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Advisory Panel table

Postdoc Advisory Panel

Below are the bios of the current members of the Postdoctoral Advisory Panel. If your department is not represented below, please contact the Postdoc Program Manager to become a member and represent your department.

Panel Member Bio's:

  • Michael Akins Michael Akins (Neuro) was born in San Francisco into a military family, and hence grew up in several places, notably Virginia, Connecticut, and Maine. He received his A.B. from Princeton University, majoring in Molecular Biology, and then earned a Ph.D. from Yale University, working in the Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program where he studied the anatomy and development of the mouse olfactory system. Michael remained at Yale for two years as a postdoctoral associate studying the role of cell adhesion in synapse formation. Currently, as a postdoctoral fellow in the lab of Justin Fallon in the Neuroscience Department, he is studying protein translation and synaptic plasticity using a mouse model of Fragile X mental retardation.

  • Jan BruderJan Bruder (MPPB), Jan Bruder was born and raised in Germany and came to Brown in 1999 after finishing high school. Since then he has graduated from this institution twice (BS in Biology 2003, PhD in Biology/Medical Science 2008) and is currently working as a postdoctoral associate studying the role of TRPM1 ion channels in melanoma with Elena Oancea. His doctoral research with Diane Hoffman-Kim focused on the development of novel biomaterials for nerve regeneration mimicking cellular shapes at the micro- and nano-scale.

  • Sarah CampionSarah Campion (Pathology), raised in Newtown, PA, received her B.S. in Biology from Gettysburg College in 2003. She then earned a PhD in Pharma-cology/Toxicology from the University of Connecticut where she studied the regulation of hepatic transporters during drug-induced liver injury. Sarah is currently a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine in Kim Boekelheide’s laboratory. Her research in the area of reproductive toxicology focuses on toxicant mixtures and their testicular effects. Using cell-type specific testicular toxicants, she investigates the dependencies and interactions among the cells responsible for successful spermatogenesis.

  • Brock Christensen Brock Christensen (Community Health), a postdoctoral research associate in the Departments of Community Health and in Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, is originally from the twin cities area of Minnesota. He earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Wisconsin Madison majoring in French and Medical Microbiology and Immunology. Brock then went on to Harvard University for graduate school where he focused on epigenetic alterations in mesothelioma and their association with asbestos exposure. He is currently working on integrative genomic approaches to characterize the patterns of somatic alterations in several different human cancers, with the ultimate goal of increasing clinical effectiveness and patient outcomes.

  • Sharon FurtakSharon Furtak (Psychology), raised in Hamden, CT, was motivated to pursue a career in behavioral neuroscience as an undergrad at UMASS-Amherst when she began working with animal models of learning. After receiving her B.A. in Psychology from UMASS, her path brought her back to CT as a doctoral student at Yale. As her education progressed, she began to focus on questions concerning the neural basis of learning and memory, in particular on the structure and function of one region within the medial temporal lobe, the perirhinal cortex. As a Postdoc Fellow at Brown, in the laboratory of Dr. Rebecca Burwell, she continues to pursue questions about perirhinal function in a broader context of how it interacts with other hippocampal memory structures during more complex behavioral tasks. (CV) (Lab)

  • Megan Hattori Megan Klein Hattori (Population Studies), originally from Pennsylvania, earned her Bachelor’s Degree in International Relations from American University in Washington, D.C. She went on for a PhD in sociology at the University of Maryland, College Park, with a dissertation stemming from the fieldwork she conducted in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Megan used qualitative and quantitative data to inform her study of the role that trust and commitment play in relationship development and HIV prevention among young Tanzanians. She is postdoctoral research associate on David Lindstrom’s project in Ethiopia—Partnership in Improving Reproductive Health—and enjoys pursuing methodological and substantive interests in a new context.

  • Jen KniesJennifer Knies (EEB) obtained an undergraduate degree in Biology at Gettysburg College in 2002. She completed her graduate work at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, where she studied the genetics of adaptation in a DNA virus. Jennifer's primary research focus is the genetics and mechanisms of adaptation, but her interests include testing and developing quantitative models for adaptation to temperature, the role of standing genetic variation in natural selection, and molecular evolution. Currently, Jennifer is as a postdoctoral research associate in the lab of Daniel Weinreich in the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Department, where she is studying how antibiotic resistance depends on enzyme activity and stability using beta-lactamase as a model system. She is also studying whether adaptation to cold temperatures inherently constrains enzyme activity and intrinsic growth rates using phage and bacteria model systems.

  • Gurunathan Laxmikanthan (MCB) was born & raised in India, earning his Bachelor’s in Chemistry at St. Joseph’s College, Tiruchy. He received a Master’s in Chemistry at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, in 2001, and moved to the US to join the doctoral program in Chemistry and Biochemistry at Florida State. Guru's doctoral work focused on characterizing an important family of proteins referred as human kallikriens. Kallikriens play an important role in a variety of lethal diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease, Multiple Sclerosis, hyper tension, breast and prostate cancer. Guru was the recipient of the Prestigious American Heart Predoctoral Fellowship and his scientific proposal received the highest score of the funding cycle. He was awarded as the “Outstanding Predoctoral Fellow of the Year” (2003) by American Heart Association, among other accolades. Guru is currently pursuing a post-doc fellowship under Dr.Arthur Landy in the Molecular, Cellular Biology & Biochemistry at Brown, researching the structural characterization of recombinogenic intermediates in order to decode the intricate aspects of Site specific recombination. Single molecule fluorescence and Cryo Electron Microscopy are being used as probes to collect mechanistic data on the complex recombinogenic systems.

