Author Archives: Sue Modlin

Five UNC School of Medicine Students Among Recipients of Prestigious National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship. Thirty-three students at UNC-Chapel Hill have received prestigious awards from the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program for their research in STEM-related fields. UNC SOM recipients are Glory Dan-Dukor, McKenzie Grundy, Nichole Margaret...

On December 16th, Maya Bluitt (Besheer Lab) successfully defended and passed her oral qualifying exam! The title of her research proposal is, “Delineating mechanisms underlying individual differences in aversion-resistant alcohol drinking in rats”. Congratulations Maya!!

On September 29th, Felix Kyere (Stein Lab) successfully defended and passed his oral qualifying exam! The title of his research proposal is, “Quantifying the Developmental Trajectory of Autism-Associated Brain Overgrowth Using Mouse Whole-Brain Imaging”. Congratulations Felix!!

On November 9th, Olivia Hon successfully defended her PhD Thesis:   “Neuromodulation in the Extended Amygdala Shapes Conditioned Fear Processes”.  Mentor:  Dr. Tom Kash.  After graduation Olivia will be a scientist for Neurophotometrics.  Congratulations Olivia!!

Janay is a graduate student in the lab of Dr. Kate Reissner and was awarded a two-year NIH F31 Research Fellowship. She received her B.S. in Biology from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University in 2017. Afterward, Janay worked as a NIH PREP post-bac in the lab of Dr....

On August 23rd, Maria Ortiz (Rodriguez-Romaguera Lab) successfully defended and passed her oral qualifying exam! The title of her research proposal is, “Encoding of social arousal in extended amygdala circuits”. Congratulations Maria!!

Congratulations to Maria Ortiz who has been named an HHMI Fellow!!  Fifty-one graduate students and their advisers are joining the thriving community supported by the HHMI Gilliam Fellowships for Advanced Study. Full article found here.

On June 21st, Christina Catavero successfully defended her PhD Thesis:   “Effects of Alcohol Consumption in the Transgenic Human Tau P301S Mouse Model”.  Mentor:  Dr. Zoe McElligott.  After graduation Christina will be a consultant for ClearView Healthcare Partners.  Congratulations Christina!!

On June 9th, Christiann Gaines successfully defended her PhD Thesis: “The impact of genetic and non-genetic factors on cocaine locomotor sensitivity in behaviorally divergent inbred mouse substrains: assessing the role of the gut microbiome”.  Mentor:  Dr. Lisa Tarantino.  Christiann will postdoc at UNC in Post Graduate Research.  Congratulations Christiann!!

On May 26th, Luis Quintanilla successfully defended his PhD Thesis: “Forebrain cholinergic circuits orchestrate the dentate gyrus to support neural stem cell function and spatial memory”.  Mentor:  Dr. Juan Song.  After leaving UNC, Luis will be starting a position with Genentech or Alkahest.  Congratulations Luis!!