Dr. Arun Sasikala-Appukuttan, former Ph.D. student under Dr. Frank Siewerdt, is at Wayne State University (Detroit, MI) as a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Dr. Markus Friedrich. His work concentrates on the development of the visual system in insects. Tribolium castaneum is the satellite model used for the study. Elucidating the genetic regulation of adult eye development by Pax6 and dac at the candidate gene and transcriptome-wide scale is one of the specific aims that he is pursuing.

Dr. Samer El-Kadi is a post-doctoral research associate working at the USDA/ARS Children's Nutrition Research Center (CNRC) at Baylor College of Medicine. Samer received his PhD (2006) in the Animal and Avian Sciences department under the guidance of Dr. Brian J Bequette. His research at the CNRC is aimed at identifying areas where novel dietary interventions can be used to enhance growth of the neonate. One aspect of nutrition during this period relates to infants with impaired suckling, swallowing, or breathing. Samer’s research employs neonate pigs as a model for human babies, and the use of modern molecular and stable isotope techniques to elucidate the molecular and metabolic events that control protein accretion during continuous and intermittent feeding. To learn more about Samer’s research, please visit the following the CNRC Web Site

After graduating with an M.S. degree under the mentorship of Dr. Ian Mather in 1998, Amin went to Virginia Commonwealth Medical School, Richmond VA and completed an M.D in 2002. He then completed training and an internship in Neurosurgery at the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT in 2008 and is now Medical Director of Neurosurgery at Holy Cross Hospital, Silver Spring, MD.

Dr. Nishanth E. Sunny is a post-doctoral research associate working in the Advanced Imaging Research Center at the University of Texas-Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, TX. Nishanth received his master's (2004) and PhD (2007) in the Animal and Avian Sciences department under the guidance of Dr. Brian J Bequette. Nishanth's research at UT-Southwestern investigates the underlying derangements in glucose and fatty acid metabolism that characterize the metabolic sequlae of Type II Diabetes and obesity. He uses mice and rat models of these diseases in combination with 2H and 13C nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry to determine the pathways and substrate precursors of gluconeogenesis and ketogenesis. Nishanth is joined by his wife Priya and their two young daughters, who keep them very busy.

After completing his doctorate under the direction of Dr. Curry Woods and post-doctorate in the laboratory of Dr. Carol Keefer, Dr. Shuyang He joined the Celgene Corporation and their Cellular Therapeutics Division as a Research Scientist. There, Shuyang leads a research program to develop clinical therapeutic drugs that are derived from placental stem cells. Shuyang's stem cell research includes: the identification of dosing formulations as well as the evaluation of their safety and efficacy for use in animal models. One of his new goals is to determine methodologies for stem cell in vivo bio-distribution. Dr. He's lab is leading efforts to develop molecular labeling protocols that will enable researchers to track stem cells in live animals using quantitative PCR, immunohistochemistry, and flow-cytometric techniques.

Julie graduated in 2001 with a Ph.D. degree under the guidance of Dr. Ian Mather and was then a post-doctoral fellow in the laboratory of Dr. John Wyslomerski at Yale University Medical School. In 2007, Julie was appointed to an Assistant Professorship at St. Bonaventure University, Olean, NY. Julie teaches Biology and investigates the embryonic development of the mammary gland and the role of intra-cellular signaling pathways in the initiation and progression of mammary tumors.