BMS graduate students join their lab 'matches'

At the end of their first year of studies, students in the Basic Medical Sciences Graduate Program choose a major professor who will mentor them throughout the program. This selection also determines the students’ program track affiliation. Then, at the beginning of their second year, they join the labs with which they “matched,” and this lab home is where they will conduct research for their dissertation through graduation.

This year, 10 BMS graduate students are joining labs. This week, meet five of them: 

Brianna Mitchell
Age: 23
Hometown: Pearlington, MS
Education: B.S. in Biomedical Sciences, University of South Alabama
BMS program track and research focus: Infectious Disease and Host Defense; I’m currently focusing on cytokine release as it relates to first infusion reactions of monoclonal antibody therapies for chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).
Faculty mentor: Michael Elliott, Ph.D.  
Why did you choose to join this lab?
I really enjoy how the work challenges me to think outside of the box, and I love learning more and more about immunology every day. After my first week of rotating in Dr. Elliott’s lab, I vividly remember calling my mom and telling her about how excited I was and about the lab work I would be doing during my rotation. It was that same phone call I told her that I thought I was going to stay, and that’s exactly what I did!

Oluwagbenro O. Adesunloro

Age: 24

Hometown: Itaogbolu, Ondo State, Nigeria

Education: B.S. in microbiology, Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria

BMS program track and research focus: Infectious Diseases and Host Defense; investigating the role of amyloid-Beta in pyelonephritis and urosepsis

Faculty mentor: Allyson Elizabeth Shea, Ph.D.

Why did you choose to join this lab?
I love the lab's projects and lab environment. 

Sarah Macon-Foley

Age: 26

Hometown: I was born and raised in Severna Park, Maryland, but I haven't been there since I was 18. Honestly, I would say that since I got married, my hometown is wherever my husband is, which is wherever the Coast Guard sends us, so for now that is Mobile, AL.

Education: B.S. in biology, Randolph-Macon College; M.S. in individualized genomics and health, Johns Hopkins University 

BMS program track and research focus: Infectious Disease and Host Defense; tick-borne viruses, tick-to-tick virus transmission, tick-host interface

Faculty mentor: Meghan Hermance, Ph.D.

Why did you choose to join this lab? 

When I decided to get a Ph.D. I knew I needed two things in order to pick a lab to join: really good and interesting science and a gut feeling that I could spend four to five years working in that environment. I picked my rotations based on the science that was being done and what I wanted to spend my Ph.D. studying and let the gut feeling tell me the rest. The Hermance Lab provided me with both!

Davis Holdbrooks

Age: 23

Hometown: Winfield, AL

Education: B.S. in biomedical sciences, University of South Alabama

BMS program track and research focus: Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Biology; H1N1-induced tauopathy 

Faculty mentors: Troy Stevens, Ph.D. and Jonathan Rayner, Ph.D.

Why did you choose to join this lab? 

While my primary focus has been virology, this co-mentorship opportunity allows me to expand my research scope. I can now explore the intricate relationship between viruses, their effects on the pulmonary system, and their subsequent cognitive impact. 

Magan Pittman 

Age: 24

Hometown: Monroeville, AL 

Education: B.S. in biomedical sciences with a concentration in biotechnology, University of South Alabama

BMS track and research focus: Cancer Biology; DNA repair

Faculty mentor: Aishwarya Prakash, Ph.D.

Why did you choose to join this lab? 

I chose to join this lab because my favorite area of study is biochemistry/molecular biology, and my lab mates and mentor are incredible scientists and people! 

USA awarded NIH grant to develop blood test for triple-negative breast cancer

Santanu Dasgupta, Ph.D., assistant professor of pathology, is the recipient of a $423,500 grant from the National Institutes of Health.

With a grant from the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD), researchers at the USA Health Mitchell Cancer Institute and the University of South Alabama are developing a blood test for early detection and recurrence prediction of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), an aggressive subtype of the disease that disproportionately affects Black women.  

TNBC, which is difficult to diagnose in the early stages, grows and spreads rapidly and often recurs after treatment. “The development of noninvasive or minimally invasive early detection strategies and new lines of treatment is urgently needed,” said Santanu Dasgupta, Ph.D., who is principal investigator of the project.  

Dasgupta, a cancer researcher at the Mitchell Cancer Institute and an assistant professor of pathology at the Frederick P. Whiddon College of Medicine, was awarded $423,500 from the NIMHD, part of the National Institutes of Health, to study mitochondrial DNA mutations in the blood of patients diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer. 

Mitochondria are tiny organelles and the “powerhouse of the cell,” producing more than 90% of the cellular energy. Mitochondria are unique in that they have their own DNA, which comes from the mother in humans. Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) often undergoes mutation in a way to favor cancer cells’ growth and spread.  

Members of the lab team, from left, are Saanvi Dasgupta,

Santanu Dasgupta, Ph.D., Enas Alastari, and Septal

Galappaththi.

“We identified a unique pattern of mtDNA mutations in the tumors of triple-negative breast cancer patients for the first time,” Dasgupta said. “We further discovered that 82% of the most frequently occurring mtDNA mutations that are present in the tumors are also detectable in small vesicles that travel in the blood of these patients.”  

Interestingly, Dasgupta added, the majority of these frequently occurring mtDNA mutations were also detected in the circulating extracellular vesicles of highly aggressive pancreatic cancer patients. “Thus, mtDNA mutation detection could be a useful tool for minimally invasive liquid biomarker development for aggressive cancers,” he said. 

Based on the findings of a previous study conducted at the Mitchell Cancer Institute, the University of South Alabama submitted a nonprovisional patent application for the development of a novel mtDNA detection platform using blood samples from patients. The funding from the NIMHD will allow Dasgupta and his lab team to collect blood samples from a larger number of cancer patients to test the panel of mitochondrial markers. 

