JACOB STAUBER
Thesis Title: Evolution of Donor Stem Cell Clonal Hematopoiesis in Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation
Date: Tuesday, May 27, 2025
Time: 1:00pm
Location: Zoom, and LeFrak Auditorium, Price Center
Laboratories of Drs. John Greally and Ulrich Steidl
MD-PhD Candidate, Department of Genetics
YESSENIA CEDENO CEDENO
Thesis Title: Dissecting the Role of NMNAT1 in Local and Dynamic NAD+-Dependent Transcriptional Regulation
Date: Thursday, May 22, 2025
Time: 10:00am
Location: Zoom, and LeFrak Auditorium, Price Center
Laboratory of Dr. Robert Coleman
PhD Candidate, Department of Cell Biology
ALISON XU
Thesis Title: Assessing the Role of the Pulvinar in Cortical Inter-areal Signaling
Date: Monday, May 12, 2025
Time: 10:30am
Location: Zoom, and LeFrak Auditorium, Price Center
Laboratory of Dr. Adam Kohn
MD-PhD Candidate, Department of Neuroscience
ALEXANDRA SCHURER
Thesis Title: TTLL4 Glutamyltransferase is a Therapeutic Target for NPM1-mutated Acute Myeloid Leukemia
Date: Monday, May 5, 2025
Time: 10:00am
Location: Zoom, and 5th Floor Lecture Hall, Forchheimer
Laboratory of Dr. Kira Gritsman
MD-PhD Candidate, Department of Cell Biology
JARRETT LOPEZ-SCARIM
Thesis Title: The Role of CD4+ T Cell Help in the Generation of Intrahepatic CD8+ T Cell Subsets During an HCV-Related Rodent Hepacivirus Infection
Date: Wednesday, April 30, 2025
Time: 1:00pm
Location: Zoom, and LeFrak Auditorium, Price Center
Laboratory of Dr. Eva Billerbeck
PhD Candidate, Department of Microbiology & Immunology
BLUYÉ DeMESSIE
Thesis Title: Brain Microstructure at Depths of Sulci: Vulnerability to Repetitive Head Impacts
Date: Tuesday, April 29, 2025
Time: 2:00pm
Location: Zoom, and LeFrak Auditorium, Price Center
Laboratory of Dr. Michael Lipton
MD-PhD Candidate, Department of Neuroscience
RIANA LO BU
Thesis Title: Identifying the Functional Role of GPNMB in the Pathogenesis of Parkinson’s Disease
Date: Monday, April 28, 2025
Time: 2:00pm
Location: Zoom, and Tishman Auditorium, Kennedy Center
Laboratory of Dr. Frank Soldner
MD-PhD Candidate, Department of Neuroscience
DEJAUWNE YOUNG
Thesis Title: The Role of CARM1 in Regulating Developmental Programming and NGFR Signaling in Glioblastoma
Date: Monday, April 28, 2025
Time: 1:00pm
Location: Zoom, and LeFrak Auditorium, Price Center
Laboratories of Drs. Simone Sidoli and Chandan Guha
MD-PhD Candidate, Departments of Biochemistry, and Pathology
KASSIDY LUNDY
Thesis Title: Stellate Cells in Healthy Development and Fibrotic Activation
Date: Tuesday, April 15, 2025
Time: 3:00pm
Location: LeFrak Auditorium, Price Center
Laboratory of Dr. John Greally
PhD Candidate, Department of Genetics
ABHIMANYU PAVULURI
Thesis Title: Representational Geometries and Their Dynamics in Macaque Areas V1 and V2
Date: Friday, April 11, 2025
Time: 11:00am
Location: Zoom, and Tishman Auditorium, Kennedy Center
