Current Students

Rakhee received a dual Bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Michigan State University. During this time, Rakhee worked as an undergraduate research assistant to Dr. Zachary Burton on elucidating the mechanism-of-action of some of the most fundamental proteins in Biology, RNA Polymerases. She then worked as a cancer research fellow at the Advanced Center for Treatment, Research, and Education in Cancer (ACTREC) in Mumbai, India. Rakhee graduated with a Master’s in Human Genetics from University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, in May 2016. Under the mentorship of Dr. Thomas Glover, she engineered a fluorescence-based assay to visually detect copy number variants (CNVs) that got her nominated for the highly prestigious Barbour Scholarship awarded to outstanding young scientists at the university. Rakhee joined the Cancer Biology PhD program at the UT MDA UTHealth GSBS in August 2016 and since then, has received several awards for her research, and scientific communication achievements including the T. C. Hsu Scholarship. While at GSBS, she actively leads various graduate school committees and has represented the graduate school at the UT system.

Rakhee's Research Interests:                                                                                                                                                                                                                        Metastasis remains the main cause for cancer-related deaths. My research focuses on elucidating how metastatic cancer cells hijack Golgi-mediated exocytosis to alter the tumor immune landscape and the tumor microenvironment for its survival. We expect this work to expand the field of secretomics, which can have extensive applications in treating cancer.

Yasaman received her bachelor’s degree in Physics from Isfahan University of Technology, Iran, and her master’s degree in Physics from the University of Delaware in 2017. She is currently in the medical physics program at GSBS. She joined the Kalluri Lab as a Ph.D. student in 2021 to complete her thesis work. Since joining GSBS, Yasaman has received Schissler Foundation Fellowship and Dr. John J. Kopchick Fellowship. 

Yasaman's Research Interests:                                                                                                                                                                                                                
Her research interests include cancer metabolism and metabolic imaging. Her project is to develop non-invasive methods to diagnose metabolic-genomic alterations and exploit exosomes as oncometabolite biomarkers of brain tumors.

Rachel earned a B.S. in Cell and Molecular Biology from Texas Tech University. As an undergraduate, she was part of the Center for the Integration of STEM Education and Research Undergraduate Research group and the Honors Undergraduate Research Scholars group. She performed research in Dr. Jannette Dufour’s laboratory investigating a novel cell-based treatment of type I diabetes, in which she delineated mechanisms of Sertoli cell immune privilege after transplantation. As a summer intern at UT Southwestern, she also studied mechanisms of pre-term pregnancy. These experiences led her to pursue her graduate studies here at MD Anderson.

Rachel's Research Interests:
My research focuses on how a particular transcription factor regulates plasmacytoid dendritic cell phenotype and immune function.

Rodney earned his M.D. degree from Chang Gung University in Taiwan in 2010. He completed his radiation oncology residency training in Chang Gung Memorial Hospital in Taiwan in 2015 and was actively involved in patient care and oncological research for gastrointestinal and head and neck cancers. He joined MD Anderson as a Visiting Scientist in Dr. Sunil Krishnan’s lab in February 2018 and subsequently enrolled in GSBS Cancer Biology and Immunology Ph.D. programs in Dr. Michael Curran’s lab for translational cancer research training. Rodney was awarded Ralph B. Arlinghaus Ph.D. Scholarship at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in 2019 and the Best Abstract Award on Gastrointestinal Cancer Section at the 60th Annual Meeting of American Society for Radiation Oncology in 2018.

Rodney's Research Interests:                                                                                                                                                                                                                    
My studies focused on advancing the therapeutic efficacy and antitumor immune responses of radiotherapy, reducing radiation treatment toxicity, as well as identifying biological, clinical, and imaging prognosticators for gastrointestinal and head and neck cancers.

