The rockefeller university

Juan Angulo-Lozano, MD

Mentor: Jeffrey V. Ravetch, MD, PhD
Lab: Leonard Wagner Laboratory of Molecular Genetics and Immunology
Email: jangulo@rockefeller.edu

Research Interest: Dr. Angulo-Lozano’s research interest is investigating the immunologic interactions and tumor microenvironment changes in prostate and bladder cancer and their response to different antibody-based therapies (ABT). His research project will focus on testing novel immunotherapies and combinations for the treatment of early-stage bladder cancers and how the Fc-domain of ABTs affects tumor immunity.

Bio: Dr. Angulo-Lozano received his MD from the Universidad Anahuac Norte in Mexico City.  He previously was a postdoctoral research associate in the Leonard Wagner Laboratory of Molecular Genetics and Immunology.

Laura Berneking, MD, PhD

Mentor: Jeremy Rock, PhD
Lab: Laboratory of Host-Pathogen Biology
Email: lberneking@rockefeller.edu

Research Interest: Dr. Berneking’s research focuses on understanding host-pathogen interactions and epigenetic modifications underlying trained immunity in response to Mycobacterium bovis bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) infection/vaccination. Her project aims to uncover the mechanisms of BCG-induced trained immunity, exploring epigenetic modifications affecting innate immune traits, inflammatory regulation, and myelopoiesis

Bio: Dr. Berneking received her MD-PhD from the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf in Germany and completed her residency in infectious diseases.

Barbara Bosch, MD, PhD

Mentors: Seth A. Darst, PhD and Elizabeth Campbell, PhD
Lab: Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics
Email: bbosch@rockefeller.edu

Research Interest: Dr. Bosch’s research interest is microbiology, particularly mycobacteria, focusing on microbial physiology and genetics. Her research project aims to visualize and understand the regulation of the transcriptional process using a combination of genetic, biochemical, and structural techniques.

Current Research Project Title: Assessing Novel Compounds against Mycobacterial Pathogens within Infected Human Cacrophages

Bio: Dr. Bosch received her MD from Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in Belgium and PhD from Rockefeller University. She completed the junior years of pediatric residency at the University Hospitals Louvain in Belgium.

Elsa Feredj, MD, PhD

Mentor: Jean-Laurent Casanova, MD, PhD
Lab: St. Giles Laboratory of Human Genetics of Infectious Diseases
Email: eferedj@rockefeller.edu

Research Interest: Dr. Feredj investigates how autoantibodies targeting key cytokines of the IFN-γ pathway increase susceptibility to severe infections by Mycobacteria, Salmonella, and intracellular fungi. Her work aims to identify and characterize these autoantibodies, assess their impact on immune signaling and infection risk, and assess how they inform improved diagnostic and therapeutic approaches.

Bio: Dr. Feredj received her MD from UPEC (Université Paris-Est Créteil) in France. She is currently a PhD student in Immunology at the University of Paris Cité. She completed her residency in Pulmonology and Respiratory Medicine and Infectious Diseases at the Paris University Hospitals.

Nicolas Gomez Banoy, MD

Mentor: Paul Cohen, MD, PhD
Lab: Laboratory of Molecular Metabolism
Email: rkimani@rockefeller.edu

Research Interest: Dr. Gomez Banoy’s research interest is focused on unraveling the mechanisms behind obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease. His current research project will focus on understanding the genetic and pharmacologic determinants of brown adipose tissue (BAT) in adult humans, with the ultimate goal  of harnessing thermogenic adipocytes to treat cardiometabolic diseases.

Current Research Project Title: Genetic Determinants of Brown Adipose Tissue Activity

Bio: Dr. Gomez Banoy received his MD from the Universidad Nacional de Colombia in Bogota, Colombia. He then did a postdoctoral fellowship with Dr James Lo at Weill Cornell Medicine studying pancreatic islet biology. Dr. Gomez Banoy completed his Internal Medicine residency at Weill Cornell Medicine/New York Presbyterian Hospital.   He is currently an Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism fellow at the joint Weill Cornell Medicine/Memorial Sloan Kettering program.

Jongeun Lee, MD

Mentor: James Krueger, MD, PhD
Lab: Laboratory of Investigative Dermatology
Email: jlee04@rockefeller.edu

Research Interest: Dr. Lee’s research interest is establishing tolerance/immune control mechanisms mediated by regulatory cell populations in human skin. Her research project will focus on studying transcriptional profiles, spatial organization, and functions of regulatory cell populations.

Bio: Dr. Lee received her MD from Kyungpook National University School of Medicine in South Korea and completed her residency in dermatology at the Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine in South Korea.

Francis (Frank) May, MD

Mentor: Agata Smogorzewska, MD, PhD
Lab: Laboratory of Genome Maintenance
Email: fmay@rockefeller.edu

Research Interest: Dr. May is designing a clinical trial to test preventive therapies of oral cancer in Fanconi anemia patients. Oral cnacer is highly prevalent in these patients because they have reduced ability to repair damage to their DNA. The trial will test the safety of two different drugs, metformin and celecoxib, and will analyze their effects on histological and molecular changes in the oral mucosa.

Bio: Dr. May received his MD from the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University. He completed his internal medicine residency at New York Presbyterian / Weill Cornell Department of Medicine. He is currently a Fellow on the Medical Genetics/Medical Research Track at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and New York Presbyterian / Weill Cornell.

