TL1 Trainees

The TL1 Training Programs provide trainees with additional research training to prepare for a precision medicine research career.

Current TL1 Trainees

Postdoctoral Fellow Program

  • Ugur Akcan, PhD

    • Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Neurology

    Project: Role of RXRa for developing basal ganglia encephalitis

    Ugur Akcan, PhD
  • Ashley Brown, PhD

    • Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Biological Sciences

    Project: Treatment of High CBS Expressing Ovarian Cancers via Ferroptosis Induction

    Ashley Brown, PhD
  • Olivia Rifai, PhD

    • Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Neurology

    Project: Regulatory T cell Therapy in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

    Olivia Rifai, PhD
  • Yinjun Zhao, PhD

    • Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Biostatistics

    Project: Advanced Methodologies for Integrating Mixed-Type Phenotypes for Mental Health

    Yinjun Zhao, PhD

Doctoral Student Program

  • Maximilian Cabaj

    • Doctoral Candidate, Genetics and Development

    Project: Investigating disease mechanisms of two Pum1 related disorders in mouse models

    Maximilian Cabaj
  • Emily Cambre

    • Doctoral Candidate, Pharmacology

    Project: Impact of Early Life SSRI Exposure on Adolescent Motivation

    Emily Cambre
  • Kelia Human

    • Doctoral Candidate, Biomedical Engineering

    Project: Point of care liquid biopsy device for screening of RAS mutations using cfDNA

    Kelia Human
  • Elly Kipkogei

    • Doctoral Candidate, Biostatistics

    Project: Assessing Treatment Efficacy in Contaminated Randomized Clinical Trials

    Elly Kipkogei
  • David Lopez Veneros

    • Doctoral Candidate, Nursing

    Project: Machine learning & social determinants of physical activity in gender minorities

    David Lopez Veneros
  • Catherine Lucey

    • Doctoral Candidate, Environmental Health Sciences

    Project: Systemic Toxicity of Drinking Water Uranium in a Mouse Model

    Catherine Lucey
  • Victoria Nguyen

    • Doctoral Candidate, Social Work

    Project: Social-Ecological Determinants of Child and Adolescent Mental Health Disorders

