CVG Scholar Awards

• Hongjiang Liu, graduate student, Kim laboratory, for “Dam-SHIELD: A Universal System for Cell Type-Specific Chromatin Profiling In Vivo.”
• Meridia Jane Bryant, graduate student, Sandkam laboratory, for “Burning bright or fading away: Y chromosome’s relation to genetic diversity.”
• Brian Feng, graduate student, Dongre laboratory, for “Understanding the mechanisms underlying differential response of CD73-deficient tumors to anti-CTLA4 and anti-PD1 therapy.”
• Siyun Liu, graduate student, Rudd and Grimson laboratories, for “Determining age-linked DNA methylation changes in HSCs that drive neonatal–adult CD8+ T cell differences.”
• Anna McKane, graduate student, Das laboratory, for “Centromere variation as a genomic mediator of aneuploidy: leveraging the equine model of early pregnancy loss.”
• Ziqing Pan, graduate student, Wei laboratory, for “Advancing Cross-Population Genetic Discoveries with Novel Graph-Based Algorithms.”

Honorable Mentions

• Ananya Kohli, graduate student, Grimson and Subramanian laboratories, for “Epigenomic dysregulation leading to maladaptive training in ME/CFS Monocytes.”
• Yu-Ching Liao, graduate student, Tumbar and Feschotte laboratories, for “Determining the role of H3K9me3 on transposable elements across skin developmental stages.”
• Xingtan (Vera)Yu, graduate student, Duan laboratory for “Investigating H4K16ac-Mediated Epigenetic Regulation of Pluripotency Under Heat Stress in Bovine Embryonic Stem Cells in Bovine Embryonic Stem.”
• Dr. Peiwei Chen, post-doctoral fellow, Clark and Feschotte laboratories, for “Duplication of PIWI genes resolves lineage-specific intragenomic conflicts.”

Fall 2024

Distinguished Scholar Awards

• Dr. Jolie Carlisle, postdoctoral fellow, Wolfner and Clark laboratories, for “Patterns of evolution of seminal fluid proteins and their networks in Drosophila and mammals.”
• Yi-Yuan (Ian) Lee, graduate student, Brito laboratory, for “Data-Driven Support of Widespread Human-Commensal Protein-Protein Interactions.”

CVG Scholar Awards

• Azwad Iqbal, graduate student, Therkildsen laboratory, for “Leveraging museum collections to investigate the rapid evolution of invasive American shad.”
• Dr. Christopher Mellor, postdoctoral fellow, M. Wang laboratory, for “Characterizing the interplay between folate deficiency, formaldehyde production and hematopoiesis.”
• Dianne Gomez, graduate student, Lau laboratory, for “Understanding the Role of JunB in Innate and Adaptive Memory Formation During Infection.”
• Dr. Jonathan Perelmuter, postdoctoral fellow, Bass laboratory, for “Consequences and mechanisms of brain miniaturization in one of the smallest vertebrates.”
• Kimaya Bakhle, graduate student, Dongre laboratory, for “Understanding the role of epithelial-mesenchymal transition-mediated immune-suppression in canine mammary tumors.”
• Nicole Mejia, graduate student, Vitousek laboratory, for “Characterizing avian thermogenic capacity with targeted-enriched enzymatic methyl sequencing”
• Dr. Shebl Salem, postdoctoral fellow, de Mestre laboratory, for “Identifying risk variants of early pregnancy loss in horses.”

Honorable Mentions

• Anne Gardella, graduate student, De Vlaminck laboratory, for “Circulating Cell-Free RNA Signatures of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.”
• Xiaoqing (Ellie) Tan, graduate student, E. Johnson laboratory, for “Elucidating interactions between dietary saturated fatty acids and gut microbiome relevant to host metabolism.”

Fall 2023

Distinguished Scholar Awards

• Dr. Arielle Fogel, postdoctoral fellow, Clark laboratory, for “Equids on the edge: demographic and behavioral processes shaping the genomes of declining zebra species.”
• Satyam Srivastav, graduate student, Feschotte and Clark laboratories, for “Function and evolution of Kepi, an ancient piRNA cluster in Teleost fish.”

