June 2026
Molecular & Cell Biology & Genetics MS Program
Title: Investigating the Mechanism of lncRNA SChLAP1 in Prostate Cancer
Advisor: Srinivas Somarowthu, PhD
Neuroscience PhD Program
Title: Chronic Exposure to Low-Dose Ethanol Impacts Flexible Behavioral Responding in a Sex Selective Manner
Advisor: Jacqueline Barker, PhD
Pharmacology & Physiology PhD Program
Title: Mechanistic Insights into the Regulation of Pro-metastatic IL-1ẞ Expression by Androgen Receptor in Prostate Cancer Cells
Advisor: Alessandro Fatatis, MD, PhD
May 2026
Molecular & Cell Biology & Genetics PhD Program
Title: Defining Novel Cas:gRNA Pairings Most Effective at Targeting the Integrated HIV-1 Genome
Advisor: Brian Wigdahl, PhD
Molecular & Cell Biology & Genetics MS Program
Title: Developing a Distinct Profile of Senescent Astrocytes
Advisor: Christian Sell, PhD
Neuroscience MS Program
Title: HIV and Cocaine Exposure Disrupt Stress Systems and Cocaine Seeking
Co-advisors: Jacqueline Barker, PhD, and Laura Giacometti, PhD
Molecular & Cell Biology & Genetics PhD Program
Title: Exploring Mechanisms of HIV Control and RUNX Directed Modulation of Viral Activity in Macrophage Models
Advisor: Zachary Klase, PhD
April 2026
Molecular & Cell Biology & Genetics MS Program
Title: Optimization of Electroporation Procedure for OG1RF Enterococcus faecalis to Study VanRSB Activation Using VanRSB-GFP Reporter Construct
Advisor: Patrick J. Loll, PhD
Neuroscience MS Program
Title: Tau Signaling in Injured Spinal Cord
Advisor: Tatiana Bezdudnaya, PhD
Neuroscience MS Program
Title: Glutamate Transporter Modulation in Neuropathic Pain and Opioid Use Disorder
Advisor: Andréia C.K. Mortensen, PhD
Microbiology & Immunology MS Program
Title: Pathogenic Effects of the Interferon Response on Cell Death Pathways During Infant Influenza Viral Infection (Literature Review)
Advisor: Alison Carey, MD
Pharmacology & Physiology PhD Program
Title: Ischemia-Induced Ubiquitination of GLT-1 Mediates Aberrant Trafficking and Impaired Glutamate Uptake
Advisor: Andréia C.K. Mortensen, PhD
Microbiology & Immunology PhD Program
Title: Immune Checkpoint-Presenting Granular Hydrogels for T Cell Immune Modulation
Advisor: Christopher B. Rodell, PhD
Microbiology & Immunology PhD Program
Title: Improving Vaccine Efficacy in Aging: Adenosine Deaminase Reverses Age-Related Immune Dysfunction in a Clostridioides difficile Vaccination and Challenge Model
Advisor: Michele Kutzler, PhD
Cancer Biology MS Program
Title: Substrate Specificity and Diversity of the Multifunctional Nuclease AP-Endonuclease 1 (Literature Review)
Advisor: Amy Whitaker, PhD
Microbiology & Immunology MS Program
Title: Review of the Clinical and Mechanistic Intersection of Human Immunodeficiency Virus and Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma (Literature Review)
Advisors: Jenna Hope, PhD, and Will Dampier, PhD
Microbiology & Immunology MS Program
Title: Bioenergetics of Malaria Parasites (Literature Review)
Advisor: Hangjun Ke, PhD
Biochemistry of Health & Disease MS Program
Title: Profiling DNA Damage Response in Lymphocytes from BRCA2 Heterozygote Carriers: Implications for Cancer Risk Assessment
Advisor: Sanjeevani Arora, PhD
Neuroscience MS Program
Title: Synaptic and Molecular Mechanisms Underlying Depression-Like Behavior in Female Rats Following Repetitive Mild Traumatic Brain Injury
Advisor: Ramesh Raghupathi, PhD
Microbiology & Immunology PhD Program
Title: Pyrophosphate and Polyphosphate Metabolism in Plasmodium falciparum
Advisor: Hangjun Ke, PhD
Microbiology & Immunology PhD Program
Title: Exploring the Native Mitochondrial Structural Landscape With Functional Characterization of a Critical Mitochondrial Complex in Malaria-Causing Plasmodium falciparum Parasites