    Victoria Nguyen
  • Kevin Patterson

    • Doctoral Candidate, Environmental Health Sciences

    Project: Uranium nephrotoxicity and metabolomics in Native American communities

    Kevin Patterson
  • Sabrina Phanor

    • Doctoral Candidate, Genetics and Development

    Project: Deficiency in Pumilio2 may play a role in cerebellar dysfunction

    Sabrina Phanor
  • Anna-Liisa Sepp

    • Doctoral Candidate, Biomedical Engineering

    Project: Patient-specific optimization of T cells for solid tumor infiltration

    Anna-Liisa Sepp

Graduates of the TL1 Training Programs

  • Casey Ager, PhD: Discovery and Validation of New Regulatory T Cell Targeting Strategies in Cancer
  • Dana Alessi, Cell and Molecular Biology: Integrated Program in Cellular, Molecular and Biomedical Studies
  • Medini Annavajhala, PhD: Microbial metagenomic pathways contributing to chronic inflammation in patients with HIV
  • Hilary Armstrong, Epidemiology: Analyses from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA)
  • Maria Avrutsky, Cell and Molecular Biology: Pharmacological Modulation of tau in Embryonic Stem Cell-derived Neurons
  • Danielle Baum, Nutritional and Metabolic Biology: Polymorphic Region in Type I Diabetes Using Human Stem Cells
  • Andrew S Beenken, MD, PhD: Structural and biochemical basis for the mechanism of human mutations in megalin and cubilin
  • Montina Befus, Epidemiology: Spatial clusters of bacteremia related hospital admissions and their impact on clinical complication
  • Ramsey Bekdash, Pharmacology: Human iPSC Modeling of Autism for Developing New Therapeutics
  • Joseph Belloir, Nursing: Precision Sleep Health in Transgender and Nonbinary Adults
  • Sonya Besagar, MD Program: Frequency and Yield of Genetic Testing in Neonates with Congenital Heart Disease
  • Nicole Blumenfeld, Biomedical Engineering: Next-Generation Sequencing on a Chip
  • Margaret Bogardus, Medicine: Evaluating Immune Biomarkers in Melanoma using Multiplex Immunohistochemistry
  • Mary Boland, Biomedical Informatics (DBMI): Systems-Level Approach to Understand the Effects of Prenatal/Perinatal Seasonal Exposures
  • Lisa Bonsignore-Opp, Medicine: Beat the Clock: Variable Anesthesia Times with Casting for Early Onset Scoliosis
  • Darius Bordbar, MD Program: Development of a Novel Biomarker to Predict Response to Immunotherapy in Glioma
  • Lia Boyle, Cellular and Molecular Physiology & Biophysics: A mutation-specific approach to understanding KIF1A Associated Neurological Disorder
  • Anne Bozack, Environmental Health Sciences: Epigenetic Effects of Arsenic Exposure and Effect Modification by Nutritional Status
  • Eric Bryant, Biological Sciences: A Rapid and Cost-Efficient Strategy to Develop a Precision Therapy for Cancers Overexpressing HLTF
  • Eric Buss, MD: Physiological role of presynaptic HCN1 in parvalbumin+ GABAergic interneurons and modulation in epilepsy
  • Sarah Canetta, Neurobiology and Behavior: Type III Nrg1-erbB Signaling in Nociception
  • Julie Choe, Sociomedical Sciences: Bridging the Technology Divide - Translational Science and Technological Innovation in Medicine
  • Ana Costa, PhD, Pathology & Cell Biology: Mechanisms Underlying Lipidomic Changes in Major Depressive Disorder in Plasma, Saliva and Human iPSC-Derived Neurons
  • Jennifer Crowe, Pathology & Cell Biology: Non-Catalytic Functions of DNA-PK in DNA repair and tumorgenesis
  • Christopher DeAllie, Medicine: Does Higher Severity Cobb angle in Cerebral Palsy patients increase need for Respiratory Assistive Aids?
  • Christine DeForge, Nursing: Exploring decisional conflict and symptom phenotypes among bereaved ICU surrogate decision makers
  • Annina DeLeo, Cell and Molecular Biology: MicroRNA Regulation of the switch from Qiuescent to Activated cell state in Adult Neural Stem Cells
  • Zhi-De Deng, Electrical Engineering: Field Shaping and Coil Design for Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS)
  • Dallin Dressman, Pharmacology: Examining genetic variability in innate and adaptive immune cells in the context of Alzheimer's disease
  • Sarah Dugger, Genetics and Development: Hitting the Bullseye: Identifying Targeted Treatments for Hnrnpu-related Epilepsy Using In Vivo and In Vitro Disease Models
  • Roxanne Dutia, Nutritional and Metabolic Biology: Hypothalamic Melancontin Regulation of Energy Balance and Metabolism
  • Christina Eckhardt, MD: Establishing a DNA methylation-based smoking index that classifies cumulative tobacco smoke exposure and predicts lung function decline.
  • Shannon Fernandez-Ledon, MD Program: Evaluating the tumor microenvironment in pediatric hepatocellular carcinoma
  • Jennifer Ferris, PhD, MPH: Improving Risk Prediction and Early Detection of Ovarian Cancer
  • Trevor Fidler, MD: Mechanisms of Increased Cardiovascular Disease in Patients with Clonal Hematopoiesis
  • Rachel Field, Biomedical Engineering: Implantable Device for the Capture of Early-Stage Cancer Cells Present in Blood Vessels
  • Rachel Field, Biomedical Engineering: Delivery Mechanisms of Replacement Dopaminergic Cells for Parkinson’s Disease Patients
  • Allana Forde, Epidemiology: Impact of Social Stressors on Chronic Disease Risk in Black Ethnic Groups
  • Victor Gamarnik, Biomedical Engineering: Multimodal Assessment of Left Ventricular Dysfunction Using Ultrasound and MRI-based 3D Strain Estimation
  • Robyn Gartrell, MD: Defining Critical features of the Immune Microenvironment in Neuroblastoma
  • Yevgeniya Gartshteyn, MD: Platelet bound complement activiation products as biomarkers for cardiovascular risk and response to aspirin in SLE
  • Corey Garyn, Genetics and Development: A precision medicine approach to graft conditioning for autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation
  • Sarah Gibeley, Nutritional and Metabolic Biology: Investigating TM6SF2 Regulation Of Hepatic And Plasma Lipids In iPSC-Derived HLCS
  • Jordan Gipe, MD Program: The role of NFkappaB signaling in rotator cuff tendinopathy
  • Ambar Grijalva, Nutritional and Metabolic Biology: Role of Autophagy in Regulating Lipid Metabolism in Adipose Tissue Macrophages
  • Jacqueline Gunther, Biomedical Engineering: Using Diffuse Optical Tomography to Monitor Tumor Progression During Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy
  • Erin Harelton, Pharmacology: TASK-1 in Arrhythmogenesis Downstream of PAF Signaling
  • Samuel Hayward, Genetics and Development: Genetic Interaction Screening within the Human DNA Damage Response Pathway
  • Millie Hepburn-Smith, Nursing: Reduction of Stroke Risk in Minority Women
  • Ryo Higuchi, Nutritional and Metabolic Biology: The Role of the Actin Cytoskeleton on Segegragtion of Aging Determinants and Lifespan in Budding Yeast
  • Cristin M. Holland, PhD, OTR/L: Relationships of Maternal Hypertension and Fetal and Infant Reactivity
  • Alexander Hsieh, Biomedical Informatics (DBMI): Investigating the Functional Consequence of Noncoding Variants in the Context of Human Tissue and Disease
  • Dantong Huang, Biomedical Engineering: Development of Patient-Specific Hepatocyte Spheroids for Disease Modeling and Drug Screening
  • Ronald Instrella, Biomedical Engineering: Evaluating Error in Infant Metabolic Brain Signatures for MR Spectroscopy
  • Catherine A Jennings, MD Program: Adolescent Genetic Testing for Adult Onset Cancer Conditions Interview Study
  • Allan Just, Environmental Health Sciences: A Molecular Epidemiologic Study of Endocrine Disruptors and Pediatric Asthma
  • Linda Kahn, Epidemiology: Allostatic Load and Semen Quality
  • Matko Kalac, MD, PhD: Development of a Novel, Anti-CD70 Based Platform for the Treatment of Peripheral T-cell Lymphomas
  • Nowai Keleekai, Nursing: Study of Mental Health Services of an HIV-positive Incarcerated Population
  • Atlas Khan MSc, MPhil, PhD: Polygenic Risk Prediction for Kidney Disease
  • Kristen Klemenhagen, Neurobiology and Behavior: Developmental Role of the 5-HT1A Receptor in Establishing Adult Anxiety Behavior
  • Kimberly Komatsubara, MD: Personalized Medicine in the Adult Experimental Therapeutics Cancer Clinic at Columbia University Medical Center
  • Brahma Kumar, Cell and Molecular Biology: Mechanisms of Memory T cell Retention to the Lung in Humans
  • Sara E. Landers, Social Work: Ecological Momentary Assessment of Adolescents' Stress, Social Context, and Risk Behavior
  • Annie Lee, Biostatistics: Methods for Age-specific Penetrance Estimate of LRRK2 Mutations on the risk of Parkinson’s Disease Incorporating Personalized Characteristics
  • Jorge Luna, Epidemiology: Acute and Chronic Infectious Predictors of Stroke
  • Purnema Madahar, MD: Genomic Characterization and Clinical Phenotypes of Patients with Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis
  • Rachel Madley, Microbiology and Immunology: A TCR-transgenic Personalized Immune Mouse Model to Study Autoreactive T-cell Selection
  • Ann Madsen, Epidemiology: Common Cause Model for Genetic Epidemiology and Risk-Factor Epidemiology: Laying the Foundation for Integration
  • David Malito, Neurobiology and Behavior: Calcium Channel Mutations in Heart Arrythmias and Autism
  • Stephen Marcott, Medicine: Neuroinflammation and Imminent Suicide Risk in Young Adults
  • Melanie Mayer, Biostatistics: Evaluating External Validity of Observational Studies for Targeted Interventions
  • Russell McBride, Epidemiology: Genetic Similarities in DNA Repair Polymorphisms between BRCA2 and HNPCC syndromic cancer families
  • Erin I. McDonnell, Biostatistics: Machine Learning Methods for Constructing Cross-Domain Biomarker and Clinical Symptom Networks
  • Sarah McLarnan, Environmental Health Sciences: Gestational Exposure to PAHs and Mitochondrial Damage
  • Arthur Mikhno, Biomedical Engineering: Non-Invasive and Cost Effective Quantification of Positron Emission Tomography Data
  • Shazia Mitha, Nursing: Phenotyping Cardiotoxicity in Breast Cancer
  • Joshua E. Motelow, MD, PhD: Understanding the Contribution of Genic Sub-Region Intolerance to Epilepsy Severity
