Clinical Genetics Branch
Current Fellows
Meet the current fellows in the Clinical Genetics Branch and learn about current research training opportunities.
Charleen D. Adams, M.P.H., M.T.S., M.A. - Predoctoral Fellow
Ms. Charleen Adams graduated from Northern Arizona University (NAU) in Flagstaff, Arizona in 2000 with a B.A. in speech pathology and audiology and followed this with an MA-TESL in applied linguistics in 2002. She then went on to pursue a Master of Theological Studies (MTS) at Trinity Lutheran Seminary. As part of her studies, she received clinical pastoral education at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital, where she worked with patients and hospital staff in both oncology and pediatric intensive care units. This work nurtured her passion for public health, and while completing her MTS, she accepted a position with the Washington Department of Health as a Health Services Consultant In 2010 she was accepted as a Dean’s Merit Scholar to the MPH program at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Ms. Adams joined the Clinical Genetics Branch in the summer of 2012 as a predoctoral fellow, completing her MPH shortly thereafter. She is working under the mentorship of Dr. Jennifer Loud, and she is involved in projects with multiple investigators in the branch, including a systematic literature review of neurofibromatosis type 1 and uncommon tumors with Dr. Douglas Stewart, and, with Drs. Blanche Alter and Neelam Giri, a project studying hearing loss and congenital anomalies among those with inherited bone marrow failure syndromes.
DCEG Publications (text and abstracts from our publications database)
Bari Ballew, Ph.D. - Postdoctoral Fellow
Dr. Bari Ballew is a post-doctoral CRTA fellow in the Clinical Genetics Branch (CGB). She obtained her Ph.D. in biology from the University of California, San Diego in 2012. Her Ph.D. dissertation focused on the regulation of DNA end-processing at telomeres and at DNA double strand breaks. Dr. Ballew completed her undergraduate training at Johns Hopkins University where she was awarded a Howard Hughes Undergraduate Research Fellowship prior to earning her Bachelor of Science degree in molecular and cellular biology. Dr. Ballew works primarily on the telomere molecular epidemiology program with Dr. Sharon Savage. Her current research focuses on studies of the genetic contribution of aberrant telomere biology on human disease. She is conducting studies on disease susceptibility in patients with dyskeratosis congenita, an inherited cancer predisposition syndrome, which is caused by germline mutations in telomere biology genes, and new cancer gene discovery in DCEG’s Whole Exome Sequencing initiative.
DCEG Publications (text and abstracts from our publications database)
John Fargo, D.O. - Postdoctoral Fellow
Dr. John Fargo joined the Cancer Genetics Branch (CGB), Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics (DCEG), in July of 2011 as a visiting fellow from Children’s National Medical Center (CNMC). He received his medical degree in 2006 from the University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine, in Maine. He completed his Pediatric Residency training in 2009 at Phoenix Children’s Hospital in Phoenix, Arizona. He is currently a Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Fellow at CNMC. His mentor is Blanche Alter, M.D. Dr. Fargo’s research interests include studying the epidemiology, clinical presentation, diagnosis, and management of inherited bone marrow failure syndromes. His specific research is studying diagnostic tools for Diamond-Blackfan Anemia (DBA).
DCEG Publications (text and abstracts from our publications database)
Julia C. Gage, Ph.D., M.P.H. - Research Fellow
Dr. Julia Gage joined DCEG as a CRTA pre-doctoral fellow in 2005 while pursuing a Ph.D. in epidemiology at Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health. Since graduating in 2008, she has worked as a post-doctoral fellow under the guidance of Dr. Mark Schiffman, initially in the Hormone and Reproductive Epidemiology Branch, and now in the Clinical Genetics Branch of DCEG. Her interests focus on the molecular epidemiology of human papillomavirus infection (HPV), and translating novel discoveries regarding the natural history of HPV into improved screening and diagnosis for cervical precancer. Her post-doctoral projects have included the validation of low-cost screening tests and coordinating the Itoju Study of HPV DNA Prevalence in Nigeria. Dr. Gage serves as lead analyst for NCI in the New Mexico Cervical HPV Registry Project, a statewide registry recording all cytology, HPV testing, pathology, and vaccination data, to study the impact of vaccination on screening. She is also analyzing data from the Study of Distinguish HPV Infection from Cervical Precancer (SUCCEED Biopsy) project and the Persistence and Progression (PaP) cohort. Specifically, she is conducting 1) etiologic analyses to address remaining questions in HPV natural history; 2) validation studies of novel HPV tests; 3) investigations of colposcopic error and approaches to improve targeting of underlying precancer; and 4) analyses of interpathologist reproducibility in the interpretation of biopsies and excisional specimens. In recognition of her outstanding research productivity and great promise as an independent investigator, Dr. Gage was recently promoted to Research Fellow, an important step in her career development.