Mary earned her B.S. in Cellular and Molecular Biochemistry from the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP). As an undergraduate, Mary participated as a teaching and research assistant for the Work With A Scientist Program where she mentored high school students and conducted a research project evaluating the antioxidant activity and in vitro cytotoxicity of novel compounds for neurodegenerative diseases. Additionally, Mary was accepted in the 2016 cohort of the UTEP Minority Health International Research Training (MHIRT) Program. In this program, Mary performed research at the Health Research Institute in the University of Costa Rica. With the mentorship of Dr. Kenia Barrantes-Jiménez, Mary focused on evaluating the antimicrobial, antiviral, and in vitro cytotoxicity of synthetic surfactants to assess their potential therapeutic implications. Since joining the Cancer Biology Ph.D. program at MD Anderson UTHealth GSBS, Mary has earned several awards for her research and community outreach efforts including the Sylvan Rodriguez Foundation honoring George M. Stancel, PhD (2019), the American Legion Auxiliary Fellowship in Cancer Research (2019), the Fadine Jackson Roquemore Scholarship in Cancer Research (2020), and the Student InterCouncil (SIC) Positive Impact Scholarship (2021). Mary looks forward to expanding her training and research expertise in cancer as a CPRIT Scholar. 

Mary's Research Interests:                                                                                                                                                                                                                           
My research focus involves identifying and targeting epigenetic vulnerabilities in pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (PanNETs) using patient-derived (PDX) samples, novel in vivo models, and cutting-edge research technologies.

Soleil earned her B.S. degree in Radiological Health Engineering from Texas A&M University where she received a minor in Mathematics. As an undergraduate at Texas A&M, she conducted research alongside Dr. Gamal Akabani on the design and fabrication of a novel mouse nebulizer for the imaging of thoracic tumors. In addition to this work, she participated in two internships and researched alongside two academic medical physicists. The first was to research tumor position reproducibility under the guidance of Dr. Julianne Pollard-Larkin in the Department of Radiation Physics at MD Anderson Cancer Center. The second was to design, fabricate, and test an alternative Total Body Irradiation (TBI) compensator using 3D printed materials under the guidance of Dr. Neil Kirby at The University of San Antonio Mays Cancer Center. Since joining the PhD program in Medical Physics at UT MD Anderson GSBS in the fall of 2018, she’s earned multiple research awards including the Charlene Kopchick Fellowship (2021), the Matthew Mireless Scholarship (2020) and Honorable Mention on her application to the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship (2020). As a first-generation and Mexican-American student, Soleil is passionate about leadership, mentorship, and increasing diversity in STEM. She holds multiple leadership roles within the GSBS and the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM). She is the co-founder of the Medical Physics Hispanic Network and serves as an ambassador for the GSBS to mentor students from under-represented backgrounds. Soleil also volunteers at the Ronald McDonald family room at the MD Anderson Children’s Cancer Center. She will be the first PhD in her family and she plans to mentor first generation students like herself to achieve her lifetime goal of diversifying academia.

Soleil's Research Interests:                                                                                                                                                                                                                           
In my graduate studies, I have chosen to work alongside Dr. Laurence Court to automate the radiation therapy treatment planning process for pediatric medulloblastoma. The novel algorithms developed in my project will be made available to cancer centers in resource-constrained clinics through the Radiation Planning Assistant (RPA) to increase global access to high quality radiation therapy

Wen-Hao (Howard) Hsu received his master’s degree in Science in Oral Biology from Taiwan University. During his graduate studies, he focused on the biological functions of pluripotency genes and growth factors in head and neck cancer progression. He found that connective tissue growth factor activates NANOG, SOX2, and POU5F1, and inhibits metastasis in head and neck cancer. After graduation he worked at as a research technician in National Yang-Ming University and was trained extensively in stem cell biology, genetics, and epigenetics. He joined the GSBS for his Ph.D. training in 2018. 

Wen-Hao’s Research Interests:                                                                                                                                                                                                                 
In Dr. DePinho's lab, Howard plans to investigate the role of telomere dysfunction using a colorectal cancer mouse model, especially studying for the genomic and transcriptomic events driving metastasis in colorectal cancer. He expects his work to contribute to clinical prevention and therapy of colorectal cancer metastasis.

