Women in Pathology
May has been designated Women in Pathology Month. During the month of May each year, the ASIP and Women in Pathology highlight the history of women in the ASIP…their service through leadership…recognition of their exceptional accomplishments as scientists…and activities and events as a community equipping women scientists with strategies to overcome real-life issues.
The mission of Women in Pathology is to advance the professional and personal development of women in pathobiology research and pathology-related careers. Women in Pathology advocates for equity at research and healthcare institutions and endorses efforts to reduce barriers and maintain work-life balance experienced by women in science (particularly pathology) who work in academic science, government research, biomedical industry or biotech, or other settings.
Women in Pathology communicates resources and provides networking opportunities to support women at every career stage while celebrating the scientific and scholarly achievements of women in pathology. Women in Pathology Month provides an opportunity for the ASIP to shine a bright light on our women scientists, their legacy of dedicated service, leadership, and accomplishment…and the bright future that they represent for the ASIP and larger community of basic, clinical, and translational pathobiology researchers.
To learn more about some of our exceptional women pathologists, click on any of the images below.
Michele Alves, PhD
Dr. Michele Alves is a Research Scientist in the Department of Pathology at The Ohio State University (OSU), Wexner Medical Center in Columbus, OH. She completed her PhD in cell and molecular biology from the University of São Paulo, one of the most prestigious universities in South America.
Dr. Alves’s graduate work navigated between molecular, metabolic, and physiological alterations due to chronic inflammation observed in cancer cachexia. Her published research demonstrated that cancer cachexia led to alterations of adipose tissue extracellular matrix culminating in fibrosis. During her PhD, she was a recipient of CAPES/DAAD scholarship to exchange experiences in a metabolism-focused lab at the Institute for Human Nutrition, University of Potsdam, Germany. Her graduate work resulted one first author and ten co-author publications.
Dr. Alves discovered a passion for neuroscience throughout her postdoctoral training at OSU. Dr. Alves’s first-author contributions to the neuroscience field unfolded neuroplasticity changes due to cyclin A2 ablation in hippocampal neurons in the aging brain and the chemical interaction between cyclin A2-CDK2 complex. She postdoctoral research then became centered in neural control of breathing in healthy and pathological states, resulting in more than six co-author publications.
Due to her excellence during the postdoctoral training, Dr. Alves was promoted to Research Scientist. She started to integrate previous knowledge to unfold mechanisms involving inflammation and metabolism in the breathing and respiratory rhythmogenesis in neonates. Her most recent work is now published in Brain, Behavior, and Immunity.
Dr. Alves joined the ASIP in 2015, but it was in 2018 when she became very active within Society’s activities, committees, and leadership. She is a regular participant in ASIP meetings; she has been recognized for excellent research with ASIP Trainee Scholar Awards in 2018 and 2021, the A.D. Sobel Trainee Scholar Award in 2022, and Marion and Lawrence Muller Neurodegenerative Research Award for Outstanding Research in 2023. Dr. Alves has been a frequent participant in the ASIP Young Investigator Keynote Seminar Series as a co-chair, and as speaker in 2021 and 2023. Dr. Alves is one of the co-hosts of the virtual hangouts and helping facilitate the Trainee PathoMingle hangout during the annual meeting. Dr. Alves is currently member of the Education Committee and also serves the leadership for the Neuropathology SIG.
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Anu Balogun, PhD Candidate
Anu Balogun is a PhD Candidate at the University of Pittsburgh, set to graduate in fall 2024. Anu earned her BS in microbiology and an MS in biotechnology, and has an extensive background that spans biotech law, dysregulated pathways in melanoma, microRNAs, and 3D scaffolding platforms as possible cancer therapeutics, to porphyria, cholangiopathies and other rare hepatic diseases. Upon graduation, she will continue her training in rare disease pathology.
Anu’s overarching goal is to explore the role of Wnt/beta-catenin signaling in rare liver diseases with the hopes of identifying novel and effective therapies. Her work earned her a grant to study hepatic spatial transcriptomics in porphyria from the Pittsburgh Liver Research Center. Beyond her research, Anu is an advocate for improving the current landscape of Science Policy and advocated for increased funding for rare diseases on Capitol Hill as an ASPET Washington Fellow in 2021.
