Biotechnology PhD Training Program
Biotechnology PhD Training Program
UVa
The BTP is run for the students and largely by the students. Below are BTP activities, their student organizer(s) and year of contribution.
Admissions
Mike Stadnisky (’11; BTP grad ‘10)
Paul Bonthuis (’12; BTP grad ’12)
Jason Yang (’12; BTP grad ’12)
Kaity Allen (’13, 14; BTP grad ‘14)
Dan Nelson (’15; BTP grad ‘16)
Joanna Adadevoh (’16)
Phil Yen (’17; BTP grad ‘17)
Laryssa Manigat (’18)
Alex Keller (’19; BTP grad ‘19)
BIMS Diversity Recruiting Day
’15: Laryssa Manigat, Bruce Corliss
’16: Maria Ali, Joanna Adadevoh, Jennifer Ortiz, Faith Karanja
’17: Maria Ali, Faith Karanja, Adrienne Williamstiz, Faith Karanja
’18: Maria Ali, Xavier Horton, Kris Rawls
BTP Company Tours
Brian Schmidt ('05): VA Biotech Research Park (Richmond VA)
Brian Schmidt ('07): J Craig Ventor Institute, Human Genome Sciences (Rockville VA)
Paul Bonthuis (’09): MedImmune (Gaithersburg MD)
Perry Kennedy (’10): ATCC (Manassas VA)
Jaymes Beech (’11): Pfizer (Richmond VA)
Drew Bundschuh (’13): Abbott Laboratories (Altavista VA)
Arch Creasy (’14): MedImmune (Gaithersburg VA)
Bruce Corliss (’15): Hemoshear (Charlottesville VA)
Alex Keller (’17): FDA CBER/CDER (Silver Spring MD)
Faith Karanja (’18): Merck (Elkton VA)
Xavier Horton/Ridhi Sahani (’20): ATCC (Manassas VA)
BTP Day of Caring
Sarah Johnson (’08): United Way outreach at Charlottesville Enterprise Center
Sarah Johnson (’09): United Way outreach at the Church of the Incarnation
Stacey Gorski (’10): United Way outreach at Church of the Incarnation
Stacey Gorski (’11): United Way outreach at Barrett Day Care
Celeste Goh (’12): United Way outreach at Sutherland School
Celeste Goh (’13): United Way outreach at Lewis and Clark Exploratory Center
Joanna Adadevoh (’14): United Way outreach: Preddy Creek Trail Park
Anna Blazier (’15): United Way outreach at Golden Living
Lee Talman (’16): United Way outreach at Ivy Creek Natural Area
Elizabeth Herbst (’17): United Way outreach at Camp Albermarle
Merci Best (’18): Project Linus (blankets for children)
Greg Grewal (’19): Project Linus (blankets for children)
Ridhi Sahani (’20):
BTP Externship Mentoring Panel
Kelly Drews, Laryssa Manigat, Alex Keller (’18)
BTP Outreach for Students with Disabilities
Kelly Drews, Matt Biggs, Dan Nelson (’15): Gallaudet University (Washington, DC)
BTP Faculty Talks
Kyudam Oh (’09-’11)
BTP High School Outreach
Shannon Beck ('02; Blue Ridge Governor's School)
BTP Industrial Panel
Tom Mendel ('10): invited panelists Bob McKown (JMU), Martin Chapman (Indoor Biotechnologies), Jay Reuben (BD Diagnostics), Carl Whatling (AstraZeneca), Mike Danilich (Luna Innovations)
Gregory Faust (chair), Jaymes Beech, Scott Seaman, Tom Mendel ('12): invited panelists Alex Bailey (FDA), Stefan Bekiranov (UVa), Krishna Kodukula (CADRE, SRI), Erik Park (Shire HGT), Brian Pollok (ATCC)
Dan Nelson (‘13): invited panelists Patrick Klepcyk (UVa Licensing and Ventures), C. Matt Holl (Beckman Coulter), Ernie Perez-Almodova (Amgen), Antonio Ubiera (Glaxo Smith Kline), Maciek Sasinowski (Health Diagnostic Laboratory), Tara Jones (Amgen)
