Suppose they gave your first semester in medical school and everybody attended remotely. Such was the reality for our incoming class of 2020. Due to the pandemic, all first semester classes were taught remote (including anatomy) and the MS1 students will only have their first opportunity to meet their MSTP classmates in May for graduation dinner. Time for us to welcome them and introduce them. We are very proud to have recruited another academically exceptional class with diverse research interests, hailing from all over the place. In particular, we are excited to have recruited our first entering class with a majority of women. This is an opportunity to thank all of our students, faculty and staff (in particular Allison) who made the recruitment process possible. We wish our incoming class a great physician-scientist journey and as a start, many fun conversations fueled by their fun facts provided below!
Dhivyaa Anandan (Vanderbilt University)
Hometown: Palatine, IL
Fun Fact: I’ll always say that Chicago pizza is better than New York pizza there’s no point in arguing with me.
Research Interests: My research interests are in cancer biology, especially metastasis, tumor heterogeneity, and cancer genomics. My previous work in undergrad was in the Johnson Lab at Vanderbilt University that studied bone metastatic breast cancer, and my gap year work was in the McNerney Lab at The University of Chicago using genomics to study acute myeloid leukemia.
More about me: I went to undergrad in Nashville and it made me realize country music is actually pretty good.
Khalayi Martha Aywa (Wellesley College)
Hometown: Kakamega, Kenya
Fun Fact: I walked 459 miles in 2020 and 521 miles in 2019.
Research Interests: Currently, I am interested in understanding molecular and structural details of protein interactions. Before medical school, I worked on a collaborative project between two labs at Tufts University studying a polyomavirus phosphatase and its cellular targets to understand tumor development.
More about me: I enjoy walking and being out in nature.
Experience during first year: So far, I have enjoyed my first year.
Anthony Chesebro (Columbia University)
Hometown: Millville, NJ
Fun Fact: I was homeschooled K-12 (first in-person class was in college).
Research Interests: Computational neuroscience, Neuroimaging, Aging and dementia
More about me: I’m also a huge fan of board games (ok at some), rock climbing (bad at it, but fun!), and consuming chocolate (self-proclaimed expert, and Nutella with potato chips is an awesome combination).
Tiffany Kim (Stony Brook University)
Hometown: Dix Hills, NY
Fun Fact: I have a black belt in Taekwondo
Research Interests: I am interested in biomaterials for tissue regeneration and in drug delivery systems. In particular, I’m interested in the development of bioactive implants that can be manipulated with external stimuli for the controlled release of drugs or other factors that can promote tissue growth.
More about me: I like cooking, baking, and playing the piano. I also love musicals and listening to cast recordings; some of my favorites are My Fair Lady, Once on this Island, and the Band’s Visit.
Timothy Maher (Wagner College)
Hometown: Milford, CT
Fun Fact: I taught my golden retriever how to bring me seltzers.
Research Interests: I am interested in immunology and gaining a better understanding of the role of T cells in autoimmune diseases. I also am interested in unraveling the genetic susceptibility to autoimmune diseases and environmental factors that may trigger development with the goal of identifying potential preventative therapies and improve overall treatment of patients with autoimmune diseases. Before coming to Stony Brook, I worked in an immunology lab at Yale School of Medicine studying rare genetic immune disorders.
More about me: I am basically always with my dog Rylie. I enjoy golfing, watching sports, fishing, and backyard games. Huge fan of the New York Jets, New York Yankees, and Notre Dame for college football. I’m also an avid fan of The Office, Parks and Rec, and Game of Thrones.
Cuilee Sha (University of Michigan)
Hometown: Great Neck, NY
Fun Fact: I was on a hip hop crew for 3.5 years in undergrad.
Research Interests: Generally, I want to understand how to better use gene editing as a tool to answer questions about regeneration, particularly at the nerve-muscle interface, but am open to other systems and tissues. I am clinically passionate about surgery and am currently figuring out how to design my PhD research to bridge my clinical interests with my basic science interests.
More about me: I got a kitten (my first pet that was not a fish) around the time I started med school; his name is Maksi, and he is very cute and needy.
Sophie Shifman (Rutgers University)
Hometown: Jersey City, NJ
Fun Fact: My parents and grandparents came to the US together from the Soviet Union on the brink of its collapse, and both my brother and I speak, read, and write in Russian!
Research Interests: In general, cells and the brain are two fields of study I find fascinating. My research experience in both cancer biology and neuroscience has driven my aspiration to combine the two fields in my future work as a physician scientist. My previous research has focused on elucidating the effects of antidepressant on neurogenesis in the hippocampus and behavior of female mice across their reproductive cycle, on revealing cellular mechanisms in various cancer histologies of resistance to therapy through the MAPK pathway and of feedback inhibition within the PI3K pathway, and on investigating new approaches in targeted and combinational therapies for tumors resistant to conventional treatment. Going forward, I hope to bring my interests together in studying mechanisms of cancer in the brain and the systemic and psychological effects thereof in cell and animal models.
More about me: I love nature and staying active in general!
Experience during first year: In short – much better than expected! I’ve been really loving my time here in Long Island, and everything being online has actually worked very much in my favor, in having a lot more time to myself and enjoying learning on my own terms.
Kyungyoon (Yoon) Yoo (Vassar College)
Hometown: Redmond, WA
Fun Fact: I’ve finished an entire Costco pizza in one sitting!
Research Interests: My research interests focus on the mechanisms by which cells regulate their cellular processes. In the past, I’ve studied how Bordetella pertussis, the causative agent of whooping cough, regulates its genes to survive in different environments, enabling its persistence and transmission from one host to another. I have also studied how eIF3 (eukaryotic Initiation Factor 3), a protein that has been implicated in the development and progression of various human cancers, mediates the initiation step of eukaryotic protein synthesis. For my PhD, I want to research areas related to bacterial pathogenesis and the host response.
More about me: I was born in Seoul, Korea and moved to the US when I was 10 years old.
By Allen Chen