Laboratory of Dr. Adam Kohn
PhD Candidate, Department of Neuroscience
ROSA PARK
Thesis Title: CD138 and APRIL Regulate Plasma Cell Survival, Competition, and Retention in the Bone Marrow Niche
Date: Tuesday, April 8, 2025
Time: 1:00pm
Location: Zoom, and LeFrak Auditorium, Price Center
Laboratory of Dr. David Fooksman
MD-PhD Candidate, Department of Pathology
JOAN SONG
Thesis Title: Techniques for Gray Matter-White Matter Interface Characterization Link Adverse Cognitive Performance to Soccer RHI
Date: Tuesday, April 8, 2025
Time: 10:30am
Location: Zoom, and Tishman Auditorium, Kennedy Center
Laboratory of Dr. Michael Lipton
MD-PhD Candidate, Department of Neuroscience
ILANA KARP
Thesis Title: Alternative Splicing and RNA Binding Protein Regulation of Hematopoietic Stem and Progenitor Cell Emergence
Date: Thursday, April 3, 2025
Time: 11:00am
Location: Zoom, and LeFrak Auditorium, Price Center
Laboratory of Dr. Teresa Bowman
PhD Candidate, Department of Developmental & Molecular Biology
JESSIE LARIOS VALENCIA
Thesis Title: AP-1 and Yap/Taz Promote Multipotency Reactivation in Basal-like Breast Cancer Tumorigenesis
Date: Wednesday, April 2, 2025
Time: 2:00pm
Location: Zoom, and LeFrak Auditorium, Price Center
Laboratory of Dr. Wenjun Guo
MD-PhD Candidate, Department of Cell Biology
ALEXANDRA TSE
Thesis Title: Host Receptor Interactions and Viral Entry Strategies in Emerging Viruses
Date: Wednesday, April 2, 2025
Time: 10:00am
Location: Zoom, and LeFrak Auditorium, Price Center
Laboratory of Dr. Kartik Chandran
MD-PhD Candidate, Department of Microbiology & Immunology
NATALIA MUÑOZ PEREZ
Thesis Title: VISTA Emerges as a Promising Target Against Immune Evasion Mechanisms in Medulloblastoma
Date: Wednesday, March 26, 2025
Time: 1:00pm
Location: Zoom, and LeFrak Auditorium, Price Center
Laboratory of Dr. Allison Martin
MD-PhD Candidate, Department of Microbiology & Immunology
HELEN JUNG
Thesis Title: Design of Immunogens and Immunization Strategies to Elicit Broadly Neutralizing Antibody Responses Against Zika and Dengue Viruses
Date: Monday, March 24, 2025
Time: 12:00pm
Location: Zoom, and LeFrak Auditorium, Price Center
Laboratory of Dr. Jonathan Lai
MD-PhD Candidate, Department of Biochemistry
ILANA V. DEYNEKO
Thesis Title: Monogenic Deletions in ANKS1B Give Insight into New Cellular Pathogeneses of Autism Spectrum Disorders
Date: Monday, March 24, 2025
Time: 10:00am
Location: Zoom, and Tishman Auditorium, Kennedy Center
Laboratory of Dr. Bryen Jordan
PhD Candidate, Department of Neuroscience
GREGORY A. HAMILTON
Thesis Title: The Roles of H2BK120ac and MacroH2A1 in Regulating Enhancer Function
Date: Thursday, March 20, 2025
Time: 1:00pm
Location: Zoom, and LeFrak Auditorium, Price Center
Laboratory of Dr. Matthew Gamble
PhD Candidate, Department of Molecular Pharmacology
DANIEL J. NILSON