CVG Scholar Awards

• Akshayakeerthi Arthanarisami, graduate student, Grimson and Rudd laboratories, for “Determining the molecular mechanisms of CD8+ T cell Exhaustion.”
• Chloe Cheng, graduate student, Barrow laboratory, for “Investigating the role of AQP1 in obesity and metabolic disease.”
• Michelle Liu, graduate student, Weiss laboratory, for “Determining the Functional Role of the miR290-295 Cluster in Testicular Germ Cell Development.”
• Jenna Todero, graduate student, Sethupathy laboratory, for “Proteomic analysis in arsenic exposed humanized mice to determine sex specific effects in brown adipose.”
• Dr. Meihong Shi, postdoctoral fellow, Duan laboratory, for “Characterizing the role of MOF in maintaining pluripotency in bovine embryonic stem cells (bESCs).”

Honorable Mentions

• Kuang-Tse Wang, graduate student, Adler laboratory, for “Delineating how RoboA suppresses FoxA+ stem cell differentiation.”
• Dr. Deepthi Mahishi, postdoctoral fellow, Yapici laboratory, for “Molecular characterization of mouse brainstem circuits and their role in regulating food intake.”
• Dr. Jessie Williamson, postdoctoral fellow, Lovette laboratory, for “Transcriptomic flexibility in a common garden: Do elevational specialists and generalists differ?.”
• Jonathan Thomalla, graduate student, Schimenti and Wolfner laboratories, for “Characterization and function of protein phospho-regulation during egg activation in mice and flies.”
• Dr. Daniel Sprockett, postdoctoral fellow, Moeller laboratory, for “The Genomics of Microbial Adaptation to the Nascent Adaptive Immune System.”

Fall 2022

Distinguished Scholar Awards

• Dr. Yiqin Wang, postdoctoral fellow, O’Brien and Clark laboratories, for “Genomic insights into the ethnic and sex differences in iron homeostasis”

CVG Scholar Awards

• Dr. Mercedes Carro, postdoctoral fellow, Cohen laboratory, for “Silencing of sex chromosomes during spermatogenesis: a nuclear function for AGO proteins in meiosis”
• Dr. Julien Morival, postdoctoral fellow, Lammerding laboratory, for “Elucidating the role of nucleo-cytoskeletal coupling in mechanotransduction”
• Leanne Donahue, graduate student, White laboratory, for “Interrogating cell-specific chromatin alterations generated by the AT-hook protein Hmga2”
• Connor Kean, graduate student, Grimson laboratory, for “Determining the microbially induced epigenomic changes in HSCs that drive the trained immunity of CD8+ T cells”
• Mitch Lokey, graduate student, Clark and Messer laboratories, for “Improving conservation genetic management using genome-wide data from Florida’s only endemic bird, the endangered Florida scrub-jay (Aphelocoma coerulescens)”
• Daryl Phuong, graduate student, Schimenti laboratory, for “Determining transitional cell state and genetic alterations for HGSC initiation and progression”
• Sarah Saddoris, graduate student, Schang Laboratory, for “Chromatin Remodeling Complexes During Herpes Simplex Virus 1 Infection”
• Alexandria Shumway, graduate student, Sethupathy laboratory, for “Defining transcriptome-wide 3′ untranslated region usage patterns in human pediatric Crohn’s disease”

Fall 2021

Distinguished Scholar Awards

• Mr. Matthew Edwards, graduate student, Koren laboratory, for “Comprehensive Genomic Mapping of Allele-specific DNA Replication Timing in Health and Disease”
• Mr. Madhav Mantri, graduate student, De Vlaminck laboratory, for “Joint transcriptomic and immune receptor profiling of viral myocarditis”
• Dr. Elena Panizza, postdoctoral fellow, Cerione laboratory, for “PARP9 as a novel target to radio-sensitize NAMPT-overexpressing glioma”

CVG Scholar Awards

• Mr. Brian Aguilera, graduate student, Kurpios laboratory, for “Role of the homeodomain transcription factor Pitx2 in the differentiation and regeneration of the intestinal epithelium”
• Dr. Carolline Ascencao, postdoctoral fellow, Smolka laboratory, for “Quality Control Mechanisms in Mammalian Meiosis: How Males Cope with the XY
• Ms. Heesoo Jeong, graduate student, Vacanti laboratory, for “Identifying metabolic and proteomic alterations promoting survival of detached triple negative breast tumors”
• Ms. Rosanna Ma, graduate student, Sethupathy laboratory, for “Defining the function of candidate oncogenic non-coding RNA LINC00473 in fibrolamellar carcinoma”
• Mr. S. Blake Mitchell, graduate student, Ayedemir laboratory, for “Deletion of Zip14 incurs risk for ulcerative colitis by modulating host transcriptome and gut microbiome”
• Dr. Sagar R. Shah, postdoctoral fellow, Lis and Yu laboratories, for “A comprehensive analysis of regulatory genomic landscape dynamics across the human body”
• Dr. Anusha Shankar, postdoctoral fellow, Lovette and Vitousek laboratories, for “Hot and cold hummingbirds: Comparing birds and mammals to understand vertebrate sleep and torpor”