Anu is also committed to the service of others in the academic community and has served as the President of the Biomedical Graduate Student Association at the University of Pittsburgh. She also co-founded the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Medicine’s first Diversity and Inclusion student committee that focuses specifically on issues associated with biomedical graduate students.
Anu has been an active member of the ASIP since 2020. She has served on the Research and Science Policy Committee (RSPC) since 2021, presented her research as a part of the Young Investigator Keynote Seminar Series, co-chaired a session at Tissue, Matrix & Pathobiology in Salt Lake City, where she received the Monga-Hans Liver Pathobiology Award for Outstanding Research in Experimental Pathology, and most recently, attended Pathobiology 2024 in Baltimore.
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Shehnaz Bano, PhD
Dr. Shehnaz Bano is a Postdoctoral Associate at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Dr. Bano completed her BS in biomedical sciences from the University of Delhi, her MS in biotechnology from Jamia Hamdard University, and her PhD in Biotechnology from the National Centre For Cell Science, Pune, India, where she developed an innovative mouse model for insulin resistance research.
Dr. Bano has made significant contributions to metabolic dysfunction research, focusing on diabetes and fatty liver diseases. Dr. Bano has received several awards, including the Monga-Hans Trainee Scholar Award and a Merit Poster Award from the University of Pittsburgh in 2023, alongside an International Travel Grant from the Government of India in 2020.
Dr. Bano promotes educational excellence through her roles, including an ECR editorial board member at The Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) and a reviewer for scientific journals, underscoring her dedication to advancing pathology research and education.
Dr. Bano joined the ASIP in 2023 and attended the Tissue, Matrix & Pathobiology Meeting in Salt Lake City. Most recently, she attended Pathobiology 2024 in Baltimore where she received a Histochemical Society Sponsored Trainee Travel Award.
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Sanjukta Chakraborty, PhD
Dr. Sanjukta Chakraborty is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Lymphatic Biology, Department of Medical Physiology, School of Medicine at the Texas A&M University Health Science Center. She completed her PhD in cancer genetics from the Indian Institute of Science, and completed her training as an American Heart Association Postdoctoral fellow in Lymphatic Biology at Texas A&M Health Science Center.
Dr. Chakraborty’s research program encompasses key facets of basic cancer biology and translational drug discovery for lymph node metastatic tumors, particularly liver cancers. Presence of tumor cells in the draining lymph nodes is a key indicator of disease aggressiveness and poor patient outcome. However, targeting of lymphatic metastatic cancers has been challenged by lack of focused therapies. By multiple interdisciplinary approaches, the lab is accelerating innovative therapeutics targeting lymphatic metastasis and liver pathobiology.
Dr. Chakraborty's research is funded by the AHA, Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT), and the NIH. She has received several scientific awards including the Microcirculatory Society Award for Excellence in Lymphatic Research, MCS Award for Outstanding Investigator, Outstanding Reviewer Award and has been nominated as a protégé to the Texas Academy of Medicine, Engineering, Science & Technology (TAMEST).
Dr. Chakraborty has been actively involved in the ASIP as a member of the Program Committee as well as a reviewer for trainee awards. In 2023, she was a recipient of the ASIP Fred Sanfilippo Visiting Lectureship Program Award. Dr. Chakraborty serves on the editorial board of multiple journals as well as on national grant review panels. She has been nominated to the Texas Academy of Medicine, Engineering, Science & Technology (TAMEST), as a Class of 2020 Protégé, and designated as a CPRIT TREC (Texas Regional Excellence in Cancer) Scholar. She is engaged in national leadership roles as a Council of Faculty and Academic Societies (CFAS) representative to the American Association of Medical Colleges, and was elected to the Executive Council of the Microcirculatory Society. Her overall research impact and leadership potential has been recognized by the “ASCEND: Research Leadership Award” by Texas A&M University in May 2023.
