BCM PREP Scholars have the freedom to choose a BCM Faculty Mentor based on their research interests found in the seven GSBS graduate programs: Cancer & Cell Biology; Chemical, Physical & Structural Biology; Development, Disease Models & Therapeutics; Genetics & Genomics; Immunology & Microbiology; Neuroscience; Quantitative & Computational Biosciences. Select Faculty Lab websites provide information on the focus, projects and people working within them. PREP Scholars and faculty mentors are listed from the past five years.
20th-Year Cohort 2022/2023
Undergraduate Institution: CUNY Hunter College
Research Interest: Computational Neuroscience
PI: Kelly Bijanki, Ph.D.
Undergraduate Institution: Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico
Research Interest: Development, Disease Models & Therapeutics
PI: Dongsu Park, Ph.D.
Undergraduate Institution: Texas Christian University
Research Interest: Cancer, Microbiology, Immunology
PI: Margaret Goodell, Ph.D.
Undergraduate Institution: Rice University
Research Interest: Neuroscience
PI: Roy Sillitoe, Ph.D.
Undergraduate Institution: University of Puerto Rico – Humacao Campus
Research Interest: Female Reproductive Biology
PI: Stephanie Pangas, Ph.D.
Undergraduate Institution: Trinity University
Research Interest: Neuroscience
PI: Joanna Jankowsky, Ph.D.
19th-Year Cohort 2021/2022
Undergraduate Institution: Nebraska Wesleyan University
Graduate Institution: University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Research Title: Modulation in a Murine Model of High-Risk Neuroblastoma
Mentor: William Decker, Ph.D.
Bench mentor: Giselle De La Tore Pinedo
Undergraduate Institution: Kennesaw State University
Research Title: Overcoming Tucatinib Resistance in HER2+ Breast Cancer
Mentor: Rachel Schiff, Ph.D.
Bench Mentor: Jamunarani Veeraraghavan, Ph.D., Fu-Tien Liao, Ph.D.
Undergraduate Institution: University of Houston Clear Lake
Graduate Institution: UT Southwestern University
Research Title: Bio-ID Screen for Novel Protein Interactors with the Telomerase Catalytic Component hTERT
Mentor: Alison Bertuch, M.D., Ph.D.
Bench Mentor: Danna Morris, Ph.D.
Undergraduate Institution: St. Edwards University
Research Title: Laser Interstitial Thermal Therapy for Brain Tumors
Mentor: Ganesh Rao, M.D.
Bench mentor: Anantha Marisetti, Ph.D.
Undergraduate Institution: Arizona State University
Research Title: The AD Associated Protein SMOC1 is Expressed in Glia and Primarily around Drosophila Neurons
Mentor: Josh Shulman, M.D., Ph.D.
Bench Mentor: David Li-Kroger, Ph.D.
Undergraduate Institution: University of Houston - Victoria
Graduate Institution: University of Houston
Research Title: The Role of TCOF1 as Caspase 2 substrate
Mentor: Lisa Bouchier-Hayes, Ph.D.
Bench mentor: Alexandra Brown
18th-Year Cohort 2020/2021
Estephanie Balbuena
Undergraduate Institution: Hunter College
Graduate Institution: University of Rochester
Research Title: The Role of AP1G1 in Regulating APP Levels and Processing
Mentor: Huda Zoghbi, M.D.
Katie Brandel-Ankrapp
Undergraduate Institution: Michigan State University
Graduate Institution: Baylor College of Medicine
Research Title: Parsing State-Dependent Neuronal Activity in the Basal Forebrain
Mentor: Benjamin Arenkiel, Ph.D.
Peter Cruz Parrilla
Undergraduate Institution: Haverford College
Graduate Institution: University of Wisconsin-Madison
Research Title Improving the Structure of Nuclear Receptor Full-Length Complexes by Cryo-EM.
Mentor: Steven Ludtke, Ph.D.
Harim Delgado-Seo
Undergraduate Institution: Universidad Ana G. Mendez
Graduate Institution: Baylor College of Medicine
Research Title: Investigating the behavioral hallmarks of teneurin dysfunction in flies and mice.
