CONTENT EXPERTS
cSw student writers are required to identify and interview at least one researcher at the peer-reviewed publication level and are encouraged to identify and interview additional content experts. Writers consult with their communications mentors regarding the selection and recruitment of content experts.
Content experts, broadly speaking, are highly credible individuals having demonstrated expertise in specific areas. In the cSw context, content experts have knowledge directly related to the topic a given cSw writer chooses and includes, but aren’t necessarily limited to:
- Authors of peer-reviewed publications
- Interpreters of scientific and technologic concepts and/or data
- Researchers, bloggers, and officials, editors or writers associated with high quality science- and technology-related institutions, organizations, publications, or credible mass media that cover science
- KOLs (key opinion leaders)
- Inventors, developers, and commercializers of discoveries and advances in science and/or technology
- Investors in science and technology-related endeavors
- Consumers (e.g., patients, physicians and other medical industry personnel)
- Members of advocacy groups
2023/2024 Content Experts
Michela Mitchell, Ph.D.
Dr. Michela Mitchell is sea anemone taxonomist at the Museum of Tropical Queensland in Townsville; her research focuses on anemone venom and the variations of venom amongst anemones. Mitchell holds a doctorate from the Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Science in Medicinal Chemistry where she studied anemones’ peptide-filled venom, searching for possible therapeutic breakthroughs. Mitchell hopes to develop the venom research model with the end goal of finding new solutions through anemone peptides to combat human diseases.
Alessandro Sette, Ph.D.
Dr. Alessandro Sette is a professor at the La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI) in San Diego, California, and the Director of the Center for Cancer Immunotherapy and Center for Vaccine Innovation. He is part of a team that develops and oversees the national Immune Epitope Database (IEDB), a freely available, widely-used bioinformatics resource database for storing epitope structures. In 2020, Dr. Sette published the first study on SARS-CoV-2 epitopes that are targeted by the human immune system and has co-led research into T-cell responses in COVID-19 patients and cross-reactivity to other coronavirus epitopes.
Read the story on Dr. Sette’s work here
Samantha Hughes, Ph.D.
Samantha Hughes, Ph.D. is an assistant professor of Environmental Health & Toxicology in the faculty of science at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. Her expertise is on toxicology and aging. She primarily focuses on C. elegans as a model to discover the effects of drugs, food, and and exercise and translate these factors to human life.
Read the story on Dr. Hughes work here
Alan Beggs, Ph.D.
Alan Beggs, Ph.D., is the Director of the Manton Center for Orphan Disease Research at Boston Children’s Hospital and a professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Beggs is internationally recognized as an expert in the genetics of congenital myopathies. He specifically focuses on the pathophysiology of rare genetic conditions in animal models and human patients to identify treatment methods.
Read the story based on Dr. Beggs work here
Bibb Allen Jr., MD, FACR
Bibb Allen Jr., MD, FACR, a distinguished diagnostic radiologist from Birmingham, Alabama, is the Program Director for the Brookwood Baptist Health Diagnostic Radiology Residency Program. With over 45 articles in medical literature, Dr. Allen has showcased leadership in organizations like the American College of Radiology, where he served as President. Currently, he holds the position of Chief Medical Officer at the ACR Data Science Institute.
Shaochen Chen, Ph.D.
Shaochen Chen, Ph.D. is a professor of nanoengineering at the University of California, San Diego. Dr. Chen’s lab has focused its research on bioprinting, tissue engineering, biomaterials and nanomaterials, as well as organ-on-chip applications.
Benjamin Pedigo, Ph.D.
Dr. Benjamin Pedigo is a Scientist at Allen Institute for Brain Science in the Neural Coding group, working with Forrest Collman. His research focuses on analysis methods for large maps of neural wiring collected via electron microscopy — termed connectomes. Ben is particularly interested in developing tools for extracting generalities of neural wiring rules from connectomes. Dr. Pedigo did his PhD in Biomedical Engineering at Johns Hopkins University, working with Joshua Vogelstein and Carey Priebe. His research focused on developing computational and statistical tools for helping to understand connectome data. In particular, he collaborated with Michael Winding, Marta Zlatic, and Albert Cardona on analyzing a Drosophila larva brain connectome.
Read the story based on Dr. Pedigo’s work here
David S Richardson, Ph.D.
David S Richardson, Ph.D. is a professor of evolutionary ecology and conservation at the University of East Anglia. He works with molecular markers, genetics, and genomics to address questions in evolutionary, behavioral and conservation ecology. His research lies with avian systems, with birds like the Seychelles warblers, Berthelot’s pipit, and red junglefowl.
Angela Haczku, Ph.D.
Angela Haczku, Ph.D., is the director at the UC Davis Lung Center and a Professor of Medicine. Dr. Haczku is an internationally recognized expert in pulmonary immunology. She studies the effects of environmental exposures (allergens, air pollution, cigarette smoke and psychosocial stress) on respiratory health and disease. She is interested in how the epithelium and local immune cells cooperate in maintaining a healthy lung tissue. She has been federally funded for the past 20 years and has received numerous awards, such as the Parker B Francis Pulmonary Fellowship, the MRC (Canada) Fellowship Award and the American Lung Association (ALA) Career Investigator Award. At UC Davis, she holds the Chester Robbins Endowment for Pulmonary Research.
