Spotlight on Trainee Success
We are proud of you.
Your hard work deserves to be recognized, and we believe it's essential to celebrate both the big and small victories along the way. We're excited to highlight some of the recent achievements of our trainees—take a moment to appreciate their success and the progress they've made!
Rebecca Smith: Winner of the STAR Award for Excellence in Research Support
Lab: Dr. Yu “Sunny” Liu
Educational Background:
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Bachelor's Degree in Small Animal Science, Delaware Valley University
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Minors: Large Animal Science; Business.
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Rebecca’s courses were heavily lab-based and she helped lead a research project on Mastitis in dairy cows, spiking her passion for being in the lab.
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Career Aspirations: Rebecca hopes to continue her current research in Sunny's lab and pursue a PhD.
Congratulations to Rebecca Smith, scientific technician and laboratory manager, for winning the STAR (Special Talent Achieving Results) award for Excellence in Research Support! Rebecca joined Dr. Yu “Sunny” Liu’s lab as the first hire in August 2023 and has quickly demonstrated outstanding leadership, becoming an ideal lab manager for a team that started from the ground up. She has mastered essential scientific techniques such as Hi-C, ChIP-seq, ATAC-seq, Western blotting, and cell culture and has presented her work at five conferences. Her leadership skills has shown in her ability to train two scientific technicians and develop a training module for undergraduate and high school students. We are so proud of you, Rebecca!
Special Thank you: “I want to thank Sunny for the many opportunities for growth I have been provided since starting at Fox Chase, as well as his constant support and motivation for my work and career goals. I also want to thank my lab mates, Hannah, Katy, and Ryan for their invaluable help with my projects and helping to foster a positive lab environment. I also want to thank the Cancer Epigenetics Institute for the many career and educational opportunities. Lastly, I want to thank our admin Linda for all of her help with keeping the lab organized and running well.”
Ariane Rocha Bartolomeu & Wei-Ting Yueh Awarded the Prestigious ACS Fellowship
Congratulations to postdoctoral associate Ariane Rocha Bartolomeu for receiving the prestigious American Cancer Society Fellowship! Dr. Bartolomeu’s work has contributed valuable insights into the molecular biology of cancer and the potential of bioavailable compounds to inhibit cancer initiation and progression. We are so proud of you, Ari!
Lab: Dr. Margie Clapper, since 2022
Educational Background: Dual PhD degrees—one in Medical Sciences from São Paulo State University, Brazil, and another in Biomedicine from the University of Granada, Spain
Career Aspirations: With a strong passion for advocating equitable access to scientific advancements for all, Ari hopes to become a principal investigator and mentor the next generation of scientists.
Congratulations to Dr. Wei-Ting Yueh for being awarded the prestigious American Cancer Society Postdoctoral Fellowship! His current research focuses on breast cancer cells deficient in PALB2, a gene involved in DNA repair. By developing cutting-edge mouse models and conducting whole-genome CRISPR screenings, Dr. Yueh discovered novel targets that contribute to chemoresistance, providing valuable insights into the mechanisms behind it.
We are so proud of you, Wei-Ting!
Lab: Dr. Neil Johnson Lab
Educational Background:
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Bachelor degree in Life Science, Taiwan University (2008)
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Master’s degree in Zoology (2012)
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PhD degree in biology from Stowers Institute of Medical Research, MO (2022)
Career Aspirations: Wei-Ting's ultimate goal is to establish his own lab, where he plans to develop innovative cancer therapies and further explore the complexities of DNA repair mechanisms.
Carson Cohen: Received the Daniel Swern Fellowship Award!
Each year, the Department of Chemistry at Temple University recognizes exceptional graduate students for their outstanding research contributions with the Daniel Swern Fellowship Award.
Congratulations to graduate student, Carson Cohen for receiving the Daniel Swern Fellowship Award! Carson's current research utilizes single-molecule total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy to examine how base excision repair proteins alter the structure of G-quadruplexes within DNA promoters and influence the expression of oncogenes like KRAS.
We are so proud of you, Carson!
Lab: Dr. Amy Whitaker
Educational Background:
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Bachelor of Science in Biology (2019), University of Maryland Eastern Shore.
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PhD program in Chemistry, Temple University
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*Carson is currently in his fifth year.
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Career Aspirations: Carson hopes to become an assistant professor and establish his own research lab.