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!
Emma Guilbaud: Awarded the William Guy Forbeck Scholar Award in Mitochondrial Stress in Cancer
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Lab: Dr. Lorenzo Galluzzi
Educational Background:
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B.S. in Molecular Biology and Genetics (2016)
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M.S. in Genetics, Immunology and Animal Development (2018); University of Côte d’Azur (Nice, France).
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Ph.D. in Clinical and Therapeutic Research (2021); Mediterranean Center of Molecular Medicine (Nice, France).
Career Aspirations: Emma plans to continue pursuing her research interests and goal of becoming an academic investigator, hoping to ultimately increase the life expectancy of cancer patients.
A huge congratulations to postdoctoral fellow Dr. Emma Guilbaud on being awarded the prestigious William Guy Forbeck Scholar Award in Mitochondrial Stress in Cancer! This well-deserved recognition highlights Emma's exceptional contributions to cancer research and will allow her to expand her expertise in mitochondrial biology with leading scientists. We are so proud of you, Emma!
Adria Hasan: Awarded the AACR-John Kincade Scholar-in-Training Scholarship
Congratulations to postdoctoral fellow Dr. Adria Hasan for being a recipient of the AACR-John Kincade Scholarship Fund Scholar-in-Training Award. This award recognizes Adria’s dedication to advancing cancer research and will support her participation in prestigious scientific conferences. Her current work centers on understanding the determinants of chemoradiation response in rectal and head and neck cancers, with an emphasis on translational oncology. We are so proud of you, Adria!
Lab: Dr. Sanjeevani Arora
Educational Background: Ph.D. in Biotechnology; Integral University, India
Career Aspirations: Adria has a goal of becoming an independent investigator and one day running her own lab.
A Special Thank You: "Dr. Arora’s guidance has been instrumental at every stage of my research and professional growth, and her belief in my potential has truly made a difference. I also want to extend heartfelt thanks to our lab team, whose collaboration and camaraderie make this work so fulfilling. A special shoutout to Phil, whose steadfast support and encouragement have been invaluable. I’m fortunate to work alongside such dedicated and inspiring colleagues- Leonny [Gathuka], Khushi [Patel], Gihan [Mohamed], Ridwana [Rahman], and George [Shenoda]. I couldn’t have asked for a better team to share this journey with."
Floriana Mulas: Awarded the Powel Drescher Ovarian Cancer Research Grant
Congratulations to postdoctoral fellow Dr. Floriana Mulas for being awarded her first grant: the Powel Drescher Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation Grant! Floriana’s research focuses on identifying new interaction partners of Cell adhesion molecule-related Down-regulated by ONcogenes (CDON) to better understand its function in tumor biology and to establish CDON as a potential therapeutic target. By doing so, she hopes to contribute to the development of effective therapies for ovarian cancer. This award also includes a collaboration with an ovarian cancer survivor, giving Floriana a valuable opportunity to integrate the patient’s perspective into her research. This connection helps ensure that her work directly reflects the real needs of those affected by ovarian cancer. We are so proud of you, Floriana!
Lab: Dr. Denise Connolly
Educational Background:
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M.S. in Biotechnology (Italy)
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Ph.D. in Natural Sciences (Germany)
Career Aspirations: Floriana is in the process of writing a manuscript and is looking forward to publishing it soon!
Julia Lamperelli: Accepted to Drexel University’s Ph.D. Program
Congratulations to scientific technician Julia Lamperelli on her acceptance into Drexel University’s Ph.D. Program in Molecular and Cell Biology and Genetics! Julia’s scientific journey began as an undergraduate in Dr. Erica Golemis’ lab, where she was able to research various diseases like Alzheimer’s and cancer. This experience sparked her passion for cancer research, leading her to Dr. Yash Chhabra’s lab at Fox Chase. In Chhabra’s lab, Julia has been studying the age and sex disparities in melanoma, particularly how Bone Morphogenic Protein 2 (BMP2) contributes to melanoma progression and metastasis, especially in aged males. Her dedication to understanding these critical issues has inspired a strong desire to continue her research at the highest level, ultimately leading her to pursue a Ph.D. in Molecular, Cell Biology, and Genetics.
We are so proud of you, Julia!
Lab: Dr. Yash Chhabra
Educational Background: B.S. in Biology, French minor; Temple University
Career Aspirations: Julia aims to publish her current research and achieve success in her Ph.D. program.
Grigory Matveev: Presented at CSHL's Telomeres & Telomerase 2025 Meeting
Congratulations to graduate student Grigory Matveev for being selected to give a podium presentation on a first-author study at Telomeres & Telomerase 2025—a leading annual symposium in the telomere biology field. This year’s Telo’25 showcased nearly 150 presentations, including posters and talks, highlighting some of the most exciting and recent scientific discoveries.
The conference is held at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in Long Island, NY—a historic site where the double-helix structure of DNA was discovered in 1953 through X-ray crystallography by Rosalind Franklin, Francis Crick, and James Watson.
