Awardees

Michigan Postdoctoral Pioneer Program

University of Michigan Medical School (UMMS)

Awardees 2020 Awardees 2019

The Michigan Postdoctoral Pioneer Program (MPPP), established by the Endowment for Basic Sciences, has announced the inaugural Pioneer Fellow recipients.

Awardees represent a range of departments and units within the U-M Medical School. Four projects were selected from a highly competitive pool of applicants. The awardees’ work reflects far-reaching potential in basic science research and beyond. Please join us in congratulating the 2019 and 2020 MPPP recipients:

Awardees 2020

David Hanna, Department of Biological Chemistry

Project Title: Dr. Hanna will explore “Sulfide metabolism at the host microbiome interface.”

Mentors:

Ruma Banerjee- Biological Chemistry
Ursula Jakob- Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, Biological Chemistry, and LS&A

Samantha Hodges, Department of Pharmacology

Project Title: Dr. Hodges will explore "Mechanisms regulating sodium channel β1 subunit signaling and transcriptional modulation in developmental and epileptic encephalopathies."

Mentors:

Lori Isom- Pharmacology, Molecular and Integrative Physiology and Neurology
Jack Parent- Neurology

Alexander Knights, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery

Project Title: Dr. Knights will explore "Joint tissue crosstalk in the pathogenesis of osteoarthritis."

Mentors:

Tristan Maerz- Orthopaedic Surgery, Biomedical Engineering
Kurt Hankenson- Orthopaedic Surgery
Ormond MacDougald- Physiology, Molecular and Integrative Physiology and Internal Medicine
Jan Stegemann- Biomedical Engineering, Macromolecular Science and Engineering

Awardees 2019

Kyoung Jo, Cell & Developmental Biology

Dr. Kyoung will explore systems level understanding of the signaling integration in early human embryogenesis.

Mentors:

Idse Heemskerk (CDB) & Jason Spence (Internal Medicine)

Zeribe Nwosu, Molecular & Integrative Physiology and Surgery

Dr. Nwosu will explore how macrophage metabolism contributes to chemotherapeutic resistance and pancreatic cancer progression.

Mentors:

Costas Lyssiotis (Molecular & Integrative Physiology) & Marina Pasca di Magliano (Surgery)