Matthew Biggs (’14): invited panelists Amy Clobes (UVa), Anne Knowlton (Cell Press), David Manka (Hemoshear), Jennifer Munson (UVa), Chris Paschall (UVa Licensing & Ventures), Erwin Gianchandani (NSF), Rebekah Neal (Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation)
Laryssa Manigat (’15): invited panelists Anna Pomés (Indoor Biotech), David Ege (Merck), Caren Petrie Aronin (Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati), Ed Ramos (NIBIB), Thomas Thorpe (Afton Scientific), Sue Yi (Syngenta)
Jennifer Ortiz, Maria Ali (’17): invited panelists Barbara Boyan (VCU), Jason Papin (UVa), Anna Pomés (Indoor Biotech), Audrey Reid (Imbibe Solutions), Michael Simmers (Hemoshear Therapeutics)
Andrew Heindel (’18): Martha Bomar (Merck), Colin Choi (Takeda), Amrie Grammer (AMPEL BioSolutions), Joseph Kilroy (SoundPipe Therapeutics)
Nick Cornell (’19): Don Griffin (Tempo Therapeutics; UVA), Jonathan Handing (Moderna Therapeutics), Kasia Handing, (Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard), Allison Ortigosa (Merck)
BTP Journal Club Lunch Organization
Kristen Fread
BTP Minority Day
Patrick Martin ('02)
Shannon Smith ('04)
Gary Davis ('05): invited speakers David Patteson (Biotage, now at Advion), Bob McKown (JMU)
Mike Stadnisky (’08): speaking UVa’s Cheryl Apprey, David Chen, Gordon Laurie
Mike Stadnisky (’09)
BTP Newsletter Editor
Eric Park ('01 - '02)
Lori Henrich ('02 - '03)
Rosiland Mott ('03 - '04)
Qin Sun ('04)
Vicky Kelley ('04 - '05)
Gbemi Oredein ('05 - '06)
Tim Pabst ('06 - '07)
Rebekah Neal ('08)
Barbara Merk ('09 - ‘10)
Kaity Allen ('10 - ‘11)
Erica Madero ('12 - ‘13)
Millie Shah ('13 - ‘14)
Kris Rawls ('15 - ‘16)
Alexandra Harris ('16 - ‘17)
Erica Hui ('17 - ‘18)
Ivan Basurto ('18 - ‘19)
BTP New Students' Dinner
Katie Horsman, Matt Stark ('03): invited speaker Sheridan Snyder (founder of Genzyme, Upstate Biotech)
Rooshin Dalal, Katie Horsman ('04): review of BTPer research
Brian Schmidt ('05): invited speaker David Kalergis (Co-founder & CEO, Diffusion Pharmaceuticals)
Erwin Gianchandani ('06): invited speakers George Martin (former NIA Scientific Director; Chief of Fibrogen SAB), Jay Reuben (Director, R&D of BD Diagostic Systems)
Jacob Jordan ('07): invited speaker Mark Herzog (Executive Director, Virginia Biotechnology Association)
Matthew Oberhardt (’08): invited speakers Milton Brown (Director, Drug Discovery Program Georgetown U) and Ed Botchwey (Assistant Professor of BME, UVa)
Rebekah Neal (’09): invited speaker Ian Ratcliffe (Founder, President and CEO of Stemgent)
Tony Awojoodu (’10): invited speaker Rodney Sparks (Senior Biotechnology Patent Counsel, UVa Patent Foundation)
Aaron Bailey (’11): invited speaker Mark Crowell (UVa Executive Director and Associate VP for Innovation Partnerships and Commercialization)
BTP Photography
Sarah Johnson (’09 - ’10)
Tom Mendel (’10)
BTP Promotion
Michael Smith, Tara Tibbs ('01; JMU presentation)
Tara Tibbs (Chem Eng, Ohio U)
Tanya Watson, Michelle Kofron ('06; 'Biotech After Hours' event)
Kaity Allen (’11; UVa Biology presentation)
BTP Seminar Committee
Rooshin Dalal (chair), Elizabeth Phan, Jace Fogle, MIchelle Kofron ('03 - '04); Brian Helmke oversight