Grigory’s work started with an unexpected discovery involving TCAB1, a telomerase subunit that has since become the focus of his research. His findings reveal that TCAB1 plays a critical role in telomerase-dependent cancers, which account for approximately 85% of all tumors. The impact of the discovery was immediately clear; when Dr. Lu Chen reviewed the data and remarked, “It must be real,” he encouraged Grigory to submit the abstract to Telo’25. The rest is history.
We are so proud of you, Grigory!
Lab: Dr. Lu Chen
Educational Background: B.S. in Biophysics, M.S. in Biophysics; Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology
Career Aspirations: Grigory aims to publish the manuscript in the near future and to identify key interactions underlying TCAB1’s mechanism that could pave the way for new cancer therapies.
A Special Thank You: "Special thanks to the Lu Chen laboratory and to Elizabeth Brown, the lab's undergraduate fellow, for taking on the ALT part of the story and doing it masterly, and Aldana Vistarop for doing the fantastic staining of patient-derived samples that reinforced our claims. Thanks to Julia Hoopman, Alex Morris, and Emily Pochet whose contributions to this study cannot be overlooked. Thanks to Dr. Joseph Testa and Dr. Lori Rink, and their labs at FCCC, for fruitful collaborations on this project. And probably the greatest acknowledgement goes to Dr. Lu Chen, whose vision and expertise has shaped what this manuscript has been turning into."
Rebecca Smith: Awarded the CEI Graduate Student Fellowship Award
![8884071881789028890[28]_Rebecca Smith 1.jpeg](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/bc4f4f_02cd26ac704041c9942e0f19efcafe3b~mv2.jpeg/v1/crop/x_264,y_433,w_1278,h_1611/fill/w_311,h_441,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_avif,quality_auto/8884071881789028890%5B28%5D_Rebecca%20Smith%201.jpeg)
Congratulations to scientific technician, Rebecca Smith, for being awarded the CEI Graduate Student Fellowship Award to support her journey in graduate school! Rebecca is currently working a first-author manuscript that explores the impact of histone hyperacetylation on 3D genome folding. Through CEI, she has given poster and oral talks, met several visiting scientists, participated in beneficial workshops, and has found a network of faculty that is supportive in her scientific journey. Rebecca expresses, “I am so humbled to have received this award to start off my Ph.D. journey, and I cannot thank Dr. John Whetstine and the CEI Community enough."
We are so proud of you, Rebecca!
Lab: Dr. Yu “Sunny” Liu
Educational Background:
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B.S. in Small Animal Science, Delaware Valley University
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Minors: Large Animal Science; Business.
Career Aspirations: Rebecca hopes to continue epigenetics and 3D genome research, while also focusing on translation. She's especially interested in how nutrition connects to these areas, particularly in cancer prevention.
Henkel Valentine: Promoted to Program Manager in Clinical R&D
Congratulations to Dr. Henkel Valentine on his promotion to Program Manager within the Office of Clinical Research and Development at Fox Chase Cancer Center! This exciting step marks Henkel’s official transition from postdoctoral research to the next chapter in his career. He has always seen cancer research as solving a complex puzzle—each experiment bringing the field one step closer to real-world patient impact. After a decade at the bench, where he built a strong foundation in both basic and translational science, Henkel is ready to move closer to where science meets the patient—a shift that led him to clinical research and development. Henkel sees the Office of Clinical Research and Development as an ideal place to continue growing, learning, and contributing to research that has a real and lasting impact on patients’ lives.
We are so proud of you, Henkel!
Lab: Dr. Phillip Abbosh
Educational Background: Ph.D. in Biochemistry, University of the West Indies in Jamaica, where he developed the first black prostate cancer cell line from the Caribbean (also the first human cell line from the Caribbean).
Career Aspirations: Henkel hopes to continue to grow and learn in clinical research while applying all his skills acquired during his postdoctoral training at Fox Chase.
Celebrating the First Institut Curie–CEI Epigenetics Summer Fellowship Awardees
We are proud to celebrate that two trainees have been selected as the inaugural recipients of the Institut Curie–Cancer Epigenetics Institute (CEI) Fellowship—a prestigious award made possible through a collaboration between the CEI at Fox Chase Cancer Center and the 20th Course on Epigenetics at Institut Curie in Paris.
This competitive fellowship provides full support for participation in the 20th Anniversary Course on Epigenetics, held at the historic Institut Curie. Through this opportunity, the awardees will connect with global leaders in the field, explore cutting-edge epigenetics research, and expand their professional networks within an international scientific community.
Madison Dautle – Inaugural Recipient of the Institut Curie–CEI Fellowship
A Special Thank You: "I would like to thank Dr. Yu (Sunny) Liu's lab and Sunny for sharing this opportunity with me, John Whetstine for setting up this program with Geneviève Almouzni at INstitut Curie and creating this opportunity, the review panels for their time and effort to process the applications and to CEI for always supporting me."