Read the story based on Angela Haczku’s work here
Rita Solórzano, MA, CCC-SLP
Rita Solórzano, MA, CCC-SLP is the Director of Applied Digital Therapy at Floreo, a VR company seeking to create the first behavioral therapy metaverse. With decades of experience working as a speech language pathologist, Rita has been a participant in and witness to the evolving role of technology in creating therapies to address developmental issues. Prior to starting with Floreo, Rita worked in a variety of settings including: private practices, special education schools (some exclusively dedicated to serving students with autism), residential settings, regular education schools, Head Start programs, and a hospital diagnostic clinic. Rita has designed and delivered speech, language, literacy and social communication therapies to students and clients of all ages, but her primary work has been with individuals under the age of 22.
Read the story based on Rita Solórzano ‘s work here
Rachel Noble, Ph.D.
Rachel Noble, Ph.D. is a professor of marine sciences in the Department of Earth, Marine and Environmental Sciences at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She leads the research program in the Noble Lab focused on environmental microbiology and marine microbial food webs. Dr. Noble researches water quality and pathogens in water, at the intersection of the environment and public health.
Elizabeth Archer
Elizabeth Archer is a Ph.D. student at the University of East Anglia in Norwich, U.K. Her research is focused on the environmental conditions that influence the geographic distribution of human Vibrio pathogens in marine ecosystems and on identifying areas of elevated future Vibrio infection risk under different climate change scenarios.
Praveen Susaimanickam, Ph.D
Praveen Susaimanickam, Ph.D. is a postdoctoral researcher of the Gamm Lab at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His work currently involves understanding the development of retinal photoreceptors.
Kim Edwards
Kim Edwards is a graduate student researcher of the Gamm Lab at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her work currently involves using pluripotent stem cells to model inherited retinal disorders.
Dr. Lalit Kumar
Dr. Lalit Kumar is the former Head of Medical Oncology at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi. India.
2022/2023 Content Experts
Valerie Abadie, Ph.D.
Valerie Abadie, Ph.D., is a research associate professor of gastroenterology at the University of Chicago Celiac Disease Center. She was lead researcher involved with the groundbreaking discovery of the celiac implemented mouse model, a finding that is the first of its kind and has been sought after for more than twenty years. She is an expert on the topic of celiac disease, especially the implications of the mouse model
Julien Sage, Ph.D.
Julien Sage, Ph.D. is a professor of pediatric cancer and genetics in the school of medicine at Stanford University. His expertise is in cancer biology and he specifically focuses on studying uncontrolled cell proliferation while looking for novel candidates for cancer treatment.
Tirone David, M.D., F.R.C.S.C
Tirone David, M.D., F.R.C.S.C is an experienced cardiac surgeon and professor at the University of Toronto. He developed a procedure that is life-changing for those who have aortic aneurysms.
David Amaral, Ph.D.
David Amaral, Ph.D. is a professor of psychiatry at the University of California, Davis, and is the founding Research Director of the MIND Institute. His expertise is in the causes and treatment of autism and related neurodevelopmental disorders. He focuses primarily on nonhuman primates as models in his research and has conducted research investigations on the function of the amygdala and other parts of the primate brain.
Mayank Mehta, Ph.D.
Mayank Mehta, Ph.D., is Director of the Keck Center for Neurophysics and Professor of Physics and Astronomy, Neurology, and Electrical and Computer Engineering at University of California, Los Angeles. His lab’s research focuses on fundamental questions in neurophysics around the general themes of learning and memory, space-time perception and sleep, with the goals of greater understanding neural circuit dynamics and elucidating novel ways to treat learning and memory disorders.
Aman Saleem, Ph.D.
Aman Saleem, Ph.D., is Professor of Systems Neuroscience and Sir Henry Dale Fellow at University College London. His lab uses computational and experimental approaches to understand how the brain uses visual images observed by the eyes for natural functions such as navigation.
Brian Ward, Ph.D.
Brian Ward, Ph.D. is a professor at McGill University in Quebec, Canada, instructing students in medicine and microbiology. He also previously served as a medical officer at Medicago: a Canadian based pharmaceutical company. His expertise lies in RNA viruses, vaccine research and development, and international health. At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, he played a critical role in developing Medicago’s plant-based vaccine.
Jamie Foster, Ph.D.
Jamie Foster, Ph.D. is a professor at the University of Florida who teaches Astrobiology and Environmental Microbiology. One topic of study that she pursues is the role of microbes in complex symbiosis. She has recently worked with NASA to send Hawaiian bobtail squid, an animal she admires for its remarkable ability to model the human immune system, to space.
Curtis Triplitt, PharmD, CDE
Curtis Triplitt, PharmD, CDE is an associate professor of medicine in the Division of Diabetes at University of Texas Health at San Antonio. He has focused his research career on the treatment and prevention of type 2 diabetes.
Zhe Sage Chen, Ph.D.
Zhe Sage Chen is an Associate Professor at the New York University School of Medicine (NYUSOM), with joint appointments in the Department of Psychiatry and Department of Neuroscience & Physiology. Prior to joining NYUSOM, he was a Senior Research Scientist at the Picower Institute for Learning and Memory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He is involved in several research projects in MIT as well as several other research institutions. His research interests include but are not limited to neural engineering, brain-machine interfaces, computational neuroscience and neuropsychiatry, computational statistics and machine learning for healthcare, and big data analysis.
Stephanie DeMarco, Ph.D.
Stephanie DeMarco, Ph.D. is a science journalist with a postgraduate degree in molecular biology. She writes for Drug Discovery News, a scientific magazine covering health-related scientific breakthroughs.
Joseph Ryan, Ph.D.
Joseph Ryan, Ph.D. is an evolutionary biologist at the Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience at the University of Florida. He specializes in genomics and phylogenetics.