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Yabing Chen, PhD, MBA, FAHA
Dr. Yabing Chen is a Professor and the Vice Chair for Research in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at Oregon Health and Science University. Before relocating to Portland recently, she held the position of Professor and Vice Chair for Faculty Development and Education in the Department of Pathology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), where she was also the Jay M. McDonald Endowed Chair in Laboratory Medicine. During her 20-year tenure at UAB, Dr. Chen developed innovative research programs focused on understanding the molecular mechanisms regulating vascular smooth muscle cell phenotype in vascular calcification, aging, and vascular dementia. Her research has received continuous support from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), and the American Heart Association (AHA). Dr. Chen’s contributions to vascular biology have been recognized with the Vascular Biology Special Recognition Award from the AHA Council on Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology (ATVB), and the Senior Research Career Scientist Award from the VA.
Dr. Chen has been an active member of the ASIP for a decade. She attended the ASIP Annual Meeting at Experimental Biology for many years as well as the Tissue, Matrix & Pathobiology meeting in Salt Lake City in 2023. Her service extends to peer reviewing for The American Journal of Pathology and mentoring the next generation of scientists. In addition, Dr. Chen is an active member of the AHA ATVB council, on various committees, including: Chair of the ATVB programming committee, on the grant and award review panels, on editorial boards for the ATVB and Circulation Research journals, and participating in the AHA mentoring network.
Dr. Chen’s dedication to teaching and mentoring graduate students, postdoctoral fellows and junior faculty members earned awards including UAB Graduate School Dean’s Award for Excellence in Mentorship and the UAB School of Medicine Dean’s Excellence Award in Mentoring. Most recently, her service in mentorship, support, advocacy, and sponsorship of women in the ATVB field have earned her the prestigious ATVB Women's Leadership Committee Award for Outstanding Mentorship of Women, which will be awarded this month (May 2024).
Abigail Cox, DVM, PhD
Dr. Abigail Cox is a board-certified veterinary pathologist and Associate Professor in the Department of Comparative Pathobiology at Purdue University. Dr. Cox earned her BS in biology from Washington University in St. Louis and her DVM and PhD at Purdue University’s College of Veterinary Medicine. Dr. Cox is an American College of Veterinary Pathologists Diplomate. Dr. Cox’s academic appointment includes research, teaching in the veterinary curriculum and graduate school, and diagnostic service with the Indiana Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory. She engages in both independent and collaborative research.
Dr. Cox’s primary research is a unique area of translational research that focuses on understanding the pathophysiology of voice disorders by utilizing her expertise in comparative animal models. Her research explores the intersection of pathology, physiology, histology, and phonation mechanics that affects 20 million people with voice problems in the US. Currently, she has published translational research articles linking rabbit, rat, and pig laryngeal studies to comparable human laryngeal disease. Dr. Cox’s research is supported by the NIH.
Dr. Cox has served as a research collaborator on projects focused on a wide range of research interests and from multiple institutions. Her pathology support in studies using animal models to predict the human response to biomedical devices or therapies; as well as animal health and disease investigations is essential. Dr. Cox is the Director of the Histology Research Laboratory which is an Indiana CTSI core research facility serving Purdue University’s investigators and providing expertise to ensure that the histological and pathological studies requested are a success. In addition, she is the supervisor of the digital pathology platform housed in the Histology Research Laboratory core facility.
Dr. Cox serves on the ASIP Research and Science Policy Committee and Committee for Career Development. She is also a member of the American College of Veterinary Pathologists, Society of Toxicologic Pathologists, and Orthopedic Research Society.
Pilar de la Puente, PhD
Dr. Pilar de la Puente is an Associate Scientist in the Cancer Biology and Immunotherapies Group at Sanford Research and Assistant Professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Surgery at University of South Dakota School of Medicine. She earned her PhD in Biomedical Engineering and Biological Sciences at the University of Salamanca, Spain. Dr. de la Puente trained as a postdoctoral fellow at Washington University in St Louis School of Medicine in cancer tissue engineering, nanomedicine and translational precision-based drug screenings.
The de la Puente Lab develops biomimetic tissue engineered models of the tumor microenvironment to more accurately mimic cell-cell and cell-matrix interactions and provide a better understanding of cancer progression, drug resistance and cancer immunology. Her goal is to engineer novel preclinical cancer models to accurately recapitulate tumor behavior ex vivo (“out of the living”), with a significant emphasis on patient-derived tumor models, or avatars, for personalized prediction of therapeutic efficacy for each cancer patient. Dr. de la Puente is a CURE recipient (NCIR21), NCI Early Investigator Advancement Program (EIAP) Scholar, American Cancer Society Research Scholar, and has been awarded prestigious awards including “35 under 35” Business Insider Spain, Minority Faculty Scholar in Cancer Research Award from American Association of Cancer Research (AACR), Dani and Erik Zander Junior Faculty Scholar Award from the ASIP, and the Young Investigator Lush Prize.
