{"id":2333,"date":"2019-10-08T09:29:30","date_gmt":"2019-10-08T13:29:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/minimedschool\/?page_id=2333"},"modified":"2025-01-13T19:57:47","modified_gmt":"2025-01-14T00:57:47","slug":"student-alumni","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/minimedschool\/meet\/student-alumni\/","title":{"rendered":"Student Alumni"},"content":{"rendered":"

Please click here<\/a> to check our profiles for current student members!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Meryem Ok, <\/strong>(She\/Her\/Hers)
\nRole: Session Boss and Student Speaker, former team leader
\nResearch\/Clinical Interests: Human intestinal stem cell fate\/in vitro primary colon epithelium models in the Magness Lab & pediatrics (gastroenterology)
\nHometown: McLean, VA
\nUndergraduate: MIT, Biological Engineering
\nFun fact: I have an adopted Russian Blue cat named Sabine<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Kevin Field,<\/strong>\u00a0(He\/Him\/His)
\nRole: Session Boss, previous leader
\nResearch\/Clinical Interests: Past research experiences ranged from\u00a0aging, cancer, and immunology. He is currently interested pursuing cancer\u00a0genetics (with Dr. Ian Davis) and clinical pediatric oncology.
\nUndergraduate: University of South Carolina
\nHobbies: Taking trips to Asheville and spending time with his girlfriend\u2019s dog, Crispr.<\/p>\n

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Nate Nelson-Maney,<\/strong>\u00a0(He\/Him\/His)
\nRole: Previous leader
\nResearch\/Clinical Interests: I work in Kathleen Caron’s Lab and I study the lymphatic vasculature and how we can medically interact with this elusive vascular system.
\nHometown: Shrewsbury, MA
\nUndergraduate: UMass Amherst, B.S. in Biology
\nHobbies: I really like to run marathons!<\/p>\n

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YJ Choi, <\/strong>(She\/Her\/Hers)
\nRole: Website contributor
\nResearch\/Clinical Interests: Biochemistry, virology, structural biology
\nHometown: Buford, GA
\nUndergraduate: Princeton University, Chemistry
\nHobbies: I enjoy hiking, cooking, and horror movies!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Anna Kim, PhD2\u00a0<\/strong>(She\/Her\/Hers)
\nRole: Logistics Coordinator<\/span>
\nResearch\/Clinical Interests:\u00a0Differentiation of stem cells into neurons (Deshmukh Lab)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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Rani Richardson<\/strong> is in her 3rd<\/sup> year of her PhD phase. She is fascinated to learn about the body and learning how to take care of patients, and is interested in neuroscience for her PhD. Prior to coming to UNC, she majored in the Biological Basis of Behavior and minored in chemistry. She took a psychopharmacology class within this major that changed her life, it made her want to study drugs, synapses, and psychiatric disorders! For her thesis work, she is interested in investigating novel approaches to treating psychiatric disorders such as substance abuse, depression, and anxiety. Currently, as far as clinical interests, she is interested in psychiatry, neurology or anesthesiology. In her free time she likes to exercise, read, spend time with friends, watch TV, and nap. Also she love working with undergraduates and other people who are interested in doing an MD\/PhD program, so if you want to learn more about this career path, please feel free to reach out.<\/p>\n

Undergraduate: University of Pennsylvania<\/p>\n

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Camille Morgan<\/strong> is a 3rd<\/sup> year\u00a0in her PhD phase of the MD\/PhD program. She hopes to pursue a PhD in epidemiology in the Gillings School of Global Public Health, where she wants to integrate spatial, molecular, and genomic analytical skills to study international health and tropical medicine. After majoring in biostatistics and mathematics, she worked at the National Cancer Institute\u2019s Center for Global Health and Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, before returning to Chapel Hill for graduate school. Outside of class, she enjoys playing and coaching soccer, keeping up in a book club, and trying to improve her foreign language skills.<\/p>\n

Undergraduate: UNC-Chapel Hill<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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Allie Bukowski<\/strong> is a 4th<\/sup>\u00a0year PhD student in the Department of Epidemiology at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health. She is interested in addressing healthcare disparities and improving access to care for underserved patients. Her current research focuses on interventions to improve cervical cancer screening among low-income women in North Carolina. When she is not being a student, Allie enjoys running and singing with UNC School of Medicine\u2019s a cappella group, The MedUNCedoos.<\/p>\n

Undergraduate: Tufts University<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Loren Oh <\/strong>is in her 5th year of her PhD. She graduated from Harvard University in 2014. She currently is pursuing in a PhD in Health Policy and Management with a minor in Quality and Access at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health. Her research interests include healthcare delivery reform, access and quality of care for underserved and vulnerable populations, and health disparities. She is active in volunteering at free, student-run clinics including Student Health Action Coalition and Open Door Clinic in Alamance County. Outside of school, Loren can be seen brunching with friends on Sunday, playing volleyball, laughing aloud to everything, and snuggling with her cats, Max and Lyza.<\/p>\n