Read the story based on Dr. Demarco and Dr. Ryan’s work here
Joshua D. Bernstock, M.D., Ph.D.
Joshua D. Bernstock, M.D., Ph.D. is a neurosurgeon-scientist completing his neurosurgery residency at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. He is also conducting research as a visiting scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Read the story based on Dr. Bernstock’s work here
Jessica Creery, Ph.D.
Jessica Creery, Ph.D., is a Health Science Policy Analyst at the NIH Office of Science Policy. Her expertise focuses on cognitive neuroscience, specifically of memory and sleep. Being the science policy analyst at the NIH, her job is to ensure the validity and conformity to ethical standards of the research proposals proposed to the NIH for funding. Her role at the NIH has been vital in ensuring research efficacy and animal welfare.
Read the story based on Dr. Creery’s work here
2021/2022 Content Experts
Amanda Stahlke, Ph.D.
Amanda Stahlke, Ph.D. is a computational biologist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Research Service (ARS). As a Ph.D. candidate, she studied the molecular evolution of Tasmanian Devil Facial Tumor Disease and population genetics of biological control insects introduced to control invasive weeds.
Read the story based on Dr. Stahlke’s work here.
Christine Huffard, Ph.D.
Christine Huffard, Ph.D., is a Research Specialist at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute in California. Dr. Huffard studies deep-sea animals and their ecological impacts on the California coast.
Read the story based on Dr. Huffard’s work here.
Arik Yates
Arik Yates is a physical therapist assistant at Neuro Rehab VR. He pursues knowledge of the utilization of virtual and augmented reality for physical therapy, as well as acute and orthopedic rehabilitation.
Read the story based on Arik Yates’s work here.
John J. Rosowski, Ph.D.
John J. Rosowski, Ph.D., is a Professor of Health Sciences and Technology at Harvard Medical School and the Co-Director of the Wallace Middle-Ear Research Unit of Massachusetts Eye and Ear.
Read the story based on Dr. Rosowski’s work here.
Steve Bibevski, M.D, Ph.D
Steve Bibevski, M.D, Ph.D. is a pediatric cardiothoracic surgeon at Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital in Hollywood, Florida. He is also a researcher affiliated with Florida International University’s Department of Bioengineering.
Read the story based on Dr. Bibevski’s work here.
Dr. Beth Solomon
Dr. Beth Solomon is a medical speech pathologist for the National Institutes of Health. She also works privately with patients to improve impaired oral motor functions.
Read the story based on Dr. Solomon’s work here.
Luis G. Valerio, Jr., Ph.D.
Luis G. Valerio, Jr., Ph.D., is currently an Associate Director at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Dr. Valerio has a strong background in public health.
Read the story based on Dr. Valerio’s work here.
Dr. Yong Teng, Ph.D
Dr. Yong Teng, Ph.D. is an oncology researcher at the Winship Cancer Institute at Emory University. His expertise is in cancer metastasis and metabolism, and he has conducted several pioneer studies using zebrafish as a model organism.
Read the story based on Dr. Teng’s work here.
Will Norton, Ph.D.
Will Norton, Ph.D., is an associate professor of animal biology affiliated with the Department of Neuroscience, Psychology and Behaviour at the University of Leicester. He has researched zebrafish for many years and currently studies aggression and its links to psychiatric disorders through genetics.
Read the story based on Dr. Norton’s work here.
Dr. Marco Venniro
Dr. Marco Venniro is an Assistant professor at the University of Maryland, School of Medicine, Baltimore. His research is focused on understanding how alternative non-drug rewards like social rewards can be used to control and treat drug addiction.
Read the story based on Dr. Vernniro’s work here.
Prof. Dr. Felix Engel
Prof. Dr. Felix Engel is a faculty member in the Department of Nephropathology at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg in Germany.
Read the story based on Dr. Engel’s work here.
Brooke G. Rogers, Ph.D., M.P.H
Brooke G. Rogers, Ph.D., M.P.H, is a research scientist in areas of HIV and health equity as well as an assistant professor of medicine and of psychiatry and human behavior at Brown University. She is looking to reach historically excluded groups with better healthcare options and a broader approach.
Read the story based on Dr. Roger’s work here.
Kyle Rosenke, Ph.D.
Kyle Rosenke, Ph.D. is a researcher currently working at Rocky Mountain Laboratories of NIAID (National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases). His expertise lies in virology.
Read the story based on Dr. Rosenke’s work here.
Julia Port, Ph.D.
Julia Port, Ph.D. is a visiting fellow at Rocky Mountain Laboratories of NIAID from South Africa. She’s a specialist in pathogenesis. Ever since the onset of COVID-19, she has pivoted her focus to the virus.
Read the story based on Dr. Port’s work here.
Colman Moore, Ph.D. Candidate
Colman Moore is a Ph.D. candidate, NSF Graduate Research Fellow, and ARCS Fellow in the NanoEngineering Department at the University of California, San Diego. He graduated from the University of South Carolina with a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering and received his M.S. in NanoEngineering from UCSD.
Read the story based on Colman Moore’s work here.
M. Laura Martin, Ph.D.
Dr. M. Laura Martin the Ex Vivo Models Director at the Weill Cornell Medicine Englander Institute of Precision Medicine. She currently works on expanding Cornell’s ex-vivo models program and is hoping to use organoids to improve drug screening in patient care. She studied lipids which brought her to anti-cancer therapies. The excitement of finding new challenges in research helps her stay motivated.
Read the story based on Dr. Martin’s work here.
Cynthia M. Otto, D.V.M., Ph.D.
Dr. Cynthia Otto is Professor of Working Dog Sciences and Sports Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Veterinary Medicine.
