Recent Graduates

Cheng-Chun Lin

Chen-Chung defended his dissertation, titled “MicroRNA Regulation of Kruppel-Like Factor 4 in Breast Cancer” in July 2011. His first publication was in Molecular and Cellular Biology (May 2011). Another first author publication is in submission and a third paper is partially completed. Chen-Chung plans to complete two postdoctoral years with his graduate school mentor, Mike Ruppert, and then apply for a postdoctoral position in the general area of microRNAs in development and cancer.

Heather Knupp

Alison Bloom-Kohan

Ali completed her Ph.D. in the summer of 2009. A second publication of her dissertation work is presently under consideration at the Journal of Lipid Research. Ali is now a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Dr. Patrick Tso at the University of Cincinnati. Ali will be studying lipoprotein metabolism and has already been writing applications for a postdoctoral fellowship.

Callee McConnell-Walsh

Callee successfully defended her dissertation in November of 2009. Callee's work is under consideration at Molecular Endocrinology. She is presently a postdoctoral fellow with Dr. Aaron Timperman in the Department of Chemistry at West Virginia University and is learning how to adapt proteomic applications to a nanoscale.

Hongman Song

Hongman defended her dissertation in the summer of 2010. Her graduate studies resulted in two first-authorship publications in Journal of Biological Chemistry and Journal of Proteome Research and a number of collaborative papers in Biochemistry, Journal of Neuroscience, Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience, Journal of General Physiology, Journal of Neurochemistry, and PNAS. Hongman continues her endeavor in the field of Photoreceptor Biology and Visual Signal Transduction, working as a postdoctoral fellow at Dr. Paul Sieving laboratory at the NIH.

Sushant Bhatnagar

Sushant graduated December 2008 with a Ph.D. from the Biochemistry Dept. He worked with Brad Hillgartner. After graduating in December, Sushant began postdoctoral studies with Alan Attie at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he is studying the molecular genetics of Type 2 Diabetes.

David M. Howell

David Howell, MD, PhD, successfully defended his dissertation work in 2009 in the Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Graduate Program. His dissertation focused on the role of the DCC-netrin signaling pathway in regulating axon guidance and cellular migration of auditory neurons in the developing mouse brainstem. He is currently a resident in the Pathology Department at WVU.

Brian Zamora

Brian Zamora, PhD, completed his doctoral dissertation work in December 2009 in the Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Graduate Program. His project explored the role of the Rx homeobox gene in early mouse eye development, and combined conditional gene deletion and transgenic approaches to manipulate the timing of Rx gene deletion and possible compensation mechanisms. He is currently completing his clinical training at the WVU School of Medicine.

Sanjeev Kumar

Sanjeev Kumar joined the Frisch lab in September, 2004 and finished his Ph.D. in April, 2010. While in the lab, he investigated the mechanisms by which E-cadherin and EMT regulate a specific apoptotic response known as anoikis. He discovered elements of a novel pathway leading from E-cadherin to transcriptional regulation. A manuscript based on this work is under review for Molecular Cell. He is now a postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Alan Diehl's lab at the Abramson Cancer Center, University of Pennsylvania.