Fall 2020

Distinguished Scholar Awards

• Ms. Ni-Chen Sylvia Chang, graduate student, Feschotte laboratory, for “Can an Active Transposable Element Contribute to Danio-Specific Developmental Programs?”
• Dr. Tatiane Kanno, postdoctoral fellow, Simoes-Costa laboratory, for “The role of neural crest cells in the domestication of the fox Vulpes vulpes”
• Mr. Ethan Sanford, graduate student, Smolka laboratory, for “Phosphoproteomics of Recombinational DNA Repair in Yeast and Mammalian Cells”

CVG Scholar Awards

• Dr. Sangeeta Ghuwalewala, postdoctoral fellow, Tumbar laboratory, for “Harnessing genomics powers to understand heterogeneity of stem cell lineages in mouse skin homeostasis and wound repair.
• Mr. Josh Jones, graduate student, Brito laboratory, for “Exploring the spatiotemporal interplay between gut microbiota biogeography and host responses in colorectal cancer.”
• Ms. Min-Ting Lee, graduate student, Johnson laboratory, for “Identification of cholesterol transforming gut microbes via bioorthogonal-metabolic labeling and metagenomic sequencing”
• Ms. Viviana Maymi, graduate student, Rudd laboratory, for “Developmentally-regulated microRNAs as a molecular rheostat to manipulate CD8+ T cell function in cancer”
• Mr. Mauricio Paramo, graduate student, Yu laboratory, for “An integrative functional genomics framework for prioritizing and assessing non-coding diseaseassociated variants.”
• Dr. Divya Ganapathi Sankaran, postdoctoral fellow, Grimson laboratory, for “Deciphering LET-7 Mediated Adaptive Immune Responses”

Fall 2019

Distinguished Scholar Awards

• Mr. Nicolas Lou, graduate student, Therkildsen laboratory, for “The genomic underpinnings of fisheries- and climate-induced evolution in a natural population”
• Mr. Albert Vill, graduate student, Brito laboratory, for “High-sensitivity sequencing techniques to probe the mammalian host-microbe inflammatory interactome”

CVG Scholar Awards

• Ms. Alexandra Chivu, graduate student, Danko laboratory, for “Dissecting the relationship between transcription and histone modification in human K562 cells.”
• Ms. Jacquiline Copeland, graduate student, Simoes-Costa laboratory, for “Wnt-activated miRNAs act as key regulators of neural crest stem cell identity.”
• Ms. Seoyeon Lee and Mr. Luye An, graduate students, Soloway and White laboratories, for “A genome-wide approach to characterize melanocyte stem cells and their activation..”
• Mr. Bhargav Sanketi, graduate student, Kurpios laboratory, for “Reconstruction of the developmental trajectories behind the intestinal lymphatic network”
• Ms. Marquita Winters, graduate student, Schimenti laboratory, for “Identifying drivers of mammary tumorigenesis and elucidating the mechanisms of cancer initiation in DNA replication-defective Chaos3 mice.”

Fall 2018

• Ms. Debadrita Bhattacharya, graduate student, Simoes-Costa laboratory, for “A systems-level approach to define the scope of microRNA function during neural crest development.”
• Ms. Alexa Bracci, graduate student, Koren laboratory, for “Dynamics and impact of replication timing evolution in great apes.”
• Mr. Thomas Carter, graduate student, Feschotte laboratory, for “LTR recombination as a cis-regulatory switch in great ape induced pluripotent stem cells.”
• Ms. Marlena Holter, graduate student, Cummings laboratory, for “Defining alpha-cell PC1/3 expression regulation for type 2 diabetes.”
• Mr. Andrew Marderstein, graduate student, Clark laboratory, for “Developing personalized polygenic scores augmented by functional genomic data.”

Fall 2017

• Ms. Maria Akopyan, graduate student, Therkildsen laboratory, for “The cytogenomics of local adaptation in the Atlantic silverside (Menidia menidia).”
• Ms. Siwei Chen, graduate student, Yu laboratory, for “An interactome perturbation framework to disentangle benign from damaging de novo misense mutations for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).”
• Dr. Katla Kristjansdottir, postdoctoral fellow, Kwak laboratory, for “Characterizing the enhancer landscape in healthy human kidney and renal cell carcinoma.”
• Ms. Megan Rothstein, graduate student, Simoes-Costa laboratory, for “Guided differentiation of the Cranial Neural Crest: Building a Genomic Blueprint.”
• Ms. Jessica West, graduate student, Grimson laboratory, for “Comprehensive characterization of 3’UTR-mediated gene regulation.”