Graduate student, Madison Dautle, was filled with excitement during the Super Bowl when she learned she had been selected for this prestigious fellowship, especially after the challenging experience of transferring to a new university during her Ph.D. This fellowship holds significant personal meaning for her, providing her with the opportunity to travel to the Institut Curie in Paris, FRA where she learned about the latest research in epigenetics from world leaders and had open discussions about how their research connects to her own work. We are so proud of you, Madison!
Lab: Dr. Yu “Sunny” Liu
Educational Background:
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B.S./M.S. in Bioinformatics; Rowan University (2023)
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P.hD in Complex Biological Systems; Rowan University (2023 - 2025)
Career Aspirations: Madison wants nothing more but to lead her own research team one day.
Chloe Azadegan – Inaugural Recipient of the Institut Curie–CEI Fellowship
Congratulations to graduate student Chloe Azadegan for being awarded the very first Institut Curie–CEI Fellowship! This award marks a major milestone in Chloe’s scientific career. As her very first scientific travel award, the experience gave her a real boost—helping her set aside imposter syndrome (at least for a little while) and reflect on how far she’s come since starting her Ph.D. and stepping into the epigenetics field. The course reaffirmed her passion for science and made her feel like she truly belongs in the world of molecular biology, genetics, and chromatin. She’s more excited than ever to continue building a career in this field.
We are so proud of you, Chloe!
Lab: Dr. Jonathan Whetstine
Educational Background:
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B.S. Rutgers University (2022) in Cell Biology & Neuroscience
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Ph.D. in Molecular Biology & Cell Biology and Genetics
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Chloe had no prior experience in epigenetics, which is exactly what motivated her to apply for this course.
Career Aspirations: Chloe has found a sense of belonging in the field of molecular biology, genetics, and chromatin, and she looks forward to it being a part of her long-term career.
A Special Thank You: "Thank you to the Whetstine Lab—my mentor, Dr. Whetstine, and my fellow graduate students, Madison, Ben, and Jade. They’ve all been incredibly supportive in teaching and mentoring me in the lab, and I definitely wouldn’t be the scientist I am today without them."
Multiple Trainees Accepted to Temple University CEI-CST Ph.D. Programs
Congratulations to Katy Schiela, Rebecca Smith, and Hannah Wilson—scientific technicians in Dr. Yu "Sunny" Liu’s lab—as well as William Lautert Dutra and Erin O'Donnell, incoming graduate students in Dr. Johnathan Whetstine's lab, on their acceptance into the Center for Epigenetics–College of Science and Technology Ph.D. Biology program at Temple University. They are set to begin their graduate school journeys in September. We’re so proud of you and can’t wait to see all you accomplish on this next chapter of your scientific journey!
Katy Schiela
Educational Background:
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B.S. in Biology (2023), Temple University
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Minor in Public Health
Career Aspirations: Katy discovered a deep passion for research and is excited to begin her Ph.D. journey. She looks forward to expanding her knowledge and advancing her scientific career.
Special Thank You: "I would like to thank Sunny for giving me all of his support throughout this process. I also want to acknowledge Hannah and Rebecca for being our little lab support system during this application process for all of us."
Rebecca Smith
Educational Background:
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B.S. in Small Animal Science, Delaware Valley University
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Minors: Large Animal Science and Business.
Career Aspirations: Rebecca is excited to remain at Fox Chase and continue to partake in the abundance of outreach, mentorship, and social events.
Special Thank You: "I want to personally thank Sunny for his mentorship and guidance with the application process, as well as his constant support. I also want to thank Dr. John Whetstine and the CEI faculty and community for creating such a collaborative, supportive environment with new opportunities developing constantly. I want to thank my lab mates for creating an amazing lab environment that I am excited to stay in. Lastly, I want to thank the Temple CST faculty for working with Fox Chase CEI to create this amazing affiliation."
Hannah Wilson
Educational Background:
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B.S. in Biochemistry and a minor in Chemistry; Eastern University (2024)
Career Aspirations: Hannah is excited for the next five years, eager to grow as a scientist and continue her work on the 3D Genome in Sunny's Lab.
Special Thank You: "I want to thank Johnathan Whetstine and the CEI community for their support through the process. In addition, I want to thank Sunny, for his guidance and support through this process, as well as my lab members Rebecca, Katy, Madison, Ryan, and Chris".
Special Talent Trainee Spotlight
While we often highlight our trainees’ professional achievements, we also want to showcase what they’re up to outside the lab! Whether it's art, sports, reading, or anything else you could be featured next!
Mohaddase Hamidi - Postdoc and Street Photographer
In this edition, we’re featuring Mohaddase Hamidi, a postdoctoral fellow in the Torres-Ayuso Lab at Lewis Katz School of Medicine. Outside of work, Mohaddase is a street photographer. She appreciates how photography helps her observe and understand the subtle, yet significant forms of human connection. Mohaddase also believes that the skills required to be a photographer, like patience and meticulousness, also support her work as a researcher!