Biotechnology PhD Training Program

UVa

 

All Graduates
- since 2004, time to PhD degree 5.5 yrs

Graduated (69)

Kaity Allen #
Clemson University
Biological Sciences
Major Mentor: Michele Sale
Minor Mentor: Jason Papin
Externship: Mobidiag (Finland)
Current: Postdoctoral Fellow, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
LinkedIn

Ernie Perez Almodovar #

University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez
Industrial Biotechnology
Major Mentor: Giorgio Carta
Minor Mentor: James Landers
Externship: BioRad
Current: Director of Operations, Amgen
LinkedIn

Caren Petrie Aronin #
University of Virginia
Chemical Engineering
Major Mentor: Ed Botchwey
Minor Mentor: Tom Skalak
Externship: Luna Innovations
Current: Patent Agent, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati
LinkedIn


Anthony Awojoodu #
University of Maryland
Bioengineering
Major Mentor: Ed Botchwey
Minor Mentor: Kevin Lynch
Externship: AstraZeneca (Sweden)
Current: Director of Strategy, DaVita Inc.; Founder & CEO of Tone’s Professional Advisory Solutions and Services
LinkedIn

Lorin (Henrich) Bachmann #
Virginia Tech
Microbiology
Mentors: David Brautigan
& Deborah Lannigan
Externship: BD Diagnostics
Current: Co-Director, Clinical Chemistry at VCU Health System
LinkedIn

Aaron Bailey #
University of Colorado
Biology/Biochemistry
Major Mentor: Don Hunt
Minor Mentor: Erik Fernandez
Externship: Genentech
Current: Associate Director of Mass Spectrometry Core Research, University of Texas Medical Branch
LinkedIn

Alex Bailey #

Tufts University

Mechanical Engineering

Major Mentor: Shayn Peirce

Externship: Tissue Genesis

Current: Director of Regulatory Affairs, Regenxbio
LinkedIn


Alex Baras #
Georgetown University
Biology
Major Mentor: Chris Moskaluk
Minor Mentor: Jason Papin
Externship: Novartis Institutes of
Biomedical Research
Current: Associate Professor of Pathology, Urology and Oncology, Johns Hopkins University
LinkedIn

Jaymes Beech #
University of Akron
Biomedical Engineering
Major Mentor: Kim Kelly
Minor Mentor: Kevin Janes
Externship: New England Biolabs
Current: Engagement Manager at Oliver Wyman
LinkedIn

Matthew Biggs
Brigham Young University
Bioinformatics
Major Mentor: Jason Papin
Minor Mentor: Martin Wu
Externship: Dow Agrosciences
Current: Computational Biologist, AgBiome
LinkedIn

Anna Blazier University of Virginia
Biomedical Engineering/Religious Studies
Major Mentor: Jason Papin
Minor Mentor: Kevin Janes
Externship: Unilever (UK)
Current: Computational Biologist, Casma Therapeutics
LinkedIn

Paul Bonthuis #
University of Washington
Cell and Molecular Biology
Major Mentor: Emilie Rissman
Minor Mentor: Jill Venton
Externship: Luna Innovations
Current: Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Utah
LinkedIn

Kellen Chen
University of California, Berkley
Biomedical Engineering
Major Mentor: Jeffrey Holmes
Minor Mentor: Doug DeSimone
Externship: Edwards Lifesciences Current: Postdoctoral Scholar, Gurtner Laboratory, Stanford University
LinkedIn
See video featuring Kellen.

Bryan Chun
Princeton University
Molecular Biology
Major Mentor: Jeffrey Saucerman
Minor Mentor: Christopher Deppmann
Externship: AMPEL Biosolutions
Current: completing medical school
LinkedIn

Samantha Clarke #
Bucknell University
Biomedical Engineering
Major Mentor: Jeffrey Holmes
Minor Mentor: Doug DeSimone
Externship: UVa Licensing & Ventures Group
Current: Senior Quality Engineer, Kymanox
LinkedIn

Bruce Corliss  recent grad
Dartmouth College
Biomedical Engineering
Major Mentor: Shayn Peirce-Cottler
Minor Mentor: Mark Kester
Externship: Luna Innovations
Current: Research Associate, UVA
LinkedIn

Arch Creasy
Missouri University of Science and Technology
Chemical Engineering
Major Mentor: Giorgio Carta
Minor Mentor: Jill Venton
Externship: Bristol-Myers Squibb
Current: Senior Scientist, Downstream Process Development, Pfizer
LinkedIn

Rooshin Dalal ^
Johns Hopkins University
Biomedical Engineering
Major Mentor. A. Rick Horwitz
Minor Mentor: Klaus Ley
Externship: Entelos
Current: Radiologist at Providence Little Company of Mary Medical Center San Pedro, California
LinkedIn

