Diverse Group of New PhD Students Arrives on Campus

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The 14 Medical Scientist Training Program students, who comprise the entering class of 2012, pose for a picture during orientation at the Robert H. Lurie Medical Research Center of Northwestern University.

This fall, new PhD students are arriving on the Chicago campus, including the Driskill Graduate Program in the Life Sciences (DGP), Northwestern University Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program (NUIN), and Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP) entering classes.

The DGP welcomes 32 new PhD students. This year’s class includes individuals from Nigeria, Korea, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Taiwan, Columbia, and China, as well as the United States. These students will complete lab rotations and courses during the first year, enabling them to explore many types of research before selecting a dissertation lab and project. 

The new class of NUIN students comes from China, Ireland, and the U.S. The entering class includes 20 new PhD students. These students will complete coursework and research rotations in at least three different laboratories before committing to a single lab to conduct thesis research.

The DGP in the Life Sciences entering class of 2012.

The MSTP welcomes 14 new students who will embark on a journey to earn both their MD and PhD degree. They will complete two years of medical school before starting their doctoral program in a lab. Once they earn their PhD, they will return to medical school to complete their Doctor of Medicine degree. This year’s entering class represents a group of American undergraduate institutions stretching geographically from California to New Hampshire.

“I came here because of a combination of the graduate school, the great research, and the location,” said first-year MSTP student Jon Anker, who was a biology major at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire. “It’s been a good transition into focusing on medicine and research and they do a really good job of advising, keeping you on track, and keeping you somewhat focused on both tracks rather than being a medical student sometimes and a researcher other times.” 

On-campus orientations for all programs take place in early September.

Congratulations to all the new PhD students in these programs:

DGP 2012 Entering Class

Ashlee Bell-Cohn, University Arkansas Fayetteville
Laura Blasnitz, Nebraska Wesleyan University
Lauren Diebold, University of Illinois
Osefame Ewaleifoh, Texas A&M
Danielle Fanslow, Indiana University
Miles Fuller, Morehouse College
Hannah Gavin, University of North Carolina
Erin Groden, Boston College          
Daniela Janevska, Benedictine University  
Su Ji Jeong, University of Tennessee
Laura Johnston, Case Western Reserve University
Jennifer Kang, Syracuse University     
Erin Lambers, University of Michigan
Alan Long, University of Wisconsin
Kavi Mehta, University of Wisconsin 
Johanna Melo-Cardenas, Universidad Colegio Mayor de Cundinamarca 
Megan Novak, Furman University       
Kyle O’Hagan, Rhodes University       
Kelsey Phillips, University of Wisconsin  
Lauren Priniski, Michigan State University
William Putzbach, Benedictine University  
Sarah Quillin, University of Chicago            
Madhavi Senagolage, Lake Forest College     
Aabha Sharma, Wellesley College       
Kyle Smith, Johns Hopkins University       
Lindsay Stolzenburg, University of Rochester          
Alexandra Thomas, St. Olaf College         
Fu-Nien Tsai, National Sun Yat-Sen University
Rosa Ventrella, University of Illinois
Shuang Zhang, East Tennessee State
Yinan Zheng, Southern Medical University
Xianghui Zou, University of Illinois

NUIN 2012 Entering Class
Nicholas Bush, Loyola University
Xinru Chen, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
James Ellis, Franklin and Marshall College
Dominic Frank, Allegheny College
Natalie Frederick University of Wisconsin
Joshua Glaser, University of Illinois
Thomas Harmon, University of Iowa
Seon Huh, University of Chicago (Transferring from the University of Washington Neuroscience PhD program)
Ryan Kovaleski, University of Rochester
Gang Li, Washington University
Carmen Lin, Colgate University
Daniel O’Young, University of Chicago
Daniel Ohm, Syracuse University
Penelope Papalambros University if Michigan
Theron Russell, Carleton College (Georgetown University for graduate school)
Eanna Ryan, Ollscoil na hEireann, Gaillimh (University of Edinburgh for graduate school)
Laura Shanahan University of Wisconsin
Andrew Smith, University of Washington (University of Washington for graduate school)
Ben Yang, Harbin Institute of Technology
Wanting Zhong, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

MSTP 2012 Entering Class
Dolores Huberts, College of William and Mary
Jason Shapiro, Johns Hopkins University
Priscilla Yeung, University of Pennsylvania
Jonathan Anker, Dartmouth College
Krishan Chhiba, Cornell University
Andrew Chiu, UCLA
John Cooper, Oklahoma State University
Christine de los Angeles,Stanford University
Jacqueline Godbe, Northwestern University
Samuel Harvey, College of William and Mary
Ellie Hong, Yale University
Jasmine May, SUNY Buffalo
Manan Mehta, Rice University
Will Menzel, University of Minnesota