2024-2025 Duke Scholars in Infectious Disease
Allyson Caldwell
PhD Candidate
Mentor: Carolyn Coyne
Department: Genetics & Genomics
Katrina DeWitt
PhD Candidate
Mentor: Jean-Philippe Gilbert
Department: Biology
Emma Heckenberg
PhD Candidate
Mentor: Carolyn Coyne
Department: Molecular Genetics & Microbiology
Gillian Horn
PhD Candidate
Mentor: Immunology
Department: Micah Luftig
Bach Nguyen
PhD Candidate
Mentor: Kenichi Yokoyama
Department: Biochemistry
Yelizaveta Rassadkina
PhD Candidate
Mentor: Molecular Genetics & Microbiology
Department: John Rawls
2023-2024 Duke Scholars in Infectious Disease
Oyindamola Adefisayo, PhD
Post-doctoral Fellow
Mentor: Clare Smith
Department: Molecular Genetics & Microbiology
Makenzie Bonner
PhD Candidate
Mentor: Jatin Roper
Department: Cell Biology
Emily Cannistraci
PhD Candidate
Mentor: Maria Schumacher
Department: Biochemistry
Haleigh Conley, PhD
Post-doctoral Fellow
Mentor: Justin Pollara
Department: School of Medicine, Surgery
Sara Estevez, PhD
Post-doctoral Fellow
Mentor: Andrew Jones
Department: Pratt School of Engineering, Civil and Environmental Engineering
Angela Jones
PhD Candidate
Mentor: Dennis Ko
Department: Genetics & Genomics
Jia Lu
PhD Candidate
Mentor: Lingchong You
Department: Pratt School of Engineering, Biomedical Engineering
Aruna Menon
PhD Candidate
Mentor: David Tobin
Department: Molecular Genetics & Microbiology
Jeffrey Reitano
PhD Candidate
Mentor: Jorn Coers
Department: Immunology
2022-2023 Duke Scholars in Infectious Disease
Jana Cable
PhD Candidate
Mentor: Micah Luftig
Department: Molecular Genetics & Microbiology
Ching Wen Chen, PhD
Post-doctoral Fellow
Mentor: Ashley Moseman
Department: Immunology
Lukas Marnus du Plooy
PhD Candidate
Mentor: Andrew Alspaugh
Department: Molecular Genetics & Microbiology
Grace Hooks
PhD Candidate
Mentor: Richard Brennan
Department: Biochemistry
Rachel Keener
PhD Candidate
Mentor: Dennis Ko
Department: Genetics & Genomics
Miriam Kutsch, PhD
Post-doctoral Fellow
Mentor: Jorn Coers
Department: Molecular Genetics & Microbiology
Katherine Mueller
PhD Candidate
Mentor: Raphael Valdivia
Department: Genetics & Genomics
Chungxi Wang
PhD Candidate
Mentor: Fan Yuan
Department: Biomedical Engineering
Sebastian Wellford
PhD Candidate
Mentor: Ashley Moseman
Department: Immunology
2021-2022 Duke Scholars in Infectious Disease
Carissa Harvest
PhD Candidate
Mentor: Edward Miao
Department: Immunology
Valerie Gartner
PhD Candidate
Mentor: Gregory Wray
Department: Genetics & Genomics
Jacob Heggestad
PhD Candidate
Mentor: Ashutosh Chilkoti
Department: Pratt School of Engineering, Biomedical Engineering
Kelly Huynh
PhD Candidate
Mentor: Bruce Donald
Department: Biochemistry
Julia Palmucci
PhD Candidate
Mentor: John Perfect
Department: Molecular Genetics & Microbiology
Estefany Reyes
PhD Candidate
Mentor: Mari Shinohara
Department: Immunology
Benjamin Schott
PhD Candidate
Mentor: Dennis Ko
Department: Molecular Genetics & Microbiology
Chin Yee Tan
PhD Candidate
Mentor: Neil Surana
Department: Pediatrics
Katherine Willard
PhD Candidate
Mentor: Micah Luftig
Department: Molecular Genetics & Microbiology
2019-2020 Duke Scholars in Infectious Disease
Sophie Gobeil, PhD
Postdoctoral Associate
Mentor: Leonard D. Spicer
Department: Biochemistry & Radiology
Dulcemaria Hernandez
PhD Candidate
Mentor: Jörn Coers
Department: Molecular Genetics & Microbiology
Michael Hoy
PhD Candidate
Mentor: Joseph Heitman
Department: Molecular Genetics & Microbiology
Calla Telzrow
PhD Candidate
Mentor: Andrew Alspaugh
Department: Molecular Genetics & Microbiology
Brady Travis
PhD Candidate
Mentor: Maria Schumacher
Department: Biochemistry
Gopinath Viswanathan
Postdoctoral Associate
Mentor: David M. Tobin
Department: Molecular Genetics & Microbiology