Read the story based on Dr. Otto’s work here.
2020/2021 Content Experts
Matthew Vickaryous, Ph.D.
Dr. Matthew Vickaryous studied Zoology and Vertebrate Paleontology at the University of Calgary, and Evolutionary Developmental Biology at Dalhousie University. He is now a Professor at the University of Guelph. His research delves mainly into the mysteries of regeneration and development of vertebrates, along with evolution and unique skeletal components.
Read the story based on Dr. Vickaryous’s work here.
Huanzi Zhong, Ph.D.
Dr. Huanzi Zhong studies genetics, in particular, microbial pathology, at the University of Copenhagen.
Read the story based on Dr. Zhong’s work here.
Angelo Piato, Ph.D.
Dr. Angelo Piato is a professor and researcher at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul at Porto Alegre, Brazil. His research interests include Neuropharmacology and he has over 100 publications. He is currently working with undergraduate and graduate students on his research.
Read the story based on Dr. Piato’s work here.
Jack Arbiser, M.D., Ph.D.
Jack Arbiser, M.D., Ph.D., is a professor in the Department of Dermatology at Emory University. His expertise includes lichen planus, melanoma and skin cancer.
Read the story based on Dr. Arbiser’s work here.
Frantisek Baluska, Ph.D.
Frantisek Baluska, Ph.D., a plant biologist, is in the department of Plant Cell Biology at the University of Bonn Institute of Cellular and Molecular Biology. His expertise is plant signaling and behavior.
Read the story based on Dr. Baluska’s work here.
David Gracias, Ph.D.
Dr. David Gracias is a Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and the Director of Graduate Studies for the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. He received a Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from the University of California at Berkeley. Dr. Gracias is known for designing and developing miniaturized devices. He has made revolutionary contributions to biomedical engineering to apply the capabilities of nanotechnology to modern medicine.
Read the story based on Dr. Gracias’s work here.
Heather Wilson-Robles, D.V.M.
Dr. Heather Wilson-Robles is a veterinary medical oncologist at Texas A&M University who specializes in canine models of human cancer. She is an associate professor and the Dr. Fred A and Vola N Palmer Chair in Comparative Oncology in the Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences in the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. Her main areas of interest and research involve identifying and characterizing tumor-initiating cells in solid tumors, and clinical trials in pet dogs with developing tumors as a basis for informing human clinical trials.
Read the story based on Dr. Wilson-Robles’s work here.
Dr. Frances Leslie, Ph.D.
Dr. Frances Leslie is a neuropharmacologist and professor of pharmaceutical sciences at the University of California, Irvine. Her studies focus on the effects of drugs of abuse on the developing brain.
Her current research entails the use of molecular biology and animal behavior to understand drug responses during adolescence. This research will lead to a better understanding of the effects of drugs on developmental mechanisms in the adolescent brain.
Read the story based on Dr. Leslie’s work here.
Dr. Fabienne Forton, M.D.
Dr. Fabienne Forton is a dermatologist in private practice in Brussels, Belgium. She first became interested in Demodex mites at the Catholic University of Louvain. She has done clinical research on Demodex mites and rosacea in collaboration with the Université Libre de Bruxelles (University in the City of Brussels, Belgium).
Read the story based on Dr. Forton’s research here.
Danilo A. Tagle, Ph.D., M.S.
Dr. Danilo Tagle is the associate director for special initiatives at the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences. He has also led scientific oversight and management for the Tissue Chip for Drug Screening program.
Read the story based on Dr. Tagle’s research here.
Raeed Chowdhury, Ph.D.
Dr. Raeed Chowdhury is a postdoctoral scholar at the University of Pittsburgh. He is currently working in the Smile Lab studying how the brain integrates the internal sense of body position, movement, and forces with motor control for complex, feedback-driven tasks.
Read the story based on Dr. Chowdhury’s research here.
Brett Case, Ph.D.
Dr. Brett Case, Ph.D. is a postdoctoral research scholar at the Washington University in St. Louis Medical School. He is currently working in the Diamond Laboratory, studying the new coronavirus while trying to develop a vaccine.
Read the story based on Dr. Case’s research here.
Karen Echeverri, Ph.D.
Dr. Karen Echeverri is an associate scientist at The Eugene Bell Center for Regenerative Biology and Tissue Engineering at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Massachusetts. She received her Bachelor of Science Honours in Biochemistry from the University of Galway in Ireland and her Ph.D. in Zoology from Trinity College in Ireland. Dr. Echeverri’s lab currently has three main areas of research: the salamander’s ability to regenerate a fully functional spinal cord after injury, scar-free wound healing and the evolution of regenerative ability.
Read the story based on Dr. Echeverri’s research here.
Jessica Whited, Ph.D.
Dr. Jessica Whited is an assistant professor of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology at Harvard University. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy and Bachelor of Science in Biological Sciences from the University of Missouri and her Ph.D. in Biology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dr. Whited’s lab currently focuses on developing tools to manipulate gene expression during limb regeneration and exploring signals following injury that initiates the regenerative process. Her ultimate goal is to understand the process of natural limb regeneration at a cellular and molecular level so that this information can inform and inspire future therapeutic approaches aimed at provoking limb regeneration in humans.
Read the story based on Dr. Whited’s research here.
David Kaplan, Ph.D.
Dr. David Kaplan is a Stern Family Professor in Engineering at Tufts University and he is the chair of the Department of Biomedical Engineering. His research focus is on bio-polymer engineering, regenerative medicine and functional tissue engineering. His lab pioneered the use of silk-based bio-materials in regenerative medicine and has created complex 3D tissue co-culture systems for use to study various diseases.
