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Consortium for Excellence in Glycosciences | Scholars

​Anabel Alvarenga

Anabel G. Alvarenga, PhD 

Mentors: Jean Kim & Ronald Schnaar, Johns Hopkins University 

Focus: Siglec-8 ligand expression in healthy and diseased patients

​Amy Attaway

Amy Attaway, MD

Mentor: Srinivasan Dasarathy, Cleveland Clinic

Focus: Study of intermittent hypoxia-mediated O-GlcNAcylation dysregulates skeletal muscle proteostasis and mitochondrial function in cellular and murine models

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Francesca Boscolo, PhD

Mentor: Adam Engler, UC San Diego

Focus: Role of proteoglycans in determining muscle stem cell fate during pregnancy


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Elizabeth Calle, MD

Mentor: Robert Langer, Massachusetts General Hospital, Institute of Health Professionals

Focus: The Endothelial Glycocalyx and the Air/Blood Barrier in the context of Lung Transplantation

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Kevin Chandler, PhD

Mentor: Robert Sackstein, MD, PhD, Florida International University

Focus: The Role of Fucosyltransferase-2 (FUT2) Repression in Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR) Signaling

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Dillon Chen, MD

Mentor: Ajit Varki, UC San Diego

Focus: Characterize the roles of polysialic acids and Sialic acid-binding immunoglobulin-type lectins (SIGLECs) in the brain

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Jiaxuan Chen, PhD

Mentor: Elliot Chaikof, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

Focus: Podoplanin Glycopeptide Mimetics for Treatment of Venous Thrombosis

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Yiwen Cui, MD

Mentors: Nancy Dahms & Stephanie Olivier-Van Stichelen, Medical College of Wisconsin

Focus: O-GlcrNAcylation in the Development of Gestational Diabetes

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Graham Heberlig, PhD

Mentor: Michael Burkart, UC San Diego

Focus: Structural Examination of Lipid A Biosynthesis Complexes

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Ryan Jajosky, MD

Mentors: Sean R. Stowell, Brigham & Women's Hospital & Robert Sackstein, Florida International University

Focus: Studying the role of glycans on red blood cells

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Sridevi Krishnan, PhD

Mentor: Nathan Lewis, UC San Diego

Focus: Nutrition and cardio metabolic disease: A systems biology based multiomic investigation

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Olurotimi Mesubi, MBBS

Mentors: Mark Anderson and Natasha Zachara, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine

Focus: Cardiac ryanodine receptor (RyR2) O-GlcNAcylation and aberrant calcium release in atrial fibrillation

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Anny Mulya, PhD

Mentors: Serpil C. Erzurum and Vince Hascall, Cleveland Clinic, Lerner Research Institute

Focus: Fuel Bioenergetics Pathway on Hylauronan in Asthma

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Ogechi Ogoke, PhD

Mentor: Joseph Lau, Roswell Park Division, State University of New York

Focus: The role of sialyltransferase - ST6GAL1- in mediating hematopoietic stem cell biology

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Chelsea Painter, PhD

Mentor: Philip Gordts, UC San Diego

Focus: Human Milk Oligosaccharides in Lipoprotein Metabolism and Dyslipidemia

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Kyriakos Papanicolaou, PhD

Mentors: Brian O'Rourke & Natasha Zachara, Johns Hopkins University

Focus: Dynamics and Impact of O-GlcNAcylation in Experimental Heart Failure

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Priya Umapathi, MD

Mentors: Mark Anderson & Gerald Hart, Johns Hopkins University

Focus: O-GlcNAcylation in Heart Failure

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Yan Wang, MD, PhD

Mentors: Vincent Hascall & Edward Maytin, Cleveland Clinic, Lerner Research Institute

Focus: Delineation of the role of Hyaluronan in regulating fibroblast function in normal and diabetic skin wound healing and obesity

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Dawn Wenzel, PhD

Mentors: Nancy Dahms & Stephanie Olivier-Van Stichelen, Medical College of Wisconsin

Focus: The role of O-GlcNAcylation in the regulation of cytokinetic abscission

 

Program Alumni
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Amina Abbadi, PhD

Initial position after K12 program: Research Associate, Cleveland Clinic

Career Development Site: Johns Hopkins / Cleveland Clinic (2018-2020)
Program Mentors: Vincent Hascall & George Muschler, Cleveland Clinic, Lerner Research Institute

K12 Project: The role of Intracellular hyaluronan and TSG-6 in monocyte/macrophage biology and differentiation under a hyperglycemic stress.

