Lab Members
Principal Investigator
Joya Chandra, Ph.D.
Professor
Email: JChandra@MDAnderson.org
B.S. in Microbiology, Louisiana State University, 1993
Ph.D. in Cancer Biology and Immunology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center UTHealth Houston Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, 1998
Postdoctoral Fellowship, Division of Toxicology, Institute for Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institute, 1998–2000
Postdoctoral Fellowship, Division of Oncology Research, Mayo Clinic, 2000–2002
Hobbies: Cooking, Kayaking and Canoeing
Hometown: New Orleans, LA
Huaxian Ma
Research Investigator
Email: HMa2@MDAnderson.org
B.S. in Chemistry, Shandong University, 1984
M.S. in Chemistry, Shandong University, 1987
Huaxian's research interests focus on generating a maintaining acute leukemia mouse models for evaluation of therapeutic strategies inclusive of pharmacological and lifestyle (generating and maintaining nutrition, circadian, and tobacco) factors.
Hobbies: Reading, Gardening and Hiking
Hometown: Jinan, China
Alaina Poche
Research Assistant II
Email: ALPoche@MDAnderson.org
B.S. in Biochemistry, Louisiana State University, 2022
Alaina’s work is focused on the mechanisms of damage correlating to reactive oxygen species due to anthracycline use in pediatric cancer treatment. This is achieved by processing, measuring, and analyzing potential biomarkers of Doxorubicin-induced cellular damage, utilizing direct patient blood samples and patient-derived cell lines. She is also conducting clinical research on dietary interventions for cancer patients through a multisite nutrition study, focusing on the mechanisms by which diet quality and timing impact disease progression and treatment efficacy.
Hobbies: Cooking, Photography and Music
Hometown: Baton Rouge, LA
Lab Alumni
Postdoctoral Research Fellows
Susan Stephenson, Ph.D., 11/2004–6/2005
Kechen Ban, Ph.D., 1/2005–1/2006
Yin Gao, Ph.D., 8/2006–11/2007
Melissa M. Singh, Ph.D., 3/2009–8/2014
Claudia Miller, Ph.D., 6/2009–6/2010
Mary Irwin, Ph.D., 8/2010–8/2016
Tiewei Cheng, Ph.D., 3/2015–1/2019
Alexsandra Espejo, Ph.D., 11/2016–11/2017
Clinical Fellows
Joy Fulbright, M.D., 2008–2010
Lorimar Ramirez, M.D., 11/2010–5/2012
Daniella Egas-Bejar, M.D., 9/2012–6/2014
Fernando Corrales-Medina, M.D., 9/2012–6/2014
Brianna Murphy, D.O., 8/2017– 5/2019
Sanila (Dinah) Sarkar, M.D.
Shaikha AlQahtani, M.D.
Graduate Students
Claudia Miller, 2004–2009
Adrienne Howard, 2006–2008
Nilsa Rivera Del Valle, 2008–2013
Christa Manton, 2010–2014
Blake Johnson, 2012–2014
Margaret Raber, M.P.H., 2012–2018
Nupur Lala, 2015
Cavan Bailey, 2015–2020
Sahar Eshtehardi, M.S., 2018–2020
Mary Figueroa, 2016–2022
Lea Stitzlein
Faith Hernandez
Medical Students
Erica Co-Reyes, 2011–2012
Philip Knouse, 2013
Patrick Ruggles, 2015
Kendal Kiser, 2016
Undergraduate and Summer Students
Bradley Eisemann, 2004
Jason Long, 2004–2006
Tejas Manchandia, 2006
Shan Gao, 2006–2008
Sharmistha Rudra, 2007–2008
Randal Hale, 2008
Carolina Gonzales, 2009
Michael Ting, 2010
Michelle Suh, 2010
Jalissa Furr, 2011
Lotanna Ikeotuonye, 2011
Mary Blake, 2012
Muhammad Jalal, 2012
Ashley Garza, 2013
Kathleen Wilson, 2013
Vivian Hu, 2013
Rachel Robinson, 2014
Srikar Ranga, 2014
LaNisha Patterson, 2015–2016
Megan Mandile, 2015
Amanda Pacheco, 2016
Yusha Sun, 2017–2018
Trever Carter, 2017
Lawrence Garvin, 2018
Emily Steinman, 2018
Luis Alvarez, 2019
Zachary Sandoval, 2019
Llaran Turner, 2019
Megha Yennu, 2019
Ghazaleh Khodoropast, 2020
Caitlin McCabe, 2021
Amenda Khoei, 2021
Kareena Patel