Alumni Stories
From undergraduate and graduate degrees to residencies and fellowships, MD Anderson's education and training programs are as diverse as the types of care we provide.
Here's a look at how our alumni are using the knowledge they gained here to make a difference in their chosen fields.
If you would like the opportunity to be featured in future alumni communications, share your updates with us via the online questionnaire.
Kelsey Maxwell-Acosta, Ph.D.
Clinical
Scientist
ExecuPharm
Dallas, TX
All roads lead to and from research
Kelsey Maxwell-Acosta’s number one love is marine biology and
has been since she was a child. There is no definitive moment she can
pinpoint that sparked her interest in ocean life. And today as a
certified advanced open water scuba diver, she is perfectly fine being
in the depths of the ocean and not be able to see her hand in front of
her face yet on land she has a profound fear of heights. What?
So how did Kelsey’s love of marine biology lead her to becoming an
oncology-focused clinical scientist? Finding herself at a
make-or-break point for a career choice, she was torn between medical
school or marine biology. During her pursuit she read about biomedical
research programs and saw how this field would allow her to focus on
endless topics, including medicine and marine biology.
Read more about Kelsey's story, her work, her mentors
and more.
Aaron Emfinger, M.S., RT (R)(CT)
CT Technologist
MD Anderson Cancer Center
Houston, TX
He loves those "light bulb moments"
Most people can cite an inspiration that contributed toward their decision to pursue their chosen profession. For Aaron Emfinger, a CT technologist at MD Anderson, his aunt losing her battle with cancer had a significant impact.
Aaron does not come from a family with generations of medical professionals. Yet he was always interested in anatomy and physiology, which led him out of curiosity to take some college X-ray courses to test his interest.
Turns out Aaron and Radiology were a good fit.
Read more about Aaron's story, his work, his mentors and more.
Sarp Korcan Keskin, M.D.
Physician, Assistant Professor & Senior Clinical Fellow
Imperial College London
London, England
Never give up on chasing your dreams
Sarp credits his association with MD Anderson for opening many career doors. He has worked in three countries, all of which have different healthcare and research infrastructures. Sarp sites his most significant achievement as his pursuit of advancing his career beyond an age that most consider as too late. Even though his dreams grew
exponentially after his time at MD Anderson, he never gave up.
Read more about Sarp's story, his work, his mentors and more.
Marites P. Melancon, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Interventional Radiology
Director, Summer Experience & Odyssey Fellowship Programs
MD Anderson Cancer Center
Houston, TX
Another career fueled by childhood intrigue
As a young girl, Marites Melancon, Ph.D., or Tess, often accompanied her father to his work at a soap factory in the Philippines where Tess grew up. During those visits to her father’s work, Tess was intrigued by how raw materials were used to create everyday items.
Her interest in research involving raw materials continued into her education. As an undergraduate student at the University of San Carlos in Cebu City, Philippines, the topic of her thesis focused on natural products chemistry.
Read more about Tess' story, her work, her mentors and more.
Anushree Sharma, Ph.D., MPH
Observational Research Manager
Amgen - Los Angeles, CA
Take your granddaughter to work
Anushree Sharma was born in India into a family of science. She fondly remembers time spent with her grandfather, who also was a scientist. Occasionally he would take Anushree and her brother to his workplace. Anushree remembers the feeling of awe as she observed the display of brilliance and intellect while listening to her grandfather converse with fellow men of science.
Today Anushree continues to keep science in the family through her work with Amgen, a global leader in the biotechnology arena. Anushree is an observational research manager who supports the early oncology pipeline at Amgen. Simply said, she helps bring drugs to market to treat patients with cancer.
Read more about Anushree's story, her work, her mentors and more.
Katherine Caceres, HTL
Histology
Technician
Sagis Diagnostics - Houston, TX
Swipe right for histotechnology
Coming
from a family of healthcare professionals, Katherine Caceres never
questioned whether she would follow suit and personally choose a
career in healthcare. What she didn’t expect was to learn during her
first year of nursing school that nursing wasn’t the perfect fit for
her. She took an educational hiatus to do some soul searching to
find a new path that would achieve the goals that originally drove
her to nursing.
Fortunately for Kathy, she had already been introduced to the
University of Texas MD Anderson School of Health Professions during a
community college field trip. Kathy describes her first interaction
with the MD Anderson histology lab as love at first sight. She was
intrigued by the tissue slides and how a histology technician
contributes toward the diagnosis and treatment of disease. And the
rest is history.
Read
more about Katherine's story, her work, her mentors and more.