Andre Moraes Nicola, MD, PhD

Mentors: Michel Nussenzweig, MD, PhD & Marina Caskey, MD
Lab: Laboratory of Molecular Immunology
Email: amoraesnicola@rockefeller.edu

Research Interest: Dr. Nicola’s research interest is developing monoclonal antibodies to treat infectious diseases. He is part of a team conducting phase 1 clinical trials with monoclonal antibodies to HIV and the hepatitis B virus. Additionally, he is studying the effect of these immunotherapies on the study participants’ immune responses.

Bio: Dr. Nicola earned his MD-PhD from the University of Brasilia, Brazil. He has postdoctoral experience in microbiology and immunology at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore. He is also a faculty member at the University of Brasilia, Brazil, from which he is on leave to participate in the Clinical Scholars program.

Koji Nakajima, MD

Mentor: Jean-Laurent Casanova, MD, PhD
Lab: St. Giles Laboratory of Human Genetics of Infectious Diseases
Email: knakajima@rockefeller.edu

Research Interest: Dr. Nakajima’s research interest is deciphering the age-dependent dynamics governing inflammatory response following infections and help to provide better treatment for the patients. Research project: Identifying the genetic cause and molecular mechanism of MIS-C (Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children) and Kawasaki Disease.

Bio: Dr. Nakajima’s received his MD from Kyoto University in Japan.  He completed his internal medicine internship at Tenri Yorozu Hospital  and his pediatric residency at Kyoto University Hospital in Japan.

Neil M. Neumann, MD, PhD

Mentor: Sohail F. Tavazoie, MD, PhD
Lab: Elizabeth and Vincent Meyer Laboratory of Systems Cancer Biology
Email: nneumann@rockefeller.edu

Research Interest: Dr. Neumann’s research interest is to understand how a patient’s germline genetics influence melanoma invasion and metastasis, specifically focusing on the role of the APOE axis and its variants. His goal is to discover unknown molecular mechanisms used by aggressive cutaneous cancers in order to develop novel, anti-metastatic therapeutics.

Bio: Dr. Neumann received his MD-PhD from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He completed his residency in Anatomic Pathology at University of California, San Francisco, followed by Dermatopathology fellowship at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

Alexander Stabell, MD, PhD

Mentor: Paul Bieniasz, PhD
Lab: Laboratory of Retrovirology
Email: astabell@rockefeller.edu

Research Interest: Dr. Stabell’s research interests lie at the interface of viral evolution and adaptive immunity. The virus causing HIV has evolved multiple mechanisms to avoid destruction by the immune system. His research project will investigate how the HIV-1 envelope escapes from the neutralizing antibody response.

Bio: Dr. Stabell received his MD and PhD from University of Colorado. He completed his internal medicine residency at New York Presbyterian Hospital Columbia Medical Center. His currently an Infectious Disease Fellow at New York Presbyterian Hospital Weill Cornell Medical Center.

Mai Takahashi, MD, MPH

Mentor: Sohail Tavazoie, MD, PhD
Lab: Elizabeth and Vincent Meyer Laboratory of Systems Cancer Biology
Email: mtakahashi@rockefeller.edu

Research Interest: Dr. Takahashi’s Mai’s research interest is the molecular mechanisms of cancer metastasis and exploring potential key genes associated with disease progression.  Her research project will focus on the biological understanding of signaling pathways on pancreatic cancer and colon cancer metastasis and its therapeutic targeting

Bio: Dr. Takahashi’s received her MD from Chiba University, Faculty of Medicine, Chiba, Japan and MPH from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA. Dr. Takahashi completed general medicine residency at Saku Central Hospital, Nagano, Japan, and internal medicine residency at Ichan School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Beth Israel in New York.

Shin-Rong (Julia) Wu, MD, PhD

Mentor: Sidney Strickland, PhD
Lab: Patricia and John Rosenwald Laboratory of Neurobiology and Genetics
Email: swu01@rockefeller.edu

Research Interest: Dr. Wu’s research interest focuses on how the immune and blood clotting systems interact to maintain homeostasis in health and to affect organ damage in disease. Her research project seeks to understand how peripheral blood components, encompassing both cellular populations and plasma proteins, contribute to Alzheimer’s disease.

Current Research Project Title: Investigating the Impact of Inflammation on Amyloid Precursor Protein (APP) Expression in the Hematopoietic Compartment

Bio: Dr. Wu received her MD and PhD from the University of Michigan Medical School.  Dr. Wu completed her internal medicine residency at New York-Presbyterian, Weill Cornell Medical Center. She is currently doing her Hematology/Oncology Fellowship at New York-Presbyterian, Weill Cornell Medical Center.

Rachel Zicherman, MD, PhD

Mentor: Sanford Simon, PhD
Lab: Laboratory of Cellular Biophysics
Email: rzicherman@rockefeller.edu

Research Interest: Dr. Zicherman’s research interests focus on understanding the role of the immune microenvironment in rare cancers, specifically fibrolamellar hepatocellular carcinoma (FLC). Her research project will investigate the presence and functional significance of neutrophil extracellular traps in FLC, aiming to identify both novel biomarkers for disease progression and potential therapeutic targets.

Bio: Dr. Zicherman received her MD and PhD from the Faculty of Medical & Health Sciences, Tel-Aviv University in Israel. She completed her pediatric residency at Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center.