Current Students

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.

Alexandria received her Bachelor’s degree in Molecular Biology from the University of North Carolina at Pembroke, where she also lettered as a NCAA varsity athlete in women’s volleyball. Following graduation, Alexandria worked as a cancer research fellow first at the National Institutes of Health (at the National Cancer Institute), then at Harvard Medical School in affiliation with the Massachusetts General Hospital; mentored by Drs. Steven Rosenberg and Jennifer Wargo, respectively. Next, Alexandria worked full time at the University of Pennsylvania in the Center for Cellular Immunotherapies (CCI), directed by Dr. Carl H. June while in graduate school. In May 2016, she graduated summa cum laude from the School of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of Pennsylvania with a Master’s in Bioengineering and Engineering Entrepreneurship. Since joining the Immunology PhD program at the UT MD Anderson UTHealth Graduate School in August 2016, Alexandria has received a number awards recognizing her academic, research, and community outreach achievements, including the Student InterCouncil Academic Achievement Award (2020), the Dr. John J. Kopchick Fellowship (2019), the American Legion Auxiliary Fellowship in Cancer Research (2018), the R.W. Butcher Achievement Award (2017), and the Schissler Foundation Fellowship (2016). Recently, Alexandria completed a Fulbright Research Fellowship in Paris, France under the advisement of Prof. Laurence Zitvogel examining domestic and international differences in cancer responsiveness as it relates to the gut microbiome. Over the next year as a CPRIT Scholar, Alexandria looks to publish and present her findings globally.

Alexandria's Research Statement:
Recent work, has shed light on the impact of gut microbiota on patient response to systemic anticancer therapeutics. My research seeks to elucidate unifying mechanisms of host microbial interactions that govern response and resistance to immune checkpoint blockade. We anticipate that the insights gained with this work will have broad applicability across multiple cancer types.

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 Focus:
My research focuses on validating Coenzyme A metabolism as a targetable metabolic vulnerability in PTEN and PANK1 co-deleted tumors.

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. 

Akash earned his B.S. in Biotechnology and Bioinformatics from Rutgers University, New Brunswick. As an undergraduate, he interned in pharmaceutical/medical device companies in process and validation engineering. Akash has held leadership roles in multiple student organizations at GSBS and the TMC Consulting Club.  

Akash's Research Interests:
My research focuses on spatial intratumor heterogeneity and the molecular characterization of therapeutic vulnerabilities in the tumor microenvironment.

Naveen earned his Bachelors of Technology in Biotechnology at Sathyabama University (Chennai, India), where he focused his undergraduate research on the characterization of genome-based barcoding of Justicia gendarussa and Justicia tranquebariensis. He moved to the United States and completed a M.S. in Biostatistics with a minor in Epidemiology at The University of Texas at Houston School of Public Health (Houston, TX). Under the mentorship of Dr. Fuli Yu, he focused on the theoretical investigation of the feasibility and accuracy of SNP discovery in extremely low-coverage NGS-based cohort studies. Naveen is an active volunteer at the MD Anderson UTHealth Graduate School and participates in STEM outreach activities.

Naveen's Research Interests:
My research focuses on delineating therapy resistance in prostate cancer using plasma genome sequencing.

Iman earned her Bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry and Master’s degree in Neuroscience from the University of Houston. Her Master’s thesis was completed in collaboration with the Baylor College of Medicine, where she researched the impacts of radiation therapy on the developing brain. Her research experience has also incorporated the use of imaging techniques in the characterization of therapeutic response in several tumor types. In her time at GSBS, Iman has served in multiple leadership and outreach roles throughout the GSBS and the Neuroscience Program.

Iman's Research Focus:
My current research focuses on characterizing the expression and molecular mechanisms of oncogenic miRNAs in brain tumors using imaging and targeted therapeutic approaches.

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.  

Sanjana earned her B.S. in Psychology and Biology from the University of Toronto, where she focused her research on examining the role of androgen receptors in olfactory and sexual preferences in rats in the lab of Dr. Ashley Monks. She then earned her Master’s in Public Health in Epidemiology from the University of Texas School of Public Health. Here, under the supervision of Dr. Eric Boerwinkle developing genetic risk scores associating chronic diseases to the incidence of Alzheimer’s disease. She also worked as a Graduate Research Assistant in MD Anderson’s Department of Behavioral Science with Dr. Karen Basen-Engquist where she helped design and conduct diet and exercise interventions for cancer survivors. Sanjana joined the GSBS in 2016, where she has been an active member of the Quantitative Sciences program. 

Sanjana's Research Focus:
My research focus is based on developing a systems-level functional genomics approach to enable model-by-model characterization of oncogenic signaling and dependency and to support better clinical positioning of targeted therapies for pancreatic cancer patients.

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. 

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