Medical Specialty(s) of Interest: Neurosurgery
Mentor:
Publications:
Peer Reviewed:
Conference Proceeding Papers:
Education:
BA, Biology with Honors, Occidental College
Undergraduate research at Los Alamos National Laboratory in proton radiography; Designed and fabricated phantoms (radiographic test objects) that mimic the presence of contrast-enhanced tumors within tissue. These phantoms have been used to characterize proton radiography as a potential tool in clinical medicine. Won ‘Best Poster Award’ in the Physics Division at the Los Alamos National Laboratory Student Symposium 2019. Presented a poster at SPIE Medical Imaging in Houston, Texas February 2020.
Undergraduate research in Dr. Gary Martin’s laboratory at Occidental College; Characterized the acellular layers that line the open circulatory system in different crustaceans using LM, TEM, SEM, basic histological techniques, and immunohistochemistry. Honors Thesis: ‘Microscopic Anatomy of the Acellular Linings of Hemal Spaces in the Penaeid Shrimp Sicyonia ingentis’. Awarded Academic Student Project Grant, Fall 2019 - $300. Conference Travel Award, Fall 2019 - $690. Poster presentation at the Society of Integrative and Comparative Biology conference in Austin, Texas, 2020.
Post-baccalaureate research at Los Alamos National Laboratory; Analyzed radiographic data of the phantoms I developed as an undergraduate student researcher under the novel collimation scheme, dark field proton radiography, to improve image contrast and increase sensitivity of proton radiography for image-guided proton therapy. Used aRTist software to simulate computed tomography of objects composed of various materials. Oral presentation at SPIE Photonics West virtually, March 2021.
Tropical microbiology research in Costa Rica; Invited as a senior student to La Selva Biological Station in Costa Rica by Dr. Shana Goffredi. Developed a project while on the station to determine the composition of the gut microbiome of bats with various diets. Collected fecal samples of bats, isolated the bacterial DNA and completed PCR analysis of the 16s rRNA gene.
Used bioinformatics to determine differences in the bat microbiome between diets.
Medical Specialty(s) of Interest: Psychiatry
Mentor:
Publications:
Education:
BS - Psychology, The University of New Mexico
BA - Chemistry, The University of New Mexico
HMHV Minor, The University of New Mexico
Medical Specialty(s) of Interest: Neurology
Mentor: Bill Shuttleworth, PhD
Publications:
Education:
BS - Biochemistry Magna Cum Laude with Honors Designation, The University of New Mexico, 2018
BS - Biology, The University of New Mexico, 2018
Alissa has always loved science and medicine growing up. While pursuing her undergraduate degree, Alissa passions deepened through various jobs and volunteer opportunities including Presbyterian emergency department, Kindred hospice, and UNM hospital pediatric hematology/oncology. In 2016 she became inspired by the significance of research while involved in the Salinas Lab at the University of New Mexico. During this time, she studied the diversity of the T-cell receptor repertoires in Protopterus dolloi relaying their evolutionary implications for immunology, and using this research she completed her senior honors thesis. After graduation, Alissa took a gap year joining the Garver lab to analyze the NPC1 transmembrane protein structure and functions with regards to Neimann-Pick disease. Staying close to her clinical interests, she assisted asylum seekers at the Las Cruces El Calvario pop-up clinic and worked as a resident advisor for the nonprofit, Crossroads for Women.
While in the didactic portion of medical school, Alissa pursued her studies with continued interest in advocacy, especially for learning differences given her own dyslexia. Carrying on to help with the Peer Success Network, Teaching Assistantship in the Clinical Morphology Cadaver lab, and Students Exploring Careers in Health group. Alissa is ardent in communication and supporting others as a Peer-2-Peer Mentor and Minorities in Community Medicine Mentor. For graduate school in 2022, Alissa found her home in the Shuttleworth lab, where she investigates spreading depolarization and nitric oxide in brain slice through electrophysiology.
