HTPM Students

Mentor: Dr. Jonathan Hommel

Mentor: Dr. Alfredo Torres

Alex received a Bachelor of Science degree in Microbiology and Immunology from the University of California, Irvine and later worked there as a lab specialist in the Vaccine R&D Center. During his time at UC Irvine, Alex helped design and study the immunogenicity of vaccines to Marburgvirus, Coxiella burnetii, and influenza virus. From this work, Alex became particularly interested in studying the mechanism of action of novel adjuvant compounds and how modulating vaccine release kinetics affects the durability and strength of the immune response. Alex is now a fourth year PhD student in the lab of Dr. Alfredo Torres, where he is creating and testing novel vaccines to Burkholderia species using a gold nanoparticle platform.

Mentor: Dr. Tian Wang

S. Gabrielle Cody grew up in a far suburb of Atlanta, Georgia, and was first exposed to infectious disease research on a field trip to the CDC in eighth grade. She graduated with her bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology in May of 2020. She also obtained an MS in Tropical Medicine at the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa before joining the HPTM program in 2022. She is mentored by Dr. Tian Wang in the M&I department, and her thesis work investigates the mechanism of Congenital Zika Syndrome in the fetal and postnatal brain and evaluates a potential immune-targeted therapeutic. Outside of the lab, Gabrielle knits and crochets extensively and enjoys her time with her husband and their two cats.

Awards/Scholarships:

2024- NIAID T32 Emerging & Tropical Infectious Diseases Training Program Fellow

2023- The University of Texas Medical Branch Retirees Association Academic Scholarship Fund GSBS

2022- David and Janet Niesel Presidential Scholarship Award

Mentor: Dr. Jonathan Hommel

Mentor: Dr. Jonathan Hommel

Dara Ashley Freemon is a dedicated first year student in the Human Pathology and Translational Medicine Program. She holds an M.S. in Biological Sciences from Towson University and a B.S. in Biology with a minor in Chemistry from Howard University. Dara’s research focuses on evolutionary morphology and the predatory behavior of species like frogfishes and praying mantises, and her work has earned recognition, including second place for Best Research Presentation at Howard University’s Symposium Research Day.

Beyond her academic pursuits, Dara is passionate about mentorship and leadership. She is the Founder and Executive Director of The Dara Ashley Foundation, which provides mentorship and scholarships to underserved communities. Dara has also served as a lab professor at Towson University and mentored high school students in STEM fields. Her commitment to education and community service is reflected in her active involvement with organizations like Americorps and the Houston Food Bank, demonstrating her dedication to making a positive impact through science and outreach.

Mentor: Dr. Georgiy Golovko

Madison is a predoctoral HPTM student at UTMB, specializing in infectious disease vaccine development and safety using AI and machine learning innovations. Since 2022, she has contributed to cutting-edge research as a Research Scientist in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, focusing on data-driven vaccine studies, including the yellow fever vaccine. Madison's work has garnered recognition, with recent awards including the First Place Presentation at the 2024 Tropical and Emerging Infectious Diseases Conference and the Sealy Institute for Vaccine Sciences Fellowship. She has also been a finalist in the Three Minute Thesis competition at the Texas Regional CTSA Consortium. In addition to her academic achievements, Madison holds certifications in Good Clinical Practices (GCP) and Good Laboratory Practices (GLP), underscoring her commitment to research excellence in high-containment environments. Her contributions to the field are further reflected in her extensive work on presenting her research to 9 conferences on state, national, and international levels on real-world vaccine data, bioinformatics, and vaccine safety.

Mentor: Dr. Irma (Lisa) Cisneros

Camille is a fourth year Human Pathophysiology and Translational Medicine PhD candidate at the University of Texas Medical Branch. Her research focuses on the mechanisms driving the comorbid inflammation caused by neuroinvasive viruses and drugs of abuse. She is passionate about scientific communication, One Health and public health. She is the first student to have earned the Global Health certificate at UTMB. She has volunteered as a science educator at the Health Museum in Houston and written for the UTMB One Health newsletter. In addition to her current work as a researcher, Camille writes scripts, designs graphics and serves as a co-host for the Infectious Science Podcast which streams from the Galveston National Laboratory. 

Mentor: Dr. Heather Stevenson-Lerner

Mentor:  Dr. Balaji Krishnan

Sanjana graduated from the University of Texas at Austin in 2020 with a bachelor’s degree in Cell and Molecular biology with a minor in Sociology. In 2021, she completed her master’s degree in the Medical Sciences from University of North Texas Health Science Center in Fort Worth Dallas. During the Covid-19 pandemic, she had the opportunity to work as a contract tracer for Dell Medical School at UT Austin. In her undergraduate years, she has had a multitude of research experiences including the investigation of novel antibiotics produced by Streptomyces rochei bacteria, bioinformatic research on bacteriophages as well as being a research assistant in UT Project SEED which studied social, psychological and educational state of children who translate for their non-English speaking parents. In her free time, she enjoys reading, watching movies, drawing/painting and writing.