Brian Schmidt (chair), Elizabeth Phan, Jacob Jordan ('04 - '05)
Caren Petrie (chair), Emily Cushnie, Erwin Gianchandani ('05 - '06)
Alex Baras (chair), Meng Wang, Tanya Watson, Erwin Gianchandani ('06 - '07)
Kristina Little (chair), Annika Hedin ('07 - '08)
Aaron Bailey (chair), Dan Leslie, Ernie Perez Almodovar (’08 - ’09)
Rob Deitcher (chair), Joseph Kilroy, Paul Bonthuis (’09 - ’10)
Joseph Kilroy (chair), Tom Mendel (’10 - ’11)
Samantha Clark (chair), Glen Hirsh (’11 - ’12)
Glen Hirsh (chair), Phillip Yen (’12 - ’13)
Phillip Yen (chair) (’13 - ’14)
Lauren Russell (chair), Scott Seaman (’14 - ’15)
Bryan Chun (co-chair), Mahmoud Saleh (co-chair; ’15 - ’16)
Nicole Swope (chair), Jacob Wolpe (’16 - ’17)
Kristen Fread (chair), Adrienne Williams (’17 - ’18)
Shayla Clark (co-chair), Rachel Bour (co-chair; ’18 - ’19)
Andrew Miller (chair ’19 - ’20)
BTP Social Events
Antonio Ubiera ('01 - '04): WVa rafting, Va skiing
Michael Smith ('02): Va hiking
Matt Stark ('04 - '05): WVa skiing
Jace Fogle ('06): WVa rafting
Dan Leslie ('07): WVa rafting
Rob Deitcher ('07 - '08)
Ernie Perez Almodovar ('09 - ‘11); Trivia Night at Mellow Mushroom [2.24.10]
Scott Seaman (’11 - ’12)
BTP Symposium Committee
Linda Rinko, Lori Henrich, Tom Gervais, Patrick Martin ('02 Symposium)
Michelle Kofron, Jace Fogle ('04 Symposium)
Meng Wang, Jacob Jordan ('06 Symposium)
Erwin Gianchandani ('09 Symposium)
Jason Yang [co-chair], Anthony Awojoodu, Paul Bonthuis, Stacey Gorski, Dan Leslie, Michael Stadnisky ('11 Symposium)
Samantha Clark [co-chair], Kaity Allen, Glen Hirsh, Joseph Kilroy, Tom Mendel, Scott Seaman, Katherine Schiemeyer (’13 Symposium)
Kellen Chen [co-chair], Arch Creasy, Dan Nelson, Phillip Yen, Jaymes Beech, Anna Blazier, Joanna Adadevoh, Kelly Drews, Alexandra Harris, Alex Keller, Maria Ali (’16 Symposium)
Mitchell Granade [co-chair], Kristen Fread, Lauren Russell, Lee Talman, Nicole Swope, Kris Rawls, Mahmoud Saleh (’18 Symposium)
Dionne Argyle [co-chair], Merci Best, Andy Heindel, Jennifer Ortiz, Rachel Bour, Ivan Basurto, Erica Hui (’20 Symposium)
BTP Talks to Visiting Virginia Tech IMSD and PREP Scholar Students
Faith Karanja, Kris Rawls, Adrienne Williams (’17)
Virginia Piedmont Science Fair Judges
Ernie Perez Almodovar ('10, ‘11)
Stacey Gorski (’11)
Tom Mendel (’11)
Jason Yang ('10, ‘11)
Mitch Granade (’19)
Xavier Horton (’19)
Merci Best (’20)
Faculty organizers
BIMS Diversity Recruiting Day
’15: [Organized by the BTP]: Shayn Peirce-Cottler (co-chair), Young Hahn (co-chair), Mary Hall, Gordon Laurie
Other BTP faculty: Kevin Jane, BJ Purow, Brant Isakson, Kevin Lynch, Mike McConnell, Thurl Harris
’16: Adriane Halme, Chris Deppmann, Dave Kashatus, Erik Hewlett, Gordon Laurie, Jeff Saucerman, Ken Hsu, Kwon-Sik Park, Mike McConnell, Roger Abounader, Sarah Ewald, Silvia Blemker, Tajie Harris
’17: Mazhar Adli, Kevin Janes, Roger Abounader, Eli Zunder, Jeff Saucerman, Andreas Gahlmann, Dave Kashatus, Tajie Harris
BTP Company Tours
Tim Redden ('01 - '03): Merck (Elkton), Biotage (Charlottesville)
Joe Schmidt ('03 - '06): MDS Proteomics (Charlottesville), Adenosine Therapeutics (Charlottesville), Upstate Biotech (Charlottesville), VA Biotech Research Park (Richmond; organized with Bobbe Nixon and Brian Schmidt), BD Diagnostics (Sparks MD)