Mentor: Kiran Bhaskar, PhD
Publications:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/myncbi/jonathan.hulse.1/bibliography/public/
Education:
BS - Psychology with Minor in Chemistry and Honors Designation, The University of New Mexico, 2019
BA - Health, Medicine, and Human Values with a Concentration in Biomedical Sciences and Honors Designation, The University of New Mexico, 2019
Jonathan Hulse attended the University of New Mexico as a member of the Combined BA/MD Degree program which is dedicated to training physicians to address the physician shortage in New Mexico. During his undergraduate training he joined a lab in the Center for Biomedical Engineering working with Dr. Eva Chi to develop a novel biosensor for the detection of amyloid protein aggregates associated with neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer’s disease. He also investigated potential therapeutic capabilities of this biosensor that resulted in a US Patent. His time in the Chi lab inspired him to pursue a career as a physician scientist to help bridge the gap between pre-clinical therapeutic development and clinical translation. For his graduate training he joined the lab of Dr. Kiran Bhaskar investigating novel immunotherapies for Alzheimer’s disease and investigating the role of neuroinflammation in Alzheimer’s disease progression. During his pre-clinical years in medical school at the UNM School of Medicine he led multiple projects focused on improving LGBTQ health outcomes in New Mexico. He works with the LGBTQ Student Alliance in Healthcare to develop and implement new curriculum that trains physicians to meet the needs of LGBTQ patients from a holistic approach of trauma-informed care. He also works with local community organizations to provide health education workshops to youth experiencing homelessness in New Mexico
Medical Specialty(s) of Interest: Dermatology
Mentor: Eric Prossnitz, PhD
Publications:
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=trSRMQUAAAAJ&hl=en
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/myncbi/14c0qIhMozvwem/bibliography/public/
Education:
BS - Biochemistry, The University of New Mexico,
BA -East Asian Studies (Chinese), The University of New Mexico,
Randy Ko first became interested in pursuing his MD-PhD during his undergraduate career at the University of New Mexico (UNM) while performing research under Dr. Xuejun Zhang at Anhui Medical University (AMU) Institute of Dermatology in China. While at AMU, Randy contributed research pertaining to skin disease manifestations such as vitiligo, warts, and psoriasis. Randy became inspired and motivated to be involved in research locally in New Mexico and worked as a research technician at the UNM Cancer Research Facility and as a technical undergraduate intern at Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) with the Global Biorisk Management Curriculum team. Randy then switched roles at SNL to a research and development undergraduate intern position and worked under Dr. George Bachand at the Center of Integrated Nanotechnology researching the physiochemical properties of osmolyte induced environments and their influence on microtubule dynamics. Since joining the UNM School of Medicine in 2018, Randy is actively conducting research on reflectance confocal microscopy use in pediatric patients with Dr. John Durkin (UNM Department of Dermatology) aiming to improve the non-invasive diagnosis and treatment of skin lesions to improve patient tolerance and experience. Randy is a current graduate student actively conducting research under the guidance of Dr. Eric Prossnitz with the Division of Molecular Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine at the UNM School of Medicine. The research focus is to understand the mechanisms of estrogen hormonal signaling via the G protein-coupled estrogen receptor, GPER, to improve wound healing and combat metabolic disorders.
Medical Specialty(s) of Interest: Undecided
Mentor: Thomas Resta, Ph.D.
Publications:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/myncbi/rosstin.ahmadian.1/bibliography/public/
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=DpUyf-MAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao
Education:
BS - Biochemistry, The University of New Mexico, 2015
Rosstin became interested in research during his undergraduate training at the University of New Mexico. During this time, his contributions to research were in a diversity of fields, including Marine Biology, Neurosurgery, and Emergency Medicine. After earning his B.S. in Biochemistry, Rosstin worked as a research technician in the UNM Cancer Research Facility. In 2016, he started at the UNM School of Medicine where he became interested in physiology and joined the laboratory of Dr. Thomas Resta. The focus of Rosstin’s current research is to understand mechanisms of enhanced pulmonary vasoconstriction following chronic hypoxia-induced pulmonary hypertension. Rosstin hopes to have a positive impact on the research community and on the trajectory of his future patients.
Medical Specialty(s) of Interest: Internal Medicine, Infectious Diseases
Mentor: Kathryn M Frietze, PhD
Publications:
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3214-1898
Education:
BS - Biology, Minor in Government, New Mexico State University, 2013
Amanda is interested in infectious diseases, women's health and reproductive justice, health policy and advocacy, and Justice, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion work. Before joining the MD-PhD program at UNM SOM, she completed a two-year Post-Baccalaureate at the National Institutes of Health in the laboratory of Dr. Michail S. Lionakis. More recently, she completed her dissertation defense research in the laboratory of Dr. Kathryn M. Frietze, where she investigated human antibody response to natural urogenital Chlamydia trachomatis infection, engineered and developed novel prophylactic vaccine candidates for chlamydia, and investigated sexual behaviors of women surrounding sexual enrichment aid use and hygiene. This work was supported by an F30 Predoctoral Ruth L. Kirchstein National Research Service Award. Amanda is currently leading two scholarly projects focused on menstrual equity and medical honor society equity, respectively. Amanda also holds multiple leadership roles, including as the Health Policy and Advocacy Chair for the New Mexico American College of Physicians and Council of Student Members representative for the National American College of Physicians, and has been awarded numerous academic scholarships, travel grants, research presentation awards.
Medical Specialty(s) of Interest: Anesthesia, Internal Medicine, Critical Care Medicine
Mentor: Jeremy S. Edwards, PhD
Thesis: DNA Tiling Array for Detection, Whole Genome Sequencing, Variant Identification, and Phylogenetic Analysis of SARS-CoV-2
Publications:
Education:
July 2014 - May 2023 University of New Mexico School of Medicine MD/PhD Combined program – Biomedical Science Graduate Program
PhD March 2016 - July 2021 PhD in Biomedical Sciences
September 2008 - June 2012 University of California, San Diego Bachelor of Science, Biomedical Engineering: Pre-medical
Mailing Address
School of Medicine Research Education Office
1 University of New Mexico
Albuquerque, NM 87131
Phone: (505) 272-1887
Fax: (505) 272-8738
Email: SOMREO@salud.unm.edu
Physical Location:
UNM Health Sciences Center (North Campus)
Reginald Heber Fitz Hall (Building 211)
Room B61