Thesis Title: Structural and Mechanistic Insights into Fungal and Protozoan mRNA Cap (Guanine-N7) Methyltransferases: Elucidating the Inhibitory Mechanism of Sinefungin
Date: Thursday, March 20, 2025
Time: 11:00am
Location: Zoom, and LeFrak Auditorium, Price Center
Laboratory of Dr. Steven Almo
PhD Candidate, Department of Biochemistry
ZHONGXUAN (DORA) CHI
Thesis Title: Transcriptomic Analysis of Cancer-Associated U2 snRNA Mutations
Date: Thursday, March 13, 2025
Time: 1:00pm
Location: Zoom, and 5th Floor Lecture Hall, Forchheimer
Laboratory of Dr. Charles Query
PhD Candidate, Department of Cell Biology
APRIL L. MUELLER
Thesis Title: T-Cell Receptor/CD28-Targeted Immunotherapeutics: Parallel Pathways to Expand Naïve HIV- and Melanoma-Specific T Cells and Develop TCR Transgenic CD8+ T Cells
Date: Monday, March 10, 2025
Time: 12:00pm
Location: Zoom, and LeFrak Auditorium, Price Center
Laboratory of Dr. Harris Goldstein
MD-PhD Candidate, Department of Microbiology & Immunology
GREGORY HAMILTON
Thesis Title: The Roles of H2BK120ac and MacroH2A1 in Regulating Enhancer Function
Date: Friday, February 28, 2025
Time: 2:00pm
Location: Zoom, and 3rd Floor Lecture Hall, Forchheimer
Laboratory of Dr. Matthew Gamble
PhD Candidate, Department of Molecular Pharmacology
CHRISTOPHER HINER
Thesis Title: Optimizing Antigen-Specific Cytotoxic CD8+ T Cell Expansion and Redirection Using Novel Immunotherapeutics
Date: Wednesday, February 12, 2025
Time: 1:30pm
Location: Zoom, and LeFrak Auditorium, Price Center
Laboratory of Dr. Harris Goldstein
PhD Candidate, Department of Microbiology & Immunology
CZARINA RAMOS
Thesis Title:Â Modulating Excitation in Circuits of the Limbic System
Date: Friday, January 24, 2025
Time: 10:00am
Zoom, and Tishman Auditorium, Kennedy
Laboratory of Dr. Pablo Castillo
PhD Candidate, Department of Neuroscience
HARMONY KETCHUM
Thesis Title:Â Epigenetic Regulation of Stem Cells by the DNA Dioxygenase TET3
Date: Thursday, January 23, 2025
Time: 1:00pm
LeFrak Auditorium, Price Center
Laboratory of Dr. Meelad Dawlaty
PhD Candidate, Department of Genetics
MARC CHRISTOPHER PULANCO
Thesis Title: Immune Checkpoint B7x Promotes Immune Evasion and Resistance to PD-1/PD-L1 Blockade in Bladder Cancer
Date: Thursday, December 19, 2024
Time: 10:00am
Zoom, and LeFrak Auditorium, Price
Laboratories of Drs. XingXing Zang and Mark Schoenburg
PhD Candidate, Department of Clinical Investigation
CLAIRE WARD
Thesis Title: Developmental Disruption of Mef2c in MGE-derived Cortical Interneurons Impairs Cellular and Circuit Function
Date: Monday, December 16, 2024
Time: 10:00am
Zoom, and Tishman Auditorium, Kennedy
Laboratory of Dr. Renata Batista-Brito
PhD Candidate, Department of Neuroscience
KEVIN RAMOS
Thesis Title: Application of Various Protein Engineering Strategies to Develop Enhanced Antiviral Immunogens and Therapeutics.