Mentors: Hsiao-Tuan Chao, M.D., Ph.D. & Minghsan Xue, Ph.D.
Gabriela Gryc
Undergraduate Institution: Grinnell College
Graduate Institution: University of Iowa
Research Title: Neural Activity Governs Purkinje Cell Survival in the Adult Brain.
Mentor: Joanna Jankowski, Ph.D.
Brianna Lopez
Undergraduate Institution: Arizona State University
Graduate Institution: Johns Hopkins University
Research Title: Anti-Spike IgG antibody levels are associated with neutralization of SARS-CoV-2
Mentor: Jason Kimata, Ph.D.
Katherine Perks
Undergraduate Institution: University of Texas Austin
Graduate Institution: University of Washington
Research Title: Optimal Cue Integration Explains Bimanual Touch Encoding in the Human Brain
Mentor: Jeffrey Yau, Ph.D.
17th-Year Cohort 2019/2020
Yonaida Valentine
Undergraduate Institution: Binghamton University
Graduate Institution: The Ohio State University
Research Title: Is the Spectrin Cytoskeleton Required for Axon Regeneration?
Mentor: Matthew Rasband, Ph.D.
Sumayyah Khan
Undergraduate Institution: University of Houston
Graduate Institution: The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center UT Health Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences
Research Title: Quantifying alpha dynamics in human visual cortex: an intracranial study
Mentor: Brett Foster, Ph.D.
Garrett Lindsay
Undergraduate Institution: University of California, Santa Barbara
Graduate Institution: Scripps Research Institute
Research Title: A Novel Therapeutic Approach for Treatment-Resistant Prostate Cancer
Mentor: Damian Young, Ph.D.
Anayah Ferris
Undergraduate Institution: University of the Virgin Islands
Graduate Institution: University of Iowa
Research Title: The Role of RNA Splicing in Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition
Mentor: Chonghui Cheng, M.D., Ph.D.
Jayso’n Davidson
Undergraduate Institution: Hampton University
Graduate Institution: University of California, San Francisco
Research Title: Gene Therapy Treatment for Catecholaminergic Polymorphic Ventricular Tachycardia.
Mentor: Xander Wehrens, M.D., Ph.D.
Miranda Torres
Undergraduate Institution: University of Texas at Dallas
Graduate Institution: Northwestern University
Research Title: Reproducible Behavioral and Cellular Deficits in a Rat Model of Contactin-Associated Protein-Like 2 Deficiency
Mentor: Rodney Samaco, Ph.D.
Joe Martinez
Undergraduate Institution: Carnegie Mellon University
Graduate Institution: California Institute of Technology
Research Title: Engineering Lactobacillus reuteri for probiotic delivery of therapeutics.
Mentor: Robert Britton, Ph.D.
16th-Year Cohort 2018/2019
Brooke Hull
Undergraduate Institution: University of Georgia
Graduate Institution: Princeton University
Research Title: Zika virus proteins interact with host cellular pathways in Drosophila
Mentor: Shinya Yamamoto, Ph.D.
Zevin Condiotte
Undergraduate Institution: Washington University
Graduate Institution: California Institute of Technology
Research Title: γ-glutamylcysteine Synthases Increase Lactobacillus reuteri Anti-inflammatory Properties
Mentor: James Versalovic, M.D., Ph.D.
Grace Adeniyi-Ipadeola
Undergraduate Institution: Texas A & M, College Station
Graduate Institution: Baylor College of Medicine
Research Title: Ascaris Larvae Excretory-Secretory Products Are Potential Targets for Vaccine Development
Mentor: Jill Weatherhead, M.D.
Azaria Anderson
Undergraduate Institution: University of Nevada
Graduate Institution: University of Massachusetts - Amherst
Research Title: Seizures increase ∆FosB expression in brain areas related to psychiatric comorbidities in Alzheimer’s disease
Mentor: Jeannie Chin Medina, Ph.D.