​Afosh Daniel

Daniel Kwame Afosah, PhD

Initial position after K12 program:

Career Development Site: BloodCenter of Wisconsin (2021)
Program Mentor: Umesh Desai, Virginia Commonwealth University

K12 Project: Isolation and structural characterization of Glycosaminoglycan.

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​Waseem Anani, MD

Initial position after K12 program: Medical Officer, Canadian Blood Services

Career Development Site: BloodCenter of Wisconsin (2020)
Program Mentor: Karin Hoffmeister, Translational Glycomics Center

K12 Project: Glycomics in transfusion medicine - Defining glycans in outcomes.

​Sophia Balderman

Sophia Balderman, MD

Initial position after K12 program: Hematology and Medical Oncology, Cleveland Clinic

Career Development Site: BloodCenter of Wisconsin (2022)
Program Mentor: Joseph Lau, Roswell Park Division, State University of New York

K12 Project: Investigating the Role of Extrinsic ST6GAL1 in MDS associated dyspoiesis.

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Phillip Bartels, PhD

Initial position after K12 program: Scientist I, Codex DNA

Career Development Site: UC San Diego (2018-2021)
Program Mentor: Yitzhak Tor, University of California, San Diego

K12 Project: Developing Guanidinylated Neomycin-Enzyme Conjugates to Treat Lyososomal Storage Disorders Linked to Parkinson’s Disease.

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Julia Callender, PhD

Initial position after K12 program: Scientist, Neuroscience, Lundbeck La Jolla Research Center

Career Development Site: UC San Diego (2019-2022)
Program Mentor: Christina Sigurdson, University of California, San Diego

K12 Project: Manipulating PrP glycan structure to understand toxic signaling pathways driving prion-incused neurodegeneration

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Chen Chen, MD, PhD

Initial position after K12 program: Professor, LSU

Career Development Site: BloodCenter of Wisconsin (2020)
Program Mentor: Nancy Dahms, Medical College of Wisconsin

K12 Project: Therapeutic peptides based on carbohydrate-binding against neutrophil migration.

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Jane Cheng, MD

Initial position after K12 program: General Surgery Resident, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

Career Development Site: Harvard (2019-2021)
Program Mentor: Richard Cummings, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

K12 Project: Identification of carbohydrate antigens and its application in human diseases and disorders.

​Sun-Mi Choi

Sun-Mi Choi, MD, PhD

Initial position after K12 program: Fellow, Department of Pathology Immunogenetics, UCLA

Career Development Site: UC San Diego (2018-2021)
Program Mentor: Victor Nizet, University of California, San Diego

K12 Project: Upper airway mucosal responses to MRSA in CRS.

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Dorothy Contiguglia-Akcan, MD

Initial position after K12 program:

Career Development Site: Harvard (2020-2021)
Program Mentor: Robert Sackstein, MD, PhD, Florida International University

K12 Project: Glycobiology of exosome.

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Michelle (Gloria) Ducasa, PhD

Initial position after K12 program: Postdoc, University of Miami

Career Development Site: UC San Diego (2019-2020)
Program Mentor: Philip Gordts, University of California, San Diego


K12 Project: The role of heparan sulfate proteoglycans in non-shivering thermogenesis.

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Adam Kanack, PhD

Initial position after K12 program: 


Career Development Site: BloodCenter of Wisconsin (2019)
Program Mentor: Nancy Dahms, Medical College of Wisconsin

K12 Project: Platelet and myeloid cell phenotypes in a rat model of Fabry disease.

​So-Young Kim

So-Young Kim, PhD

Initial position after K12 program: Scientist I, OncoC4, Inc.

Career Development Site: UC San Diego (2019-2021)
Program Mentor: Mark Fuster, University of California, San Diego


K12 Project: Glycosaminoglycan-based lung cancer immunotherapy.

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Melissa Lee-Sundlov, PhD

Initial position after K12 program: Senior Manager, Clinical Science and Translational Research, Vor Biopharma


Career Development Site: BloodCenter of Wisconsin (2018)

Program Mentor: Karin Hoffmeister, Wisconsin Blood Research Institute


K12 Project: The Role of Sialylation and Lectin Receptors in Blood Production in the Bone Marrow.