Fall 2016

• Ms. Lauren Choate, graduate student, Danko laboratory, for “Global Discovery of Transcription Factor Binding in Asthma.”
• Ms. Emily Funk, graduate student, McCune laboratory, for “Divergent gene expression patterns underlying the lung-to-gas bladder transition in ray-finned fishes.”
• Mr. Sangjo Kang, graduate student, Tumbar laboratory, for “The role of histone H3 K4/K9/K27 me3 levels in adult hair follicle stem cell (HFSC) plasticity.”
• Ms. Brooke Marks, graduate student, Coonrod laboratory, for “Escape Pathway Signaling in Tamoxifen Resistant Breast Cancer.”
• Mr. Darshil Patel, graduate student, Weiss laboratory, for “Proteomic and genomic analysis to reveal the role for the DNA clamp subunit HUS1 in maintaining genomic stability upon UV-induced DNA damage.”

Fall 2015

• Mr. Joel Brown, graduate student, Garcia-Garcia laboratory, for “Investigating the Roles of SPCA1 and Calcium Homeostasis in Epithelial Polarity.”
• Ms. Ezen Choo, graduate student, Dando laboratory, for “Role of taste buds in the development of taste sensitivity during mouse pregnancy.”
• Dr. Anne McGavigan, postdoctoral fellow, Cummings laboratory, for “The role of the gut microbiome in the improvement in blood pressure after sleeve gastrectomy.”
• Dr. Hyeongsun Moon, postdoctoral fellow, White laboratory, for “Defining the Mechanism of Melanoma Initiation from Adult Stem Cells.”
• Ms. Jennie Sims, graduate student, Smolka laboratory, for “An Investigation of the Role of TOPBP1, A Key Modulator of Checkpoint Control, in Mammalian Meiosis.”
• Mr. Joel Tripp, graduate student, Bass laboratory, for “Gene expression differences underlying behavioral and morph phenotype variation.”
• Ms. Jiayi Xu, graduate student, Cassano laboratory, for “Gene-by-smoking and Gene-by-nutrient interaction of vitamin E-related genes in response to the vitamin E supplementation.”

Fall 2014

• Dr. Leonardo Campagna, postdoctoral fellow, Lovette laboratory, for “A genomic approach to understanding gene tree/species tree discordance: Estimating genomic porosity in two explosive avian radiations.”
• Ms. Nithya Kartha, graduate student, Schimenti laboratory, for “Identifying Key Driver Events in the C3H-Chaos3 Mouse Model for Breast Cancer.”
• Mr. Nicholas Fletcher, graduate student, Searle laboratory, for “Genomic Differentiation During Rapid Speciation in a Non-model Rodent.”
• Mr. Dongsung Kim, graduate student, Smolka laboratory, for “METTL13: a new cancer-associated protein involved in the DNA replication stress response.”
• Ms. Lan Tu, graduate student, Selvaraj laboratory, for “Functional study of Translocator protein (TSPO) reveals a novel mitochondria-mediated pathway for cholesterol metabolism.”

Fall 2013

• Mr. Jishnu Das, graduate student, Yu laboratory, for “High-throughput functional characterization of human DNA codin variants.”
• Ms. Sachi Horibata, graduate student, Coonrod laboratory, for “Role of PAD2 in the development of tamoxifen resistance in human breast cancer.”
• Dr. Iris Jonkers, postdoctoral fellow, Lis laboratory, for “Progression and regulation of X chromosome inactivation in time.”
• Mr. Ezra Lencer, graduate student, McCune and Harrison laboratories, for “Evolution and development of jaw morphology among cyprinodon pupfishes.”
• Mr. Kaixiong Ye, graduate student, Gu laboratory, for “Natural selection of mitochondrial DNA variation and its implication for complex disease.”

Fall 2012

• Mr. Adam Bisogni, graduate student, Lin laboratory, for “Combinations of delta-Protocadherins in Axon Guidance.”
• Ms. Sara Cohen, graduate student, Denkers laboratory, for “Wnt/B-catenin Signaling During Intestinal Infection by the Protozoan Parasite Toxoplasma gondii.”
• Ms. Ni Ye Feng, graduate student, Bass laboratory, for “Daily and seasonal changes in the molecular machinery supporting synchronous activity in a vertebrate vocal motor nucleus.”
• Mr. Botao Liu, graduate student, Qian laboratory, for “Investigating translational reprogramming of mammalian genome during tissue differentiation.”
• Ms. Aparna Mahadevan, graduate student, Kurpios laboratory, for “Organ-specific vascularization of the midgut is driven by the left-right signaling pathway.”

