroscience
Thesis Advisor: Orly Lazarov, PhD
Residency: Neurosurgery, Indiana University, Indianapolis IN