Stephen Walsh
PhD Candidate
Mentor: Jörn Coers
Department: Molecular Genetics & Microbiology
2018-2019 Duke Scholars in Infectious Disease
Hannah Brown
PhD Candidate
Mentor: Andrew Alspaugh
Department: Molecular Genetics & Microbiology
Abhishek Chhetri
PhD Candidate
Mentor: Kenichi Yokoyama
Department: Biochemistry
Matthew Draelos
MSTP Lab Yr 2
Mentor: Kenichi Yokoyama
Department: Chemistry
Rebekah Dumm
PhD Candidate
Mentor: Nicholas Heaton
Department: Molecular Genetics & Microbiology
Ben Fenton
PhD Candidate
Mentor: Pei Zhou
Department: Biochemistry
Vincent Han
Postdoctoral Associate
Mentor: Barton Haynes
Department: Duke Human Vaccine Institute
Joshua Messinger
PhD Candidate
Mentor: Micah Luftig
Department: Molecular Genetics & Microbiology
Shelby Priest
PhD Candidate
Mentor: Joseph Heitman
Department: Molecular Genetics & Microbiology
Maria Tuyishime
Postdoctoral Associate
Mentor: Guido Ferrari
Department: Surgery
Jianxuan Wu
PhD Candidate
Mentor: Soman Ninan Abraham
Department: Immunology
2017-2018 Duke Scholars in Infectious Disease
Alfred Harding
PhD Candidate
Mentor: Nicholas Heaton
Department: MGM
Kelly Hughes
PhD Candidate
Mentor: Mary Klotman
Department: MGM
Letitia Jones
Post Doc
Mentor: Tony Moody
Department: DHVI
Mubeen Mosaheb
PhD Candidate
Mentor: Matthias Gromeier
Department: MGM
Tinashe Nyanhete
PhD Candidate
Mentor: Georgia Tomaras
Department: Immunology
Corrina Probst
Post Doc
Mentor: Dennis Thiele
Department: Pharmacology and Cancer Biology
HIlda Sucipto
Post Doc
Mentor: Kenichi Yokoyama
Department: Biochemistry
Tatyana Sysoeva
Post Doc
Mentor: Lingchong You
Department: Biomedical Engineering
Matthew Zirui Tay
PhD Candidate
Mentor: Georgia Tomaras
Department: MGM
2016-2017 Duke Scholars in Infectious Disease
Ted Espenschied
PhD Candidate
Mentor: John F. Rawls
Department: MGM
Aaron Smith
Post-Doctoral
Mentor: Dr. Dennis Thiele
Department: Pharmacology and Cancer Biology
Xiou Cao
PhD Candidate
Mentor: Alejandro Aballay
Department: MGM
Dora Posfai
PhD Candidate
Mentor: Emily Derbyshire
Department: MGM
Hilary Renshaw
PhD Candidate
Mentor: Dr. William J Steinbach
Department: MGM
Alexander Kovach
PhD Candidate
Mentor: Dr. Richard Brennan
Department: Biochemistry
Nandan Gokhale
PhD Candidate
Mentor: Stacy M Horner
Department: MGM
Saintedym Wills
PhD Candidate
Mentor: Georgia Tomaras
Department: Immunology
Laura Ganser
PhD Candidate
Mentor: Hashim Al-Hashimi
Department: Biochemistry
Christine Vazquez
PhD Candidate
Mentor: Dr. Stacy Horner
Department: MGM
Christine Daniels
PhD Candidate
Mentor: Daniel Lew
Department: Molecular Cancer Biology
2015 -2016 Duke Scholars in Infectious Disease
Benjamin Anderson
PhD Candidate
Mentor: Gregory Gray
Department: Infectious Diseases
Emily Snavely
PhD Candidate
Mentor: Raphael Valdivia
Department: MGM
Jennifer Gamboa Jackman
PhD Candidate
Mentor: Bruce Sullenger
Department: Biomedical Eng
Kimberly Freeland Starr
PhD Candidate
Mentor: Joseph St. Geme III
Department: MGM
Kristy Marie Bialas
Post-Doctoral
Mentor: Sallie Permar
Department: DHVI
Linying (Alice) Li
PhD Candidate
Mentor: Gabriel Lopez
Department: Biomedical Eng
Sarah Jaslow
PhD Candidate
Mentor: Dennis Ko
Department: MGM
Monica Thomas
PhD Candidate
Mentor: Dennis Ko
Department: CMB/MGM
Shannon Kimberly Esher
PhD Candidate
Mentor: Andy Alspaugh
Department: MGM
Todd Christopher Bradley
PhD Candidate
Mentor: Barton Haynes
Department: DOM
Victoria Carpenter
PhD Candidate
Mentor: Raphael Valdivia
Department: MGM
2014-2015 Duke Scholars in Infectious Disease
Nicholas Homa
Graduate Student Researcher
Mentor: Micah Luftig
Department: Molecular Genetics & Microbiology
Brandi Johnson-Weaver
PhD Candidate
Mentor: Herman Staats
Department: Pathology
Sarela Garcia-Santamarina
Post-Doc Candidate