Undergraduate: Harvard University, Human Developmental and Regenerative Biology<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Danielle (Dani) Brathwaite, MS3\u00a0<\/strong>(She\/Her\/Hers)
\nRole: Session Boss and Student Speaker, former team leader
\nResearch\/Clinical Interests: Psychiatric treatment and service utilization among children and adolescents. I am particularly interested in the role of the emergency department in providing acute psychiatric care.
\nHometown: Laurel, MD<\/span>
\nUndergraduate: University of Pennsylvania – Health and Societies<\/span>
\nHobbies: Playing table-top board games, reading fantasy\/sci-fi novels, hiking with friends, baking vegan treats, playing tennis, and hanging out with my Shiba Inu puppy.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

Evans Lodge (MD3)<\/strong> is a\u00a0student in epidemiology and is interested in health disparities associated with the social, economic, and built environment in American cities. His research currently touches on heavy metal toxicity in the American Midwest, epigenetic and inflammatory changes associated with air pollution, and the effects of neighborhood crime on early childhood development.<\/p>\n

Undergraduate: Calvin College<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Stephen Kovacs (MD4)\u00a0<\/strong>is in his final year\u00a0in the MD\/PhD program. He completed his PhD in immunology studying mechanisms of inflammation in the lab of Dr. Edward Miao. Outside of medicine, he enjoys drawing with graphite pencils.<\/p>\n

Undergraduate: Johns Hopkins University<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Clark Cunningham (MD4)\u00a0<\/strong>is in his final year MD-PhD student at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He finished his PhD in the Curriculum in Genetics and Molecular Biology and was mentored by Dr. Jonathan Juliano of the Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Ecology Lab (IDEEL). His research interests include using gene editing to study drug-resistant malaria as well as developing and implementing novel diagnostics for infectious diseases. Clark received his undergraduate degrees in Biology and Chemistry in 2015 and is a lifelong Chapel Hill resident.<\/p>\n

Undergraduate: UNC Chapel Hill<\/p>\n

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Lee Hong <\/strong> has graduated from the MD\/PhD program, having applied to Internal Medicine residency programs with eventual subspecialty in Hematology\/Oncology. She is interested in cancer immunotherapy research and completed her PhD with Dr. Gianpietro Dotti in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology. She is also passionate about supporting women and minorities in medicine and science. Outside of medicine, she is a violinist and plays in the Durham Medical Orchestra.<\/p>\n

Undergraduate: Duke University<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Halei Benefield<\/strong> is a former student of the UNC MD\/PhD program. Her PhD is in epidemiology wherein she studied breast cancer biomarkers and outcomes in a population-based cohort of women in North Carolina. She is excited to use her combined training to care for individual children and their families while promoting health equity on a population scale. In her free time, Halei likes to run, play percussion in the Durham Medical Orchestra, and tackle home improvement projects with her spouse.<\/p>\n

Undergraduate: Duke University<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Please click here to check our profiles for current student members! Meryem Ok, (She\/Her\/Hers) Role: Session Boss and Student Speaker, former team leader Research\/Clinical Interests: Human intestinal stem cell fate\/in vitro primary colon epithelium models in the Magness Lab & pediatrics (gastroenterology) Hometown: McLean, VA Undergraduate: MIT, Biological Engineering Fun fact: I have an adopted … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21854,"featured_media":0,"parent":2260,"menu_order":7,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"class_list":["post-2333","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","odd"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nStudent Alumni - Mini Med School<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/minimedschool\/meet\/student-alumni\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Student Alumni - Mini Med School\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Please click here to check our profiles for current student members! Meryem Ok, (She\/Her\/Hers) Role: Session Boss and Student Speaker, former team leader Research\/Clinical Interests: Human intestinal stem cell fate\/in vitro primary colon epithelium models in the Magness Lab & pediatrics (gastroenterology) Hometown: McLean, VA Undergraduate: MIT, Biological Engineering Fun fact: I have an adopted … Read more\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/minimedschool\/meet\/student-alumni\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Mini Med School\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-01-14T00:57:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/minimedschool\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1041\/2022\/11\/Meryem_Ok.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/minimedschool\/meet\/student-alumni\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/minimedschool\/meet\/student-alumni\/\",\"name\":\"Student Alumni - Mini Med School\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/minimedschool\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/minimedschool\/meet\/student-alumni\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/minimedschool\/meet\/student-alumni\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/minimedschool\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1041\/2022\/11\/Meryem_Ok.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-10-08T13:29:30+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-01-14T00:57:47+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/minimedschool\/meet\/student-alumni\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/minimedschool\/meet\/student-alumni\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/minimedschool\/meet\/student-alumni\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/minimedschool\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1041\/2022\/11\/Meryem_Ok.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/minimedschool\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1041\/2022\/11\/Meryem_Ok.jpg\",\"width\":2201,\"height\":1970},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/minimedschool\/meet\/student-alumni\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/minimedschool\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Meet Our Students and Faculty\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/minimedschool\/meet\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Student Alumni\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/minimedschool\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/minimedschool\/\",\"name\":\"Mini Med School\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/minimedschool\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Student Alumni - Mini Med School","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/minimedschool\/meet\/student-alumni\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Student Alumni - Mini Med School","og_description":"Please click here to check our profiles for current student members! 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