Gary Davis #
Washington & Lee University
Chemistry
Major Mentor: Milton Brown (now at
Georgetown U)
Current: Technical Market Manager, Evonik Industries
LinkedIn

Robert Deitcher #
University of Delaware
Chemical Engineering/Philosophy
Major Mentor: Erik Fernandez
Minor Mentor: Bill Pearson
Externship: Biogen
Current: Drug Substance Technology Transfer at Vir Biotechnology Inc
LinkedIn

Kelly Drews
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Biology, Biochemistry, History
Major Mentor: Mark Kester
Minor Mentor: Peter Kasson
Externship: Vaxine (Australia)
Current: Senior Research Consultant, Triangle Insights Group
LinkedIn

Gregory Faust #
University of Michigan
Computer Science
MIT (MS)
Computer Science
Major Mentor: Ira Hall
Minor Mentor:  Kevin Skadron
Externship: Hemoshear
Current: Board of Directors at Variantyx, Early Stage Consultant
LinkedIn

Jace Fogle
Penn State University
Chemical Engineering
Major Mentor: Erik Fernandez
Minor Mentor: Zygmunt Derewenda
Externship: MedImmune
Current: Senior Director - API Operations Science and Technology, Abbvie
LinkedIn

Tom Gervais
Penn State University
Chemical Engineering
Major Mentor. John Gainer
Minor Mentor: John Herr
Externship: Merck
Current: Director at Samsung BioLogics (Korea)
LinkedIn

Erwin Gianchandani #
University of Virginia
Computer Science
Major Mentor: Jason Papin
Minor Mentor: David Brautigan
Externship: Novartis Institute for
Biomedical Sciences
Current: Deputy Assistant Director, Computer and Information Science and Engineering, NSF
LinkedIn

Stacey Gorski #
University of the Sciences Philadelphia
Biology
Major Mentor: Tom Braciale
Minor Mentor: Norbert Leitinger
Externship: Vaxine (Australia)
Current: Director, Medical Excellence & Strategic Projects, Sanofi Pasteur
LinkedIn

Katie (Horsman) Hall
Hope College
Bioanalytical Chemistry
Mentor: James Landers
Minor: John Herr
Externship: Orchid Cellmark
Current: Medical writer, Whitsell Innovations

Alexandra Harris
University of California, San Diego
Biology
Major Mentor: Jennifer Munson
Minor Mentor: Janet Cross
Externship: Tracon Pharma
Current: Cancer Prevention Fellow at NCI and Public Health Graduate Student at Harvard University
LinkedIn

Glen Hirsh
University of the Sciences in Philadelphia
Microbiology/Bioinformatics
Mentor: Deborah Lannigan (mentor move to Vanderbilt summer ‘12; new mentor Doug DeSimone
Minor Mentor: Kevin Janes
Externship: TransTissue (Germany)
Current: Medical Writer at Red Nucleus
LinkedIn

Sarah Johnson #
University of Nebraska, Lincoln
Chemical Engineering
Major Mentor: John Hudson
Minor Mentor: Jaideep Kapur
Externship: MedImmune
Current: Senior Scientist, Zoetis Inc
LinkedIn

 Tara (Tibbs) Jones #
Ohio University
Chemical Engineering
Major Mentor. Erik Fernandez
Minor Mentor: Jay Fox
Externship: Merck Research Lab
Current: Executive Director Drug Substance Plant Manager, Amgen; Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association Rising Star ‘20
LinkedIn

Jacob Jordan #
Vanderbilt University
Chemical Engineering
Major Mentor: Erik Fernandez
Minor Mentor: Zygmunt Derewenda
Externship: Biogen
Current: Principal/Director, Booz Allen Hamilton
LinkedIn

Alexander Keller
Duke University
Environmental Science
Major Mentor: Brant Isakson
Minor Mentor: Shayn Peirce-Cottler
Externship: Regeneron
Current: Consultant, Boston Consulting Group
LinkedIn

Perry Kennedy #
Randolph-Macon College
Chemistry/Biology
Major Mentor: Kevin Lynch
Minor Mentor: Shayn Peirce-Cottler
Externship: Allergan
Current: Senior Manager, Oncology Field Medical (MSL) at Pfizer
LinkedIn

Joseph Kilroy #
Stevens Institute of Technology
Electrical Engineering
Major Mentor: John Hossack
Minor Mentor: Brian Wamhoff
Externship: Phillips Research Europe (Holland)
Current: CEO &Co-Founder at SoundPIpe Therapeutics
LinkedIn