Read the story based on Dr. Kaplan’s research here.
Rudolf Tanzi, Ph.D.
Dr. Rudolph Tanzi is the Joseph P. and Rose F. Kennedy Professor of Child Neurology and Mental Retardation at Harvard University and he serves as a Director of the Genetics and Aging Research Unit at Massachusetts General Hospital. He also directed the Alzheimer’s Genome Project, which identified many new Alzheimer’s genes. He has co-authored several books including Super Brain, Super Genes, and The Healing Self.
Read the story based on Dr. Tanzi’s research here.
Kyle Rohde, Ph.D.
Dr. Kyle Rohde is an Associate Professor at the Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences, at the University of Central Florida, where he manages an independent biomedical research lab focusing on Mycobacterium tuberculosis. He is engaged in grant-writing, teaching, and training graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. Dr. Rohde received his Ph.D. in microbiology/immunology from the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center and worked as a Senior Research Associate at Cornell University. Dr. Rohde’s lab has successfully conducted the largest marine natural product screening on TB and the only one that focused on dormant bacteria.
Read the story based on Dr. Rohde’s research here.
Anna Ruth Robuck, Ph.D. Student
Anna Ruth Robuck is a researcher at the University of Rhode Island Graduate School of Oceanography. She studies PFAS and other environmental pollutants in coastal environments and organisms.
Read the story based on Anna Ruth Robuck’s research here.
Samuel H. Sternberg, Ph.D.
Samuel H. Sternberg works at Columbia University as an assistant professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics. His studies pertain to CRISPR and its sciences. He has published a book, together with Jennifer Doudna, about CRISPR technology called “A Crack in Creation.
Read the story based on Dr. Sternberg’s research here.
Xavier Saelens, Ph.D.
Dr. Xavier Saelens is a Belgian Scientist at the University of Ghent. His work includes finding a universal influenza vaccine and antibody research for COVID-19 at his own lab, VIB-UGent.
Read the story based on Dr. Saelen’s research here.
Daniel Wrapp
Daniel Wrapp is a graduate student at the University of Texas, Austin. He led this research and is interested in characterizing host-pathogen interactions through structural and biophysical techniques.
Read the story based on Daniel’s research here.
Ming-Chun Huang, Ph.D.
Dr. Ming-Chun Huang is an Associate Professor of Electrical, Computer and Systems Engineering at Case Western Reserve University. He is an investigator in the Advanced Platform Technology (APT) Center, a faculty associate of the Institute for Smart, Secure and Connected Systems (ISSACS), and a faculty steering committee member in the Center for Engineering Action.
Read the story based on Dr. Huang’s research here.
Lucy van Dorp, Ph.D.
Dr. Lucy van Dorp is a Senior Research Fellow based at University College London Genetics Institute. She researches genetic diversity and the genetic history of pathogens including COVID-19, tuberculosis and malaria.
Read the story based on Dr. Dorp’s research here.
2019/2020 Content Experts
Niki Vermeulen, Ph.D.
Dr. Niki Vermeulen is a senior lecturer of History/Sociology of Science at the University of Edinburgh. Her non-academic experience includes being a policy advisor and consultant in science and innovation policy for Technopolis, the Executive Board of Maastricht University and the Netherlands Scientific Council for Government Policy (WRR). She co-founded “Bio-objects and their Boundaries”, which includes members from 21 countries.
Read the story based on Dr. Vermeulen’s research here.
Deborah Fauquier, D.V.M, MPVM, Ph.D.
Dr. Deborah Fauquier is a Veterinary Medical Officer in the Office of Protected Resources at the National Marine Fisheries Service. She has over 20 years’ experience working with live and stranded marine animals. She received her veterinary and master’s degrees from the University of California-Davis and she received her Ph.D. degree in biological oceanography from the University of California-Santa Cruz. Her research interests include investigating the impacts of disease and environmental changes on marine organisms.
Read the story based on Dr. Fauquier’s research here.
Robert Latzman, Ph.D.
Dr. Robert Latzman graduated with a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Iowa and a B.S in Human Development with honors from Cornell University. He works at Georgia State University as an associate professor in psychology and neuroscience. Additionally, he directs the Individual Differences and Developmental Psychology Lab where he studies the neurobehavioral mechanisms that influence psychopathic tendencies. He has always been interested in the development of behavioral problems in kids and aims to address this challenge through his research with primates.
Read the story based on Dr. Latzman’s research here.
Benjamin Tee, Ph.D.
Dr. Benjamin Tee is a principal investigator at the National University of Singapore where he researches nature-inspired sensorware. He has been recognized with awards from the MIT Technology Review, Materials Research Society USA, the Singapore National Academy of Sciences, and the World Economic Forum.
Read the story based on Dr. Tee’s research here.
Michael Goldstein, Ph.D.
Dr. Michael Goldstein is an Associate Professor of Cornell University and Director of the Behavioral Analysis of Beginning Years (B.A.B.Y.) Laboratory. He received his Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology and Animal Behavior in 2001 from Indiana University. Since then, he’s been working with infants to better understand their vocal learning processes. In 2008, he won the Distinguished Early Career Contribution Award from the International Society on Infant Studies. Learn more about Dr. Goldstein and his research here.
Simon E. Fisher, Ph.D.
Dr. Simon E. Fisher is the Director of the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics. He’s also a Professor of Language and Genetics at the Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour in Nijmegen, the Netherlands. His research focuses mainly on genetic processes within the brain and the role of FOXP2 in language development. He was awarded the Eric Kandel Young Neuroscientists Prize in 2009. Learn more about Dr. Fisher and his research here.
