Current MD-PhD Students

Year in Program: MY2
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Year in Program: MY2
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Year in Program: MY2
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Year in Program: MY1
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Year in Program: MY1
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Year in Program: GY1
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Year in Program: MY2
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Publications

• Wu, G.*, Ma, T.*, Hancock, C.E., Gonzalez, S., Aryal, B., Vaz, S., Chan, G., Palarca-Wong, M., Allen, N., Chung, C., Shu, X., Liu, Q. (2024). Opposing GPCR signaling programs protein intake setpoint in Drosophila. Cell 187: 5376-92. (*equal contribution)
• Vaz SM (2025, August). From Confidence therein seek Humility [Poem]. The Oslerian, 26(2), 9.

Oral Presentations

• Vaz SM. “Leprosy: Exploring the History of a Cursed to Curable Affliction.” UTMB Osler Symposium 2025, Galveston, TX. March 29, 2025.

Year in Program: GY1
Mentor: Dr. Peter McCaffrey
Graduate Program: Pathology

Year in Program: GY1
Mentor: Sam Fagg, PhD, MS
Graduate Program: Biochemistry, Cellular, and Molecular Biology

Year in Program: GY1
Mentor: Xuping Xie, PhD
Graduate Program: Microbiology and Immunology Program

Year in Program: GY1
Mentor: Giulio Taglialatela, PhD
Graduate Program: Neuroscience

Year in Program: GY1
Mentor: George Golovko, PhD
Graduate Program: Human Pathophysiology and Translational Medicine 

Year in Program: GY1
Mentor: Rakez Kayed, PhD and Mauro Montalbano PhD
Graduate Program: Neuroscience

Research project: neurodegeneration (specifically, nuclear dysfunction in Alzheimer’s).
Research interests: neurotechnology
Clinical interests: neuropathology

• Aday, A., Tiller, J.B., Melukote, A., Walton, Z.C., King, A., Castillo, L., Kayed, R., Montalbano, M. Nuclear Dysfunction in Aging and Neurodegeneration. Alzheimer’s & Dementia. (Accepted).

• Tiller, J.B., Aday, A., Kayed, R., Montalbano, M. “Musashi-1 Isoforms in Aged and Alzheimer’s Disease Brains.”  Presented at:  4th HMNI Symposium,
• Houston Methodist (2026)
• MD-PhD Seminar, UTMB (2025)
• Ghani, H., Phatak, U., He, J., Powell, R., Arguelles, C., Chelikani, K., Dufur, R., Tiller, J.B., Malik, S. “BRAF and KRAS Mutation Status in Colorectal Cancer: Socioeconomic and Gender Disparities in a Safety-Net Hospital Setting.” Presented at the Texas Society of Pathologists Annual Meeting (2025).

• Tiller, J.B., Aday, A., Kayed, R., Montalbano, M. “Musashi-1 Isoforms in Aged and Alzheimer’s Disease Brains.”
• Texas Alzheimer's Research and Care Consortium, UT Austin (2026)
• Allies in Health LGBTQ+ Health Research Symposium, UTMB (2025)
• GSBS Research Expo, UTMB (2025)
• Annual Forum on Aging, UTMB (2025)
• Alzheimer’s & Dementia Research Symposium, Houston Methodist (2025)

Year in Program: GY1
Mentor: Fernanda Laezza, MD, PhD
Graduate Program: Pharmacology and Toxicology

Year in Program: GY1
Mentor: Raghu Kullari, MD, PhD
Graduate Program: Biochemistry, Cellular, and Molecular Biology

Year in Program: GY1
Mentor: Anna Fracassi, PhD
Graduate Program: Neuroscience

Year in Program: GY1
Mentor: Mehmet Altintas, PhD
Graduate Program: Biochemistry, Cellular, and Molecular Biology

Year in Program: GY2
Mentor: Dr. Rakez Kayed and Dr. Mauro Montalbano
Graduate Program: Neurology

Abbigael Aday is a second year PhD student in the neurology program. She is studying under the direction of Dr. Rakez Kayed and Dr. Mauro Montalbano in the Mitchell Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases

Honors & Awards

• Fischer Academic Excellence award recipient, 2025
• Recipient of the Carl J. Herzog Endowment for both the 2022 and 2023 academic years

ResearchGate
LinkedIn
Rakez Kayed Lab

Year in Program: GY2
Mentor: Guilio Taglialatela, PhD
Graduate Program: Neuroscience

Year in Program: GY2
Mentor: Ramkumar Menon, PhD
Graduate Program: Biochemistry, Cellular, and Molecular Biology

Year in Program: GY2
Mentor: Janice Endsley, PhD
Graduate Program: Microbiology and Immunology Program

Year in Program: GY2
Mentor: Peter McCaffery, MD, MS, FACP
Graduate Program: Experimental Pathology

Year in Program: MY3
Mentor: Amina El Ayadi, PhD
Graduate Program: Biochemistry, Cellular, and Molecular Biology

Research Interests

Year in Program: GY3
Mentor: Dr. Lawrence Sowers
Graduate Program: Pharmacology/Toxicology

Research Interests:

I am interested in the metabolic pathways that contribute to chemotherapy resistance in glioblastoma as well as processes involved in DNA repair. Previously at UT Austin, I investigated how binding motifs impact the specificity and efficiency of human helicase-mediated disruption of secondary DNA/RNA structures.