Bobbe Nixon, David Chen ('07 - ‘10)
BTP Corporate Advisors
Gregory Buck, Steven Kelber, George Martin, Robert Schwartz, Tim Redden, Micheal Stern ('00 - 04)
George Martin, Robert McKown, David Patteson, Tim Redden, Jay Reuben, Michael Stern (’00 - ‘09)
George Martin, Robert McKown (’09 - present); David Patteson, Michael Stern (’09 - ’19); Stacey Gorski, Ernie Perez Almodovar, Rosalind Mott, Tara Tibbs Jones
BTP Core Course
Erik Fernandez (’00 - ’13; Chemical Engineering course)
John Herr (’13 - ’16; Cell ‘Translational Science’ course)
Robert Meyer (’17; Cell ‘Translational Science’ course)
Kevin Lynch (’18 - pres; Cell ‘Translational Science’ course)
BTP Director
Gordon Laurie (’00 - ’20)
Klaus Ley as Co-Director (’00 - ’02)
Silvia Blemker (’20 - pres)
Kimberly Kelly as Co-Director (’20 - pres)
BTP Diversity Collaboration
Gordon Laurie (collaborator on NSU with Joseph Hall '03)
Gordon Laurie (member, NSU-NIH/CBBS Planning and Advisor Committee '06 - ‘12)
BIMS Diversity Day
Shayn Peirce-Cottler, Young Hahn, Keisha John, Mary Hall, Gordon Laurie (BTP organizes 2nd Annual BIMS Diversity Day)
BTP Diversity Outreach Talks
Gordon Laurie ('03 to VUU MARC U*STAR students)
Isa Hussaini ('04 to VUU MARC U*STAR students)
Erik Fernandez ('05 to VUU MARC U*STAR students)
Will Guilford ('07 to VUU MARC U*STAR students)
Shayn Peirce-Cottler (’15 to WSSU MARC U*STAR students)
Vic Engelhard (’15 to WSSU MARC U*STAR students)
Gordon Laurie (’17 to Virginia Tech IMSD program (Ed Smith, contact)
Gordon Laurie (11.20.19 to UMBC, Meyerhoff Scholars Program)
BTP Executive Committee
Erik Fernandez (Chem Eng), Roseanne Ford (Chem Eng), Rick Horwitz (Cell Biol), Gordon Laurie (Cell Biol; Director/PI), Klaus Ley (BME; Co-Director '00 - '02), Tom Skalak (BME) ('00 - '07)
Zygmunt Derewenda (Physiol), Erik Fernandez (Chem Eng), James Landers (Chem), Gordon Laurie (Cell Biol; Director/PI), Tom Skalak (BME) ('07 - ‘11)
Giorgio Carta (Chem Eng), Zygmunt Derewenda (Physiol), John Hudson (Chem Eng), James Landers (Chem), Gordon Laurie (Cell Biol; Director/PI), Deborah Lannigan (Micro), Shayn Peirce-Cottler (BME) ('11 - ‘13)
Giorgio Carta (Chem Eng), Linda Columbus (Chem), Zygmunt Derewenda (Physiol), Erik Hewlett (Med), James Landers (Chem), Gordon Laurie (Cell Biol; Director/PI), Shayn Peirce-Cottler (BME) ('13 - ‘15)
Silvia Salinas Blemker (BME and Mech & Aerosp Eng), Lisa Colosi Peterson (Civil & Environ Eng), Linda Columbus (Chem), Christopher Deppmann (Biol), Young Hahn (Micro), Erik Hewlett (Med), Gordon Laurie (Cell Biol; Director/PI), Jason Papin (BME), Shayn Peirce-Cottler (BME) ('15 - ‘16)
Silvia Salinas Blemker (BME and Mech & Aerosp Eng), Christopher Deppmann (Biol), Xiaowei Lu (Cell Biol), Gordon Laurie (Cell Biol; Director/PI), Kevin Lynch (Pharm), Jason Papin (BME), Shayn Peirce-Cottler (BME), Lukas Tamm (Physiol) ('16 - ‘19)
Silvia Salinas Blemker (BME and Mech & Aerosp Eng), Christopher Deppmann (Biol), Karen Hirschi (Cell Biol; Co-Director, Co-PI), Matthew Lazzara (Chem Eng), Xiaowei Lu (Cell Biol), Gordon Laurie (Cell Biol; Director/PI), Kevin Lynch (Pharm), Shayn Peirce-Cottler (BME), Lukas Tamm (Physiol) ('19 - pres)
