UVA Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program, 1300 Jefferson Park Avenue, Charlottesville, VA (2026)

08/26/2026

UVA’s Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program has scheduled two virtual opportunities this Fall for interested applicants to learn more about our programs and connect with faculty and current students. We will be discussing the structure of our graduate program, curriculum, student perspectives, life in Charlottesville, and more! We encourage you to register and attend one of these virtual Open House sessions:

UVA BIMS Virtual Open House

Tuesday, September 22nd, 10:00am EST
Registration Link: https://applycentral.virginia.edu/register/?id=13fadce9-8031-46ad-b2d1-a423e05aa20e

Wednesday, October 21st, 4:00pm EST
Registration Link: https://applycentral.virginia.edu/register/?id=6b0917b4-6a7d-48a6-8859-86ee01b2258c

08/26/2026

Valeria Molinary was awarded the NIH F31 Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award from the NIAID which began on August 1, 2026.

Valeria received her Bachelor of Science degree in Microbiology and Cell Science from the University of Florida.

Valeria is a doctoral candidate in Pharmacology in Dr. Bimal N. Desai's lab.

We asked Valeria to tell us about her research and hopes for the future:

Tell us about your research:

Research in the Desai lab focuses on how ion channels and signaling pathways affect immune cell function. My research investigates how mitochondrial calcium signaling regulates alveolar macrophage inflammatory and antimicrobial functions during bacterial pneumonia. Alveolar macrophages are the resident immune cells of the lung and serve as the first line of defense against inhaled pathogens while maintaining tissue homeostasis. Despite their critical role in pulmonary immunity, the intracellular signaling pathways that regulate alveolar macrophage function during infection remain incompletely understood. I seek to define the molecular mechanisms that enable these cells to balance effective pathogen clearance with controlled inflammation. By advancing our understanding of alveolar macrophage biology, this work may ultimately help identify new therapeutic strategies for infectious lung diseases.

What drives or motivates your scientific pursuits?

My scientific interests have always centered on host-pathogen interactions with the hope of better understanding these relationships in order to advance medicine. During my undergraduate studies, I was really immersed in the pathogen side of infectious disease, particularly with bacterial pathogenesis. However, in graduate school I’ve become captivated by our immune cells and how they handle infection and stress. They’re critical in maintaining our health, yet there’s still so much to learn about them! That curiosity continues to drive my research and my interest in immunology.

What are your future goals?

I hope to pursue a career in biomedical research with a continued focus on immunology. I’m particularly interested in a career in academia or as a scientist at a government research institute, where I can continue advancing immunology research while also contributing to public outreach and science communication. Ultimately, I hope to combine my interests in research and outreach to help advance our understanding of human health while making science more accessible.

Congratulations Valeria!

08/26/2026

Bryce Murillo was awarded the NIH F31 Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award from the NHLBI which began on August 1, 2026.

Bryce received his Bachelor of Science degree in Applied Physiology and Kinesiology from the University of Florida.

Bryce is a doctoral candidate in Pharmacology in the labs of Jeffrey Saucerman and Matthew Wolf.

We asked Bryce to tell us about his research and hopes for the future:

Tell us about your research:

Adult mammalian cardiomyocytes have a limited proliferative capacity which prevents full recovery of the myocardium after traumatic heart injuries like a heart attack. My project looks at how dual-specificity tyrosine phosphorylation regulated kinase 1A (DYRK1A) regulates cardiomyocyte cell cycle activity and how its inhibition can promote endogenous cardiomyocyte proliferation. We have shown through a combination of computational and experimental methods the mechanisms by which small molecule inhibition of DYRK1A promotes cardiomyocyte cycling and improves cardiac function after an ischemic/reperfusion myocardial infarction (I/R MI). What is even more interesting is that DYRK1A inhibition only promotes cardiomyocyte cycling after I/R MI and not in healthy myocardium. This raises an exciting question about what is changing in the myocardium during MI that makes DYRK1A susceptible to inhibition to promote cardiomyocyte proliferation. Overall, the goal of my project is to understand how DYRK1A mediates cardiomyocyte cell cycle activity after injury.

