Current Fellows
2023 Cohort

Kathleen Kish
Ph.D., Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan
Postdoctoral Fellow, Neurology
Mentor: William Stacey, M.D., Ph.D.
katfin@umich.edu

De’Jana Parker
Ph.D., Integrated Biosciences, North Carolina Central University
Postdoctoral Fellow, Pediatrics – Pulmonary Medicine
Mentor: Marc Hershenson, M.D.
Research Interest: De’Jana is interested in the immune response to respiratory viral infections. More specifically, she is interested in studying early life respiratory tract infections and the effects on lung and immune cell development and the risk of asthma.
dejana@med.umich.edu
Nicole Rodgers
Ph.D., Chemical and Physical Biology, Vanderbilt University
Postdoctoral Fellow, Mechanical Engineering
Mentor: Allen Liu, Ph.D.
Research Interest: Nikki is interested in the role of the mechanical environment on collective cell behavior, specifically investigating the molecular mechanisms underlying cell sorting and migration of different cell types in 3D tumor models.
niccrod@umich.edu2022 Cohort

Maxwell Baymiller
Ph.D., Biochemistry, Univ. of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Postdoctoral Fellow, Human Genetics, Center for RNA Biomedicine
Mentor: Dr. Stephanie Moon
Research Interest: Max is interested in RNA biology and disease, especially in the role of VCP in translation, and how mutations in VCP cause diverse diseases.

Patrice Hicks
Ph.D., Population Health Science – Clinical & Translational Epidemiology Emphasis , Univ. of Utah
Postdoctoral Fellow, Ophthalmology & Visual Science
Mentors: Dr. Maria Woodward and Dr. Paula Anne Newman-Casey
Research Interest: Patrice is interested in identifying neighborhood-level factors that impact glaucoma outcomes, above and beyond individual-level factors, to work towards achieving health equity in eye and vision health.

Kristen Turner
Ph.D., Human Physiology, Univ. of Iowa
Postdoctoral Fellow, Molecular and Integrative Physiology
Mentor: Dr. Daniel E. Michele
Research Interest: Kristen is interested in the physiology of membrane repair. She is identifying cellular/molecular regulators of actin assembly at the plasma membrane of skeletal and cardiac muscles. Her research aims to determine possible therapeutic targets that may benefit patients with muscular dystrophy.
2021 Cohort

Hector Mendoza
Ph.D., Biology, Univ. of Louisville
Postdoctoral Fellow, Molecular, Cellular & Developmental Biology
Mentor: Dr.Györgyi Csankovszki
Research Interest: Hector is exploring the molecular mechanisms involved in regulation of gene expression and chromatin modification in the dosage compensation system of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans.

Jennifer Flanagan-Natoli
Ph.D., Physical Chemistry, University of Texas – Austin
Postdoctoral Fellow, LSA Biophysics
Mentor: Dr. Sarah Veatch
Research Interest: Jenny is interested in studying the cooperativity between cytoskeletal structure, plasma membrane organization, and receptor signaling in immune cells using super-resolution microscopy.

Kipchumba Kaitany
Ph.D., Biological Chemistry
Postdoctoral Fellow, Chemistry
Mentor: Dr. Markos Koutmos
Research Interest: Kip is interested in RNA structure-function and is particularly drawn to the study of RNA-protein interactions.

Lauren McCarthy
Ph.D., Physical Chemistry, Rice University
Postdoctoral Fellow, Biophysics
Mentor: Dr. Julie S. Biteen
Research Interest: Lauren is applying single-molecule microscopy and tracking to learn how E. coli cells are organized, particularly under conditions of stress.
2020 Cohort

Rebecca Cox
Ph.D., Biomedical Science, Cornell University
Postdoctoral Fellow, Molecular and Integrative Physiology
Mentor: Dr. Scott Leiser
Research Interest: Rebecca is interested in the role of FMO-2 and neuropeptide pathways in a C. elegans model of dietary-mediated longevity.

Molly Thorson
Ph.D., Cellular and Molecular Biology, University of Michigan
Postdoctoral Fellow, Ophthalmology and Visual Science
Mentor: Dr. Jillian Pearring
Research Interest: Molly is interested in studying outer segment growth in photoreceptors.
Active UM IRACDA Alumni
Current U Michigan Postdoctoral fellows/MI IRACDA Alumni who share their programmatic and institutional knowledge with current MI IRACDA Scholars.

Ramiah Jacks
Ph.D., Immunology, Loyola University Chicago
Postdoctoral Fellow, Molecular and Integrative Physiology
Mentor: Carey Lumeng, M.D., Ph.D
Research Interest: Ramiah is interested in the factors that shape our immune response in obesity, especially the relationship between adipose tissue T cells (ATTs) and the adipose tissue microenvironment.

Vanessa Puñal
Ph,D., Neurobiology, Duke University
Postdoctoral Fellow, Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology
Mentor: Eleanor J. “Josie” Clowney, Ph.D.
Research Interest: Vanessa is interested in how neural networks are built and modified by experience, focusing on cellular, molecular, and/or genetic mechanisms driven the stochastic patterning of these olfactory associative learning circuitsin the developing Drosophila melanogaster.

Sonya Wolf-Fortune
Ph.D., Immunology, University of Michigan
Postdoctoral Fellow, Molecular and Integrative Physiology
Mentor: Katherine Gallagher, M.D., Vascular Surgery
Research Interest: Sonya is interested in the immune factors influencing diabetic wound healing, examining the role of keratinocytes in shaping the macrophage inflammatory profile in diabetic wounds in order to develop novel targets for treatment.