Biography: The former lab manager, Cristina, is now focusing on her research projects investigating iron regulation in metabolism and finding better treatments for iron disorders. Cristina plans to pursue an MD/PHD and eventually run her own lab. When not busy being the mom of the lab, she is at home playing with her five dogs, one cat, and six bunnies.

Hobbies: Hiking and running with her dogs, spending quality time with her pack (pets), dancing with her traditional Latin American dance group, and cooking Peruvian food (if time allows).

Biograph: Nupur's principal interest is studying mammalian iron metabolism at the level of small intestine where iron absorption takes place. Currently he is exploring the novel associations between the intestinal iron and micronutrient homeostasis with regards to globally prevalent iron-related disorders.

Hobbies: Photography and Music

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Biograph: Sumeet is interested in studying dietary interventions in IBD and colon cancer.

Hobbies: Spending time with family and watching documentaries.

Biography: Tao is interested in studying metabolism. He graduated from Case Western Reserve University. 

Hobbies: Hiking and board games. 

Biography: Ameer graduated from the MD/PhD program at the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School in 2021 where his thesis elucidated mechanisms of therapy resistance in breast cancer and was funded by a Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service F30 award from the NCI and an AMA Foundation Seed Grant. He is currently a PGY4 resident in radiation oncology at the University of Michigan in the American Board of Radiology Holman Research Pathway and is also funded by a career enhancement grant of the radiosensitization SPORE of the Rogel Cancer Center. His research interest is how the tumor microenvironment influences the behavior and radioresistance of HCC stem cells.

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Biograph: Liang Zhao obtained his MD degree and completed surgical residency training in China. With a strong interest in tumor biology, he pursued the MD/PhD training program at the University of Bern and obtained his PhD in 2023. His research focuses on cancer metabolism, metabolic therapies, and ferroptosis. 

Hobbies: Running, hiking, skiing, and tequila.

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Biograph: Marwa is interested in studying chronic liver diseases, especially non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and liver cancer. The overall goal of her research is to identify mechanisms of hypoxic hepatocyte-hetero-cellular metabolic, genetic and epigenetic crosstalk in the pathogenesis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in the presence or absence of NASH in order to develop effective therapeutic strategies. She has experience in studying metabolic and chronic liver diseases using various approaches including in vivo studies, in vitro models and clinical studies.

Hobbies: Working out and hanging out with my friends.

Biography: Megan earned a B.S. in Biology from The Pennsylvania State University and Ph.D. in Molecular Cell Biology from Washington University in St. Louis. Her doctoral research focused on early signaling events and cell dynamics in gastric and pancreatic metaplasia. With mentorship from Dr. Yatrik Shah and Dr. Costas Lyssiotis, Megan's postdoctoral research addresses how changes in cell metabolism and systemic metabolism drive cancer initiation in gastrointestinal organs.

Hobbies: Going to concerts, playing video games, spending time outdoors

Biograph: Prarthana is a clinical and postdoctoral research fellow in the Physician Scientist Training Program. She previously completed her MD, PhD, and internal medicine residency training at Northwestern University and is now specializing in medical oncology. Her PhD work focused on endothelial cell calcium signaling during leukocyte transendothelial migration. Her postdoctoral research interests are in understanding how hypoxia alters endothelial cell metabolic crosstalk with cancer cells and immune cells in the tumor microenvironment. 

Hobbies: Running, hiking, spending time with friends and family

Biography: Boyan Hu is a master's student in the MIP program, and he is researching the effect of hypoxia-inducible factors in endothelial cells for his capstone project. He graduated from the University of Southern California in 2023 with a bachelor's degree in Biological Sciences.

Hobbies: Cooking and hiking

Biograph: Brandon graduated from Emory University with a biology BS in 2019, and is a student in the Cellular and Molecular Biology (CMB) PhD program. Prior to starting graduate school, he investigated lysosomal amino acid transporters with Dr. David Sabatini at MIT and studied BCL2 protein regulation in multiple myeloma with Dr. Lawrence Boise at Emory. Brandon’s current research interests lie in understanding how inter-organellar crosstalk between mitochondria and other organelles regulates cellular metabolism in pathophysiology.