Sunada received her B.A. in Biology from Wesleyan College in 2016. As an undergraduate she worked with Dr. Holly Boettger Tong to investigate the molecular mechanism underlying uterine leiyomyoma and completed her Honors Thesis on the topic “The effects of ALL-TRANS retinoic acid on collagen accumulation in uterine leiomyomas”. She was selected to participate as a summer scholar at Novartis Institutes for Biomedical in 2015 where she worked in the Cardiovascular and Metabolism DA with Dr. Nigel Casson to identify a novel protein implicated in the therapeutic management of obesity. In the summer of 2015, she was selected to participate in the CPRIT CURE summer program at MD Anderson Cancer Center where she worked in the lab of Dr. Ronald A. DePinho to identify novel therapeutic targets in castration resistant prostate cancer. These two summer research experiences reinforced her passion for biomedical research, and she sought to obtain her graduate training at MD Anderson. Since coming to GSBS, Sunada has assumed leadership positions in different student organizations, and actively serves in the student council of Cancer Biology Program. At GSBS, she has earned multiple fellowships and awards including the Larry Deaven Fellowship in Biomedical Research, (2019-2021) Caroline Ross Endowment Fellowship (2019) and R.W. Butcher Achievement Award (2019).

Sunada's Research Interests:
My research focuses on validating Coenzyme A metabolism as a targetable metabolic vulnerability in PTEN and PANK1 co-deleted tumors.

Laura earned her B.S. in Biology from Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia (UPCH) in Lima, Peru. In UPCH, she started her research career in Dr. José Luis Aguilar’s laboratory investigating the effect of different natural products on the immune system. Here, Laura performed a thesis project where she investigated the effects of Cat’s claw (Uncaria tomentosa), a Peruvian plant, on tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes of mice with melanoma. In 2017, Laura performed a 6-month research internship in the Melanoma Medical Oncology Department in Dr. Willem Overwijk’s laboratory. In the Overwijk Lab, Laura participated in a project that aimed to elucidate how a novel bio-engineered immunotherapeutic affected the immune compartment of tumor-bearing mice. She immediately transitioned into her graduate studies after this experience.                                                                 

Laura’s Research Interests:                                                                                                                                                                                                                        
My research seeks to delineate the role for Leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) in intestinal immunity and inflammation. Other research interests revolve around a) myeloid subsets and their differentiation and function in the gut; b) the relationship between the immune system and the gut microbiome, and c) the role of the immune system in cancer. 

Jiexi received her B.S. in Biological Science from the Huazhong University of Science and Technology in China and her M.S. in Biology from New York University. Her master's research focused on investigating the role of hypoxia-induced microRNA-451 in glioblastoma under the mentorship of Dr. Eva Hernando. After graduation, she worked with Dr. effie Apostolou at Weill Cornell Medical College as a research technician and lab manager, during which time, she trained extensively in epigenetics, stem cell biology, and iPSC studies. She joined the GSBS for her Ph.D. in 2016.

Jiexi's Research Interests:
In Dr. DePinho's lab, Jiexi is using in vivo colorectal cancer models to study the epigenetic factors that govern colorectal cancer liver metastasis in a gender specific manner. She expects her findings to contribute to advances in the clinical treatment of colorectal cancer metastases.

Mi earned his BS from Sichuan University in Chengdu, China, where he later served as a research technician for several years before joining MD Anderson Cancer Center. At Sichuan University, Mi studied lung cancer metastasis and developed an in vivo model to study bone metastases of human lung cancer. Next, Mi served as a research intern and research assistant in the neuro-oncology department at MD Anderson, where he studied amino acid metabolism before joining the GSBS for his graduate work.

Mi's Research Interests:
I study DNA damage responses induced by overexpression of cyclin E isoforms. 

Sonia received her Bachelor’s degree in Biology from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. After graduating, she worked as a research technician in Dr. Oliver Dorigo’s lab at Stanford University School of Medicine. Since coming to GSBS in Fall 2018, Sonia has joined the Cancer Biology Program and has been working in Dr. John Heymach’s lab in the Department of Thoracic Head & Neck Medical Oncology.  

Sonia's Research Interests:                                                                                                                                                                                                                          
My research seeks to elucidate the immunological mechanisms which drive resistance to immunotherapy in the EGFR-mutant NSCLC tumor environment.

