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Fellows Present at 2023 NIH Postbac Poster Day

, by Elise Tookmanian, Ph.D.

Participants at 2023 NIH Postbac Poster Day: Aleah Thompson, Trevor Christensen, Frank Colón-Matos, Joseph Deng, Abigail Dennis, Somayina Ezennia, Kaitlin Forsythe, Katherine Hullin, Alexander Kane, Sararat (Joy) Tosakoon, Aimee Koestler, and Muzzammil Ahmadzada.

Aleah Thompson, Trevor Christensen, Frank Colón-Matos, Joseph Deng, Abigail Dennis, Somayina Ezennia, Kaitlin Forsythe, Katherine Hullin, Alexander Kane, Sararat (Joy) Tosakoon, Aimee Koestler, and Muzzammil Ahmadzada.

In April, twelve DCEG postbaccalaureate fellows presented at the 2023 NIH Postbac Poster Day, sponsored by the NIH Office of Intramural Training and Education. Posters were judged by teams of graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, clinical fellows, and staff scientists/staff clinicians. 

Aleah Thomas, B.S.
“Fine particulate matter, greenspace, noise pollution, and prostate cancer risk in the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal, and Ovarian (PLCO) cohort.”
Mentors: Rena Jones, Ph.D., M.S., and Mia M. Gaudet, Ph.D. 

Trevor Christensen, B.A. - Recipient, Outstanding Poster Award
“Functional characterization of a pancreatic cancer GWAS signal at the promoter of PDX1.” 
Mentors: Laufey Amundadottir, Ph.D., and Jason Hoskins, Ph.D.

 

Frank J. Colón-Matos, B.S.
“Impact of depression and anxiety disorders on mortality risk in lung cancer patients: A literature review.”
Mentor: Maria Teresa Landi, M.D., Ph.D.

Joseph Y. Deng, B.S.
“Cancer predisposition in Fanconi Anemia heterozygotes: A DiscovEHR cohort population study.” 
Mentor: Lisa J. McReynolds, M.D., Ph.D.

Abigail J. Dennis, M.S.
“Functional characterization of non-coding CDKN2B variants identified in high-risk melanoma families.”
Mentor: Kevin Brown, Ph.D. 

Somayina Ezennia, M.P.H.
“Associations between estimated bioaerosol exposures and circulating immunological markers among male farmers.” 
Mentor: Jonathan Hofmann, Ph.D., M.P.H. 

Kaitlin Forsythe, B.S.A.  
“Application of parse scRNA-seq to explore bladder cancer biology.”
Mentor: Ludmila Prokunina-Olsson, Ph.D.

Katherine E. Hullin, B.S. - Recipient, Outstanding Poster Award
“Functional characterization of the chr1p36.33 pancreatic cancer risk locus.”  
Mentors: Dr. Amundadottir and Katelyn E. Connelly, Ph.D.

Alexander Kane, B.A.
“Evaluating cell-type specific regulation of IRF4 via a lung cancer risk-associated variant potentially involving NFKB pathways.”  
Mentors: Jiyeon Choi, Ph.D., M.S., and Jinhu Yin, Ph.D.  

Sararat (Joy) Tosakoon, B.S.
“Predictive factors for cholecystectomy in the Chile Biliary Longitudinal Study.”  
Mentors: Sarah S. Jackson, Ph.D., and Jill Koshiol, Ph.D.

Aimee Koestler, B.S.  
“Whole-genome sequencing of 1,094 HPV 45 cases and controls identifies genetic variants specifically associated with cervical glandular lesions.”
Mentor: Lisa Mirabello, Ph.D., M.S. 

Muzzammil W. Ahmadzada, B.S.
“Cancers in myotonic dystrophy: Tumor characteristics and prognosis.”
Mentor: Shahinaz Gadalla, M.D., Ph.D.

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