Trainee Spotlight

Dr. Ayoub earned his B.S. in Biology from Long Island University (Brooklyn, NY). He later earned an M.S. and a Ph.D. (2019) - both in Pharmacology,  from the University of Rochester Medical Center in New York. His thesis work, supervised by Dr. Archibald Perkins, was titled "The role of EVI1 in hematopoietic stem cell differentiation and leukemia." In 2018, he was awarded a Ruth L. Kirschstein Predoctoral Individual National Research Service Award (NRSA) F31 fellowship from the NIH/NHLBI for his work on EVI1 in hematopoiesis. Dr. Ayoub joined the TRIUMPH Program in Fall 2019. 

Dr. Ayoub's Research:
My research focuses on investigating the correlation between minimal residual disease and the chemotherapy resistance in high risk AML.

Current Funding Source:
Dr. Ayoub is currently supported by the NIH through his F32 award.

Matthew earned his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology. He then earned his M.S. in Mechanical Engineering and Ph.D. in Bioengineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology under the guidance of Dr. Brandon Dixon. His graduate thesis was titled “Functional lymphatic changes and the immune response during lymphedema development” and was supported by a Ruth L. Kirschstein Predoctoral Individual National Research Service Award (NRSA) F31 fellowship from the NIH/NHLBI. Matthew joined the TRIUMPH Postdoctoral Fellowship Program in February 2022.

Current Funding Source:
Dr. Cribb is currently supported by the CPRIT TRIUMPH Postdoctoral Fellowship Award (RP210028).

Haijing received her Ph.D. degree in the Quantitative & Computational Biosciences Graduate Program from Baylor College of Medicine under the guidance of Dr. Zhandong Liu. Haijing’s Ph.D. projects are focused on the systematic biases caused by different biological and technical factors on transcriptomics deconvolution analysis. Dr. Jin joined MD Anderson Cancer Center as a TRIUMPH Postdoctoral Fellow in 2021.

Dr. Jin's Research Interests:
Haijing’s research projects are focused on unraveling tumor heterogeneity utilizing multi-omics data. She also develops tools for phylogenetic analysis and multi-modal data integration.

Current Funding Source:
Dr. Jin is funded by the CPRIT TRIUMPH Postdoctoral Fellowship Award (RP210028).

Kiran earned his B.Sc. (Bachelor of Science) in Physiology in 2009 from Serampore College (University of Calcutta), India. Then he did his M.Sc. (Master of Science) in Human Physiology, specializing Immunology and Microbiology from University of Calcutta. Upon completion, Kiran obtained his Ph.D. from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel in 2020. He performed his Ph.D. thesis work under the guidance of Professor Angel Porgador, Dean, The Shraga Segal Dept. of Microbiology, Immunology and Genetics. Kiran's Ph.D. thesis topic was ‘Identification of Immune Checkpoints Involving the Natural Cytotoxicity Receptors in Respect to Natural Killer Cells Functions’ and his Ph.D. study was supported by fellowship from Kreitman School of Advanced Graduate Studies, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel.

Dr. Kundu's Research Interests:
Human leukocyte antigen G (HLA-G) is usually known as a central protein in providing immune tolerance to the fetus in pregnant women. As a class I major histocompatibility complex (MHC) protein, function of HLA-G is to suppress the function of NK cells, subset of T cells via leukocyte Ig-like receptor subfamily B member 1 (LILRB1) and member 2 (LILRB2), and the killer immunoglobulin-like receptor 2DL4 (KIR2DL4). Upregulation of HLA-G on cancer cell surface plays the similar role of immunosuppression. In his current post-doctoral project, using NK cells from healthy human donor cord blood Kiran is developing CAR-NK cells to target HLA-G protein.

Current Funding Source:
Dr. Kundu is currently mentor funded.

From Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, Andrew earned a B.S. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire and a Ph.D. in Cellular and Molecular Pathology from the University of Wisconsin - Madison. His graduate thesis, titled "Quantifying Chromosomal Instability in Cancer: from first principles toward clinical value", focused on developing better measures of chromosomal instability to improve personalized medicine. He joined the Van Loo Lab as a TRIUMPH Fellow in July of 2023 where he will investigate evolutionary patterns of extrachromosomal DNA. In his spare time, he enjoys reading, cooking, and all things outdoors.

Current Funding Source:
Dr. Lynch is supported by the CPRIT Training Award RP210028.

Dr. Merting earned her B.S. in Biology from the University of South Carolina Aiken. She then earned her Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences with a focus on Biochemistry and Cancer Biology under the guidance of Dr. Kebin Liu at the Medical College of Georgia. Her graduate thesis was titled "Enhancing Immune Therapy by Modulating Cell Death" and was supported by a Ruth L. Kirschstein Predoctoral Individual National Research Service Award (NRSA) F31 fellowship from the NCI. Dr. Merting joined the TRIUMPH Postdoctoral Fellowship Program in August 2022.

Current Funding Source:
Dr. Merting is funded by the CPRIT TRIUMPH Postdoctoral Fellowship Award (RP210028).

Dr. Morris earned his B.S. in Nanomedicine Engineering and B.A. in Chemistry from the University of Virginia. He later earned his M.S. in Biological and Physical Sciences from the University of Virginia School of Medicine. In 2022, Dr. Morris earned his Ph.D. in Experimental Pathology from the University of Virginia School of Medicine. His graduate work was entitled “Towards Personalized Medicine: Identifying, Characterizing, and Targeting Drivers of Aggressive Cancers.” Under the direction of Dr. Marty Mayo, his research focused on using genomic datasets and molecular biology tools to investigate novel mechanisms potentiating aggressive cancers. Results from this work are helping redefine how cryptic cancer genetic events heighten replication stress and subsequently impact several hallmarks of cancer. Dr. Morris joined MD Anderson Cancer Center as a TRIUMPH postdoctoral research fellow in 2022.