In addition to research, Dr. de la Puente is a fierce advocate for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) and acts as the Chair of the DEI committee at her institution. Dr. de la Puente is committed to teaching, mentoring, and is deeply involved in outreach activities. In her efforts to openly discussed about the importance of contemporary role models for historically marginalized groups, she has participated in a comic book series “Cancer Wars” featuring Hispanics women in cancer research. Dr. de la Puente is also an active entrepreneur with several patents and roles in start-up companies.
Dr. de la Puente is new to the ASIP, joining the Society in 2023. Dr. de la Puente’s was awarded the Dani and Erik Zander Junior Faculty Scholar Award during the 2023 Tissue, Matrix & Pathobiology meeting in Salt Lake City and she cochaired the Trailblazers – Young Investigator Short Talks during the conference.
Sarah Dooley, PhD Candidate
Sarah Dooley is a PhD candidate in the laboratory of Dr. Amy Engevik at the Medical University of South Carolina. With a focus on gastrointestinal diseases, Sarah's research interests revolve around unraveling the intricate molecular mechanisms underlying these conditions.
Her contributions to science have been recognized through various awards, including the Marion and Lawrence (Larry) Muller ASIP Trainee Scholar Award for Excellence in Inflammation Research and the PISA2022 Young Investigator Outstanding Research Award for Predoctoral Students. Additionally, Sarah's skills in immunofluorescence imaging have been recognized. She emerged as both the Employee Vote Winner and the Top 20 Winner in the STEMCELL Technologies Microscopy Imaging #StemCellfie Contest 2023. Her work was also acknowledged with the Image Cover Award of the American Journal of Physiology-Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology.
Beyond her academic pursuits, Sarah is committed to outreach initiatives aimed at promoting STEM education and empowering and advocating for young women in science. She serves as a mentor for undergraduate students through the ASIP PathForward Mentoring Program and is a part of Reinvented Magazine’s 2024 Princesses with Powertools calendar designed to empower young girls to pursue careers in STEM.
Sarah has been an active member of the ASIP since 2022 and recently attended Pathobiology 2024 in Baltimore where she received the A. D. Sobel Trainee Scholar Award. Sarah will present in the ASIP Young Investigator Seminar Series in September 2024.
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Alyssa Gutierrez,
MD-PhD Student
Alyssa Gutierrez, MD-PhD Student
Alyssa (Aly) Gutierrez is a MD-PhD Student at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) in Charleston, SC. She completed her BS in microbiology (minors in chemistry and food & nutrition) at the University of Alabama (UA). As an undergraduate, she conducted research on dietary polyphenolic inhibition of starch digestion.
Currently in her first year of graduate school, she is exploring the beneficial roles of Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus in the gut microenvironment under the mentorship of Dr. Mindy Engevik. She is also investigating the collaborative role of the neonatal gut microbiome and breastmilk in regulating intestinal inflammation in the infant, in collaboration with MUSC pediatrician Dr. Katie Chetta.
Alyssa has received a number of honors and awards including: The National Merit Scholar Finalist Award, which granted her a full-ride scholarship at UA, several awards for presentations at undergraduate-level research symposia and the Grantland and Louise Rice Scholarship (awarded for academic excellence in microbiology) by UA.
Alyssa joined the ASIP in 2023 and attended the Tissue, Matrix, and Pathobiology Meeting in Salt Lake City. She presented research at the meeting and received an ASIP Trainee Scholar Award.
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Isabelle Harber, BS Student
Isabelle Harber is a fourth-year undergraduate student at the University of Michigan (UMich) in Ann Arbor, MI. She will graduate with a BS in biology, health, and society and a minor in business administration this month (May 2024).
Isabelle’s research is currently focusing on the effects of a multi-mineral supplement on liver and colon health, including liver cancer and colorectal cancer, under the direction of James Varani, PhD and Muhammad N. Aslam, MBBS at UMich.