Advisor: Akhil Vaidya, PhD
Neuroscience MS Program
Title: Directed Generation and Functional Characterization of Human Locus Coeruleus Organoids
Advisor: Liang Oscar Qiang, MD, PhD
Cancer Biology MS Program
Title: PSGL-1 Signaling in CD8+ T Cells Is a Key Driver of Impaired Anti-tumor Immunity in Cutaneous Melanoma
Advisor: Jenna Hope, PhD
Pharmacology & Physiology PhD Program
Title: Postoperative Pain Attenuation by Macrophage-Derived Small Extracellular Vesicles Requires Monocyte-Dependent Immunomodulation
Advisor: Seena Ajit, PhD
Molecular & Cell Biology & Genetics PhD Program
Title: Dual Function of Mitochondrial Complex III in Plasmodium falciparum
Advisor: Akhil Vaidya, PhD
Microbiology & Immunology PhD Program
Title: Gene Expression Networks and Molecular Pathways Underlying Biofilm Formation in Haemophilus influenzae
Advisor: Joshua Chang Mell, PhD
Cancer Biology MS Program
Title: CAF-Neural Signaling Axes: Predicating Neural Mimicry in CAFs (Literature Review)
Advisor: Edna (Eti) Cukierman, PhD
March 2026
Microbiology & Immunology PhD Program
Title: Dissecting the Tumor-Immune Landscape of Melanoma in People Living With HIV: Insights Into Myeloid – T Cell Crosstalk and Immune Suppression
Advisor: Gabriele Romano, PhD
Microbiology & Immunology PhD Program
Title: The Differential Roles of Type I and Type III Interferon Signaling in the Neonatal Response to Influenza Virus Infection
Advisor: Alison Carey, MD
Pharmacology & Physiology PhD Program
Title: Defining Cellular and Molecular Mechanisms Driving Cocaine-Mediated Modulation of HIV Replication in Human iPSC-Derived CNS Macrophage Models
Advisor: Peter Gaskill, PhD
February 2026
Microbiology & Immunology MS Program
Title: Validating Cerebral Organoids as a Model for the Effects of HIV-1 on Astrocytic Cytokine Expression
Advisor: Zachary Klase, PhD
Neuroscience PhD Program
Title: Dissecting Cellular Models and Tau Etiology in Gulf War Illness
Advisor: Peter Baas, PhD
December 2025
Neuroscience PhD Program
Title: The PACAP System and Its Effect on Ethanol Consumption: Changes Between Non-dependent and Dependent States
Advisor: Jessica R. Barson, PhD
November 2025
Neuroscience PhD Program
Title: Long-Term Connectivity Between Spinal Cord Tissue Transplants and the Injured Phrenic Motor Network
Advisor: Liang Oscar Qiang, MD, PhD
Neuroscience PhD Program
Title: Cortical-Hippocampal Dynamics During Sharp-Wave Ripples Evolve Across Learning
Advisor: Dong Wang, PhD
Molecular & Cell Biology & Genetics PhD Program
Title: The Role of SCAP in Pancreatic Adipogenesis, Pancreatitis and Pancreatic Tumorigenesis
Advisor: Erica Golemis, PhD
Molecular & Cell Biology & Genetics PhD Program
Title: Improving the Use of AURKA and WEE1 Inhibitors in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma
Advisor: Erica Golemis, PhD
Neuroscience PhD Program
Title: Functional and Cellular Effects of Retrogradely Delivered Constitutively Active Ras Homolog Enriched in Brain, in Coordination With and Independent of Robot Rehabilitation and Subthreshold Optogenetics
Advisor: Simon Giszter, PhD
August 2025
Microbiology & Immunology PhD Program
Title: Establishing a Model of HIV Infection in Macrophages to Assess HIV/HBV Co-infection Driven Liver Disease
Co-advisors: Michael Nonnemacher, PhD, and Peter Gaskill, PhD
July 2025
Pharmacology & Physiology PhD Program
Title: Positive Allosteric Modulation of Glutamate Transporter GLT-1 Provides Antinociception in Rodent Models of Neuropathic Pain
Advisor: Andréia C. K. Mortensen, PhD
Molecular & Cell Biology & Genetics PhD Program
Title: Analysis and Prediction of E2 Enzyme-E3 Ligase Pairings Using AlphaFold- Modeled Ternary Complex Structures
Advisor: Roland Dunbrack, PhD