What drives or motivates your scientific pursuits?

I have always been interested in how we could advance treatment for human disease. There is so much to learn and discover about combating human disease that I can’t imagine I would ever get bored!

What are your future goals?

I would like to pursue a career in industry, working on drug development projects that would hopefully impact human health. Although I would love to continue doing cardiovascular research, I would be happy working on anything that could really help people.

Congratulations Bryce!

08/25/2026

Christopher Pastore was awarded the NIH F31 Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award from the NHLBI which begins on September 1st, 2026.

Christopher received his Bachelor of Science in Microbiology from the University of Pittsburgh.

Christopher is a doctoral candidate in Microbiology in Dr. Anne Sperling's lab.

We asked Christopher to tell us about his research and hopes for the future:

Tell us about your research:

The Sperling lab studies asthma/allergy, lung injury, and fibrotic lung diseases. In particular, we investigate how the immune response can be pathological and/or protective. Following acute lung injury, the immune response can protect the host from pathogens while simultaneously promote barrier repair and restore lung function. The Sperling lab has discovered that an immune cytokine, interleukin-5 (IL-5), can promote survival from acute lung injury. I am interested in what types of cells are responding to IL-5 through its receptor and the mechanisms that promote survival and whether these responses are potentially a risk for developing fibrosis long-term.

What drives or motivates your scientific pursuits?

Ever since taking an undergraduate immunology course, I have been intrigued by how the host defends itself against pathogens. Now, there are so many successful therapeutics for the activation or silencing of the immune response for diseases such as asthma, arthritis, cancer, and more. I am motivated to expand upon our knowledge of the immune system so we can properly enhance or inhibit it to our advantage.

What are your future goals?

Currently, I plan to pursue a postdoc in academia continuing to study immune responses. I have been fortunate to have been mentored by some incredible people, and I hope to be able to do the same for the future generations of scientists.

Congratulations Christopher!

08/24/2026

Zeguela Kamagate was awarded the American Society of Hematology Fellowship which began on July 1st, 2026.

Zeguela received her Bachelor of Science in Cell/Cellular and Molecular Biology from Towson University.

Zeguela is a doctoral candidate in Experimental Pathology in the Loughran lab.

We asked Zeguela to tell us about her research and hopes for the future:

Tell us about your research:

My research focuses on understanding how patient-derived STAT3 mutations contribute to large granular lymphocyte leukemia (LGLL), a chronic lymphoproliferative disorder. STAT3 is especially important because activating mutations occur in more than half of patients with LGLL and are associated with distinct clinical phenotypes, yet the functional consequences of individual mutations remain incompletely understood. I developed a lentiviral STAT3 expression system and a panel of twelve LGLL-associated STAT3 mutants spanning multiple functional domains of the protein. I first screen these mutations in HEK293 cells for differences in STAT3 phosphorylation and transcriptional activity, then evaluate selected activating mutants in primary human T cells. I also use proteomic approaches and CUT&Tag to study how these mutations alter protein interactions and genomic occupancy. Ultimately, my goal is to define mutation-specific mechanisms that contribute to LGLL pathogenesis and may inform future therapeutic strategies.

What drives or motivates your scientific pursuits?

My motivation for pursuing science stems from my origins. Growing up in Côte d’Ivoire, I witnessed the impact of sickle cell disease on my community, including losing a young cousin to complications of the disease. That experience shaped my commitment to studying difficult and understudied hematologic disorders.

Today, I am grateful to train in an environment where I can help move the needle forward by uncovering disease mechanisms and contributing to new therapeutic strategies in hematology. My work in LGLL continues to remind me that behind our scientific questions are patients and families who may one day benefit from the answers.

What are your future goals?

I plan to build a career focused on hematologic diseases, whether through clinical trials, translational research, or public health. I hope to contribute to the development of novel treatments, improve access to emerging therapies, strengthen communication between the research community and the public, and mentor the next generation of scientists.

Congratulations Zeguela!

08/24/2026

James Boehlke was awarded the NIH F31 Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award from the NIAID which began on August 15th, 2026.

James received his Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry from Colorado State University.