DCEG Publications (text and abstracts from our publications database)
Lindsey M. Hoskins, Ph.D., M.S. - Postdoctoral Fellow
Dr. Lindsey Hoskins is a CRTA postdoctoral fellow in the Clinical Genetics Branch (CGB). For her doctoral dissertation, Dr. Hoskins worked with Drs. Mark H. Greene, Chief and Senior Investigator, CGB and Jennifer Loud, Staff Scientist, CGB and Ms. June Peters, Genetic Counselor, CGB on the impact of a positive BRCA1/2 mutation test on young women's decision-making regarding couple formation and maintenance, childbearing and family planning, and risk-reducing (prophylactic) surgeries. Dr. Hoskins published a pilot study describing preliminary observations in young female mutation carriers in Family Systems and Health, which provided the foundation for her dissertation research. She was also a co-author in a Journal of Genetic Counseling report describing the evolution of the Colored Eco-Genetic Relationship Map (CEGRM), a new tool for assessing social and relational functioning among women in Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer (HBOC) families, and participated in two publications (Psycho-Oncology; American Journal of Public Health) describing the application of social network analysis to CEGRM data. She is currently involved in research and manuscript preparation in the area of domestic violence, with her mentors in the Department of Family Studies at the University of Maryland. Dr. Hoskins received her B.S. in family studies and psychology at the University of Arizona in 2002. She holds a master's degree in Marriage and Family Therapy (MFT) from the University of Maryland and is a licensed MFT in the state of Maryland. She has been a collaborator on Clinical Genetics Branch-related research since February of 2005.
DCEG Publications (text and abstracts from our publications database)
Lisa Mirabello, Ph.D. - Research Fellow
Lisa Mirabello joined the Clinical Genetics Branch (CGB) as a CRTA postdoctoral Cancer Genetics Research Fellow in September 2007. Dr. Mirabello received her Bachelor's of Science degree in animal science and pre-medicine at Cornell University. She completed work for her Master's of Science degree in experimental pathology at New York Medical College in 2003, and then earned her Ph.D. in molecular population genetics at the School of Public Health, State University of New York, Albany in 2007. In January 2010, Dr. Mirabello was promoted to Research Fellow. Dr. Mirabello is working with Sharon A. Savage, M.D., Investigator, on (1) studies of osteosarcoma etiology and epidemiology, including a SEER analysis of osteosarcoma incidence and survival in the U.S. and worldwide and a meta-analysis of the association between height and birth-weight with osteosarcoma risk; (2) Association studies of growth, bone formation, and DNA repair pathway SNPs and osteosarcoma risk using iSelect data; (3) Children's Oncology Group Retrospective study of osteosarcoma genetic risk factors; (4) Population genetics and bioinformatics studies of genes important in telomere biology using data from the CGF's SNP500 and Worldwide Human Diversity Panel, and HapMap data sets; (5) Telomere length as a cancer risk factor; (6) Association studies of common genetic variation in telomere biology genes and telomere length; and (7) Global and promoter DNA methylation analyses among family members from multiple-case Familial Testicular Cancer families. Dr. Mirabello is also investigating human papillomavirus-16 genome methylation patterns associated with outcome of cervical infection in a prospective population-based cohort under the mentorship of Dr. Mark Schiffman, Senior Investigator.
DCEG Publications (text and abstracts from our publications database)
Anand Pathak, M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H. - Postdoctoral Fellow
Anand Pathak joined the Clinical Genetics Branch (CGB) as a postdoctoral fellow in August 2012. He earned his AB with Honors in biology from Harvard College in 1997. In 2007, he graduated from the MSTP Program at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine with an M.D. and a Ph.D. in molecular, cellular and biochemical pharmacology. His Ph.D. dissertation focused on understanding the role of protein phosphatase 1 and inhibitor-1 in normal and abnormal cardiac function; inhibitor-1 was determined to be an important molecular inotrope that inhibited heart failure progression. Dr. Pathak completed his clinical training and residency in preventive medicine at the University of Michigan, and earned an M.P.H. in epidemiology at the University of Michigan School of Public Health in 2011. He is board certified in Preventive Medicine. Before joining CGB, Dr. Pathak worked as a postdoctoral fellow in the Laboratory of Pathology, NIH, where he discovered a novel epigenetic biomarker for mesothelioma. Dr. Pathak has a strong interest in cancer genetics and epidemiology and has significant interest in bioinformatics. He has a genuine passion for applying these tools to large, complex data sets, and seeks to apply these skills to cancer epidemiology and genomics as a postdoctoral fellow. Dr. Pathak is working under the supervision of Dr. Douglas Stewart, focusing primarily on studying novel genetic variants that contribute to risk of aggregated familial cancers.
Learn about research training opportunities in the Clinical Genetics Branch.