Ashley Peters worked in the lab with an Undergraduate Research Scholarship (URS). She is working with Ms. Alicia Wong on the role of OGT in beta-cell development. She graduated in May 2024.
Clara Kim is a fourth year undergraduate student majoring in Cellular and Organismal Physiology on the pre-dental track. She is working with PhD candidate, Seokwon Jo, to examine the degree of mitochondrial calcium uniporter (MCU) deletion in different regions of the placenta. Outside of the lab, she enjoys exploring the city and baking new foods. June 2022-2024.
Ms. Grace Chung is a recent graduate of the Master of Biological Sciences Program. She is now a researcher in the lab continuing her thesis research on the role of placental insulin signaling on the fetal programming of metabolic disease. She is now currently pursuing medical school in Washington. July 2018-2023
Dr. Samantha Pritchard was a post-doctoral fellow who received her Ph.D. in Nutritional Sciences from Iowa State University. As a post-doc in the Alejandro Lab, she studied the role of OGT in regulating pancreatic and endocrine progenitors through Pdx1 and the role of OGA in glucose homeostasis. Dr. Pritchard was supported by an NIH NRSA T32 Training Grant in Diabetes Endocrinology, and Metabolism from October 1, 2018- October 2019. She is currently working at Rush University in Chicago as an Assistant Professor.
Mr. Nicklas Damberg graduated as a Biology student at the University of Minnesota. Nicklas and Ms. Amber Lockridge worked together to assess bihormonal cell number in multiple projects. He was a UROP student in 2018. He is looking forward to applying to medical school this summer! September 2016- October 2019
Ms. Paola M. Pou Acosta is an undergraduate biology student in the University of Puerto Rico at Cayey. She is participating in the Life Sciences Summer Undergraduate Program from UMN and working with Mr. Seokwon Jo and Mr. Brian Akhaphong studying insulin signaling pathways in mTOR and TSC2 placental models. Outside of the lab, Paola loves mofongo, ice cream, reading, sports, and movies. July 2019-August 2019.
Mr. Daniel Baumann was former Researcher 1. He worked on the role of OGT in pancreatic development. He also investigated the contribution of placental nutrient sensors in beta-cell programming and susceptibility to type 2 diabetes. He is currently a graduate student in IBP Graduate Program.
Ms. Tate Zemanovic worked in the lab during her 3rd and 4th year as Physiology Major student at the University of Minnesota. Tate is now a graduate student in New York City.
Ms. Miranda Olson work on third year student Physiology. She worked on the impact of nutrient sensor protein mTOR and OGT during pregnancy on the development of beta-cell mass.
Ms. Lensa Ali- worked in the lab during her junior year majoring in Physiology, and she studied the impact of OGT in beta-cell development. She is now in medical school at the University of Minnesota.
Ms. Michelle Ann Wasan- joined the lab as a junior student from the University of Washington in Seattle. While in the lab, she assisted in characterizing the phenotype of mice overexpressing a kinase-dead mutant mTOR and offspring of dams exposed to low-protein diet during the last week of pregnancy. She is now in Pharmacy School at the University of Minnesota in Duluth!
Ms. Bailey Aberthany worked on her honors thesis in the lab which was on the role of OGT in beta-cell adaptation to insulin resistance. She is now in Medical School at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.
Ms. Alleah Abrenica- was our first summer intern from the University of Santo Tomas, Manila, Philippines. Her summer project involved insulin signaling assessment in liver and visceral fat of mice lacking Serine Racemase. Summer of 2016
Ms. Danica Fondevilla- was our Summer 2017 intern from the University of Santo Tomas, Manila, Philippines. She worked on the insulin signaling pathway in liver and adipose tissue of mice lacking placental mTOR signaling.
Ms. Michelle Sia- was our Summer 2018 intern from the University of Santo Tomas, Manila, Philippines. She worked on Akt and mTOR signaling in the various models of fetal programming of type 2 diabetes (RUPP and TSC2 deletion in the placenta).
Ms. Kinsley Kehlenbeck, worked in the lab during her senior as an undergraduate student double majoring in Spanish Studies and Physiology. She worked on various projects mastering tissue sectioning, staining and imaging techniques as well as analyzing beta and alpha cell mass. As a type one diabetic herself, Kinsley is very interested in learning more about pathways involved in the onset of diabetes and the genes involved in the progression of the disease. Kinsley is now in Dental School at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.
Ms. Neha Panigrahy was a Senior student in Chemistry and Physiology. She completed her honor thesis in the lab looking at the role of OGT in autophagy. She is now in Medical School at University of Illinois- Urbana Champaign.
Dr. Elizabeth Morgan was a Maternal-Fetal Medicine fellow who has joined the Alejandro Lab to research placental nutrient sensing proteins and their role in fetal growth restriction. She was returning to the bench after a long hiatus, having studied molecular biology and bioinformatics prior to her matriculation into medical school. She starts as an attending physician in Massachusetts at the completion of her fellowship next Fall, 2019, and hopes to use what she has learned with Dr. Alejandro to continue her scientific career.
Ms. Elina Da Sol Chung worked in the lab during her 3rd-4th year as a Physiology student at the University of Minnesota. Ms. Chung is currently applying for Medical School.
Ms. Hani Abi is a senior majoring in Biology, Society and Environment in the college of liberal arts. In the lab she worked with Amber Lockridge on various products from July to October 2019.