The ultimate goal of the research, Dasgupta said, is to develop an mtDNA-based simple blood test to detect cancer in the localized stage and closely monitor the patients to trace any potential spread. The test could be used alone or in combination with mammography-based screening for routine or periodic evaluation of women at risk for TNBC.  

“This will help us not only in disease prevention but also increase the overall survival of patients with a diagnosis,” Dasgupta said.  

Co-investigators of the research project are Elliot Carter, M.D., formerly a professor of pathology at the Whiddon College of Medicine, and Paramahansa Pramanik, Ph.D., an assistant professor of mathematics and statistics at the University of South Alabama. 

Pediatrics residents, students and faculty take part in local summer camps

Pediatrics residents volunteer at Camp Seale Harris, a camp for children with Type 1 diabetes.

With a focus on community outreach, the pediatrics residency program, led by Haidee Custodio, M.D., has been encouraging USA Health physicians-in-training to engage with members of the community as much as possible outside the hospital setting.   

One way they can do that is through sharing some of their free time at summer camps for children with specific health challenges. USA Health residents and Whiddon College of Medicine students with an interest in pediatrics have volunteered at three separate camps – Camp MASH for kids with rheumatological conditions, Camp Rapahope for children with cancer, and Camp Seale Harris for children with Type 1 diabetes.  

“The idea is not just to do clinical care outside of the usual clinic and hospital settings, but also for residents to begin to envision themselves as healthcare leaders, such as being a medical director for a camp,” Custodio said, “and also to see children having fun in spite of a medical condition – not just seeing kids when they are at the hospital when sick.”  

Pediatric endocrinologist Anne-Marie Kaulfers, M.D., is well-known for her ability to make a Mobile-area juvenile diabetes camp fun and engaging for children, residents, and students. Several residents even joined on a volunteer basis and as part of their general pediatrics clinic rotation. Kaulfers, a professor of pediatrics at the Whiddon College of Medicine, was joined by two other faculty members who served as co-medical directors of the camp: Whei Ying Lim, M.B.B.S., and Melissa Perez Garcia, M.D., both pediatric endocrinologists and assistant professors of pediatrics.  

During the week of the camp, the physicians gave insulin injections at all meals and snacks, and then adjusted doses daily as needed. The residents attended either for one day as part of their clinic rotation, Kaulfers said, or volunteered on their days off.  

They didn’t limit their volunteer work to dayside shifts. Chief pediatrics residents Anna Paula Flores, M.D., and Reham Yehia, M.D., volunteered to do night rounds with the camp directors at 2 a.m., where they helped check each camper's blood sugar and treated for hypoglycemia. Two medical students, second-year Lou Ann Crosby and fourth-year Emily Cleveland, also helped at the diabetes camp for the week.  

Strub to present Leigh Memorial Lecture

Graham Strub, M.D., Ph.D.

Graham Strub, M.D., Ph.D., an associate professor in the Department of Pediatric Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and Arkansas Children’s Hospital, will present a CME-accredited lecture as part of the Milton M. Leigh M.D. Endowed Memorial Lectureship at the University of South Alabama. 

Strub will present the lecture “A Multi-omic Approach to Vascular Anomalies and Other Surgical Diseases” at 7 a.m. Friday, Aug. 23. The lecture will take place in the second-floor conference room at USA Health University Hospital and by Zoom. 

For more information, contact the Department of Surgery at 251-445-8230. 

Interventional pulmonologist joins internal medicine faculty

Robert Petrossian, M.D.,

Robert Petrossian, M.D., who recently joined USA Health as an interventional pulmonologist, will serve as the director of interventional pulmonology and assistant professor of internal medicine at the Whiddon College of Medicine.

Petrossian completed an interventional pulmonology and advanced bronchoscopy fellowship at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, the original and largest campus of the nonprofit academic medical center focused on integrated healthcare, education and research.

“I enjoy the procedural aspect of pulmonary and critical care medicine, and I wanted to learn all the cutting-edge procedures,” he said, “so I did an extra fellowship in interventional pulmonology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester. I am excited to bring all these new procedures to South Alabama.”

Interventional pulmonologists use endoscopy and other tools to diagnose and treat conditions in the lungs and chest. Among the innovative procedures Petrossian learned was robotic bronchoscopy, therapeutic bronchoscopy and medical thoracoscopy, all of which allow healthcare professionals to see and treat parts of the lung that were previously inaccessible. It offers a less invasive option to treat and diagnose thoracic diseases.

Getting experience in breakthrough techniques such as these is what influenced Petrossian to practice in an academic health system.

“I enjoy teaching and being on the cutting edge of medical care,” he said.

Petrossian earned his medical degree at Yerevan State Medical University in Yerevan, Armenia, where he also completed a clinical epidemiology residency. He finished an internal medicine residency at Flushing Hospital Medical Center in Queens, New York, where he was selected chief internal medicine resident and was also named resident of the year during his second and third years.

He followed that with fellowships in pulmonary and critical care medicine at the University of South Alabama and interventional pulmonology and advanced bronchoscopy at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.

He is board-certified in critical care medicine and pulmonary disease by the American Board of Internal Medicine, and in interventional pulmonology by the American Association for Bronchology and Interventional Pulmonology.

Petrossian has experience treating acute respiratory distress syndrome, advanced emphysema, lung cancer, pneumothorax, pneumonia, interstitial lung disease and more.

“I like the idea of providing immediate relief or answers to patients’ complaints/problems,” he said of what drew him to his field.

He is accepting new patients at the Mastin Internal Medicine Clinic located at 2451 University Hospital Drive, Suite 102 in Mobile. To schedule an appointment, call 251-470-5890.