Thesis Defense

Ifeolu Akinnola

"Regenerating Pulmonary Vascular Endothelium of Tissue-Engineered Lungs using Endothelial Progenitor Cells and Acellular Scaffolds"
Friday, October 8, 2021
9:00 AM

Blake Stagg

"The role of hepatocyte D-β-hydroxybutyrate dehydrogenase in ketone body metabolism and liver health"
Friday, October 1, 2021
11:00 AM
Hosted via zoom

Paul Wang

"Progress Towards Development of a Desktop Oxygen Scanner for Assessing Macroencapsulated Islet Oxygenation"
Thursday, August 19
3:00 PM
Hosted via zoom

Emily Chiu

"Natural Killer cell immune engagers to induce optimal anti-tumor activity"
Wednesday, June 9
2:00 PM
Hosted via zoom

Erik Faber

"Development of Allosteric Inhibitors against Cyclin-dependent Kinase 2 (CDK2)"
Thursday, May 27
10:00 AM
Hosted via zoom

Sruthi Valluri

"Cyclical food purchasing behavior among low income households receiving nutrition assistance" 
Thursday, May 13
10:00 AM
Hosted via zoom

Rebecca Goldblum

"The Role of Oxidative Stress in Remodeling the Cardiac Microtubule Cytoskeleton" 
Wednesday, May 5
2:00 PM
Hosted via Zoom

Mayank Verma 

"Cross talk between skeletal muscle stem cell and endothelial cell"
Friday, March 9, 2018
1:00 PM
1-110 MTRF

Matthew Wheelwright

"iPSC-Derived Cardiomyocytes: Towards an in vitro Model of Cardiac Physiology" 
Wednesday, May 24, 2017
1:00 - 2:00 PM
1-110 MTRF

Judit Pérez Ortiz

​​"PKA phosphorylation of ATAXIN1 in Purkinje cells modulates early onset of ataxia"
Monday, October 31, 2016
9:00 - 10:00 AM
3-100 Mayo

Scott Warren

"Selective attentional modulation of task-appropriate neural populations in primary visual cortex"
Thursday, October 20, 2016
9:00 - 10:00  AM
2-470 PWB

Michael Lane

"Developing methods to understand and engineer protease cleavage specificity"
Thursday, September 8, 2016
1:30 -2:30 PM
105 Cargill Building (St. Paul campus)

Mathew Angelos

"Mechanisms of early hemato-endothelial development from human pluripotent stem cells"
Friday, September 9, 2016
11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
1-125 Cancer & Cardiovascular Research Building

Cameron McDonald-Hyman

"Methods to enhance the efficacy of regulatory T-cell therapies for acute and chronic Graft-versus-Host Disease"
Monday, August 8, 2016
1:30 - 2:30 PM
450 MCRB

Tracy Marko

"Uncovering mechanisms of osteosarcoma metastasis"
Wednesday, July 27, 2016
8:30 -9:30 AM
1-125 CCRB

Sakeen Kashem

"Immunity against Candida albicans skin infections"
Thursday, May 5, 2016
1:30 - 2:30 PM
1-125 CCRB

Anja Srienc

"Retinal ischemia in the in vivo rodent: cellular and vascular characteristics"
Tuesday, September 1, 2015
1:30-2:30 PM
2-137 Jackson Hall

Javier Cabrera-Perez

"Examining helper T-cell recovery after sepsis"
Wednesday, August 19, 2015
11:00 AM-12:00 PM
2-520 MoosT

Alexa Weingarden

"Mechanisms of fecal microbiota transplantation and development of novel therapies for Clostridium difficile infection"
Tuesday, July 21, 2015
9:30-10:30 AM
1-110 MTRF

Carlos Ayala

"Rab-GTPase dependent regulation of autophagy and mTOR signaling in the larval fat body of Drosophila melanogaster"
Molecular, Cellular, Developemental Biology & Genetics
Tuesday, June 23, 2015
12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
2-520 Moos

