Elizabeth Burke, Ph.D., is a postdoctoral fellow in the NIH Undiagnosed Diseases Program. She investigates the potential causality of patients’ genetic variants by utilizing zebrafish as a model organism. When not working in the lab, she spends her time caring for and playing with her new baby boy at home.
Hoo-Chang Shin, Ph.D., is a postdoctoral fellow in the Imaging Biomarkers and Computer-Aided Diagnosis Laboratory, Department of Radiology and Imaging Sciences, at the NIH Clinical Center. He enjoys research on artificial intelligence and data science. He also likes to apply his research to solve the real-world problems of various forms, e.g., natural language processing, computer vision, medical image analysis, and genomics. Besides studying artificial intelligence and data, he is interested in understanding his own brain and mind, and likes music, art, and tennis.
Howard Young, Ph.D., is Deputy Chief of the Laboratory of Experimental Immunology in the Cancer and Inflammation Program, as well as Principal Investigator and Head of the Cellular and Molecular Immunology Section at the NCI Center for Cancer Research. Dr. Young has expertise in the regulation and characterization of cytokine gene expression with a special emphasis on interferons. The Young laboratory has as its major focus how disruption of the control of interferon-γ (IFN-γ) gene expression during development and maturation of the cellular immune system impacts the host inflammatory response and the development of autoimmune disease and cancer. In addition, the laboratory is investigating a new cancer vaccine strategy utilizing tumor antigens engineered to adhere to the surface of probiotic microorganisms as a strategy to present these antigens to the gut and lung mucosal interfaces.
James L. Gulley, M.D., Ph.D., F.A.C.P., is the Chief of the Genitourinary Malignancies Branch and Director of Medical Oncology Service at the Center for Cancer Research (CCR) of the National Cancer Institute (NCI). Dr. Gulley is especially interested in immunotherapy for prostate cancer. He works collaboratively with the Laboratory of Tumor Immunology and Biology, CCR, and takes promising laboratory findings and uses these to design and conduct clinical trials.
Jeanelle Spencer, Ph.D., is completing postdoctoral training at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Center for Cancer Research (CCR), where she conducts translational research related to hematology and oncology.
Jennifer Patterson-West is a post-doctoral IRTA fellow at NIH's NIDDK in the Laboratory of Cell and Molecular Biology. Her research focuses on how bacteriophages take over and kill their host, in order to gain insight into new approaches for developing novel antibacterial agents. Jennifer is a member of FELCOM and is the current co-chair of the Mentoring Committee. As part of the Mentoring Committee, she aims to educate NIH fellows about the benefits of good mentoring and promote good mentoring practices. Outside of the lab, she spends most of her time biking, hiking, painting, or crafting.
Jessica Pierce, Ph.D., is a current postdoctoral IRP fellow at NIDDK, a member of FELCOM, and the current co-chair of the FELCOM Mentoring Committee. Her research interests include microbiology, infectious diseases, and the microbiome. Jessica is the lead instructor for a course on the human microbiome at FAES Graduate School at NIH, as well as a summer journal club instructor for NIH summer interns. Outside the lab, she is involved in dance, hiking, cooking, and taking care of her pet chinchillas.
Johnetta Saygbe, B.S., is a former National Institutes of Health (NIH) Intramural Research Training Award (IRTA) Fellow in the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI). She is an aspiring global health pediatrician intrigued by the advancements in healthcare delivery and community health facilitated by dialogue on the intersection of faith, science, and society. Johnetta is currently the Dialogue on Science, Ethics and Religion (DoSER) Intern at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).
Karen Usdin, Ph.D., is a Principal Investigator for the Section on Gene Structure and Disease in the Laboratory of Cell and Molecular Biology at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK).
L. Michelle Bennett, Ph.D., did her postdoctoral fellowship in the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) IRP, where she was part of the team that characterized and localized the human BRACA1 gene to the long arm of chromosome 17. She became passionate about understanding the characteristics of successful research team functioning and collaboration when she worked in one of the NCI’s IRPs, the Center for Cancer Research (CCR). Dr. Bennett is currently charged with creating a new office within NCI that will work with scientists from across the organization to develop recommendations for identifying research gap areas and new research opportunities.
