MTBatGSBS

Follow us to hear about the exciting things happening at the Molecular and Translational Biology (formerly BCB) Program @ MD Anderson UTHealth Graduate School!

[MD Anderson-UTH Grad @MDA_UTHGrad]

How do shared protein structures across species reveal new insights into Huntington’s disease? 🔬 Molecular & Translational Biology program PhD student Stephen Farmer, mentored by Sheng Zhang, PhD, explores this in October’s Paper of the Month: https://t.co/dW7zca1BPQ #WeAreGSBS

[MD Anderson-UTH Grad @MDA_UTHGrad]

How do our Molecular and Translational Biology program students unwind? Last week’s fall retreat: featuring science, of course, with a day full of powerful student and faculty flash talks, an inspiring keynote address by Distinguished Faculty Awardee Vihang Narkar, Professor at UTHealth Houston, along with kickball, basketball, barbeque, and a lot of laughs — all made possible by our student council: Stephen Farmer, Ester Lujan, Cara Biddle, Mirrah Bashir, and Sophia Huang! #WeAreGSBS! @MTBatGSBS

[MD Anderson-UTH Grad @MDA_UTHGrad]

What happens when two therapies join forces? In his recent research published in Cell Reports Medicine, Molecular and Translational Biology Program PhD student Peyton High explored whether combining treatments combatted colorectal cancer more effectively. 🔬 Guided by Kendra Carmon, PhD, his work is summarized by Cancer Biology student Amanda Warner in September’s Paper of the Month: https://t.co/lG6I64nezk #cancerresearch @MTBatGSBS @PeytonsPhD @KendraCarmonLab

[Daniel E. Frigo, Ph.D. @DanielFrigo]

Congrats to our own Pham Hong Anh "Nikki" Cao on her newly awarded F99 fellowship from @theNCI!!

This award allows us to further investigate links between the regulation of lipid droplet homeostasis, #ferroptosis, and #prostatecancer progression.

@MDAndersonNews @MDA_UTHGrad

[MD Anderson-UTH Grad @MDA_UTHGrad]

Learn how Genetics and Epigenetics student Sseu-Pei Hwang’s research enhances our understanding of RNA modifications linked to cancer development, opening new avenues for targeted therapies in July’s Paper of the Month: https://t.co/hdPjohnLjt #WeAreGSBS #CancerResearch @MTBatGSBS

[MTBatGSBS @MTBatGSBS]

So proud of MTB student Ester Lujan winning best poster in the Tumor Biology category at ENDO 2025 held in San Francisco this year! 🎉 🥳 Ester is advised by Dr. Dan Frigo and Dr. Loukia Karacosta. Congratulations!

[MTBatGSBS @MTBatGSBS]

Candise Tat for best pre-candidacy elevator pitch AND people’s choice award! 👏

[MTBatGSBS @MTBatGSBS]

Yesterday GSBS held the annual GSRD where our (MTB) students delivered top-tier posters, talks, and pitches, and walked away with awards across the board 🧬🥇 Big congrats to our winners (see below) and everyone that presented!

[MTBatGSBS @MTBatGSBS]

Cara Biddle for 2nd place in the oral talks competition! 🌟

[MTBatGSBS @MTBatGSBS]

Peyton High for best post candidacy poster! 🎉

[MTBatGSBS @MTBatGSBS]

Sophia Huang and Beatriz Zancanela for best pre-candidacy posters! 🥳

[Alejandro Aballay, PhD @aaballay1]

🎉Congratulations to our PhD students Amanda and Sseu-Pei, on this well-deserved recognition, along with their mentors for their outstanding guidance! We appreciate The University of Texas System’s continued support with this prestigious award established by former UT System Regent Jess Hay — visionary leader and proponent of championing research opportunities for graduate students. @MTBatGSBS @DianeBodurka @CarinHagberg @kmo1001001

[MTBatGSBS @MTBatGSBS]

So pleased to share that MTB students Nicolas Moreno, Peyton High & Sseu-Pei Hwang have been awarded the Dean’s Research Scholarship - the highest honor given to graduate students at the McGovern Med. School & we are so proud of their exceptional achievement. Congratulations! 🎉

[MD Anderson-UTH Grad @MDA_UTHGrad]

Congratulations to Michael Longmire for the successful defense of his dissertation Expanding Inducible Epithelial Resistance Against Pneumonia: Novel Virus, Novel Receptor April 23! We are proud of Longmire, who is one step closer to the MD, PhD! #WeAreGSBS

[MTBatGSBS @MTBatGSBS]

Today our amazing first year students presented work from their final rotations in MTB labs. Congratulations, keep up the good work! 🥳

[MTBatGSBS @MTBatGSBS]

Huge congratulations to Dr. Michael Longmire for successfully defending his dissertation titled “Expanding Inducible Epithelial Resistance Against Pneumonia: Novel Virus, Novel Receptor”. Amazing work Michael! 🎉

[MTBatGSBS @MTBatGSBS]

Congrats to Dr. Ulises Gonzalez on his successful Ph.D. defense! Ulises’ thesis work is titled “The extracellular domains of the AMPA, kainate, and orphan delta receptor regulate channel gating in distinct ways.” Great work, Ulises! 🥳

[MTBatGSBS @MTBatGSBS]

And lastly, one final, big thank you to our program manager, Amanda Williamson, our program directors, Drs. Kristin Mahan and Kendra Carmon, and our wondeful student council for organizing this symposium! The program wouldn’t be the same without you all! 🤩

[MTBatGSBS @MTBatGSBS]

But let’s not forget our awesome faculty! Congratulations to Dr. Vihang Narkar, this year’s MTB Distinguished Faculty Award 🥳

[MTBatGSBS @MTBatGSBS]

And congratulations to our oral presentation winners!
Pre-candidacy:
1st 🥇- Julia Zickus
2nd 🥈- Mirrah Bashir
3rd 🥉- Sophia Huang
Post-Candidacy:
1st 🥇- Peyton High
2nd 🥈- Nico Moreno
3rd 🥉- Ester Lujan

[MTBatGSBS @MTBatGSBS]

Last week, we held our annual MTB Spring Symposium filled with exciting research! The symposium featured posters and oral presentations from pre- and post-candidacy students and a fantastic keynote address delivered by Dr. David McPherson! 🔬🧪👩‍🔬

[MTBatGSBS @MTBatGSBS]

Congratulations to our poster presentation winners!
Pre-candidacy:
1st 🥇 - Cara Biddle
2nd 🥈 - Beatriz Schueng Zanacanela
Post-candidacy:
1st 🥇 - Chase Hutchins
2nd (tie) 🥈- Stephen Farmer, Sseu-Pei Hwang