Michelle Kofron
Bucknell University
Biology
Major Mentor: Cato Laurencin
Minor Mentor: Gary Balian
Externship: Tissue Genesis
Current: Technical Development & Research Manager, Zimmer Biomet
LinkedIn

Kristina (Little) Kruglyak ^
College of William and Mary
Mathematics/Physics
Major Mentor: Klaus Ley
Minor Mentor: Don Hunt
Externship: Biosite
Current: Head of Informatics at Start-Up
LinkedIn

Larry Lanning
Ohio University
Chemical Engineering
Major Mentor: Roseanne Ford
Minor Mentor: Rick Horwitz
Externship: Protein Solutions
Current: Analyst NGIC

Dan Leslie
Colorado State University
Chemistry
Major Mentor: James Landers
Minor Mentor: Chris Moskaluk
Externship: ATCC
Current: Staff Scientist, Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard
LinkedIn

Patrick Martin #
Virginia Union University
Biology/Chemistry
Major Mentor: Ann Sutherland
Minor Mentor: Erik Fernandez
Externship: UVa Patent Fdn
Current: Interim Associate Dean, College of Sciences and Technology, NCA&T
LinkedIn

Tom Mendel #
Duke University
Economics/Chemistry/Biology
Major Mentor: Paul Yates
Minor Mentor: Shayn Peirce-Cottler
Externship: The GID Group (Spain)
Current: Cole Eye Institute Vitroretinal Fellow at Cleveland Clinic
LinkedIn

Barbara Merk #
Sweet Briar College
Major Mentor: Isa Hussaini
Minor Mentor: Inchan Kwon
Externship: Indoor Biotechnologies
Current: Assistant Professor of Biology, Mary Baldwin College
LinkedIn

Rosalind Mott #
Johns Hopkins University
Biomedical Engineering
Major Mentor: Brian Helmke
Minor: Amy Bouton
Externship: ReNeuron (England)
Current: Associate Scientific Editor, Cell Press (Editor for Cell Metabolism)
LinkedIn

Rebekah Neal #
Georgia Institute of Technology
Biomedical Engineering
Major Mentor: Ed Botchwey
Minor Mentor: Roy Ogle
Externship: Stemgent
Current: Program Officer, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
LinkedIn

Dan Nelson
Colorado State University
Chemistry
Major Mentor: James Landers
Minor Mentor: Dede Haverstick
Externship: Beckman-Coulter
Current: Senior Engineer, Devices and Consumables at Xilis
LinkedIn

Matthew Oberhardt #
University of Virginia
Physics
Mentor: Jason Papin
Minor Mentor: Joanna Goldberg
Externship: Glaxo Smith Kline
Current: Program Director for Research Science, New York-Presbyterian Hospital
LinkedIn
See Matt in
The Scientist

Joanna (Adadevoh) Olufusika
University of Delaware
Chemical Engineering
Major Mentor: Roseanne Ford
Minor Mentor: Cassandra Fraser
Externship: AbbVie
Current: Senior Manufacturing Quality Engineer, Amazon Web Services
LinkedIn
UVAToday Student Spotlight

Olugbemisola Oredein-McCoy
University of Virginia
Biomedical Engineering
Major Mentor: Cato Laurencin
Minor Mentor: Ed Botchwey
Externship: LifeNet
Current: Urologist, Riverside Urology Specialists
LinkedIn

Kyudam Oh
Sungkyunkwan University
Genetic Engineering
Major Mentor: James Landers
Minor Mentor: Mario Geysen
Externship: Georgia Tech/MicroLab
Current: Assistant Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering, King Saud University

Tim Pabst
Michigan State University
Chemical Engineering &
Biomedical Engineering
Major Mentor: Giorgio Carta
Minor Mentor: Jay Fox
Externship: Pfizer
Current: Principle Scientist, AstraZeneca
LinkedIn

Eric Park #
Duke University
Biomedical Engineering
Major Mentor: Michael Lawrence
Minor Mentor: Rick Horwitz
Externship: Human Genome Sciences Postdoc: Rutgers U
Current: Head of Metabolic Diseases, Rare Disease DDU, Takeda
LinkedIn

Kristopher Rawls
North Carolina State University
Biomedical Engineering
Major Mentor: Jason Papin
Minor Mentor: Chris Holstege
Externship: Hemoshear Therapeutics
Current: Data Scientist 3, Hemoshear Therapeutics
LinkedIn
2016 Elected Vice-Chair of National Society of Black Engineers

Lauren Russell
Virginia Tech
Chemical Engineering
Major Mentor: Kyle Lampe
Lab video
Minor Mentor: Chris Deppmann
Externship: Merck
Current: CAR-T Tech Transfer Engineer, Celgene
LinkedIn