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Samuel Merrill, MD, PhD

Initial position after K12 program: Physician


Career Development Site: Johns Hopkins / Cleveland Clinic (2018-2019)

Program Mentors: Ronald Schnaar & Robert Brodsky, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine


K12 Project: The role of complement in sickle cell disease and hyper hemolysis.

John O'Malley, MD, PhD

Initial position after K12 program: Senior Director of Clinical Research, Sanofi Pharmaceutical

Career Development Site: Harvard (2018-2019)
Program Mentor: Robert Sackstein, Brigham and Women's Hospital

K12 Project: Defining the glycosignature of E-selectin ligands in skin-tropic hematologic malignancies.

​Ryan Porell

Ryan Porell, PhD

Initial position after K12 program: Technical Manager, Macromolecules Innovation Institute/GlycoMIP Facility

Career Development Site: UC San Diego (2018-2021)
Program Mentor: Kamil Godula, University of California, San Diego

K12 Project: Design and Synthesis of Fluorogenic Proteoglycan Mimetic Polymers.

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​Richard Sanchez, PhD

Initial position after K12 program: Postdoc, UC San Diego

Career Development Site: UC San Diego (2019-2020)
Program Mentor: Gulcin Pekkurnaz, University of California, San Diego

K12 Project: O-GlcNAc dependent cytoskeletal influences on mitochondrial localization under varying cellular metabolic states.

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Kai-Ting Shade, PhD

Initial position after K12 program: Principal Scientist, Dupixent Research, Sanofi

Career Development Site: Harvard (2018-2020)
Program Mentor: Robert Anthony, Massachusetts General Hospital

K12 Project: Novel Role of Sialic Acids in IgE Biology.

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Ruth Siew, MD

Initial position after K12 program: Assistant Professor, UC San Francisco

Career Development Site: UC San Diego (2019-2022)
Program Mentor: Victor Nizet, University of California, San Diego

K12 Project: Sialic acid interactions in cystic fibrosis.

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Kathryn Stackhouse, MD

Initial position after K12 program: General Surgery Residency at Cleveland Clinic

Career Development Site: Harvard (2018-2019)
Program Mentor: Richard Cummings, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

K12 Project: Glycans as Early Detection Biomarkers and Therapeutic Targets in Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma.

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Angelica Maciel Gomes Ueltschy, PhD

Initial position after K12 program: Sr. Research Scientist, Trailhead Biosystems Inc.

Career Development Site: Johns Hopkins / Cleveland Clinic (2018-2020)
Program Mentors: Mark Aronica & Vincent Hascall, Cleveland Clinic, Lerner Research Institute

K12 Project: Hyaluronan function in adipogenesis and metabolism.

Ryan

Ryan Weiss, PhD

Initial position after K12 program: Assistant Professor, CCRC, UGA

Career Development Site: UC San Diego (2018-2020)
Program Mentor: Jeffrey D. Esko, University of California, San Diego

K12 Project: CRISPR-Cas9 Dissection of Heparan Sulfate.

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Nicole Welch, MD

Initial position after K12 program: Mentored Researcher on a K08 in the Dasarathy Lab, March 2021

K08 Project Title: Mechanisms of HIF1 alpha mediated dysregulated skeletal muscle   proteostasis in alcoholic liver disease

Career Development Site: Johns Hopkins / Cleveland Clinic (2018-2021)
Program Mentors: Srinivasan Dasarathy & Vincent Hascall, ​Cleveland Clinic, Lerner Research Institute

K12 Project: Hyaluronan 35 prevents endotoxin mediated dysregulated skeletal muscle proteostasis during ethanol exposure.

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Sheena (Tianxin) Yu, PhD

Initial position after K12 program:

Career Development Site: BloodCenter of Wisconsin (2019-2020)
Program Mentor: Joseph Lau, Roswell Park Division, State University of New York

K12 Project: Glycobiology in Hematopoietic Stem Cells.

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Chris (Jinchao) Zhang, PhD

Initial position after K12 program: 

Career Development Site: BloodCenter of Wisconsin (2018-2020)
Program Mentor: Joseph Lau, Roswell Park Division, State University of New York

K12 Project: The role of the sialyltransferases and sugar donors from platelets
in regulating the sialylation.

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