Oncology and Cellular Therapies Scholars

2025-2026 Duke Scholars in Oncology and Cellular Therapies

Postdoctoral Associate, Jason Somarelli Lab
Postdoctoral Associate, Everardo Macias Lab
PhD Candidate, Ann Marie Pendergast Lab
PhD Candidate, Huanghe Yang Lab
PhD Candidate, Zachary Hartman Lab

Michael Caminear 
PhD Candidate 
Mentor: Ann Marie Pendergast 
Department: Molecular Cancer Biology 
 
Dr. Shibjyoti Debnath 
Postdoctoral Fellow 
Mentor: Jason Somarelli 
Department: Duke School of Medicine 
 
Xingru Ma 
PhD Candidate 
Mentor: Zachary Hartman 
Department: Pathology

Taylor Niehoff 
PhD Candidate 
Mentor: Christopher Counter
Department: Pharmacology & Cancer Biology 


Vennesa Valentine 
PhD Candidate 
Mentor: Zachary Reitman 
Department: Pharmacology & Cancer Biology 

Roberto Barbier 
PhD Candidate 
Mentor: Ann Marie Pendergast
Department: Pharmacology & Cancer Biology 


Christian McRoberts Amador 
PhD Candidate 
Mentor: Charles Gersbach
Department: Pharmacology & Cancer Biology 
 
Elizabeth Mendes 
PhD Candidate 
Mentor: Corinne Linardic
Department: Pharmacology & Cancer Biology 

 
Dr. Wilton Snead 
Post-doctoral Fellow 
Mentor: Amy Gladfelter
Department: Cell Biology 

 
Enakshi Sunassee 
PhD Candidate 
Mentor: Nimmi Ramanujam
Department: Biomedical Engineering 

 

Amelia Schirmer 
PhD Candidate 
Mentor: Everardo Macias 

Department: Pathology 

 
Ashley Colemon 
PhD Candidate 
Mentor: Ann Marie Pendergast 

Department: Molecular Cancer Biology 

 
Carly Sciandra Williams 
PhD Candidate 
Mentor: Pei Zhou 

Department: Biochemistry 
 
Jovita Byemerwa 
PhD Candidate 
Mentor: Donald McDonnell 

Department: Pharmacology & Cancer Biology 

 
Selena Lorrey 
PhD Candidate 
Mentor: Peter Fecci 

Department: Immunology 

J. Spencer Hauck 
Post-doctoral Fellow 
Mentor: Jiaoti Huang 

Department: Pathology 

 
Bryan Lim 
PhD Candidate 
Mentor: Qi-Jing Li 

Department: Immunology 

 
Dr. Benjamin Mayro 
PhD Candidate 
Mentor: Ann Marie Pendergast 

Department: Pharmacology & Cancer Biology 

 
Dr. Li-Chung Tsao 
Post-doctoral Fellow 
Mentor: Zachary Hartman 

Department: Surgery 

 
Jessica Waibl-Polania 
PhD Candidate 
Mentor: Peter Fecci 

Department: Pathology 

Xiaohui (Hazel) Ang 
PhD Candidate 

Mentor: Kris C. Wood 

Department: Pharmacology & Cancer Biology 

 

Dionna Gamble 

PhD Candidate 

Mentor: Sue Jinks-Robertson 

Department: Molecular Genetics & Microbiology 

 

Larisa (Risa) Gearhart 

PhD Candidate 

Mentor: Gayathri Devi 

Department: Surgery & Pathology 

 

Taylor Krebs 

PhD Candidate 

Mentor: Donald McDonnell 

Department: Pharmacology & Cancer Biology 

Maria Torres Alcalde 
Post Doc 
Mentor: Deborah Muoio 
Department: Medicine-Endocrinology & Metabolism 

Joanne Dai 
PhD Candidate 
Mentor: Micah Luftig 
Department: Molecular Genetics & Microbiology 

Elias Eteshola 
PhD Candidate 
Mentor: Bruce Sullenger 
Department: Surgical Sciences 

Jill Hattaway 
PhD Candidate 
Mentor: Ann Marie Pendergast 
Department: Pharmacology & Cancer Biology 

Grace Anderson 
PhD Candidate 
Mentor: Kris Wood 
Department: Pharmacology and Cancer Biology 

Santosh Gupta 
Postdoctoral Associate
Mentor: Andrew Armstrong 
Department: Medical Oncology 

Andrew Kang-Lee 
PhD Candidate 
Mentor: Daniel Lew 
Department: Pharmacology and Cancer Biology 

Katrina Slemmons 
PhD Candidate 
Mentor: Corinne Linardic 
Department: Molecular Cancer Biology 

Mengmeng Xu 
PhD Candidate 
Mentor: Chris Counter, PhD 
Department: Pharmacology 

 

Angela Gaviglio PhD 
Postdoctoral Associate

Mentor:Gerard Blobe 
Department: Molecular Cancer Biology 
 

Eric Josephs 
Postdoctoral Associate 
Mentor: Piotr Marszalek 
Department: Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science 
 
Jacob L Mercer PhD
Postdoctoral Associate 
Mentor: Daniel Weschler 
Department: Pharmacology 
 
Ryan Overcash 
Postdoctoral Associate
Mentor:Ann Marie Pendergast 
Department: Pharmacology and Cancer Biology 

Rachel Hesler 
PhD Candidate 
Mentor: Gerard Blobe 
Department: Pharmacology and Cancer Biology 

Jun Wang 
PhD Candidate 
Mentor: Ann Marie Pendergast 
Department: Pharmacology and Cancer Biology 

Matthew Crowe 
PhD Candidate 
Mentor: Christopher Counter 
Department: Pharmacology and Cancer Biology 

Kathryn Ware 
PhD Candidate 
Mentor:Andrew Armstrong 
Department: Molecular Genetics and Microbiology 

Patrick Gedeon 
Medical Scientist Training Program 
Mentor:John Sampson 
Department: Biomedical Engineering 

 

Bartlomiej Baartkowiak 
PhD Candidate 
Mentor: Arno L Greenleaf 
Department: Biochemistry 

Kristen Foss 
PhD Candidate 
Mentor: Sally Kornbluth 
Department: Pharmacology and Cancer Biology 

Lu Huang 
PhD Candidate 
Mentor: Christopher Counter 
Department: Pharmacology and Cancer Biology 

Jams B Lin 
PhD Candidate 
Mentor: Cory Adamson 
Department: Pharmacology and Cancer Biology 

Yen-Yu Lin 
PhD Candidate 
Mentor: Yuan Zhuang 
Department: Immunology 

Tingyu Liu 
PhD Candidate 
Mentor: Jeff Rathmall 
Department: Pharmacology and Cancer Biology 

Felipe Quiroz 
PhD Candidate 
Mentor: Ashutosh Chilkoti 
Department: Biomedical Engineering 

Mamle Quarmyne 
PhD Candidate 
Mentor: John Chute 
Department: Pharmacology and Cancer Biology 

Liguo Zhang 
Post-Doctoral Associate 
Mentor: Sally Kornbluth 
Department: Pharmacology and Cancer Biology 

Bryan Choi 
Medical Scientist Training Program 
Mentor: John Sampson 
Department: Pharmacology and Cancer Biology 

Erik Knelson 
Medical Scientist Training Program 
Mentor: Nancy Andrews 
Department: Pharmacology and Cancer Biology 

Chang-Lung Lee 
PhD Candidate 
Mentor: David Kirsch 
Department: Pharmacology and Cancer Biology