Mentor: Dennis Thiele
Department: Pharmacology and Cancer Biology
Kara Shumansky
PhD Candidate
Mentor: Bruce Sullenger
Department: Molecular Genetics & Microbiology
Brandt Levitt
PhD Candidate
Mentor: Mariano Garcia Blanco
Department: Molecular Genetics & Microbiology
Matthew Howe
PhD Candidate
Mentor: Tim Haystead
Department: Pharmacology and Cancer Biology
2013-2014 Duke Scholars in Infectious Diseases
Sissel Juul Jensen
Post-Doctoral Associate
Mentor: Kam Leong
Department: Biomedical Engineering
Kim Dolich
Post-Doctoral Associate
Mentor: David Tobin
Department: Molecular Genetics & Microbiology
Kyla Selvig
PhD Candidate
Mentor: Andy Alspaugh
Department: UPGG
Danielle M. Pilla
PhD Candidate
Mentor: Jorn Coers
Department: MGM
Ashley Mead Trama
PhD Candidate
Mentor: Barton F. Haynes
Department: Immunology
2012-2013 Duke Scholars in Infectious Diseases
Brad Hover
PhD Candidate
Mentor: Kenichi Yokoyama
Department: Biochemistry
Jeff Blackinton
Post-Doctoral Associate
Mentor: Jack Keene
Department: Molecular Genetics & Microbiology
Masashi Kanayama
Post-Doctoral Associate
Mentor: Mari Shinohara
Department: Immunology
Chaoran Li
PhD Candidate
Mentor: Qi-Jing Li
Department: Immunology
Casey Perley
PhD Candidate
Mentor: Rich Frothingham
Department: Molecular Genetics & Microbiology
Nam Thontat
Post-Doctoral Associate
Mentor: Maria Schumacher
Department: Biochemistry
Katy Riccione
PhD Candidate
Mentor: Lingchong You
Department: Biomedical Engineering
Kristen Smith
PhD Candidate
Mentor: Sunhee Lee
Department: Molecular Genetics & Microbiology
Guang Yang
PhD Candidate
Mentor: Garnett Kelsoe
Department: Immunology
Makoto Inoue
Post-Doctoral Associate
Mentor: Mari Shinohara
Department: Immunology
2011-2012 Duke Scholars in Infectious Diseases
Chris Castorena
PhD Candidate
Mentor: Katia Koelle
Department: Computational Biology and Bioinformatics
Richard Festa
Post-Doctoral Associate
Mentor: Dennis Thiele
Department: Pharmacology & Cancer Biology
Carlos Goller
Post-Doctoral Associate
Mentor: Patrick C. Seed
Department: Pediatrics
Jeff Melvin
PhD Candidate
Mentor: Dewey McCafferty
Department: Biochemistry
Anand Pai
PhD Candidate
Mentor: Lingchong You
Department: Biomedical Engineering
Robert Smith
Post-Doctoral Associate
Mentor: Lingchong You
Department: Biomedical Engineering
2010-2011 Duke Scholars in Infectious Diseases
Chen Ding
Post-Doctoral Fellow
Mentor: Dennis Thiele
Department: Pharmacology & Cancer Biology
Michael Hast
Post-Doctoral Fellow
Mentor: Lorena S. Beese
Department: Biochemistry
Stephanie Holmer
Pre-Doctoral Student
Mentor: Jo Rae Wright
Department: Cell & Molecular Biology/Cell Biology
Ian McDonald
Pre-Doctoral Student
Mentor: Meta Kuehn
Department: Molecular Genetics & Microbiology/Cell & Molecular Biology
Ryan Michalek
Post-Doctoral Fellow
Mentor: Jeffrey Rathmell
Department: Pharmacology & Cancer Biology
Eric Porsch
Pre-Doctoral Student
Mentor: Joseph St. Geme
Department: Molecular Genetics & Microbiology
Maria Traver
Pre-Doctoral Student
Mentor: Greg Taylor
Department: Molecular Genetics & Microbiology
2009-2010 Duke Scholars in Infectious Diseases
Elizabeth Ballou
Pre-Doctoral Student
Mentor: Andrew Alspaugh
Department: University Program in Genetics & Genomics
Edmond Byrnes
Pre-Doctoral Student
Mentor: Joseph Heitman
Department: Molecular Genetics & Microbiology
Ine Jorgensen
Pre-Doctoral Student
Mentor: Raphael Valdivia
Department: Molecular Genetics & Microbiology
Tracy Nevitt, PhD
Post-Doctoral Fellow
Mentor: Dennis Thiele
Department: Pharmacology & Cancer Biology
Stacey Prow
Pre-Doctoral Student
Mentor: Pat Seed
Department: Molecular Genetics & Microbiology
Jennifer Umbach, PhD
Post-Doctoral Fellow
Mentor: Bryan Cullen
Department: Molecular Genetics & Microbiology