Minerva Solis
Undergraduate Institution: University of St. Thomas
Graduate Institution: Baylor College of Medicine
Research Title: Vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM1) is a novel theca cell specific androgen regulated gene in the ovary
Mentor: JoAnne Richards, Ph.D.
Thomas Fair
Undergraduate Institution: Winston Salem State University
Graduate Institution: Baylor College of Medicine
Research Title: Novel Nuclear Localization of JPH2 C-Terminal Fragment in Heart Failure
Mentor: Xander Wehrens, M.D., Ph.D.
Madelyn Szilagyi-Jones
Undergraduate Institution: Case Western Reserve University
Graduate Institution: Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Research Title: Loss of Magel2 alters anxiety-like behavior in the rat.
Mentor: Rodney Samaco, Ph.D.
15th-Year Cohort 2017/2018
Barbara Nassif
Undergraduate Institution: University of Houston
Graduate Institution: University of Texas Health MD Anderson Cancer Center
Research Title: Role of the androgen receptor in estrogen receptor mutant breast cancer
Mentor: Suzanne Fuqua, Ph.D.
Kelsey Heavener
Undergraduate Institution: Simmons College
Graduate Institution: Columbia University Medical
Research Title: Modeling breast cancer through CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing
Mentor: Yi Li, Ph.D.
Markia Smith
Undergraduate Institution: University of Delaware
Graduate Institution: University of North Caroline Chapel Hill
Research Title: Generation of broader repertoire Epstein-Barr virus specific T cells for EBV+ lymphomas
Mentor: Clio Rooney, Ph.D.
Giovanni Monterroso
Undergraduate Institution: Northeastern Illinois University
Graduate Institution: Michigan State University
Research Title: Possible target for treating metabolic disorders?
Mentor: Atul Chopra, M.D., Ph.D.
Elizabeth Borneman
Undergraduate Institution: Georgetown University
Graduate Institution: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Research Title: Seeing to See: Visualizing concepts for better understanding in neuroscience and machine learning
Mentor: Xaq Pitkow, Ph.D.
Kenneth Guzman Rodriquez
Undergraduate Institution: University of Puerto Rico-Cayey
Graduate Institution: University of North Caroline Chapel Hill
Research Title: Synthesis of (+)JQ1 analogs with enhanced metabolic stability
Mentor: Damian Young, Ph.D.
14th-Year Cohort 2016/2017
David Cardenas
Undergraduate Institution: University of Houston Downtown
Graduate Institution: University of Houston School of Medicine
Research Title: Activation of epigenetically silenced genes to target aggressive breast cancer phenotypes
Mentor: Jeff Rosen, Ph.D.
Taylor Jefferson
Undergraduate Institution: Baylor University
Graduate Institution: Northwestern University
Research Title: Abnormal Purkinje cell firing during development in Car8wdl mice
Mentor: Roy Sillitoe, Ph.D.
Faith Joseph
Undergraduate Institution: Xavier University of Louisiana
Graduate Institution: Baylor College of Medicine
Research Title: The role of CD5 in T-Reg Induction
Mentor: Maria Bettini, Ph.D.
Dakari McCoy
Undergraduate Institution: University of New Mexico
Graduate Institution: University of Southern California
Research Title: Virtual reality manipulations of visual and non-visual cues for proprioception
Mentor: Jeffrey Yau, Ph.D.
Dominique Thompson
Undergraduate Institution: Northwestern State University
Graduate Institution: Baylor College of Medicine
Research Title: Examining biomarkers of environmental polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in placental and cord blood samples
Mentor: Melissa Suter, Ph.D.
Antonio Valentin-Acevedo
Undergraduate Institution: University of Puerto Rico at Aguadilla
Graduate Institution: Baylor College of Medicine
Research Title: HIV-1 replication block autophagy by preventing cleavage of GAG-LC3
Mentor: Sue Crawford, Ph.D.
Justin Branch
Undergraduate Institution: The University of North Carolina at Pembroke
Research Tech, Baylor College of Medicine
Research Title: Validating splice altering variants in Leber congenital amaurosis patients
Mentor: Rui Chen, Ph.D.
