Research

Thomas Lisse PhD is currently a researcher studying Regenerative biology and medicine, Neuroscience, Cell and Stem Cell Biology and Molecular Biology at the University of Miami. He is currently working on growth factor signaling responses on both stem cells and hub cells that regulate growth and self renewal.  

Hakim Bouzamondo, M.D., MSc, MBA, is divisional vice president of Abbott’s Nutrition Global Research and Development. He is responsible for pediatric, adult and performance nutrition product development, innovation, education, clinical and preclinical research. He leads a team of more than 600 scientists, across five R&D centers located in the Americas, EMEA and Asia. Hakim is also the chair of the Executive Committee of the Center for Nutrition, Learning and Memory – an innovative partnership between...

Dr. Dulai grew up in London, England where he lived for most of his early life. There he studied at public, private grammar, and boarding schools. His primary interests were in art, mathematics, and science. At 14 years of age he elected to take courses at 'O' level in biology, chemistry, design & technology, English, mathematics, and physics, then concentrated his studies with three further years of 'A' level study in biology, chemistry, and physics....

Giuseppe Legname earned his Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Warwick, UK. After a long spell in industry in the field of immunotherapy, he moved to the National Institute for Medical Research (NIMR), Medical Research Council in London, UK as a Research Associate. In 1999 he became Assistant Adjunct Professor, and later Associate Adjunct Professor, at the Institute for Neurodegenerative Diseases (IND), University of California at San Francisco, USA, under the direction of 1997...

Dr. Myra Tabet wanted to become a veterinarian ever since she was 8 years old. She studied veterinary sciences in AUB and graduated with high distinction. She then pursued her Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine in Szent Istvan University in Budapest and graduated in 2015. She completed her PhD at Holy Spirit University of Kaslik. In November 2018, she was ready to open her clinic and founded Dr. Paw.

Dr. Daihnia Dunkley, also known as "Dr. D.," is originally from Jamaica, West Indies, and has resided in New York since the early 90's. In the span of her 15-year nursing career, Dr. Dunkley has worked extensively in the arena of maternal-child health and is an experienced nurse leader with a demonstrated history of working in both hospital and community healthcare, as well as academia. She has now transitioned to a full-time academic role, as...

Harold Swartz is a Professor of Radiology, Professor of Community and Family Medicine, and Professor of Physiology.

Dr. Sergio E. Baranzini is a Distinguished Professor of Neurology at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF). He earned his Ph.D. in human molecular genetics (1997) from the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina. His lab at UCSF uses a multi-disciplinary approach to science and it is composed of experimental and computational researchers. Dr. Baranzini leads the iMSMS, an international consortium to study the effect of bacterial populations (microbiota) on MS susceptibility and progression. In...

Dr. Jaclyn Stephens is fourth-year, tenure-track assistant professor at Colorado State University in the Department of Occupational Therapy. Prior to beginning her career in research, she worked as an occupational therapist with adult and pediatric populations with neurological conditions and disorders. Her current research is focused on traumatic brain injury, which includes sports-related concussions (SRC).

Kim E. Barrett is a research physiologist, specializing in digestive disorders such as inflammatory bowel disease. She currently serves as Distinguished Professor of Medicine and was formerly Dean of the Graduate Division at UCSD. She is the Editor-in-Chief of The Journal of Physiology and a Past-President of the American Physiological Society. Kim is a native of the United Kingdom, and earned her PhD in Biological Chemistry and her BSc in Medicinal Chemistry, both from University...

Dr. Chico is an Instructional Professor in the Department of Neuroscience & Experimental Therapeutics and jointly appointed with the Department of Medical Education at the Texas A&M University College of Medicine, Bryan, TX. She received her Ph.D. in Cell Biology at the University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX and completed postdoctoral training in Biochemistry at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY. She has 16 years of experience teaching in the anatomical sciences (medical...

Dr. Liz grew up swimming and surfing in a lovely southern California town called Thousand Oaks, went to school in Arizona (Go Sun Devils!) to earn Ph.D. in Psychology with a focus on behavioral neuroscience, moved to Morgantown, WV for her postdoctoral fellowship in 2013, and launched her neuroscience research laboratory at WVU (Go Mountaineers!) in 2017, and recently joined the Green Wave (Go Tulane!) as an Assistant Professor in the Clinical Neuroscience Research Center....

Diane S. Allen-Gipson, a McKnight alumna obtained her doctoral degree in Pharmaceutical Sciences from Florida A & M University in 2000 and her Masters degree in Pharmacology and Toxicology in 1997. She is an Associate Professor with tenure in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences in the College of Pharmacy and have courtesy appointments in the Division of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the Department of Bio-engineer at USF. She is also a Collaborative Member at...

Cara M. Sandholdt, PhD is an assistant adjunct professor in anatomy, physiology and pathophysiology for the family nurse practitioner and physician assistant programs at the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing at UC Davis. Sandholdt is an expert in student-centered learning, learning technology and case-based learning methods. She has been a faculty member at community college, undergraduate and graduate level clinical and pre-clinical programs since 2007. She earned a Bachelor of Science from UC Davis...