  • Jordan Nestor, MD: The Return and Integration of Genomic Results into Clinical Nephrology
  • Stacia Nicholson, PhD: Extracellular Vesicles in Environmental Epidemiology Studies of Alzheimer’s Disease as it Relates to air Pollution and Lead Exposure
  • Megan Niedzwiecki, Environmental Health Sciences: Prenatal exposure to allergen and allergy in grandoffspring mice
  • Allison Norful, MSN, MPhil, RN, ANP-BC: The Development and Psychometric Testing of the Precision Co-management Index: A Pilot Project to Investigate the Impact of Shared Decision Making on Chronic Disease Management and Patient Center Outcomes
  • Stan Okrasinski, Biomedical Engineering: In Vivo Clinical Validation of Myocardial Elastography
  • Timothy Olsen, Mechanical Engineering: Microfluidic Selection of Aptamers for Therapeutic Applications
  • James Papizan, Nutritional and Metabolic Biology: Structure-function Analysis of the Essential Islet Regulatory Factor, Nkx2.2
  • Kristin Politi, Pathology & Cell Biology: Molecular Mechanisms of Motor Neuron Death in ALS
  • Angeliki Pollatou, PhD: Research in early Neuroimaging and Neuropsychology
  • Sindhuri Prakash, Medicine: A Novel Gene for IgA Nephropathy Through Next Gen Sequencing
  • William Raab, Pathology & Cell Biology: RNF43 Mutations as a Diagnostic Biomarker of CDX2 Negative Colon Carcinomas and a Predictive Biomarker of Colon Cancer Response to anti-EGFR Monoclonal Antibodies
  • Neha Raghavan, PhD: Identification of Novel Alzheimer’s Disease Associated Genes in a Multi-ethnic Cohort
  • Presha Rajbhandari, PhD: Improving and Accelerating Cancer Therapeutics Using Mass Spectrometry Imaging
  • Anne Reed-Weston, MD Program: Distribution of Genomic Screening Results and Use by Healthy Individuals
  • Kelly Remole, Neurobiology and Behavior: Hyperexcitability of the subiculum in schizophrenia rodent models
  • Catherine Richards, Epidemiology: Hospital-level Predictors of Immediate Breast Reconstruction
  • Emily Rinebold, MD: Viral infection as a possible cause behind the emerging epidemic of rectal cancer in young adults
  • Alison Ross, Biological Sciences: A High-Throughput, Sequencing-Based Method for Monitoring Protein-Protein Interaction Dynamics
  • Joseph Rubin, Biomedical Engineering: Characterization of Glycosylation Patterns of Single IgA Molecules Using PAINT
  • Kelly Ruggles, Nutritional and Metabolic Biology: Cellular Fatty Acid Toxicity Extrapolating Yeast
  • Roheeni Saxena, MPH, PhD: Brain-derived extracellular vesicles: a novel biomarker of metals exposure
  • Sasinya Scott, Epidemiology: Interrogating persistence of race guided clinical decision making cancer model
  • Caryn F. Shechtman, Nutritional and Metabolic Biology: Examining the effects of SNPs in ARV1 in human population(s)
  • Rebecca Silva, Biostatistics: Dose Finding Methods in the Era of Precision Medicine
  • Alex Smolak, Social Work: Culturally Congruent HIV Risk Reduction with Male Muslim Migrant Workers in Kazakhstan
  • Brittany Taylor, Nursing: Predicting depression in black women: a machine learning epigenetic approach
  • Keila Y. Torres, Nursing: Culturally-appropriate interventions for reducing infant mortality in Latina families in Manhattan
  • Sara Viragova, Cell and Molecular Biology: Identification, Cloning and In Vitro Propagation of Salivary Gland Stem Cells for Regenerative Medicine Applications
  • Linda Wang, Medicine: Identifying Novel Breast Cancer Genes
  • Megan K. Williams, Epidemiology: Monitoring residential exposure to pyrethroid insecticides during pregnancy in New York City, 2000-2005
  • Meghan Work, Epidemiology: Breast Cancer Risk Factors and Intermediate Markers and Associations with Tumor Characteristics
  • Jeremy Worley, PhD: Identification of Master Regulators in Breast Cancer tumor Subpopulations using a novel single-cell Analysis Pipeline, and the Prediction of Optimal Therapy
  • Jessica Yang, MD: Efficacy of Bromodomain and Extra-Terminal (BET) Protein Inhibition in Advanced Uveal Melanoma
  • Hideaki Yano, Pharmacology: Understanding Mechanism of Dopamine Mediated HIV-Entry in NeuroAIDS
  • Randee Young, PhD: PPP2R5D-related neurodevelopmental disorder
  • Gary That Vi Yu, Biostatistics: Evaluating and Predicting Clinical Effectiveness of Risk Factors in CHD
  • Dennis Yuan, Biomedical Engineering: Human T cell mechanosensing to biomaterial rigidity for enhanced activation
  • Minerva Yue, Pharmacology: Heterosynaptic Release of Dopamine from Corticostriatal Terminals
  • Sakellarios Zairis, Cell and Molecular Biology: Genomic Characterization of NASH-related Hepatocellular Carcinoma
  • Nur Zeinomar, PhD: Integreating pedigrees with polygenic risk to enhance outcome assessment in a cohort of breast cancer survivors
  • Katherine Zhang, Nursing (PhD): Development Assets in Adolescents with Chronic Illness and Depression
  • Michael Zuccaro, Physiology & Cellular Biophysics: DISC1 as a Regulatory Gene for Pancreatic Beta Cell Proliferation and Function