Parin earned his Bacherlor’s in Pharmacy and a Master’s in Pharmacology. As a graduate student, his work focused on developing targeted drug-delivery nanoparticles to enhance drug-delivery efficiency and overcoming cellular resistance by lowering tumor apoptotic threshold. Following graduation, he worked at Dana Farber Cancer Institute and Broad Institute delineating mechanisms of resistance to therapies using single-cell approaches. Parin joined GSBS in 2017 and is an active member of the Immunology program. During this time, he has earned Steve Lasher and Janiece Longoria Graduate Student Research Award (2020) and Tata Scholarship (2021).  

Parin’s Research Interests:                                                                                                                                                                                                                          
My current research focuses on Chimeric Antigen Receptor and TIL Adoptive cell Therapy.

Anupallavi earned an integrated B.S. and M.S. in Biotechnology from the University of Pune in India. As part of her B.S. studies, she assigned a genetic location to a novel hydrophobin like protein found in yeast with wide ranging applications in bio-industries. She was awarded the 2013 Indian Academy of Sciences Summer Scholarship to study the virulence factors of Streptococcus pneumoniae at the National Institute of Immunology (New Delhi, India). Anupallavi was competitively selected by the Department of Biotechnology (with the Indian Government) for the 2015 Khorana Scholarship Program to undertake research on the development of Natural Killer (NK) cells at the University of Wisconsin (Milwaukee, WI). Her M.S. research focused on chromosome biology at the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Physiology (Dormund, Germany), wherein she characterized the mechanism of recruitment of kinases to the kinetochore of mammalian cells during mitotic cell division. Anupallavi joined the GSBS in 2016, where she has been an active member of the Immunology Program since.

Anupallavi's Research Interests:
My research focus is to investigate the distinct role and translational relevance of PD-L2 in the immunobiology of the PD-1 signaling pathway.  

Emily earned her B.S. degree in Radiological Health Engineering from Texas A&M University where she also received a minor in Mathematics and certificates in Safety Engineering and Business Management. As an undergraduate student, Emily worked at the Michael DeBakey Institute studying effects of low-dose ionizing radiation on the mesenteric lymphatic system in the labs of Dr. Christopher Quick and Dr. Ranjeet Dongonkar. Since joining the Ph.D. program in Medical Physics at the UT MD Anderson GSBS in 2016, she has earned several awards for her research including the Waltrip Imperial Guard Alumnae Scholarship (2016 – 2020), American Legion Auxiliary Fellowship in Cancer Research (2019), Society for Thermal Medicine Scholar-In-Training Award (2019), and the SIR Foundation Allied Scientist Training Grant (2020). Emily holds leadership roles in multiple GSBS organizations and is active in the American Association of Physicists in Medicine where she chairs the Annual Student Meeting and Interview Workshop. Outside of the lab, Emily enjoys beekeeping, intramural sports, and volunteering with the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.

Emily's Research Interests:
My research involves characterizing the spatiotemporal evolution of thermochemical ablation, a novel therapy under development for minimally invasive procedures in interventional radiology. Here, I use advanced CT and MRI imaging techniques with theranostic contrast agents to progress image guided therapy. 

Er-Yen (Nick) received his B.S. in Life Science from National Taiwan University. He later furthered his education with a Master’s degree in Anatomy and Cell Biology at National Taiwan University. Under the mentorship of Dr. I-Rue Lai, a physician scientist specializing in gastrointestinal oncology, Nick’s thesis project examined the roles of gastric cancer-derived exosomes in establishing a pre-metastatic niche in the peripheral lymph node. After graduation, Nick worked as a research assistant specializing in imaging analysis in Dr. Feng-Chiao Tsai’s lab. Under the supervision of Dr. Guilio Draetta and Dr. Andrea Viale, Nick’s work has been awarded the Rosalie B. Hite Fellowship (2021) as well as the Andrew Sowell-Wade Huggins Scholarships in Cancer Research (2019). 

Er-Yen's Research Interests:                                                                                                                                                                                                                       
My research focuses on spatial heterogeneity of pancreatic cancer and characterizing interaction between subclones and their surrounding microenvironment as an approach of identifying potential therapeutic target.

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