  • Melissa Maginnis (MCB) was born and raised in Pennsylvania. After earning her B.S. degree in Biological Sciences from Neumann College in Aston, PA, in 2001, Melissa entered the Interdisciplinary Graduate Program at Vanderbilt University where she later joined the department of Microbiology and Immunology. She earned a Ph.D. in Microbiology and Immunology in 2007 with her dissertation research focusing on the identification and characterization of internalization receptors for mammalian reoviruses. Currently, Melissa is a postdoctoral research associate in the Department of Molecular Biology, Cell Biology & Biochemistry, in Walter Atwood’s laboratory, studying the molecular mechanisms of JC virus entry.

  • Nikhil Medkehar Nikhil Medhekar (Engineering) grew up in Pune, India where he earned his Bachelor of Engineering degree in 2000, and a Master of Technology in Mechanical Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, where he received P M Natu memorial award for the outstanding performance. Nikhil joined the General Electric research center in Bangalore, as a Mechanical engineer and as Edison Engineering Development candidate. In 2003, he moved to the United States to pursue his Ph D in Engineering at Brown, specializing in mechanics of solids and structures. He earned his Sc M in Applied Math in 2006, with graduate research work focused on the mechanics of strain-driven self assembly at the nanoscale. For this work, he received Materials Research Society's prestigious graduate student silver award in December 2008. After completing his Ph D, he is now Postdoctoral Research Associate working on simulations for structral, mechanical and electronic properties of various nanomaterials such as graphene, graphene oxide and metal oxides for energy applications. Website

  • Dar MeshiDar Meshi (Neuro) a Southern California native, received his B.S. in biology from UCLA in 1997. After his undergraduate training, Dar worked as part of a research team at UCSF investigating the genetics of Bipolar Disorder. In 2006, Dar earned his Ph.D. from Columbia University where he examined the effects of environmental enrichment in animal models of anxiety and depression. For this work he received the Brunie Prize in Neural Stem Cell Research. Currently, Dar is a postdoctoral research fellow in the Department of Neuroscience here at Brown University. Working under Dr. Michael Paradiso, Dar is researching visual perception, asking questions about how we may take advantage of eye movements to integrate information in the visual cortex.

  • Christian NelsonChristian Nelson (MCB) was born in Rochester, NY and received his B.S. in Biological Science from Cornell University at the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences in 2004. Staying in Ithaca NY, he then earned his Ph.D. in Infectious Diseases from Cornell University at the College of Veterinary Medicine in 2009. His research focused on understanding the structural changes that occur to the viral capsid of canine parvovirus and feline panleukopenia virus during viral entry. Christian is currently working in the laboratory of Dr. Walter Atwood, studying entry and uncoating of the human polyomaviruses.

  • Lindsay OrchowskiLindsay Orchowski (Community Health, Ctr for Alcohol and Addiction Studies) completed her undergraduate degree in Psychology with High Honors in Women’s Studies from Dartmouth College. She obtained a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology with a specialization in Applied Quantitative Psychology, and a graduate certificate in Women’s Studies from Ohio University. She completed her clinical internship in psychology at Brown University Clinical Psychology Internship Consortium. She is currently a postdoctoral research fellow at the Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies at Brown University. Her primary research interests are in risk and protective factors for engaging in or experiencing violence, and in translating theory and empirical risk factors for sexual assault into evidence-based preventative interventions. She is particularly interested in the role of alcohol as a risk factor for sexual assault. Currently, she is exploring ways to integrate alcohol use interventions into campus-based sexual assault risk reduction and prevention programs.

  • Erin Sheets Erin Sheets (Psychiatry) received her B.A. in Psychology and Spanish from Duke University in 2001 and her M.A. in Psychology from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 2004. After completing the clinical psychology predoctoral internship at Brown University Medical School, she graduated with a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 2008. Erin’s research interests are focused on the impact of interpersonal functioning and stress on the onset and course of depression, with a particular emphasis on the relationship of personality pathology and depression. As a postdoctoral fellow under the mentorship of Dr. Cynthia Battle and Dr. Ivan Miller, Erin currently is involved in research identifying barriers to depression treatment during pregnancy and evaluating family-based treatments for postpartum depression and suicide prevention.

  • Sheila Walsh Sheila Walsh (ECI) Sheila’s research focuses on the interrelationship between ecosystem change and human welfare. Conservation and economic development are inextricably linked, especially in developing countries where the majority of wealth is derived from natural resources. I use theoretical and empirical methods from ecology and economics to understand this relationship and to evaluate policies relevant to conservation and development. My current research, with Heather Leslie (EEB) and Sriniketh Nagavarapu (Economics), aims to understand the consequences of conditional cash transfers (a popular poverty alleviation policy) in the Gulf of California, Mexico on fishing, coastal ecosystems, and long-term changes in human welfare.

  • Amity WilczekAmity Wilczek (EEB)

 

 

 

 

 

 

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