Hobbies: Working out, cooking, mixology, and watching reality TV shows (such as Selling Sunset)

Biography: Chesta graduated from the University of Delhi with her bachelors and from Jawaharlal Nehru University with her masters. She is a student in the Molecular and Integrative Physiology (MIP) PhD program. She is interested in studying micronutrient homeostasis, cancer metabolism, and the tumor microenvironment.

Hobbies: Baking, painting, and running

Biograph: In 2023, Drew received a B.S. in Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology from the University of Michigan. He worked in the Yanzhuang Wang lab under Dr. Sarah Bui, where he worked on elucidating p53 as a novel transcription factor for the Golgi resident galactosyltransferase B4GALT1. He is currently interested in the metabolic effects of endoplasmic reticulum-mitochondria contact sites on tumor biology, specifically looking at the bidirectional effects of altered lipid metabolism on these contacts and vice versa.

Hobbies: Golf, cocktails, ice hockey, cornhole

Biography: Joseph is from Mexico and San Antonio, TX. He grew up in San Luis Potosi, but came to the U.S for the remainder of his academic career since high school. His bachelor’s degree is in Kinesiology from the University of Texas at San Antonio. He is passionate in metabolism, specifically about how cancer rewires metabolic pathways to grow. His goal is to become a P.I and lead a research lab! Twitter: @JA_NietoCarrion

Hobbies: Playing videogames, watching Anime and playing soccer!

Biograph: Kathryn graduated from Iowa State University in 2022 with a B.S. in biochemistry and a B.S. in genetics.  As an undergraduate, she worked in Dr. Dipali Sashital’s lab researching CRISPR-Cas12 protein specificity. Kathryn is part of the Molecular and Integrative Physiology PhD program and is studying cellular metabolism and the role of STAT3 signaling in colorectal cancer and liver disease.

Hobbies: Working with horses, board games,  baking, reading

Biography: Liddy graduated from the University of Delaware in 2021 with a B.S. in Cellular and Molecular Biology and Genetics and minors in History and Public Policy. During her undergrad, she studied early embryonic development using the purple sea urchin as a model. Upon graduation, she joined Dr. Meera Murgai's Lab at the National Cancer Institute, where she investigated the role of perivascular cells in the pre-metastatic microenvironment. She is currently co-mentored between Drs. Dan Wahl and Yatrik Shah, where she studies metabolic alterations in IDH1 mutant gliomas.

Hobbies: Trying out new recipes, getting outside to hike and camp, and listening to live music.

Biograph: Meg is a senior graduate student in the department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology. Raised in Illinois, she obtained her B.S. in Exercise Science in 2016 and M.S. in Exercise Physiology in 2018, both from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. Her dissertation project started by investigating intestinal permeability and immunity in the C. elegans intestine. In 2020, Meg's project transitioned to studying how the enzyme Fmo5 influences goblet cells, mucus production, and the intestinal barrier in the colon of mice.

Hobbies: Napping, cooking, and fostering many cats and kittens.

Biography: Narges graduated from the University of California - Berkeley with a B.S. in chemical biology. As a graduate student in the Cellular and Molecular Biology as part of her training in the Medical Scientist Training Program, Narges is currently studying cellular metabolism during erythropoiesis.

Hobbies: Having dinner parties with friends and family, being in nature, listening to Persian music

Biograph: Nick earned his BS in Applied Mathematics with a Biological Sciences concentration from the University of Notre Dame in 2019. After graduating, he worked for two years as technician in the Cantor Lab at the University of Wisconsin-Madison studying how nutrient availability influences cancer metabolism before joining Michigan’s CMB program in 2021. As a graduate student in the Shah and Lyssiotis Labs, his research interests include mitochondrial zinc toxicity and leveraging large scale datasets to identify cancer vulnerabilities.