Jason Schenkel

"The distribution and function of resident memory CD8 T cells"
Microbiology, Immunology and Cancer Biology Graduate Program
Monday, November 17, 2014
2:30 PM - 3:30 PM
1-110 MTRF
Advisor: David Masopust, PhD

Samuel Cramer

"Normal and diseased circuitry in the cerebellar and cerebral cortex"
Neuroscience Graduate Program
Friday, September 12, 2014
8:00 AM - 9:00 AM
3-125 Mayo
Advisor: Timothy Ebner, MD, PhD

Caitlin Conboy

"R-spondin 2 drives Wnt signaling and tumorigenesis in multiple tissues"
Microbiology, Immunology and Cancer Biology Graduate Program
Thursday, September 4, 2014
11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
1-110 MTRF
Advisor: David Largaespada, PhD

Notice...the location of this year's retreat has been changed! We will now be meeting at the River's Edge Convention Center in St. Cloud, MN July 22-23, 2014. Watch your email for updates from the retreat committee.

Shawn Mahmud

"TNF receptor superfamily costimulation drives thymic Treg development and repertoire selection"
Microbiology, Immunology and Cancer Biology Graduate Program
Wednesday, July 2, 2014
1:20-2:30 PM
1-125 CCRB
Advisor: Michael Farrar, PhD

Congratulations to MS4 Nicole Skinner [LINK] on her recent induction into the Gold Humanism Honor Society, honoring senior medical students who "demostrate excellence in clinical care, leadership, compassion and dedication to service."

Ryan Nelson

"The origin and function of a large naive CD4+ T cell population"
Microbiology, Immunology and Cancer Biology Graduate Program
Friday, June 27, 2014
2:00-3:00 PM
2-102 CMRR
Advisor: Marc Jenkins, PhD

Congratulations to U of MN MSTP students Alexa Weingarden and Michael Lane, recipients of the 2014-15 University of Minnesota Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship.

And while we are discussing awards....MSTP student in neuroscience Judit Perez Ortiz was recently awarded an NIH F31 after a competitive application. Congratulations!

A number of MSTP students recently received awards at the University of Minnesota Medical School and University of Minnesota Foundation Honors and Awards Ceremony. Congratulations to the following:

Daniel Beisang [LINK] - J. Jacob Kaplan Award

Caitlin Conboy - Jan Lunden Award

Shawn Mahmud - J. Thomas Livermore Award and Veneziale-Steer Award

Oludare Odumade [LINK] - Global Health Scholar Award and Medical School Achievement Award

Jared Rowe [LINK] - Graduating Medical Student Research Award

Jason Schenkel - Beatrice Z. Milne and Theodore Brandenburg Award

Nathan Welty - J. Jacob Kaplan Award

Additionally, congratulations to MSTP student Mayank Verma for his recent selection as a finalist for the 2014 Regeneron Prize for Creative Innovation in a Graduate Student. He will compete in an on-site competition with 10 other national finalists at Regeneron Headquarters at the end of this month. Good luck Mayank!

Jose San Miguel-Ruiz

"The role of the actin-binding protein Arp2/3 in growth cone actin dynamics and guidance"
Neuroscience Graduate Program
Wednesday, April 30, 2014
12:00-1:00 PM
2-137 Jackson Hall
Advisor: Paul Letourneau, Ph.D.

The MSTP retreat planning committee has finalized plans for the 2014 program retreat. The retreat will be held at the Riverwood Conference Center in Otsego, MN on July 22nd to July 23rd. Please view the tentative schedule. If you are able to attend the retreat please let Michelle Corkrum know by April 15th and the program will provide accommodations.

Congratulations to MS4 MSTP student Dare Odumade [LINK], the 2013-14 University of Minnesota Medical School Global Health Scholar Award recipient!

Congrats to Jason Schenkel, one of this year's recipients of the Beatrice Z. Milne and Theodore Brandenburg Award recognizing exceptional research by graduate students in the basic biomedical sciences at the University of Minnesota. Jason will be formally recognized at the 2014 University of Minnesota Foundation Honors and Awards Ceremony April 23, 2014.