Dr. Morris' Research Interests:
My research project is focused on identifying and targeting novel vulnerabilities in small cell lung cancer to overcome therapeutic resistance.

Current Funding Source:
Dr. Morris is currently mentor funded.

Dr. Park earned her BS in Chemistry from the University of Oklahoma and her Ph.D. in Biochemistry, Cellular and Molecular Biology from John Hopkins University. Her Ph.D. project, under the mentorship of  Dr. Andrew Holland, focused on understanding the role of splicing factors in centriole duplication. As a native Houstonian, Liz moved home to join the TRIUMPH program for her postdoctoral fellowship training in 2020.

Dr. Park's Research Interests:
My research project focuses on identifying how the gut microbiome affects response to immune checkpoint blockade (ICB)therapy and ICB-induced toxicity.

Current Funding Source:
Dr. Park is currently supported by the NIH through her F32 award.

Dr. Patterson earned her B.S. in Biological Sciences from Marquette University (Milwaukee, WI). She later received her M.S. in Biology from Texas Southern University under the guidance of Dr. Mario Hollomon (2016), during which she was accepted as a fellow of the Cancer Prevention Research Training Program (CPRTP) Summer Research Experience at MD Anderson under the mentorship of Dr. Joya Chandra. Dr. Patterson then received her Ph.D. from the University of Texas Medical Branch in Biochemistry, Cellular & Molecular Biology under the tutelage of Dr. Jere McBride (2022). Her graduate research titled “Ehrlichia chaffeensis Activates Notch Signaling Through SLiM Mimicry to Inhibit Apoptosis”, revealed a molecular mechanism whereby an obligately intracellular pathogen, Ehrlcihia chaffeensis, has evolved moonlighting proteins and molecular mimicry to rewire conserved signaling pathways and cellular functions to ensure persistent infection and survival. The identification of a short linear motif found within a non-canonical Notch ligand gives more insight into the underlying molecular mechanisms of aberrant Notch activation and may therefore lead to therapeutic approaches for diseases by which constitutively activated Notch signaling leads to disease onset and progression. Her graduate research was supported by The UTMB McLaughlin Endowment Predoctoral Fellowship Program and a Ruth L. Kirschstein Predoctoral Individual National Research Service Award (NRSA) F31 fellowship from the NIH/NIAID. Dr. Patterson joined MD Anderson as a TRIUMPH Postdoctoral Fellow in January 2023. 

Dr. Patterson's Research Interests:
My research project is focused on elucidating the mechanism for why a subset of patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) develop new onset diabetes (NOD). Increasing evidence has shown that NOD is a manifestation of asymptomatic PDAC, and may therefore be utilized for early detection. Therefore, by identifying the underlying mechanism of dysglycemia and putative drivers of the hyperglycemic phenotype in pancreatic cancer, we may detect pancreatic cancer at earlier stages and improve therapeutic modalities.

Current Funding Source:
Dr. Patterson is funded by the CPRIT TRIUMPH Postdoctoral Fellowship Award (RP210028).                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

Dr. Pham earned her B.A. in Biology and Chemistry at Wesleyan College and her Ph.D. in Molecular and Human Genetics at Baylor College of Medicine under the guidance of Dr. Grzegorz Ira. Her Ph.D. project demonstrates how cells prevent the usage of very mutagenic pathway of the DNA Double Strand Breaks (DSBs) repair called Break Induced Replication (BIR). This pathway is responsible for many genomic instabilities in human, it is activated in cancer cells and it is normally suppressed during repair of so called two-ended DSBs. She also contributed to the identification of the new function of Dna2, a well-conserved nuclease and helicase, in preventing large and complex DNA insertions at chromosomal breaks. 

Dr. Pham's Research Interests:
Medium-chain Acyl-CoA dehydrogenase (MCAD) is one of the enzymes involved in mitochondrial fatty acid b-oxdation. The depletion of MCAD in primary glioblastoma triggered lipid peroxidation, oxidative stress, irreversible mitochondrial damage, and apoptosis. As inherited MCAD deficiency is a condition compatible with normal quality of life, the dependency of glioblastoma cancer cells of MCAD suggests a therapeutic window for GBM. My research project focuses on understanding the protective role of MCAD in tumorigenesis and/on progression of GBM.

Current Funding Source:
Dr. Pham is currently supported by mentor funds.                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

Rance attained a Bachelor of Engineering (Biomedical Engineering) (Honors) at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT, Melbourne Australia) in 2017. Rance continued the academic pathway at RMIT and have recently earned his Ph.D. in January 2022, under the guidance of Prof. Martin Leary (RMIT) and Prof. Tomas Kron (Peter MacCallum Cancer Center). His Ph.D. research focuses on developing custom radiotherapy phantoms using 3D printing for the end-to-end testing of personalized lung treatment plans, funded through the Australian Research Council Industrial Transformation Training Centre in Additive Biomanufacturing (ARC ABM).Rance joined MD Anderson Cancer Center as a TRIUMPH Postdoctoral Fellow in September 2022.

Dr. Tino's Research Interests:
My research explores the clinical translation of 3D printing and digital-twin technologies in Radiation Oncology.  

Current Funding Source:
Dr. Tino is funded by the CPRIT TRIUMPH Postdoctoral Fellowship Award (RP210028).

The current TRIUMPH application cycle closes on September 30, 2023. Apply today!