Read the story based on Dr. Goldstein and Dr. Fisher’s research here
Tom Anchordoquy, Ph.D.
Dr. Tom Anchordoquy is a professor at the Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Colorado. He received his Ph.D. in zoology at the University of California at Davis. His lab focuses on the development of synthetic delivery systems and use of exosomes for drug delivery. Read more about Dr. Anchordoquy and his research here.
Rose Doerfler
Rose Doerfler is the lead Ph.D. student on a project led by Dr. Kathryn Whitehead, Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering and Biomedical Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University. Read more about research in the Whitehead Lab here.
Read the story based on Dr. Anchordoquy and Ms. Doerfler’s research here.
2018/2019 Content Experts
Dr. Harri Hemilä
As an epidemiologist, public health specialist, and biochemist, Dr. Harri Hemilä is a researcher for the University of Helsinki, Finland, who studies the effects of zinc acetate and vitamin C on the common cold. He received both his MD and two PhDs at the University of Helsinki. His meta-analysis of common cold patients has successfully quantified the effectiveness of zinc acetate lozenges on human health.
Read the story based on his research
Dr. Ananda S. Prasad
Dr. Ananda S. Prasad has studied the effects of trace elements on human metabolism for over 50 years, making important contributions towards the field of public health. He published several studies on zinc throughout the 1960s, and in 1974 both the Congress and the National Academy of Science declared zinc as an essential element for humans. Now as the director of the Division of Hematology at Wayne State University, Dr. Prasad has published over 300 studies and fifteen books. He is the founder of two scientific journals and is the recipient of numerous distinctions and awards within his field.
Read the story based on his research
Dr. Tao Che
Dr. Tao Che is a postdoctoral research assistant at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. After receiving his Ph.D. at Case Western Reserve University, he has focused on researching the structure and function of the kappa opioid receptor.
Read the story based on his research
Dr. Christopher Stein
Dr. Christoph Stein is a professor and the medical director of the Department of Anesthesiology and Operative Intensive Care Medicine at Charité in Berlin. He is internationally recognized in the field of opioid pharmacology, molecular mechanisms, and pain treatment.
Read the story based on his research
Dr. Ronald N. Miles
Dr. Ronald N. Miles received his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Washington. As a lecturer at UC Berkeley, Professor at the State University of New York Binghamton, and Associate Dean for Research at Binghamton University, he has received numerous acclamations for his teaching and research. Presently, his research seeks to develop sound sensors inspired by nature. In his free time, he visits his farm, in the warm company of goats, horses, chickens, and birds.
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Kimberly Skinner
Kimberly Skinner, after 18 years as a passionate clinical audiologist, is currently a Ph.D. candidate in speech and hearing sciences at Indiana University. She works in the University’s Auditory Perception Lab where she researches speech perception, aging, and tinnitus. When away from her research, she enjoys spending time with her daughter.
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Dr. Lung-Chi Chen
Dr. Lung-Chi Chen is a professor in the Department of Environmental Medicine at New York University (NYU). Since receiving his Ph.D. from NYU, Chen has authored over 120 research papers in the past four decades. He is internationally recognized as an inhalation toxicology expert and his research seeks to understand the effects of environmental toxicants on people’s health.
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Dr. Alfredo Morabia
Dr. Morabia is a professor in the Department of Epidemiology at the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University, and at the Barry Commoner Center for Health and the Environment at Queens College, CUNY. The author of numerous books, his scientific research primarily involves urban health and history.
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Dr. Christoph Meinert
Dr. Christoph Meinert is a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Queensland University of Technology, Australia. He studied both biotechnology and regenerative medicine, which he now uses to help develop the fields of 3D-printed microfibers and Melt Electrospinning Writing. Dr. Meinert has collaborated on and authored many papers on tissue engineering, and over the years has won awards and recognition for his research.
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Dr. Onur Bas
Dr. Onur Bas is a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Centre in Regenerative Medicine, Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, Queensland University of Technology, Australia. He has authored papers ranging from finding functional and soft biomaterials, engineering biologically functional tissues, and further developing Melt Electrospinning Writing. His current research project is composed of finding soft network composites (fiber reinforced hydrogels) for soft tissue engineering applications.
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Dr. Bryce Mander
Dr. Bryce Mander is currently an assistant professor in the Psychiatry & Human Behavior School of Medicine at the University of California, Irvine. After earning his Ph.D. in Neuroscience at Northwestern University, Dr. Mander completed his postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Psychology at the University of California, Berkeley. Currently, his interest lies in understanding the role of sleep in cognitive functions and the health of the brain. One of his major works proved that brain activity during deep sleep has a direct correlation with loss of memory and was a breakthrough. It was published in Neuron, a highly influential and reliable journal in the field of neuroscience.
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Dr. Rowen Zetterman
Dr. Rowen Zetterman is a professor of internal medicine at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. In addition to this, he is an internist, gastroenterologist, and hepatologist. Dr. Zetterman’s research interests include work in the pathogenesis of alcoholic liver disease and treatment of liver disease. His hobbies include travel, fishing, and spending time with his seven grandchildren.
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Dr. Patricia Carrieri
Dr. Patrizia Carrieri is a research professor at the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM) – University Aix-Marseille in the field of epidemiology and public health. Her work primarily focuses on the impact of psychoactive substances, or drugs that affect the mind (tobacco, alcohol, cannabis, and coffee), and she works to improve the lifestyles and clinical outcomes of people living with HIV and Hepatitis C. Her research in addiction helped change the 2016 French Health law which now promotes novel Hepatitis C preventive interventions.
