“A scientist in his laboratory is not a mere technician: he is also a child confronting natural phenomena that impress him as though they were fairy tales.”  Marie Curie (1867-1934)

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Principal Investigators

Julio F. Cordero-Morales, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
[email protected]

Valeria Vásquez, Ph.D.
​Associate Professor
[email protected]

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Luis Romero Garcia, Ph.D.
Postdoc
​March 2024 -

Graduate Student (Physiology)
January 2020 - March 2024 
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​Research Coordinator
May 2017 - December 2019
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[email protected]
​[email protected]

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     Briar Bell, Ph.D.
     Postdoc
     August 2024-
     
     Graduate Student (Physiology)
     February 2019 - July 2024
     
​     [email protected]
     [email protected]​

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     Manisha Bade
     Graduate Student (Biochemistry and Cell Biology)
     April 2022-
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     [email protected]​

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     Angela Jaramillo, Ph.D.
    Postdoc
    July 2023-
​
    [email protected]

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    Leidys French Pacheco, Ph.D.
     Research Associate
    November 2025 -    

    Research Assistant
    June 2024 - October 2025
​
     [email protected]

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    Jude Campbell
    Master's student
    September 2024-
    [email protected]

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             Jin Bin Tian, Ph.D.
           Assistant Professor 
           September 2026- 
           [email protected]

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Tala Amawi
Visiting PhD Candidate (Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem)

​October 2026-

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Alumni:

Sonia Lopez-Paz, Ph.D.
​Postdoc

Arles Urrutia, Ph.D.
Postdoc

Rebeca Caires, Ph.D.
Instructor; Postdoctoral Fellow
Currently: Clinical research associate I for the Department of Global Pediatric Medicine, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital

Jungsoo Lee, Ph.D.
​Research Associate

Rakesh Kumar, Ph.D.
Instructor
Currently: Senior Scientist with Dr. Bryan Copits, Washington University

Tanbir Ahammad, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow
Currently: Scientist at Scientist-Catalent Pharma Solutions

Sofia Karabel 
Research Assistant
Currently: Staff Nurse, Children's of Alabama

Somdatta Saha, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow
Currently: Postdoc with Dr. Javier Gonzalez-Maeso, Virginia Commonwealth

Jonathan R.M. Millet, Ph.D. 
Postdoctoral Fellow
Currently: Postdoc with Dr. Shawn Lockery, University of Oregon

Efren García, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow
Currently: Senior Researcher with Dr. Scott Blanchard, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital

Alejandro Mata-Daboin, Ph.D.
Visiting Scholar
Currently: Instructor with Dr. Jonathan Jaggar. University of Tennessee Health Science Center

Francisco (Pako) Javier Sierra-Valdez, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow
Currently: Assistant Professor, Tecnológico de Monterrey, México

Phanindra Velisetty, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow
Currently: Principal Scientist at Union Chimique Belge

Miguel Medina Muñoz, Ph.D.
Research Assistant 
Currently: Research Associate with Dr. Kerri Coon, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Ramanuj Banerjee, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow
​Currently: Project Scientist in the Indian Institute of Technology

Michael Kuefner, Ph.D.
Rotation Student
Currently: Principal Scientist at Arbor Biotechnologies

Alex Hughes, Ph.D.
Rotation student
Currently: Assistant Research Professor, Medicine-Medical Oncology. University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus

Brinda Lakshmi, Ph.D.
Visiting Scholar