Fall 2011

• Dr. Leonardo Arbiza, postdoctoral fellow, Siepel laboratory, for “Characterization of natural selection on non-coding elements in human genomes using whole-genome sequence data.”
• Ms. Stephanie Hilz, graduate student, Grimson laboratory, for “Deciphering the unique role of Argonaute4 and its involvement in small RNA regulatory biology in the male mouse germ line.”
• Mr. Pei Xin Lim, graduate student, Weiss laboratory, for “Deciphering the molecular functions of the genome maintenance factor HUS1.”
• Mr. Alex Wang, graduate student, Tumbar laboratory, for “Investigating the status of RNA polymerase II pausing in epithelial skin development.”

Fall 2010

• Dr. Leighton Core, postdoctoral fellow, Lis laboratory, for “Examination of the role of transcriptional pausing in mitotic bookmarking of genes.”
• Dr. James Hagarman, postdoctoral fellow, Soloway Laboratory, for “Mutual antagonism between DNA methylation and H3K27me3 in mouse embryonic stem cells.”
• Dr. Colin Young, postdoctoral fellow, Davisson laboratory, for “Dissecting the role of endoplasmic reticulum stress and NFKB Activation in Hypertension.”
• Mr. Ian Welsh, graduate student, Kurpios laboratory, for “Functional genomics analyses in the dorsal mesentery.”

Fall 2009

• Ms. Amanda Cass, 5th year graduate student, McCune laboratory, for “Examining the expression of critical lung morphogenesis genes in the swimbladders of fishes.”
• Dr. Sha Haibo, postdoctoral fellow, Qi Laboratory, for “Identifying the roles of ATF6 in Adipogenesis Using the Systems Biology Approaches.”
• Dr. Hooman Moghadam, postdoctoral fellow, Sutter laboratory, for “The role of naturally occurring retrotransposon mutagenesis in rapid diversification of complex traits in the dog.”

Fall 2008

• Rodica Petruta Bunaciu, postdoctoral fellow, Yen Laboratory. “Dr. Bunaciu’s project explores gene expression regulation factors.”
• Benjamin Logsdon, second year graduate student, Mezey laboratory. “Mr. Logsdon’s project applies computational capabilities to data collected at a genomic scale.”
• Lori McPartlin, fourth year graduate student, Bedford-Guaus laboratory. “Ms. Partlin’s project involves identifying downstream targets of protein tyroseine phosphorylation.”
• Jennifer Page, fifth year graduate student, Weiss laboratory. “Ms. Pages’s project investigates the role of RNR in de novo nucleotide biosynthesis.”
• Xianfei Sun, third year graduate student, Cohen laboratory. “Ms. Sun’s project analyzes structure-funtion of mouse MLH3.”

Fall 2007

• Jin Leng, fourth year graduate student, Denkers laboratory. “Mr. Leng’s project involves examining the role of histone modification in host-pathogen interaction.”
• Nicole Liachko, fifth year graduate student, Lee laboratory. “Mrs. Liachko’s project involves examining the role of pancreatic determining factor 1a during development.”
• Xu Wang, third year graduate student, Clark laboratory. “Mr. Wang’s project involves identifying novel imprinted genes.”
• Kevin Harvatine, postdoctoral associate, Boisclair laboratory. “Dr. Harvatine’s project involves studying the role of fatty acids on endoplasmic reticulum stress.”

Spring 2007

• Ying Zhang, graduate student in BMCB, Tumbar laboratory. “Mr. Zhang’s project involves understanding the molecular mechanisms that regulate proliferation of hair follicle stem cells.”
• Carlos Guerrero Bosagna, postdoctoral research associate in Nutritional Sciences, Soloway laboratory. “Dr. Guerrero-Bosagna’s project involves studying how piRNAs regulate imprinted genes.”

Fall 2006

• Elizabeth Bassity, graduate student in Immunology
• David Corney, graduate student in Environmental Toxicology
• Ryan Hernandez, graduate student in Biometry
• Kevin Peterson, graduate student in Molecular and Integrative Physiology

Spring 2006

• Li Han, graduate student in Physiology
• Rebecca Holmes, postdoctoral research associate in Biomedical Sciences
• Xia Xu, graduate student in Environmental Toxicology