Honors & Awards:

• Translational Science Training Grant (TL1) from NCATS, UTMB (2024- )
• Truman G. Blocker Endowment for the MD/PhD Program (2022-2023)
• John Sealy School of Medicine Research Scholarship Grant (2022)
• UT Austin Graduate with Honors and Research Distinction (2020)
• UT Austin Undergraduate Research Fellowship (2018)

Research Activities:

Researchgate:
Baljinnyam, T., Conrad, J. W., Sowers, M. L., Chang-Gu, B., Herring, J. L., Hackfeld, L. C., ... & Sowers, L. C. (2023). Characterization of a Novel Thermostable DNA Lyase Used To Prepare DNA for Next-Generation Sequencing. Chemical Research in Toxicology, 36(2), 162-176.

Sowers, M. L., Conrad, J. W., Chang-Gu, B., Cherryhomes, E., Hackfeld, L. C., & Sowers, L. C. (2023). DNA Base Excision Repair Intermediates Influence Duplex–Quadruplex Equilibrium. Molecules, 28(3), 970.
Chang-Gu, B., Venkatesan, S., & Russell, R. (2022). Kinetics measurements of G-quadruplex binding and unfolding by helicases. Methods.

Chang-Gu, B., Bradburn, D., Yangyuoru, P. M., & Russell, R. (2021). The DHX36-specific-motif (DSM) enhances specificity by accelerating recruitment of DNA G-quadruplex structures. Biological Chemistry, 402(5), 593-604.

Year in Program: GY3
Mentor: Sam Fagg, PhD, MS
Graduate Program: Human Pathophysiology and Translational Medicine 

Year in Program: GY3
Mentor: Bo Chen, PhD
Graduate Program: Neuroscience

Year in Program: GY3
Mentor: Ping Wu, MD, PhD
Graduate Program: Neuroscience Graduate Program

Research Interests

Jessica is researching the impact of maternal opioid use on fetal brain development and offspring behavior for her thesis project under the mentorship of Dr. Ping Wu. Previously, at UT Dallas, she researched the role dietary components in the western diet play in pain and diabetic peripheral neuropathy.

Honors & Awards

• CPDD NIDA Women & Sex/Gender Junior Investigator Travel Award, College on Problems of Drug Dependence (CPDD), Brentwood, TN, 2025
• Saunders Student Award, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX, 2024
• T32DA007287: Translational Explorations in Substance Use Disorders, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX, 2023–2025
• Harry B. and Marie S. Kelso Endowed Blocker Scholarship, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX, 2022–2023
• Behavioral and Brain Sciences (BBS) Honors, University of Texas at Dallas, TX, 2018
• Larry Cauller Undergraduate Research Travel Award, University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX, 2018
• Undergraduate Research Scholar Award, University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX, 2018
• Buhrmester Undergraduate Research Award, University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX, 2017

Research Activities

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jessica-Tierney

ORCID ID: 0000-0003-2615-5847

1. Melissa E. Lenert, Nilesh M. Agalave, Emily K. Debner, Jessica A. Tierney, Syed A. Naqvi, Andreas M. Chavez, Marilyn Dockum, Phil Albrecht, Frank L. Rice, Theodore J. Price, Erica L. Sanchez, Michael D. Burton - TLR4⁺ Dermal fibroblasts induce acute and transitional pain states. Research Square 2025.
2. Michelle Hagenimana*, Audrey R. Green*, Jessica A. Tierney, Melissa E. Lenert, Michael D. Burton - Intravenous streptozotocin induces variants in painful diabetic peripheral neuropathy in female mice. Research Square 2025. *=co-first author 
3. Deyse Cristina Madruga Carvalho, Tiffany Dunn, Rafael Kroon Campos, Jessica A. Tierney, Florence Onyoni, Luiz Henrique Agra Cavalcante-Silva, Lindomar José Pena, Sandra Rodrigues-Mascarenhas, Ping Wu, Scott C. Weaver - Antiviral and immunomodulatory effects of ouabain against congenital Zika syndrome. Molecular Therapy 2025; 33:456-470 (DOI: 10.1016/j.ymthe.2024.12.021)
4. Kathleen E McDonough, Regan Hammond, Jigong Wang, Jessica Tierney, Kali Hankerd, Jin Mo Chung, Jun-Ho La - Spinal GABAergic disinhibition allows microglial activation mediating the development of nociplastic pain in male mice. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity 2023; 107:215-224 (DOI: 10.1016/j.bbi.2022.10.013)
5. Jessica A Tierney*, Calvin D Uong*, Melissa E Lenert, Marisa Williams, Michael D Burton - High-fat diet causes mechanical allodynia in the absence of injury or diabetic pathology. Scientific Reports 2022; 12:14840 (DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-18281-x)  *=co-first author 
6. Lin Jia, Syann Lee, Jessica A Tierney, Joel K Elmquist, Michael D Burton, Laurent Gautron - TLR4 signaling selectively and directly promotes CGRP release from vagal afferents in the mouse. eNeuro 2020; 8: ENEURO.0254-20.2020 (DOI:10.1523/ENEURO.0254-20.2020) 
7. Michael Burton, Thomas Szabo-Pardi, Katherine Garner, Jessica Tierney, Theodore Price – Uncovering Cell-Specific Mechanisms in Sex Differences in TLR4-Dependent Pain. The Journal of Pain 2019; 20:S1 (DOI: 10.1016/j.jpain.2019.01.016)

Year in Program: GY1
Mentor: Jacob Moses, PhD
Graduate Program: Bioethics & Health Humanities

Year in Program: GY4
Mentor: Daniel Jupiter, PhD
Graduate Program: Population Health Sciences Program