Lab Members

Tara Fujimoto, B.S., RALAT
Research Laboratory Coordinator
Radiation Oncology - Research
tnfujimoto@mdanderson.org
Research Interests: Radiobiology
Personal Interests: Horse-back riding, recreational sports, and reading
Alma Mater:  Wright State University
Twitter: @TNKFujimoto

Katarina Tomasic, B.S.
Assistant Research Coordinator
KCTomasic@mdanderson.org
Research interests: Microbiome, Metagenomics
Personal interests: Yoga, Cooking, Ballet, Nature, Music and Cat Enthusiast
Alma Mater: University of Houston
 

Abagail M Delahoussaye , B.S.
Research Assistant II
Radiation Oncology - Research
AMDelahoussaye@mdanderson.org
Research Interests: Mouse models in cancer research, In-Vivo imaging, radiation therapy.
Personal Interests: Weight lifting, mystery novels, and plant shopping with my son.
Alma Mater:  Texas A&M University at Galveston
Twitter:  @AMDelahoussaye  

Robert Fuentes, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow
Radiation Oncology- Research
NRFuentes@mdanderson.org
Research Interests: Hypoxia, Mitochondrial Dynamics, Membrane Signaling, Lipids, Super-resolution microscopy
Personal Interests: Country swing dancing, gaming                                               
Alma Mater: Texas A&M University 

Neeraj Kumari, PhD
Post-Doctoral Fellow
NKumari1@mdanderson.org
Research Interest: Radiation Biology, Pancreatic Cancer
Alma Mater: Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences, DRDO, INDIA
Twitter: @DrNeerajKumari

Carolina J. Garcia Garcia, B.S.
M.D./Ph.D. Candidate
Radiation Oncology - Research
CJGarcia1@mdanderson.org
Research Interests: Hypoxia Signaling, Radiation Injury and Modifiers, Intestinal Homeostasis, Tumor Microenvironment
Personal Interests: Fishing, snorkeling, cooking, traveling, yoga
Alma Mater: University of Puerto Rico - Mayaguez (B.S.), University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine                                                      (M.D. in progress), The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center UTHealth Graduate School of                                                                                                Biomedical Sciences (Ph.D. in Cancer Biology in progress)

Joseph Abi Jaoude, M.D.
Research Assistant II
Radiation Oncology - Research
jbabi@mdanderson.org
Research interests: Pancreatic cancer, Pancreatic radiotherapy, Pancreatic SBRT, Quality of Life, Trial design
Personal Interests: Music, movies, chess, 
Alma Mater: The American University of Beirut                                                                                                                                                                                                       Twitter: @JAbiJaoude

Emily Caggiano, B.S.
PhD Student
UT MDACC UTHealth GSBS
egcaggiano@mdanderson.org
Research interests: Cancer, drug development, metastasis, metabolism
Personal interests: Food, horse racing, reading, and volunteering at the Houston SPCA
Alma Mater: Ohio University Honors Tutorial College
Twitter: @ecagg15

Nefetiti Mims, B.A.
Research Assistant I
NPMims@mdanderson.org
Research Interests: Cell culture, subcloning, DNA plasmid extraction
Personal Interests: Enjoys playing the piano, bodybuilding, astronomy, and watching horror/thriller movies
Alma Mater:  University of Texas - Austin

Matthew Cribb, Ph.D.
Post-Doctoral Fellow
MTCribb@mdanderson.org
Research Interest: Hypoxia, Lymphatic Vasculature, Tumor Microenvironment, In Vivo Imaging
Personal interests: Guitar, piano, golfing, running, and hiking
Alma Mater: Georgia Institute of Technology
Twitter: @MatthewCribbPhd

Daniel Lin, B.A.
Research Interests: Pancreatic cancer, Anal cancer, tumor microenvironment, HIF
Personal Interests: Regular rock-climber, enthusiastic cooker
Alma Mater: Rice University
 

Jae Phan, B.A.
Research Interests: Pancreatic Cancer, Liquid Biopsies, Microbiome, PRO
Personal Interests: Jiu-jitsu practitioner, YouTuber, musician
Alma Mater:  Rice University

Ramez Kouzy, M.D.
Research Interests: Translational Research, Clinical Trials, Microbiome, Patient Reported Outcomes, Evidence Based Medicine 
Personal Interests: Coffee, books, and tech enthusiast
Alma Mater:  American University of Beirut
Twitter: @RKouzy

Nicholas Nguyen, B.A.
Research Interests: Mitochondrial dynamics in translational medicine, pancreatic cancer, MRI, and cell culture.
Personal Interests: Aspiring hip hop dancer, interested in entrepreneurship, education, and health policy.
Alma Mater:  Univeristy of California, Berkeley (triple major)
Twitter: @nicdknguyen

Meifang Yu, Ph.D.
Research Interests: Mitochondrial Metabolism in Pancreatic Cancer, Hypoxia.
 

Matthew Cagley, B.S.A.
Research Interests: Pancreatic Cancer, Microbiome, Imaging Physics
Personal Interests: Mountain Biking, Fishing, Guitar Playing and Amateur Chef
Alma Mater: University of Texas at Austin

Lauren Colbert, M.D. , MSCR
Research Interests: Biomarkers, Microbiome, HPV-related cancers
Personal Interests: 3 wild daughters, horse-back riding, climbing, hiking, and camping
Alma Mater:  Emory University, Hope College
Twitter: @ColbertLe

Marimar De La Cruz Bonilla, B.S.
Research Interests: Mechanisms of Radioprotection, Mouse models in Cancer Research.
 

Jessica Molkentine, B.S., RLATG
Research Interests: Radiation modulators (Radioprotectors, Radiation Mitigators, Radiosensitizers), Mouse models in Cancer Research.
 

Peter Cabeceiras, B.S.
Research Interests: Precise Genome Editing
Personal Interests: Percussion and soccer
Alma Mater:  Rice University

Amelie Albrecht, B.S.
Research Interests: Nuclear actin, chromatin remodeling

Amit Deorukhkar, Ph.D.

Former Lab Manager

Suman Govindaraju, Ph.D.

Conrad Fernandes, B.A.
Research Interests: Therapeutic Vulnerabilities of Pancreatic Cancer through Metabolism
Personal Interests: Eating out at restaurants, cheering on the Astros/Texans/Rockets
Alma Mater:  Rice University

Amal Musa, B.S.
Research Interests: Clinical research, microbiome, 
Personal Interests: Traveling, eating out at restaurants, reading
Alma Mater:  University of Texas at Austin

Yanqing Huang, Ph.D
Research Interests: Tumor Microenvironment, Tumor Heterogeneity, Hypoxia, Single Cell Sequencing
Personal Interests: Running marathons, scuba diving, and preparing for triathlons
Alma Mater: Texas A&M Health Science Center

Alejandro Estrada, B.A.
Research Interests: Mitochondrial Dynamics, Microbiome, Clinical Research
Personal Interests: Basketball, Blogging, Philosophy
Alma Mater: Rice University