BBS PhD Program

Achievements & Accolades

Our Graduate Community is composed of really outstanding people! Here are some things they have been doing lately:

Recent Fellowship & Award Recipients (2022-2023) 

  • Kristina Ceres - Wildlife Disease Association Scholarship
  • Jackson Seminara - American Association of Bovine Practitioners Foundation Inc. 2023
  • Brianna Knode - NSF GRFP 2023
  • Amanda Macias - NSF GRFP 2023
  • Jessica Noll - Cornell Atkinson’s Graduate Research Grant 2023
  • Eric Teplitz - Cornell Atkinson’s Graduate Research Grant 2023
  • James Cockey - Liz Hanson Graduate Fellowship 2022
  • Jonathan Villanueva- Provost Diversity Fellowship 
  • Camille Holmes- Equine Research Grant 2022, American Quarter House Foundation Fellowship 
  • Leanne Donahue - Stem Cell Training Fellowship 2022
  • Erica Secor - Hong Kong Jockey Club Fellowship 2022
  • Annika Diaz- NSF GRFP 2022
  • Kayleigh Morrison- NSF GRFP 2022
  • Rhasaan Bovell- NSF GRFP 2022
  • Julia Zhu- NSF GRFP Honorable mention 2022
  • Hsin-Yun Chang- Ministry of Education- Taiwan Scholarship 2022
  • Haewon Byun- CVM Graduate Scholarship 2022
  • Jonathan Villanueva- CVM Graduate Scholarship 2022

Recent Graduates

August 2023

  • Karla Garcia-Martinez PhD (Immunology and Infectious Disease)
  • Brian Imbiakha PhD (Immunology and Infectious Disease)
  • Hector Loyola Irizarry PhD (Molecular & Cellular Medicine)
  • Candice Limper PhD (Immunology and Infectious Disease)
  • Gabriela Mansano Do Nascimento PhD (Immunology and Infectious Disease)
  • Weilun Pang PhD (Molecular & Cellular Medicine)

May 2023

  • David Buchholz PhD (Immunology and Infectious Disease)
  • Felicity Emerson PhD (Molecular and Cellular Medicine)
  • Maria Font PhD (Molecular and Cellular Medicine)
  • Dahihm Kim PhD (Translational Medicine)
  • Amanda Loehr PhD (Molecular and Cellular Medicine)
  • Robert Lopez-Astacio PhD (Immunology and Infectious Disease)
  • Jonathan Villanueva PhD (Translational Medicine)

December 2022

  • Furkat Muktarov PhD (Molecular and Cellular Medicine)
  • Alexis Oldfield PhD (Translational Medicine)
  • Jeff Pea PhD (Translational Medicine)
  • Julio Sanchez PhD (Molecular and Cellular Medicine)

August 2022

  • Kristina Ceres PhD (Population Medicine and Epidemiology)

  • Scarlett Lee PhD (Immunology and Infectious Disease)

  • Mason Jager PhD (Immunology and Infectious Disease)

  • Adam Francisco PhD (Molecular and Cellular Medicine)

  • Ruizhi Li PhD (Molecular and Cellular Medicine)

BBS Kudos 

We look forward to hearing about our beautiful community and highlighting all they do to create a better world.  Please submit a Kudos using the Kudos Form to let us know what you or your peer or mentee have done.

Viraj Upadhye (4th year BBS candidate) is recognized for his passion for structural biology.  Viraj has taken time to expand his knowledge by attending an off campus symposium and by keeping up with the latest techniques in his field. He consistently contributes structural insights to journal club sessions. He also takes the time to ask insightful questions at the BBS Work in Progress Seminars any time one of his peers projects has a structural component."

Bailey Lubinski,  BBS Candidate (Whittaker Lab)

Jonathan Villanueva (5th year BBS candidate) is a rising star!  Just in the past half-year, he received the Provost's Diversity Fellowship for Doctoral Students, published a first-author paper, and accepted an offer for a post-doctoral position at the University of Michigan.  I am so impressed with his drive, focus, and aptitude.  Jon is also a very thoughtful colleague who gives generously of his time and knowledge to others.

Dr. Praveen Sethupathy, Committee Chair

Kieran Koch-Laskowski is a top-notch BBS candidate (DVM/PhD). She is creative, independent, reliable, and hard-working. She is also also exceptional at science communication, and works hard at both writing and visual presentation of her work. Most recently, she gave an invited lecture for the Endoderm Club (a seminar series run out of the Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center). Her talk covered her most recent work that leverages state-of-the-art genome technology to investigate how the intestine adapts to bariatric surgery at unprecedented resolution. Her findings have implications for diabetes and other gastrointestinal conditions. Her lecture was incredibly clear, engaging, and enjoyable. I am very proud of her, her efforts, her drive, and her accomplishments.

Dr. Praveen Sethupathy, Committee Chair