Dr. Roni, a native of Bangladesh, earned his Bachelor and Master of Pharmacy degrees from the University of Dhaka and a Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Sciences with specialization in neuropharmacology from South Dakota State University. His graduate research focused on understanding the role of neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptor signaling in addiction and psychiatric disorders. Prior to joining UICOMP, he has taught pharmacology and toxicology as an Assistant Professor at Hampton University School of Pharmacy, Virginia and...

Dr. Alexander Payumo pursued his PhD studies at Stanford University in the laboratory of Dr. James Chen where he characterized the role of T-box transcription factors during zebrafish embryogenesis using light-activatable chemical probes. It is during this time that he discovered his love for developmental biology. He then recently completed his postdoctoral studies at the Cardiovascular Research Institute at the University of California, San Francisco in the laboratory of Dr. Guo Huang where he studied...

Julissa is a first-generation Colombian-American master’s student at Saint John’s University. She currently serves as a master fellow in the Collaborative Health Integrated Research Program (CHIRP), where her research focuses on addressing racial and ethnic disparities among Latinx, Black, and Asian populations. In addition to her role as a research assistant, she works as an MRI Research Operator at the New York State Psychiatric Institute, affiliated with Columbia University.

Bruce W. Newton, PhD is Professor and Chair of Anatomy. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Biology at Slippery Rock University, Slippery Rock, PA. and a Ph.D. in Anatomy at the University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY. He participated in post-doctoral work in Neurobiology at the University of Rochester in Rochester, NY. Basic Science Research: Development of afferents into spinal autonomic regions; gonadal hormone control of sexual dimorphism of spinal motoneuron systems; testicular descent; sex...

Dr. Hector Rasgado-Flores is a Professor of Physiology and Biophysics and the Faculty Lead of the Chicago Medical School Community Health and Engagement. He has integrated his passions for science, music, and education into a career transcending traditional boundaries. His academic journey began at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), where he studied medicine, piano, and composition. This unique foundation foreshadowed his interdisciplinary approach to life and work. He later earned master’s and doctoral...

Dr. Linda Mayes is the Arnold Gesell Professor of Child Psychiatry, Pediatrics, and Psychology and Director of the Yale Child Study Center. She is also Special Advisor to the Dean in the Yale School of Medicine. Trained as a pediatrician, Dr. Mayes’s research focuses on stress-response and regulatory mechanisms in young children at both biological and psychosocial risk. She has especially focused on the impact of prenatal substance use on children’s long-term outcomes. She has...

Dr. Hassan Bencheqroun is a quadruple board-certified pulmonary and critical care physician with expertise in respiratory and exercise physiology, cardiopulmonary interactions, and the management of life-threatening multiorgan failure in critical illness. His clinical work focuses on severe lung disease and acute decompensation, including COPD and emphysema, asthma, lung cancer, bacterial and viral pneumonias, pulmonary fibrosis, pulmonary hypertension, chronic cough, and acute respiratory failure requiring life support. He also specializes in end-of-life decision-making in the ICU....

Dr. Ellison is an Assistant Professor/Associate Director of Clinical Training, Practicum Coordinator at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine & Science (RFUMS) in the Department of Psychology embedded within the clinical psychology doctoral program. She holds appointments both in Research and in the Mental Health Service Line at Edward Hines Jr., Veterans Affairs Hospital, as well as at the Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center. Dr. Ellison is a clinical neuropsychologist and researcher, with...

Dr. Claire Yanta is an Associate Professor of Neurology whose work centers on the diagnosis and treatment of headache and facial pain disorders, including migraine, cluster headache, and cranial neuralgias. She practices primarily at the UPMC Headache Center and also serves as a neurology resident clinic preceptor at the UPMC Neurology Clinic in the Kaufmann Medical Building. Her academic career is distinguished by a deep commitment to medical education, spanning both undergraduate and graduate training....

Joseph Alzagatiti, PhD is the Co-Founder and CEO of EndoFold, an AI-driven biotechnology startup pioneering modular, protein-based systems for next-generation therapies. He earned his PhD in Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology from University of California, Santa Barbara in 2025. Joseph founded EndoFold after winning first place at EVOLVED 2024, a global hackathon hosted by Lux Capital that highlights emerging talent at the intersection of software engineering and therapeutic design. His work bridges neurobiology, molecular biology,...

Kornelia Polyak, MD, PhD, is Professor of Medicine at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, and a co-leader of the Dana-Farber Harvard Cancer Center Cancer Cell Biology Program and SPORE in Breast Cancer. Dr. Polyak is an internationally recognized leader of breast cancer research. Her laboratory is dedicated to the study of human breast cancer with the goal of dissecting tumor evolution and use this information to improve the clinical management of breast cancer patients....

Dr. Ryan Assaf is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Health and Society. He received his PhD in Epidemiology at the University of California, Los Angeles, Fielding School of Public Health where he also received his MPH and earned his BS at the University of California, Irvine. He completed his postdoctoral fellowship at the Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative. Dr. Assaf is a social epidemiologist with expertise in substance use among socially marginalized populations....

Monica Gandhi MD, MPH is a Professor of Medicine and Associate Chief in the Division of HIV, Infectious Diseases, and Global Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). She is also the Director of the UCSF Center for AIDS Research (CFAR), with her research focusing on HIV and women, adherence interventions, and optimizing the use of long-acting antiretroviral therapy.