Sara Sheppard, HTL
Senior Research Histology Technician
Department of Veterinary Medicine & Surgery
MD Anderson Cancer Center
Houston, Texas
She quietly whispered ‘thank you – you are saving a life’
One high school career field trip to the University of Texas MD Anderson School of Health Professionals and Sara was hooked. At the time of her visit, she already had several years of experience in the healthcare environment. Sara’s future career choice was profoundly influenced by the time spent in hospitals as she supported her father’s courageous fight against heart disease.
Why histotechnology? It’s a hands-on field, which is something that appealed to Sara. Currently she works as a senior research histology technician in the MD Anderson Department of Veterinary Medicine & Surgery. In her research laboratory role, she prepares animal tissue slides for researchers. Sara may not interact directly with patients in her day-to-day work, yet the results of her work are instrumental in cancer diagnosis, treatment and prevention.
In May 2018, Sara’s father received a life-saving heart transplant. At the time she was working with human tissue for a previous employer preparing slides of deceased donor tissue for pathologists to determine compatibility for a match with prospective transplant recipients. With every donor tissue slide she prepared, quietly in her head she thought of the name of the person from which the tissue was harvested and whispered a heartfelt, "Thank you, you are saving a life."
Regardless of whether Sara’s career leads toward work with animal or human tissue, the outcome is the same. Someone’s life, now or in the future, is being saved because of people like Sara, who have dedicated their time and talents toward cancer research, treatment and prevention.
Read more about Sara's story, her work, her mentors and more.
Alejandro Tortoriello, M.D.
Program
Manager
Venture Development, Strategic Industry Ventures
MD Anderson Cancer Center
Houston, Texas
The grass doesn’t have a chance to grow under his feet
Alejandro Tortoriello, M.D. is that guy who always asks, “Why?” And if he’s not satisfied with the answer, he moves into action mode when he can to make things better.
A native of Mexico, Alejandro spent a summer during medical school doing research at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. Inspired by his time at MD Anderson, he returned to Mexico and started two companies: one focused on preventing diabetes and obesity in children and a second involving the creation of work space where physicians could focus on patient care and less on back-office functions.
Alejandro currently works with faculty, researchers, employees and others at MD Anderson Cancer Center to take innovative ideas for improved patient care from the lab to the bedside.
UT System piloted a venture mentoring program with MD Anderson that now supports seven UT System institutions by connecting faculty and staff with experienced business mentors. Alejandro's favorite part of the job is the community volunteer mentor network that supports individual projects. He works with retired executives and entrepreneurs who volunteer their time and expertise to guide the venture groups toward a successful solution to the problem they are addressing.
Read more about Alejandro’s story, his work, his mentors and more.
Kaleena Maria Ramirez, HTL
Education
Coordinator
School of Health Professions Histotechnology
Program
MD Anderson Cancer Center
Houston, Texas
The student became the teacher
A graduate of the School of Health Professions Histotechnology program, Kaleena Ramirez's first post-graduation job with MD Anderson was with the Veterinary Medicine and Surgery department. In this role she also served as preceptor for the next class of histotechnology students which, in turn, ignited her desire to teach.
Although Kaleena's day-to-day responsibilities does not involve direct interaction with patients, she teaches her students to connect the work they do in the lab with the difference their work makes in the lives of patients, most of which are total strangers to the students. The quicker and more accurate their lab work is accomplished allows the pathologist to determine the right diagnosis which is important to the care and treatment of the patient.
Kaleena also has a unique point-of-view as she sees histotechnology as a balance between science and art. The exacting nature of the work is important for the patient's diagnosis, yet she finds the stains to be very beautiful.
Read more about Kaleena’s story, her work, her mentors and more.
Christopher Danos, M.Ed., CG (ASCP)
Clinical Cytogenetic Technologist
MD Anderson Cancer Center
Houston, Texas
From high school biology to cytogenetics
Christopher Danos was teaching high school biology and physics when he knew he had to take his love of science to the next level. He always loved science and wasn’t intentionally seeking a healthcare-related career. His journey led him to the MD Anderson School of Health Professions Cytogenetics Program. And he's never looked back.
It was the thoroughness of the cytogenetics program and the passion of the instructors that motivated Christopher toward his new love of healthcare and, as he puts it, his desire to strike out cancer once and for all.
Click here to read more about Christopher's story, his work, his mentors and more.
Keri Schadler, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Pediatrics Research
MD Anderson Cancer Center
Houston, Texas
Living her dream
Describing her first day opening her own lab as a principal investigator at MD Anderson Cancer Center as "one of the most exciting days of my life," Keri Schadler, Ph.D., is living her dream. Keri is a graduate of The University of Texas MD Anderson Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences.
Keri leads her own laboratory which focuses on understanding novel ways to treat tumors by targeting tumor vasculature to improve efficiency of drug delivery to tumor cells. Her work in this focus area began while a graduate student in cancer biology and vascular biology at MD Anderson.
Read more about Keri's story, her work, her mentors and more.