James is a doctoral candidate in Microbiology in Dr. Anna Cliffe's lab.

We asked James to tell us about his research and hopes for the future:

Tell us about your research:

The Cliffe lab studies how Herpes Simplex Virus 1 (HSV-1) is able to establish latency and hide in neurons and how it is subsequently able to reactivate and cause disease. Although HSV-1 is most commonly associated with cold-sores or blisters, recurrent reactivation can cause keratitis or even encephalitis. It has previously been shown that the HSV-1 genome associates with host histones and forms chromatin in neurons which is epigenetically regulated to form repressive heterochromatin. We have recently discovered a type of viral heterochromatin, formed through the deposition of the histone post-translational modification H2AK119ub1, that appears to make the virus more prone to reactivating. I am interested in how this reactivation-competent heterochromatin is formed on the viral genome and why it is only found in a subset of latently infected neurons. The ultimate goal of this project is to understand how HSV-1 achieves this “reactivation-competent” latency and how we may be able to prevent or target this specific form of latency.

What drives or motivates your scientific pursuits?

I have always been fascinated by viruses and the clever mechanisms both host and pathogen have evolved to combat one another for survival. This is certainly true for HSV-1, which has been co-evolving with humans for millions of years. Understanding the intimate relationship between host and pathogen, as frustrating and confusing it can be, feels like a puzzle that keeps me coming back.

What are your future goals?

I hope to stay in academia and continue studying virology. I would love to establish a lab to study how viruses manipulate host pathways, with the goal of revealing new therapeutic targets to control infection and disease.

Congratulations James!

08/24/2026

John Duncan was awarded the NIH F31 Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award from the NIAID which began on August 1st, 2026.

John received his Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Sciences with a minor in Chemistry from Susquehanna University.

John is a doctoral candidate in Pharmacology in Dr. Bimal N. Desai's lab.

We asked John to tell us about his research and hopes for the future:

Tell us about your research:

My research investigates how macrophages maintain the acidic compartments they use to break down pathogens and cellular debris. A proton pump drives acidification, but its activity creates a buildup of positive charge that restrains the pump. I am testing whether the ion channel TRPM7 relieves this electrical buildup and allows the compartments to fully acidify.

To answer this question, I use endolysosomal electrophysiology, an advanced technique that allows me to record the movement of charged particles across the membranes of these cellular compartments. This work may explain how TRPM7 permits the acidification necessary for certain viruses to infect cells. More broadly, it could reveal a central component to immune defense and inflammation.

What drives or motivates your scientific pursuits?

Throughout my life, I have been fortunate to learn from many exceptional mentors, several of whom I have lost to diseases that basic science will one day help us understand and prevent. I am motivated to honor their memory by providing the next generation of scientists with the same exceptional guidance I received, so that our combined efforts can move us closer to that future.

What are your future goals?

My goal is to become a biology and immunology professor at a primarily undergraduate institution. In the classroom, I want to help students develop the composure to apply what they have learned to unfamiliar biological problems. In the laboratory, I want to provide undergraduates with the theoretical understanding and technical skills they need to become excellent, independent researchers.

Congratulations John!

08/20/2026

Cara Hatzinger was awarded the NIH F31 Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award from the NCI which began on August 1st, 2026.

Cara received her Bachelor of Science in Biology from Gettysburg College and is a doctoral candidate in Microbiology in the Rutkowski Lab.

We asked Cara to tell us about her research and hopes for the future.

Tell us about your research:

The Rutkowski lab studies how the gut microbiome impacts anti-tumor immunity, metastasis, and immunotherapy response. My research focuses on ovarian cancer, a disease that rarely responds to immunotherapeutic intervention. Our lab has discovered that ovarian tumors allow gut microbes to leak into the tumor microenvironment, where a bacterial component called flagellin chronically activates toll-like receptor 5 (TLR5) signaling on immune cells. This chronic signaling ultimately leads to a more tumor-permissive environment. We have found that in the absence of TLR5 signaling, ovarian tumors respond well to a combination of FLT3 ligand and anti-PDL1 immunotherapies. My project aims to define how chronic TLR5 signaling shapes the ovarian tumor microenvironment and impacts this combination therapy's efficacy. Ultimately, I hope to define targetable pathways to mitigate the negative effects of TLR5 signaling in order to enhance the efficacy of immune therapy for patients with ovarian cancer.