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Dr. Maya Koronyo-Hamaoui
Dr. Maya Koronyo-Hamaoui is an associate professor in neurosurgery and biomedical sciences and head of the Alzheimer’s disease research laboratory at Cedars-Sinai. Her work focuses on Alzheimer’s disease and includes diagnostic biomarkers, monitoring biomarkers, and therapy approaches in addition to studying the retina and developing the retinal scan. She is currently working on linking the amyloid-beta protein to retinal abnormalities and visual problems.
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Dr. Alexander Mankin
Dr. Alexander Mankin is a professor and director at the Center for Pharmaceutical Biotechnology at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Pharmacy. He obtained his Ph.D. from Moscow University. His lab focuses on studying the ribosome and new classes of antibiotics.
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Dr. Anna Maria Aloisi
Dr. Anna Maria Aloisi is an associate professor and Director of the Department of Physiology at the University of Siena in Italy. As a founder of the European Pain School and member of the International Association for the Study of Pain, she is highly involved in pain-related studies. Her works have been in over 200 publications. One of her most prominent studies is sex differences in pain and analgesia, specifically how different hormones produced in men and women affect sensitivity to pain and analgesia.
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Dr. Donna Krasnewich
Dr. Donna Krasnewich is a clinical geneticist and practicing pediatrician. She got her medical degree from Wayne State University School of Medicine and now works in Kensington, Maryland. Dr. Krasnewich is also part of the National Institutes of Health, where she is responsible for managing research grants involving genetics.
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Dr. Manel Esteller
Dr. Manel Esteller is the director of the Cancer Epigenetics and Biology Program at the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute in Catalonia, Spain. He received his undergraduate degree in Medicine then his doctorate in Molecular Genetics of Endometrial Carcinoma from the University of Barcelona in 1996 where he is now a professor. His research interests include the molecular genetics of hereditary breast cancer and DNA methylation and its relationship with cancer in humans. His research helped establish that the hypermethylation of tumor suppressor genes is a characteristic trait of cancer tumors. In addition to his research, he serves as the editor-in-chief of the peer-reviewed journal Epigenetics.
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Dr. Karl T. Kelsey
Dr. Karl T. Kelsey is a Professor Epidemiology & Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at Brown University. He received his undergraduate and doctoral degrees from the University of Minnesota and later his Masters of Occupational Health from Harvard University in 1984 where he would teach at Harvard’s School of Public Health (now T. H. Chan). His research interests include biomarkers in environmental disease, chronic disease epidemiology, and tumor biology with the goal of understanding individual susceptibility to certain cancers. His work uses an epidemiologic approach to characterize genetic alterations of genes in the causal pathway for malignant tumors. Currently, he serves as an Ad Hoc Advisor for the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, a reviewer for the Cancer Research Campaign in the UK, and is on the editorial board for three peer-reviewed journals.
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Steven Bosinger, Ph.D
Steven Bosinger, Ph.D., is a researcher within the Yerkes National Primate Research Center’s Division of Microbiology & Immunology and an Assistant Professor in the Emory School of Medicine Department of Pathology & Lab Medicine. He is also Director of the Yerkes Research Center’s Nonhuman Primate Genomics Core, which since 2012 has been a resource to researchers who are interested in applying genomic technology to the study of primates and the immune system.
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Peter Ma
Peter Ma is the co-founder of Doctor Hazel and graduated from N.J.I.T. with a B.S. in computer engineering. Mike Borozdin is also the co-founder of Doctor Hazel and VP of Engineering at the mortgage software company, Ethos Lending. The engineers created Doctor Hazel at one of the numerous hackathons that they attended. After a mutual friend’s death from cancer, they decided to apply their AI knowledge to create software to screen for lesions. Since then, both have been featured in several expositions (Techcrunch, Intel AI Academy, Mobi Health News) and have demonstrated the abilities of their software at several conferences.
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Daniel Rubin
Daniel Rubin is a professor at Stanford University who currently teaches biomedical informatics as well as biomedical data science. His main focus is imaging informatics which investigates how computers can help physicians analyze images. He is a graduate of Stanford University School of Medicine and a board-certified radiologist.
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Dr. Gitte J. M. Christensen
Dr. Gitte J. M. Christensen is currently a research scientist and product developer at DermaPharm A/S located in Faarup, Denmark. She received her Masters degree in science in 2011 and her PhD in 2015 at Aarhus University in Aarhus, Denmark. She has published several microbiology and dermatology papers, with her most recent one being published by The Danish Environmental Protection Agency, called Less preservatives in cosmetics – MiKoKo.
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Dr. Harold Bernhardt
Dr. Harold Bernhardt is a research fellow in the Department of Anatomy and Department of Biochemistry at the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand. Although he is interested in a range of things, his research focuses on the evolution of tRNA (transfer RNA) and the origin of life, particularly concerning the RNA world hypothesis. Dr. Bernhardt was awarded a grant from the Marsden Fund in 2013 to investigate the prebiotic chemical evolution of RNA.
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Dr. Charles Carter, Jr.
Dr. Charles Carter, Jr. is a professor of biochemistry and biophysics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He obtained his Ph.D. at the University of California, San Diego in 1972, and since then he has been studying the origins of enzyme catalysis. Dr. Carter’s research challenges the RNA world hypothesis and offers additional insight into the origin of life.
