Rami Darawsheh
Home Institution: University of North Carolina- Chapel Hill
Faculty Mentor: Scott Floyd, MD, PhD, Radiation Oncology, & Pharmacology and Cancer Biology
Christopher D’Inzeo
Home Institution: Elon University
Faculty Mentor: Amanda Hargrove, PhD, Chemistry
Miguel Flores Garcia
Home Institution: University of California: Berkeley
Faculty Mentor: Samira Musah, PhD, Biomedical Engineering
Mia Greeson
Home Institution: Davidson College
Faculty Mentor: Bob Lefkowitz, MD, Medicine
Samuel Gruber
Home Institution: Duke University
Faculty Mentor: Kris Wood, PhD, Pharmacology and Cancer Biology
Dahlia Halabi
Home Institution: Duke University
Faculty Mentor: Charlie Gersbach, PhD, Biomedical Engineering
Selena Halabi
Home Institution: Duke University
Faculty Mentor: Nimmi Ramanujam, PhD, Biomedical Engineering
Olivia Kelly
Home Institution: Gannon University
Faculty Mentor: Ed Levin, PhD, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences.
Jocoa Kerschen
Home Institution: Benedictine College
Faculty Mentor: Ashutosh Chilkoti, PhD, Biomedical Engineering
Yannie Lam
Home Institution: Brown University
Faculty Mentor: Matt Hirschey, PhD, Medicine
Madison Maille
Home Institution: Loyola Marymount University
Faculty Mentor: Amanda Hargrove, PhD, Chemistry
Atharv Oak
Home Institution: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Faculty Mentor: Kris Wood, PhD, Pharmacology and Cancer Biology
Charlotte Pollack
Home Institution: University of South Carolina: Columbia
Faculty Mentor: Corinne Linardic, MD, PhD, Pediatrics
Carl Shirley
Home Institution: University of Wisconsin-Madison
Faculty Mentor: Gerry Blobe, MD, PhD, Medicine
Emily Troutman
Home Institution: Davidson College
Faculty Mentor: Nicholas Heaton, PhD, Molecular Genetics and Microbiology
Kevin Tu
Home Institution: University of Maryland: College Park
Faculty Mentor: Zach Reitman, MD, PhD, Radiation Oncology
James Zheng
Home Institution: Duke University
Faculty Mentor: Raphael Valdivia, PhD, Molecular Genetics and Microbiology
Summer 2020 Amgen Scholars Program at Duke was canceled due to impacts of COVID-19. Scholars selected for Summer 2020 were given the opportunity to defer to Summer 2021. No new applications were accepted for Summer 21.
Lucas Kim
Home Institution: Duke University
Faculty Mentor: Ed Levin, PhD, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Project Summary:
Samuel Liu
Home Institution: Yale University
Faculty Mentor: Robert Lefkowitz, MD/PhD, Medicine
Project Summary:
Nicholas Manfred
Home Institution: Columbia University
Faculty Mentor: Pelin Volkan, PhD, Biology
Project Summary:
Erin Mansell
Home Institution: Davidson College
Faculty Mentor: David Kirsch, MD/PhD, Radiation Oncology
Project Summary:
Ikechi "Bradley" Nwadike
Home Institution: Bowie State University
Faculty Mentor: Francis Ka-Ming Chan, PhD, Immunology
Project Summary:
Lauren Onweller
Home Institution: Penn State University
Faculty Mentor: Tatiana Segura, PhD, Biomedical Engineering
Project Summary:
Behnia Rezazadeh Shirazi
Home Institution: Iowa State University
Faculty Mentor: Charles Gersbach, PhD, Biomedical Engineering
Project Summary:
Jeffrey Zhang
Home Institution: Duke University
Faculty Mentor: Steve Malcolmson, PhD, Chemistry
Project Summary:
Summer 2020 Amgen Scholars Program at Duke was canceled due to impacts of COVID-19. Scholars selected for Summer 2020 were given the opportunity to defer to Summer 2021.
Andréa Ball
Home Institution: Duke University
Faculty Mentor: Nancie MacIver, MD/PhD, Pediatric Endocrinology
Project Summary: Targeting metabolism to alter T cell function as a potentially novel way to treat autoimmune disease.
Owen Canterbury
Home Institution: Washington State University
Faculty Mentor: Hiroaki Matsunami, PhD, Molecular Genetics and Microbiology
Project Summary: Mapping olfactory receptors governing the sense of smell.
Amanda Cimino
Home Institution: Mercer University
Faculty Mentor: Charles Gersbach, PhD, Department of Biomedical Engineering
Project Summary: Utilizing CRISPR/Cas9 to develop a gene therapy to treat nerve sheath tumors.
Allen Green
Home Institution: Brown University
Faculty Mentor: Donald McDonnell, PhD, Pharmacology and Cancer Biology
Project Summary: Utilizing high-throughput methods to identify compounds that interfere with androgen receptor dimerization to treat prostate cancer.
Dominick Jenkins
Home Institution: University of Northwestern-St. Paul
Faculty Mentor: Dennis Ko, MD/PhD, Molecular Genetics and Microbiology
Project Summary: Determining the molecular mechanisms Salmonella infection.
Caylee Marshall
Home Institution: University of Kentucky
Faculty Mentor: Tatiana Segura, PhD, Biomedical Engineering
Project Summary: Optimizing nanoparticles to treat stroke.
Erin Mihealsick
Home Institution: Clemson University
Faculty Mentor: Don Fox, PhD, Pharmacology and Cancer Biology
Project Summary: Screening of tardigrade genes for alteration of radiation resistance in Drosophila melanogaster.
John Nguyen
Home Institution: Cooper Union
Faculty Mentor: Scott Floyd, MD/PhD, Radiation Oncology
Project Summary: Evaluating the radioprotection and radiosensitization properties of a drug to improve radiotherapy for cancer patients.
Anna Savelyeva
Home Institution: Duke University
Faculty Mentor: David Kirsch, PhD, Radiation Oncology
Project Summary: Investigating the role of ATM and p53 in childhood brain cancers.
Shannon Silva
Home Institution: University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Faculty Mentor: Ann Marie Pendergast, PhD, Pharmacology and Cancer Biology
Project Summary: Understanding the role of ABL kinases in lung cancer brain metastasis.
Janel Sowers
Home Institution: New Mexico State University
Faculty Mentor: Dorothy Sipkins, MD/PhD, Department of Medicine, Division of Hematologic Malignancies and Cellular Therapy
Project Summary: Improving chemotherapeutic treatments for Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL).
Tamanna Srivastava
Home Institution: Duke University
Faculty Mentor: Emily Derbyshire, PhD, Chemistry
Project Summary: Identifying new therapies to target Plasmodium falciparum, the parasite responsible for the deadliest form of malaria.
Alessia Stewart
Home Institution: North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University
Faculty Mentor: George Truskey, PhD, Biomedical Engineering
Project Summary: Targeting drivers of inflammation in atherosclerosis (plaques in arteries).
Priscilla Villalona
Home Institution: Bay Path University
Faculty Mentor: Hashim Al-Hashimi, PhD, Biochemistry
Project Summary: Targeting HIV-1 RNA Using Small Molecules.
Yuqi Bill Zhang
Home Institution: Johns Hopkins University
Faculty Mentor: Steven Patierno, PhD, Duke Cancer Institute
Project Summary: Engineering a novel cell line for functional analysis of alternative splicing in prostate cancer.