What drives or motivates your scientific pursuits?

I remember the first time I learned about immunotherapies such as bispecific antibodies and CAR-T cells. The notion that researchers could design ways to harness a patient's immune system to become a therapeutic agent itself was striking to me. From then on, I knew that I wanted to be a part of a scientific community dedicated to improving patient outcomes. Plus, I learn something new every day!

What are your future goals?

My future goal is to continue as a biomedical researcher with a focus on translational cancer immunology and immunotherapy. Before I joined BIMS, I worked in an industry position where I was exposed to the lengthy drug development pipeline and gained an appreciation for the intense collaboration that it takes to get a cancer therapeutic from early development to eventual clinical implementation. I hope to continue my involvement in translational research and be involved in progressing new therapies from the bench to patients.

Congratulations Cara!

08/07/2026

Wagner Fellowships Awarded to Eight Students in Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program

Thanks to the tremendous generosity of Dr. Robert Wagner and his wife, Mary, the Robert R. Wagner Fellowship Fund awarded fellowships to eight students in the Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program this year. Dr. Wagner served as professor and chair of Microbiology from 1967 to 1994 and contributed in many ways to the School of Medicine, UVA, and the scientific community.

The Wagner Fellowship Fund supports graduate students in the basic sciences within the School of Medicine who have demonstrated outstanding scientific potential, accomplishments, and service to their communities.

“We are fortunate to have this opportunity to recognize our most accomplished trainees. It is also a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the generosity of Bob and Mary Wagner, without whom these fellowships would not be possible,” said Janet Cross, PhD, Associate Dean for Graduate and Medical Scientist Programs and Associate Professor of Medical Education and Pathology.

Please join us in congratulating the 2026 Wagner Fellows.

Rising Third-Year Students:

Sophie O’Keefe, Microbiology (mentor: Qiwei Wang)

Caitlin Sullivan, Biomedical Engineering (mentor: Sepideh Dolatshahi)

Jingyi Wang, Computational Biology (mentor: Chongzhi Zang)

Rising Fourth/Fifth-Year Students:

Martyna Glowczyk-Gluc, Molecular and Cellular Basis of Disease/Experimental Pathology (mentor: Hui Li)

Abbe Kelly, Neuroscience (mentor: Tajie Harris)

Caeley Reever, Neuroscience (mentors: Manoj Patel and Charles Farber)

Dana Van Fossen, Microbiology (mentor: Bill Petri)

Sara Zdancewicz, Biophysics (mentor: Ahmad Jomaa)

07/06/2026

UVA BIMS PhD student Ewelina Hejenkowska was featured in UVAHealth Children’s Monthly Matters, July edition for her research.

Here is the excerpt from their July publication:

Nephrology

We spotlight major advance from the laboratory of Dr. Agnes Swiatecka-Urban. Her team has grown human kidney organoids: three-dimensional clusters of living cells, only a few millimeters across, that self-organize in culture into miniature working models of a real kidney, reproducing many of the organ's specialized structures and functions. These organoids are built from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), ordinary cells reprogrammed to an embryonic-like state from something as simple as a blood sample and then coaxed to become kidney tissue. Led by BIMS graduate student Ewelina Hejenkowska, the project uses these living models to investigate the mechanisms of nephrotic syndrome, a serious kidney disease in which the organ's delicate filters leak large amounts of protein into the urine. The long-term goal is to generate organoids from the cells of individual patients, creating patient-specific "kidneys in a dish" that allow the team to study each person's disease directly and work toward treatments tailored to that individual. It is a vivid example of how stem cell science is opening a path toward truly personalized care for kidney disease.

Ewelina is also the first author on an educational review on congenital and infantile nephrotic syndrome, published June 1 this year which can be found at this link:

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00467-026-07407-2

Congratulations to Ewelina and the lab of Dr. Agnes Swiatecka-Urban on this major advance!

UVA Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program

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