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2017/2018 Content Experts
Dr. Joseph Vinetz
Dr. Joseph Vinetz is an infectious disease specialist based in La Jolla, California. He graduated from Yale University in 1991 and completed his training in internal medicine at Johns Hopkins University. He has been studying the malaria parasite for over 28 years and has been working on a candidate vaccine for malaria for over twenty years. His accomplishments aren’t limited to advancements in understanding in malaria as he has also been researching other tropical diseases like leptospirosis and brucellosis. In addition, Dr. Vinetz is a talented clarinetist.
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Dr. Emily Goldberg
Dr. Emily Goldberg is a postdoctoral fellow at Yale University. She obtained her Ph.D. in the Nikolich-Zugich lab at the University of Arizona. Dr. Goldberg works in the field of immunology. More specifically, her research is focused on aging and metabolism. She started volunteering in labs in high school and kept researching as an undergrad and in grad school. Describing her experiences, she said “I got lucky,” with a laugh, before going on to detail one of the projects she worked on which sparked her interest in her current topic. When she isn’t in the lab, Dr. Goldberg might be found doing pottery or playing ultimate frisbee.
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Dr. Briony Forbes
Dr. Briony Forbes received her Ph.D. from the University of Adelaide in biochemistry. She has held postdoctoral positions at the University of Adelaide, Discipline of Biochemistry and at CSIRO Division of Human Nutrition. She is interested in science that can change society and have positive impacts on the lives of others. She is passionate about the science of metabolism, insulin, and diabetes, as well as the biochemistry of cell signaling in cancer.
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Dr. Henry Daniell
Dr. Henry Daniell is a professor and Interim Chair of the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Pennsylvania. To improve on the current production of vaccines and biopharmaceuticals, he pioneered and advanced the concept of expressing foreign genes in chloroplast DNA. These therapeutic proteins produced are used in treatments for diseases such as hemophilia and diabetes, as well as oral vaccines for infectious diseases such as polio, tuberculosis, and others, as well as tolerance for autoimmune disorders. His works have been featured in over 200 publications, and received numerous awards, patents, and grants.
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Dr. Sujan Shresta
Dr. Sujan Shresta is an Associate Professor in the Division of Inflammation Biology at the La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology. Dr. Shresta studies the immunology and virology of the Dengue and Zika virus and their connection to viral immunopathogenesis.
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John Aitken
John Aitken is a microbiologist based in New Zealand. He became interested in Crohn’s after a scare with Crohn’s-like symptoms at the age of 23. As the Board Director of Otakaro Pathways, a research organization in New Zealand, Aitken developed a test to identify MAP in patients’ blood and has since been a crucial advocate for MAP research. He is driven by what he calls “Crohn’s mothers” — the distressed parents of kids who have Crohn’s.
Dr. Rodrick Chiodini
Dr. Rodrick Chiodini pioneered research into the association between Crohn’s and MAP in the 1980s as a researcher at the University of Connecticut and has been a key player in Crohn’s research and advocacy ever since. MAP research likely wouldn’t exist if not for Rod’s dedication.
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Dr. Gwenaelle Géléoc
Dr. Gwenaelle Géléoc is a Research Associate in Otolaryngology and Neurobiology at Boston Children’s Hospital and Assistant Professor of Otolaryngology at Harvard Medical School. As a principal investigator of the Holt/Géléoc Lab, which she runs with her husband, she conducts research involving the structure and function of sensory hair cells in the inner ear. When she is not busy working in the lab or writing articles, Dr. Géléoc enjoys running and spending time with her two children.
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Dr. Jae Park
Dr. Jae Park is a hematologist-oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. He loves his work on the biology of blood cancers and enjoys talking with patients and helping them get better. He became interested in CAR T-cell therapy during his oncology fellowship when he saw the huge potential of this approach in battling cancer.
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Dr. Robert Krikorian
Dr. Robert Krikorian is a Professor in the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Neuroscience and Director of the Cognitive Aging Program at the University of Cincinnati Academic Health Center. Interested by the relationships in the brain, Krikorian was curious as to if blueberries could improve cognitive functions in humans. Through his studies, he has conducted clinical research involving the effects of blueberries on cognitive performance, hoping to discover preventive measures to decrease the risk of Alzheimer’s. When he’s not busy in the lab, Dr. Krikorian enjoys traveling to the southwest, driving sports cars, and playing/watching baseball.
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Dr. Lisa Abegglen
Dr. Lisa Abegglen is an Instructor at the University of Utah (Department of Pediatrics). She works closely with Dr. Joshua Schiffman and their team of scientists. Her work focuses on genetic cancer predisposition syndromes and comparative oncology. Currently, she is researching molecular mechanisms of cancer resistance in elephants to hopefully apply it to improve human health in the future. Her past experience as a drug discovery scientist in the industry will help with these efforts. She shares her passion for science with her children (4 and 6 years old), who enjoy visiting the lab.
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Dr. Tim Bugg
Dr. Tim Bugg is a professor of Biological Chemistry at the University of Warwick in Coventry, England. He has studied enzymes involved in bacterial cell wall synthesis since his post-doctoral work at Harvard Medical School in 1989. He is excited to be part of a potential new breakthrough in treating antibiotic-resistant tuberculosis and hopes that it may save lives in the future.
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Dr. Rosie Brown
Dr. Rosie Brown received her PhD in from the University of Otago in 2010 in the Department of Anatomy and the Department of Physiology. She is currently a Research Fellow at the University of Otago Medical School in Dunedin, New Zealand in the Department of Anatomy. Her research seeks to understand how a mother’s brain adapts during pregnancy through hormone signaling and other processes to facilitate a behavior change, allowing her to care for her young—an exciting area in the scientific community.