Mentor: Dr. Vineet Gupta, PhD

Kaitlyn Nussberger is a 2nd year PhD student at the University of Texas Medical Branch in the Human Pathophysiology and Translational Medicine program. Kaitlyn received a Bachelor's of Science in Biomedical Engineering with minors in Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry and English from the University of North Texas in 2023. Some previous research projects they’ve worked on in their undergraduate education include the development of a bioreactor for the expansion of undifferentiated stem cells and the development of a 3D gel-based culture environment for chondrocytes. Kaitlyn is situated in the lab run by Dr. Vineet Gupta which focuses on the study of integrins and how they can be leveraged as therapeutic targets across a wide variety of inflammatory disease models, including lupus nephritis and Parkinson’s disease. They are broadly interested in the development of novel therapeutics based on synthetic biology techniques. Their long-term career goals include working with industry or in startup spaces and influencing public policy on biotherapeutics. Outside of work, Kaitlyn can be found relaxing on the beach and hosting theme/game nights with her fiance and friends.

Affiliations/Projects:

Community Liaison for the Society for Translational Research, 2024

Entrepreneurship Training Project, 2024

President of Alpha Eta Mu Beta, UNT, 2023

Awards/Scholarships:

David and Janet Niesel Presidential Scholarship Award, UTMB, 2024

Mentor: Dr. Sam Fagg

Florence graduated from Sam Houston State with a bachelor’s degree in biomedical science in 2021. She has three years of research experience studying antibiotic resistance in  Enterobacteriaceae at SHSU. In the summer of 2021, she was accepted as a PREP scholar here at UTMB, where she studied pathogenic mechanisms of severe scrub typhus via unveiling molecular details of host-Orientia tsutsugamushi infections. Her main interest is in immunology, specifically immune dysregulation in intracellular bacteria. Florence joined UTMB’s HPTM program in the fall of 2022. In her free time, she likes reading Dan Brown books, taking care of her dog Iris, and writing poetry.  

Mentor: Dr. Irma (Lisa) Cisneros

Maura was raised in Tijuana, Mexico, where she attended Medical School at Centro de Estudios Universitarios Xochicalco-CEUX. She did her medical internship and clinical rotations at the Tijuana General Hospital, where she solidified her theoretical knowledge with complete hands-on training. She completed her medical training with a year of social service in Mexicali, B.C; as a Lead Physician, she provided primary medical care to four rural communities with +3,000 patients. During that time, she had the opportunity to witness many medical needs and treatment gaps, so after earning her Medical Degree, she decided to join the research world to diversify her medical knowledge and acquire new skills. She is currently a member of Dr. Cisneros’s lab in the Department of Pathology. Her research will focus on elucidating the relationship between the SARS-Covid2 infection and the alterations in the Kynurenine pathway that results in neurological symptoms in the post-infection period, in previously healthy individuals and patients with previously neurocognitive diseases. She enjoys swimming, paddle boarding, and having movie nights with her family during her free time.

Mentor: Dr. Jonathan Hommel

Mentor: Dr. Alexander Freiberg

Madison began her undergraduate studies at Louisiana Tech University before transferring to the University of Memphis where she graduated with a BS in Biology in 2021. She then spent a year and a half working as a technician in the Department of Microbiology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham before her acceptance into the HPTM program in the fall of 2023. She has always had an interest in the research of highly pathogenic viruses and emerging infectious diseases and knew that UTMB would be the perfect place to learn from some of the best in the field. As a second-year student, Madison has recently joined the Freiberg lab where she will take on projects studying the pathogenesis of Nipah virus in the BSL-4. She has also begun taking classes towards her Masters in Epidemiology in order to combine her bench science skills with the field of public health. In her free time, Madison loves to read/watch rom-coms, bake, and attend concerts with her husband and friends.

Mentor: Dr. Jere McBride

Awards/Scholarships:

Mentor: Dr. Shao-Jun Tang

Michael Spurgat is a PhD student who is currently examining the role of exosomes released from astrocytes in chronic pain during HIV infection. Michael worked as a bioinformatics analyst at the University of Houston sequencing core during his final year of undergraduate studies. While there, he assisted research groups by analyzing their genomic data and generating figures to assist them in visualizing their results. Michael then graduated from the University of Houston in 2017 with degrees in both biochemistry and computer science. His future work will leverage both computational and biological methods.

Awards/Scholarships:

2016 – CPRIT Summer Undergraduate Fellowship Grant
2012-2016 – Academic Excellence Scholarship

Mentor: Dr. Jonathan Hommel

Mentor: Dr. Georgiy Golovko

Riley graduated from Texas A&M University in 2022 with a Bachelor of Science in Nutrition and a minor in Genetics. While at A&M, Riley worked in a laboratory studying dietary interventions in mice for the advancement of precision nutrition. After graduating, she worked as a research assistant in the Imaging Physics department at UT MD Anderson Cancer Center, investigating the use of photoacoustic imaging with a targeted contrast agent to identify subtypes of ovarian and breast cancer. She currently resides under Dr. George Golovko whose lab specializes in bioinformatics, data science, and machine learning. In her free time, Riley enjoys watching horror movies and spending time with her two cats.

Awards/Scholarships: