Current SDTP Trainees
Mohamed Hassan, DDS, MSc, PhD
Mentor: Erica Scheller, DDS, PhD
Project: Mechanisms of accelerated regeneration in neural crest-derived bone.
Carolyn Lazaroff
Mentor: Roberta Faccio, PhD
Project: Role of bone marrow derived Fsp1+/Osx+ cells on tumor progression and bone homeostasis.
Taylor Malachowski
Mentor: Sheila Stewart, PhD
Project: Understanding the role of senescence in chemotherapy induced peripheral neuropathy.
Luke O’Connor
Mentor: Deborah Veis, MD, PhD
Project: Abstract: Host-pathogen interactions mediating intracellular S. aureus expansion in osteoclasts.
Nina (Shirley) Tang, PhD
Mentor: Farshid Guilak, PhD
Project Title: Intergenerational and Environmental Epigenetic Regulation of Obesity and Osteoarthritis.
- Adam Abraham, PhD (6/2013 – 12/2015)
- Mentor: Simon Tang, PhD
- Project: Detrimental effects of diabetes mellitus on intervertebral disc health
- Britta Anderson, PhD (8/2014 – 6/2017)
- Mentor: Audrey McAlinden, PhD
- Project: Role of microRNAs in regulating cartilage development and homeostasis
- Anna Ballard, PhD (3/2016 – 2/2019)
- Mentor: Deborah Veis, MD, PhD
- Project: Molecular and biochemical investigation of the genotype-phenotype correlation in rare osteolytic syndromes, Juvenile Paget’s Disease and Multicentric Carpo-Tarsal Osteolysis
- Alec Beeve (4/2019 – 3/2022)
- Mentor: Erica Scheller, DDS, PhD
- Project: Effects of acute and chronic bioelectric nerve stimulation on bone metabolism: towards a novel osteoanabolic therapy
- Austin Bell-Hensley
- Mentor: Audrey McAlinden, PhD (09/2022-06/2023)
- Project title: Formation of osteochondral tissue using microRNA-guided cartilage progenitor cells
- Jennifer Brazill, PhD (10/2018 – 9/2021)
- Mentor: Erica Scheller, DDS, PhD
- Project: Skeletal innervation and neural regulation of bone modeling in health and diabetes
- Andre Coello Hernandez (9/1/2023-8/31/2024)
- Mentor: Matthew Silva, PhD
- Project: Critical Window for Periosteal Progenitor Cell Proliferation in Atrophic Nonunion Murine Model
- Ariella Coler-Reilly, Graduate Student (10/2021-09/2022)
- Mentor: Roberto Civitelli, MD
- Project: Modulating genes differentially expressed with age in order to ameliorate age-associated decline in musculoskeletal health
- Corinne Decker, PhD (7/2011 – 6/2015)
- Mentor: Roberta Faccio, PhD
- Project: The role of TMEM178 in osteoclasts and innate immune cells during inflammatory arthritis
- Jeremy Eekhoff (9/2019 – 8/2021)
- Mentor: Spencer Lake, PhD
- Project: Defining the role of elastic fibers in multiscale mechanics of functionally distinct tendons
- Muhammad Farooq Rai, PhD (7/2011 – 5/2013)
- Mentor: Linda Sandell, PhD
- Project: Articular cartilage regeneration and ear-wound healing in genetic mouse models
- Gregory Fox (9/2017 – 8/2020)
- Mentor: Katherine Weilbaecher, MD
- Project: Role of bone-induced integrin β3 in chemoresistance of skeletal metastasis
- Nicole Gould, PhD (08/01/22-12/31/2023)
- Mentor: Matthew Silva, PhD
- Project title: Examining the contribution of hypertrophic chondrocyte transdifferentiation and proliferation to fracture healing.
- Katherine Hixon, PhD (4/2019 – 8/2019)
- Mentor: Matthew Silva, PhD
- Project: The development and rescue of an atrophic nonunion model
- Nilsson Holguin, PhD (3/2014 – 6/2014)
- Mentor: Matthew Silva, PhD
- Project: The role of mechanical forces on β-catenin of aged intervertebral disc health
- Lindsey Kuehm (11/2023-10/2024)
- Mentor: Russell K. Pachynski, MD
- Project Title: Defining the role of and therapeutically modulating chemerin in the prostate bone tumor micro environment.
- Lisa Lawson, PhD (9/2019 – 8/2021)
- Mentor: Matthew Silva, PhD
- Project: Wnt-mediated bone formation in response to mechanical loading
- Stephen Linderman, MD, PhD (7/2014 – 2/2016)
- Mentor: Stavros Thomopoulos, PhD
- Project: Developmentally guided tissue engineering for enthesis regeneration
- Sara McBride-Gagyi , PhD (7/2011 – 1/2014)
- Mentor: Matthew Silva, PhD
- Project: Contribution of BMP2 to woven bone formation and accompanying angiogenesis
- Leila Saleh, PhD (10/2021-09/2022)
- Mentor: Farshid Guilak, PhD
- Project: : Designing a smart-cell loaded dynamic drug delivery system for the delivery of biologic therapeutics in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis
- Feini (Sylvia) Qu, VMD, PhD (1/2018 – 1/2019)
- Mentor: Farshid Guilak, PhD
- Project: Cellular and Molecular Mechanisms of Murine Digit Regeneration
- Philip Roper, PhD (9/2019 – 8/2020)
- Mentor: Deborah Veis, MD, PhD
- Project: Determining factors that underlie osteomyelitis-related bone changes
- Rebecca Reals (9/1/2023-8/31/2024)
- Mentor: Spencer Lake, PhD
- Project: Anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory treatment strategies for post-traumatic joint contracture
- Michael Ross, PhD (9/2015 – 8/2017)
- Mentor: Katherine Weilbaecher, MD
- Project: Efficacy of αvβ3 integrin-targeted nanoparticles directed against breast cancer bone metastases
- Eric Schmidt, PhD (7/2012 – 7/2015)
- Mentors: Linda Sandell, PhD and James Cheverud, PhD
- Project: Genetic architecture of osteoporosis and osteoarthritis in mice
- Andrea Schwartz, PhD (7/2011 – 5/2014)
- Mentor: Stavros Thomopoulos, PhD
- Project: Physical and biological factors necessary for enthesis mineralization during postnatal development
- Andrea Schwartz, PhD (8/2017 – 7/2018)
- Mentor: Farshid Guilak, PhD
- Project: The role of Piezo Ion Channels in a murine model of post-traumatic osteoarthritis
- Sheree Speckman (12/2015 – 7/2016)
- Mentor: Gabriel Mbalaviele, PhD
- Project: The role of NLRP3 inflammasone in osteoclasts
- Calvin Stephens, PhD (3/2016 – 4/2016)
- Mentor: David Curiel, MD, PhD
- Project: Modified adenovirus for local and systemic delivery of anti-apoptotic factors in mouse model of cartilage damage
- CuiCui Wang, PhD (7/2018 – 6/2019)
- Mentor: Regis O’Keefe, MD, PhD
- Project: Metabolic reprogramming via lgf1 signaling in cartilage maintenance by the TGFβ pathway
- Heather Zannit, PhD (7/2018 – 6/2019)
- Mentor: Matthew Silva, PhD
- Project: Osteoblast recruitment and bone formation in aging mice due to mechanical loading
- Rong Zeng, PhD (3/2012 – 2/2016)
- Mentor: Deborah Veis, MD, PhD
- Project: Determining targets of RelB in the NF-κB signaling pathway in osteoclast function