BTP Externship Coordinator
Tim Redden ('01 - '03)
Joe Schmidt ('03 - '06)
David Chen ('07 - ‘14) and Tim Redden (’08 - ‘10)
Bobbe Nixon (’10 - ‘17)
Phyllis Hynes (’18 - present)
BTP Faculty Dinner
Erik Fernandez ('04): review of faculty research
BTP Journal Club/Research in Progress talks
Klaus Ley ('00 - '02)
Isa Hussaini ('02 - '04)
Mario Geysen ('04 - '05)
Ed Botchwey ('05 - ‘08)
Giorgo Carta (’08 - ‘09)
Michael Shirts (’09 - ‘11)
Kevin Janes (’11 - ‘12)
Benjamin Purow (’12 - ‘13)
Mike McConnell (’13 - ‘14)
Kyle Lampe (’14 - ‘15)
Jennifer Munson (’15 - ‘16)
Eli Zunder (’16 - ‘17)
Sarah Ewald (’17 - ‘18)
Bryan Berger (’18 - ‘19)
Chris Highley (’19 - ’20)
BTP Representative on BIMS Integrated Review Committee
Ira Hall ('11)
BTP Representative on SBIR Review Committee
Christopher Deppmann
BTP Representative on Responsible Conduct of Research Course (BIMS 7100)
Michael Brown (’16)
Jeffrey Holmes (’16)
John Hossack (’16)
BTP Seminars (before student BTP Committee)
Will Guilford ('01)
Stephanie Guerlain ('02)
BTP Symposia Committee (faculty plus students)
Roseanne Ford (co-chair), Tom Skalak (co-chair), Gordon Laurie, Tim Redden, Linda Rinko, Lori Henrich, Tom Gervais, Patrick Martin, Leslie Fox, Helen Rogers ('02 Symposium)
Roseanne Ford (chair), Martin Schwartz, Zygmunt Derewenda, Michelle Kofron, Jace Fogle, Tim Redden, Joe Schmidt, Leslie Fox, Beth McQaid ('04 Symposium)
Erik Fernandez (chair), Chris Moskaluk, Jason Papin, Gary Balian, John Herr, Meng Wang, Jacob Jordan ('06 Symposium)
James Landers (chair), Matthew Begley, Linda Columbus, Erwin Gianchandani, Stephanie Guerlain, Chris Moskaluk, Shayn Peirce-Cottler ('09 Symposium)
Jason Papin (co-chair), Kim Kelly, Deborah Lannigan, Kevin Lynch, Bill Petri ('11 Symposium)
Kevin Janes (co-chair), Roger Abounader, Tom Braciale, Lisa Colosi, Michele Sale (’13 Symposium)
Kyle Lampe (co-chair), Mazhan Adli, Hui Zong, Jill Venton, Mark Kester, Chris Deppmann (’16 Symposium)
Steven Caliari (co-chair), Rebecca Pompano, Sarah Kucenas, Thurl Harris, Cristian Danna, Adrian Halme (’18 Symposium)
Donald Griffin (co-chair), Melanie Rutkowski, Tajie Harris, Andreas Gahlmann, Gino Giri, Jochen Zimmer (’20 Symposium)
Summer Research Internship Program Applicant Review (BTP representative)
Jeffrey Saucerman (’10)
Virginia Piedmont Science Fair Judge
Gordon Laurie (’10, ’11, ‘13)
Taking care of administrative logistics
BTP Administrative Coordinator
Elizabeth Britt ('00 - '01; Graduate Program’s Office)
Leslie Fox ('02 - ’08; Graduate Program’s Office)
Mary Hall (’08 - ‘17); scheduling by Mary Staton (’08 - ‘13), scheduling by Phillis Hynes (’16 - present)
Phillis Hynes (’18 - present)
BTP Accounting
Janice Munson ('00 - ‘09; Graduate Program’s Office)
Lois Rowsey, Cathie Church (’09 - ‘15)
Lois Rowsey (’15 - ‘19), Wanda Crawford (’14 - ‘19)
Jamie Wasser, Phillis Hynes (’19 - present)
BTP Data Collection
Elizabeth Britt ('00 - 13; Graduate Program’s Office)
Mary Hall (’14 - ‘17)
Graduate Program’s Office Leadership
Joel Hockensmith (help with BTP '00 - ’15)
Janet Cross (’15 - present)
Contributions