Mahmoud Saleh
Guilford College
Biology and Chemistry
Major Mentor: Bill Petri
Minor Mentor: John Lukens
Externship: Seres Therapeutics
Current: Scientist II, R&D Immunology and Functional Screening, Seres Therapeutics
LinkedIn
video

Brian Schmidt #
University of Pittsburgh
Biomedical Engineering
Mentor: Michael Lawrence
Minor Mentor: Joel Linden
Externship: Phillips Research Europe (Holland)
Current: Director Level, Quantitative Systems Pharmacology, Bristol-Myers Squibb
LinkedIn

Scott Seaman #
Georgia Tech
Biomedical Engineering
Major Mentor: Shayn Peirce-Cottler
Minor Mentor: Cassandra Fraser
Externship: LifeNet
Current: Senior Product Development Scientist, Bioventus
LinkedIn

Emily (Cushnie) Schaheen
Villanova University
Chemical Engineering/Chemistry
Major Mentor: Cato Laurencin
Externship: Tissue Genesis
Current: Fellowship in Hand & Upper ExtremitySurgery, Wake Forest University

Millie Shah
Johns Hopkins University
Biomedical Engineering
Major Mentor: Kevin Janes
Minor Mentor: Young Hahn
Externship: Merrimack Pharmaceuticals
Current: Senior Developer, Emerald Cloud Lab
LinkedIn

Michael Smith #
University of Memphis
Mechanical Engineering/Mathematics
Major Mentor: Klaus Ley
Minor Mentor: Roseanne Ford
Externship: Genentech
Current: Associate Professor, Associate Chair of Undergraduate Studies, Boston University
LinkedIn

Michael Smoot ^
Colby College
Systems Engineering
Major Mentors: Stephanie Guerlain
& William Pearson
Externship: The Institute for
Genomic Research
Current: Senior Staff Software Engineer, Illumina
LinkedIn

Michael Stadnisky #
Clemson University
Microbiology
Major Mentor: Michael Brown
Minor Mentor: Giorgio Carta
Externship: Nabi Biopharmaceuticals
Current: CEO and Board Member at Phitonex, and Principal at Foundry Scientific
LinkedIn

Matthew Stark #
University of Colorado
Biomedical Engineering
Mentor. Klaus Ley
Externship: Amgen
Current: Vice President of Clinical Programs and Regulatory Affairs, Cardiac Dimensions
LinkedIn

Nicole Swope
Saginaw Valley State University
Biochemistry/Spanish
Major Mentor: Linda Columbus
Minor Mentor: Bob Nakamoto
Externship: MedImmune
Current: Scientist I at Viela Bio
LinkedIn

Qin Sun #
Nanjing University
Chemistry
Major Mentor: H. Mario Geysen
Minor: David Brautigan
Current: Clinical Pharmacology Reviewer, FDA
LinkedIn

Antonio Ubiera #
North Carolina State University
Chemical Engineering
Major Mentor: Giorgio Carta
Minor Mentor: Gary Balian
Externship: Amersham (Sweden)
Current: Senior Director, Downstream Process Development, BioPharm Product Development and Supply, GSK
LinkedIn

Meng Wang #
Zhejiang University
Biomedical Engineering
Major Mentor: Roseanne Ford
Minor Mentor: Tom Skalak
Externship: Geosyntec Consultants
Current: Data Innovation Leader, O’Brien & Gere
LinkedIn

Jason Yang #  
Johns Hopkins University
Biomedical Engineering/Electrical Engineering
Major Mentor: Jeffrey Saucerman
Minor Mentor:  Ian Macara
Externship: AstraZeneca (Sweden)
Current: Assistant Professor, Chancellor’s Scholar, Rutger’s NJ Medical School (12.1.19)
LinkedIn

Phillip Yen
Johns Hopkins University
Biomedical Engineering/Applied Mathematics/Statistics
Major Mentor: Jason Papin
Minor Mentor: Erik Hewlett
Externship: Sapphire Energy
Current: Research Scientist, Arzeda
LinkedIn

Celeste (Goh) Yergin #
University of Melbourne
Biochemistry/Molecular Biology
Major Mentor: Young Hahn
Minor Mentor: Jeffrey Saucerman
Externship: Coridon (Australia)
Current: Microbiology PhD in Mililani, Hawaii

Academia                    19
Biotech/Pharma           24
Service Industry             4
Consultant                      4
Government                   3
Medicine                         2
Foundation                     1
Patent Law                     1
Science Writing              1

# Email current (some with UVa acc’t)

^ Email on private BTP site