Date: Tuesday, December 10, 2024
Time: 11:00am
LeFrak Auditorium, Price Center
Laboratory of Dr. Jonathan Lai
PhD Candidate, Department of Biochemistry
ERIK GUILLEN
Thesis Title: Understanding How T cell Receptor Recognition and Signaling Impacts CD8+ T cell Functional Programming
Date: Monday, December 2, 2024
Time: 2:00pm
Zoom, and 3rd Fl Lecture Hall, Forchheimer
Laboratory of Dr. Gregoire Lauvau
MD-PhD Candidate, Department of Microbiology and Immunology
SARAH AMINOV
Thesis Title: Therapeutic Targeting of Leukemias
Date: Monday, December 2, 2024
Time: 10:00am
Zoom, and LeFrak Auditorium, Price Center
Laboratory of Dr. Amit Verma
PhD Candidate, Department of Developmental and Molecular Biology
MARGARETTE MARIANO
Thesis Title: Engineering Nanoparticle Vaccines That Elicit Broadly Neutralizing Antibody Responses Against Flaviviruses and Hantaviruses in vivo
Date: Thursday, November 21, 2024
Time: 10:00am
Zoom, and LeFrak Auditorium, Price Center
Laboratory of Dr. Jonathan Lai
PhD Candidate, Department of Biochemistry
JACOB RATLIFF
Thesis Title: Inhibition and State-Dependent Cortical Function
Date: Monday, November 18, 2024
Time: 11:00am
Zoom, and Tishman Auditorium, Kennedy Center
Laboratory of Dr. Renata Batista-Brito
PhD Candidate, Department of Neuroscience
EMILY SCHWENGER
Thesis Title: The Role of Adaptive Immunity in the Preleukemic to Leukemic Transition: p53 as a Paradigm
Date: Monday, October 21, 2024
Time: 9:00am
Zoom, and LeFrak Auditorium, Price Center
Laboratories of Drs. Ulrich Steidl and Aviv Bergman
MD-PhD Candidate, Department of Cell Biology
JOHN CONNOLLY
Thesis Title: Interactions Between Microbial Ecology, Population Structure and Human Health Across Physiological Systems
Date: Friday, October 11, 2024
Time: 10:00am
Zoom, and LeFrak Auditorium, Price Center
Laboratory of Dr. Libusha Kelly
PhD Candidate, Department of Systems and Computational Biology
RANEE HARRISON
Thesis Title: Chaperone Mediated Autophagy is Required for Regulatory T-cell Function
Date: Thursday, October 10, 2024
Time: 1:00pm
LeFrak Auditorium, Price Center
Laboratory of Dr. Ana Maria Cuervo
PhD Candidate, Department of Pathology
SARAH GOEBEL
Thesis Title: Ly6H Mislocalization and Cholinergic Dysfunction in the Fmr1 KO Mouse: Therapeutic Implications for Fragile X Syndrome.
Date: Friday, September 20, 2024
Time: 10:00am
Zoom, and Tishman Auditorium, Kennedy Center
Laboratories of Drs. Anna Francesconi and Vytas Verselis
PhD Candidate, Department of Neuroscience
JAKE LACHOWICZ
Thesis Title: Structural and Mechanistic Studies of Viperin and Biotin Synthase
Date: Friday, September 6, 2024
Time: 1:00pm
Zoom, and LeFrak Auditorium, Price Center
Laboratory of Dr. Tyler Grove
PhD Candidate, Department of Biochemistry
ANDREA BAE
Thesis Title: Auditory Competition and Neural Coding of Stimulus Selection Across Midbrain and Forebrain of Barn Owls
Date: Friday, September 6, 2024
Time: 1:00pm
Zoom, and Tishman Auditorium, Kennedy Center
Laboratory of Dr. Jose L. Peña
MD-PhD Candidate, Department of Neuroscience
JOSEPH DEANGELO
Thesis Title: Transcriptional Regulation by PRMT5
Date: Wednesday, August 21, 2024
Time: 11:00am
Zoom, and LeFrak Auditorium, Price Center
Laboratory of Dr. David Shechter
MD-PhD Candidate, Department of Biochemistry
ALBERT WANG
Thesis Title: Targeting Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever Virus Glycoprotein GP38: Investigating Mechanism, Strain Differences, and Vaccine Development
Date: Tuesday, August 20, 2024
Time: 10:30am
LeFrak Auditorium, Price Center
Laboratory of Dr. Kartik Chandran
MD-PhD Candidate, Department of Microbiology and Immunology
SAYRA GARCIA
Thesis Title: Lipocalin-2 Drives Neuropsychiatric and Cutaneous Disease in SLE
Date: Thursday, August 1, 2024
Time: 11:00am
Zoom, and LeFrak Auditorium, Price Center
Laboratory of Dr. Chaim Putterman
PhD Candidate, Department of Microbiology and Immunology