Hobbies: Cross country skiing, cooking, running, bad jokes, sparkling water

Biography: Nina graduated from the Ohio State University in 2023 with a B.S. in Biology and minor in epidemiology. At OSU, she studied how citron kinase mediates the response to normal and oncogenic Ras signaling using the Caenorhabditis elegans model organism system. Nina is currently a second year in the Cancer Biology program. She is interested in cancer metabolism, tumor immunology, and immunometabolism, specifically how lipids in the tumor microenvironment impact T-cell metabolic activity and functionality.

Hobbies: Running, going to concerts, watching college football, and traveling

Biograph: Shannon grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and graduated from Bucknell University in 2022 with a B.S. in Cell Biology and Biochemistry where she researched the molecular underpinnings of stress and aging physiology. She is currently a third year Ph.D. Candidate in the Cellular and Molecular Biology program and is interested in the role of the gut microbiome on host iron physiology. 

Hobbies: Painting, playing guitar, working out, and annoying my cat Ollie.

Biography: Sydney is originally from Cleveland, Ohio, and did her undergraduate degree at Ohio State University in Microbiology. Currently a Biological Chemistry PhD student at University of Michigan under the co-mentorship of Ruma Banerjee and Yatrik Shah, her thesis project focuses on the role of hydrogen sulfide signaling in the colon.

Hobbies: Rock climbing, reading, hiking

Biograph: Diana joined the MD/PhD dual degree program collaborated by University of Michigan and Central South University in 2022. She is a student in the Molecular & Integrative Physiology (MIP) PhD program, focusing on lipids metabolism and ferroptosis mechanisms in gastrointestinal diseases.

Hobbies: Hanging out with friends, drama performance, drinks, exercise, watching TV shows, music.

Biography: Zhenghong graduated with a BS in Biochemistry and subsequently earned a Master’s in Chemical Biology from the University of Michigan. During his master’s program, he conducted research under the mentorship of Qing Li, MD, PhD investigating protein quality control within the endoplasmic reticulum of hematopoietic stem cells and its implications for leukemogenesis as well as examining the role of the CDX2 gene in the development of leukemia. Currently, Zhenghong is focusing his research efforts on exploring the metabolic rewiring in cancer as well as studying the intersections of metabolism and immune responses.

Hobbies: Traveling, Orchestra, Board Games, Sleeping

Biography: Anh is an undergraduate studying Biochemistry at UMich with a minor in UX design. He is particularly interested in learning about science and medicine, and hopes to pursue further in the scientific field.

Hobbies: Reading, watching sci-fi shows, badminton, and traveling to new places.

Biograph: Christina is a Biology, Health, and Society student at the University of Michigan (‘25). She is an aspiring physician with a passion for healthcare, research, and community outreach and education.

Hobbies: Singing, playing the piano, and musical theatre

Biography: Deahzana is an undergraduate student at UM majoring in Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology with a minor in Business. She aspires to attend medical school with aims of merging passions for medicine, research, and social justice to make a meaningful impact on healthcare and health disparities. 

Hobbies: Cooking, kayaking, and watching anime.

Biograph: Hadia is a sophomore student at the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts pursuing a degree in Biology, Health, and Society.

Hobbies: Baking, swimming, playing tennis, and watching football (Go Lions!)

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Biography: Raha is a current junior majoring in Biopsychology, Cognition and Neuroscience (BCN) and minoring in Gender and Health. She is currently working with Cristina studying iron metabolism. 

Hobbies: Cooking, watching netflix, and thrifting

Biograph: Sharon is a senior studying Biology, Health and Society with a minor in Asian Languages and Culture: Japanese on the pre-dental track. Her hometown is NYC. 

Hobbies: Eating, talking, trying to crochet and making friendship bracelets.

Biography: Sofi is a senior studying Chemistry and Economics. She plans to apply to medical school after she graduates. In lab, she studies several selenoproteins and their role in CRC. 

Hobbies: Working out (running, swimming, and yoga in particular), spending time with friends, listening to music, and cooking!