2024 LIFT Cohort

The cohort will be participating in the program from September to December, with the final pitch day on December 5th. 

Keep an eye out for information on registering for the event! 

Brennan Falcy

PhD Candidate University of Massachusetts, Amherst 

Brennan is currently  studying the metabolic and behavioral consequences of circadian disruption in mice for his graduate training. 


Emre Bektik 

Post Doctoral Researcher CandidateHarvard Medical School, Brigham and Women's Hospital

Emre's current research is centered atherosclerosis related to diabetes, specifically investigating the role of the non-coding genome influences the development of athersclerotic lesions in diabetic mice. 


Katrina Rodheim

PhD Candidate at University of Massachusetts Amherst 

Katrina's current research focus aims to investigate whether sleep and ovarian hormones interact to influence emotional memory in aging. 


Kyrie Wilson

PhD Candidate at Medical University of South Carolina 

Kyrie is focusing on how mtDNA damage contributes to age-related diseases and is working to develop clinically relevant therapies to counteract or reverse this damage. 


Stefania Tocci

Post Doctoral Researcher at University of Massachusetts, Lowell

Stefania's current research project involves host-microbe interactions that contribute to inflammation linked to chronic diseases. 


Sumithra Madhalalo

Master Student

Sumithra's research is focused around millets, a nutrient-dense grain with ancient roots in Africa and Asia, and its health benefits for aging. 


Tariful Islam

Post Doctoral Researcher at Emory University

Tariful is currently working as a postdoctoral fellow and his research is mainly focused on aging, obesity, and neurodegenerative diseases. 


Taylor Pio

PhD Candidate at Emory University

Taylor is currently working on cell manipulation of the oligodendrocyte lineage using the Emory University lab's unique model system. 


Yogesh Joshi

PhD Candidate at Wayne State University

Yogesh's current research focuses on the Drosophila model of mitophagy defects and neurodegeneration, particularly examining sterile immune activation and mitochondrial dysfunction linked to the Vps13D gene. 


Zijue Huang

PhD Candidate at University of Denver

Zijue is currently focusing her research on elucidating the mechanism of chaperone nucleic acids in protein folding. 


Learn more about the 2024 fall cohort.