ron parchem, ph.d.
Ron Parchem received a B.S. from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and his Ph.D. from University of California, Berkeley. He did his post-doctoral studies at University of California, San Francisco until he began at Baylor College of Medicine in 2015.
RACHEL KEULS
Rachel is a graduate student in the Development, Disease Models, and Therapeutics program. She previously worked in the lab as a technician and studied how miRNAs counterpoise pluripotency versus differentiation during the earliest cell fate decisions of the early embryo. As a graduate student, she is working to understand the temporal progression and regulation of stem cell populations in glioma, differential enhancer usage during neural tube closure, and how miRNAs can be used to regenerate the retina. Rachel received a B.S. in biological sciences from Salisbury University in 2016 and since starting at BCM that same year, has presented her work at international conferences, won multiple awards, and published multiple papers.
ANGELINA “GINA” BORTOLETTO
After graduating from New Mexico State University with a degree in biochemistry, Gina worked as a research technician at MD Anderson for two years. Currently, she is enrolled in Baylor’s MD/Ph.D. program. She is interested in studying the cancer stem cell population.
Ivanshi patel
Prior to beginning her doctorate, Ivanshi graduated from the University of South California with a Master’s in Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine. She studies how miR-302 regulates chromatin accessibility in stem cells and cranial neural crest cells.
CECILIA GONZáLEZ CORONA
Cecilia got her B.S. in Biology from the University of Houston. Besides handling the lab’s administrative and clerical needs, she is studying how maternal diabetes affects neural tube closure and embryonic metabolism.
ZOEY YANG
Before joining the Development, Disease Models, and Therapeutics graduate program, Zoey earned her B.S. in Biological Sciences from Nankai University, China. She worked on modeling heart diseases using human pluripotent stem cells as an undergraduate. Now she is interested in studying miRNA biology in development and diseases.
MARA CARDENAS
Mara graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a B.S. in Neuroscience. She then became a research technician at Baylor’s Center for Cell and Gene Therapy where she assisted with developing immunotherapies for cancer. She is currently a student in the Development, Disease Models, and Therapeutics graduate program and is interested in studying the role of miRNAs in tumor-immune cell interactions.
MARGARET “MEG” HARRINGTON
Meg graduated from Vassar College with a B.A. in Biology. She then worked as a research technician at the University of Michigan, assisting with developing a brain tissue clearing and expansion protocol. She is currently a graduate student in the Cancer and Cell Biology program and is interested in studying cancer stem cells and how diabetes contributes to Alzheimer’s disease.