Isabelle has received numerous awards for her research in the Varani Lab at the UMich Medical School, including the Pre-Doctoral Award for Outstanding Research for her participation in the ASIP Pathobiology for Investigators, Students, and Academicians (PISA) Young Investigators Virtual Meeting (October 2021), an ASIP Trainee Scholar Award (April 2022), and the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Undergraduate Scholar Award 2023-2024.
Isabelle has been a member of ASIP since August 2021 and was a participant of the Summer Research Opportunity Program in Pathology (SROPP) in 2021 and 2023.
Siddhi Jain, PhD
Dr. Jain is a Postdoctoral Associate in the laboratory of Dr. Bharat Bhushan in the Department of Pathology at the University of Pittsburgh. She completed both her MS and PhD in pharmacology and toxicology from the National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research-Guwahati (NIPER-G), India, and the National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research-Hyderabad (NIPER-H), India, respectively.
During her PhD studies, Dr, Jain investigated PIP5K and intracellular calcium signaling in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and Acute Lung Injury under the supervision of Dr. VGM Naidu at NIPER-G. Her research during this period resulted in 3 first-author publications, 10 co-authored publications, and 1 co-authored book chapter.
Dr. Jain received prestigious DBT (Department of Biotechnology) and CSIR (Council of Scientific and Industrial Research) foreign travel grant awards. These grants supported her to present her research findings at the American Thoracic Society conferences in both 2020 and 2022. Upon completing her PhD in 2022, Dr. Jain transitioned her research focus from lung to liver. As a postdoctoral fellow, she now investigates the role of MET and EGFR in mitigating hepatotoxicity and promoting liver regeneration in response to Acetaminophen-induced Acute Liver Injury (AILI) in a murine model. Her current research delves into the molecular mechanisms underlying the protective effects mediated by c-Met and EGFR, providing valuable insights into liver biology and potential therapeutic interventions. To date, Dr. Jain has authored 14 publications and has filed 1 patent. Her ultimate career aspiration is to become a translational-research-oriented principal investigator specializing in the field of liver pathology.
Dr. Jain has been a member of the ASIP since 2023. She received an ASIP Trainee Scholar Award at Tissue Matrix & Pathobiology in Salt Lake City last year. During the meeting, she presented a poster and actively engaged in various sessions including the Trainee Highlight Poster Session, SIG Night, and the Women in Pathology Networking Event.
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Taysha M. Jiménez Rivera, Undergraduate Student
Taysha M. Jiménez Rivera, Undergraduate Student
Taysha M. Jiménez Rivera is a fourth-year undergraduate student at the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus. She will be graduating in June 2024 with a BS in molecular biology.
As part of Dr. Demetrio Sierra’s Lab at the University of Puerto Rico, Medical School Campus, she conducts research that focused on the effects of closed head injury on anxiety-like behaviors in male rats. Along with her twin sister, she is evaluating the effects of herbicide on pain sensitivity in both female and male rats. She has also participated in an internship at the University of Puerto Rico, Primate Research Center and had the opportunity to work with primates.
Taysha has received travel awards and scholarships to a number of meetings including ABRACMS, SACNAS and NEURAL. She joined the ASIP in 2022 and was awarded the Gotlieb Undergraduate Education in Pathobiology Scholar Award at the Tissue, Matrix, and Pathobiology Conference where she presented her research for the first time.
In the future, Taysha plans to complete an MD to specialize in Pathology and sub-specialize in forensic pathology and conduct research post-mortem to uncover the underlying mechanisms of sudden deaths and/or diseases.
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Sharifa Love-Rutledge, PhD
Dr. Sharifa Love-Rutledge is an Assistant Professor of Biochemistry in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH). She completed her BS in chemistry from Tougaloo College (Jackson, MS) and continued on to purse her PhD at the University of Alabama—where she was the first African American woman to complete a PhD in the Department of Chemistry. Her graduate work was cited as part of the body of work that led to the European Food Safety Authority's decision to remove trivalent chromium from its list of essential elements in 2014.
Dr. Love-Rutledge actively pursues research in type 1 diabetes, insulin resistance, and metabolic changes related to non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and Alzheimer's disease. In 2022, she was recognized as one of the 1000 inspiring Black Scientists. She is also a FLARE, PRIDE-FTG, and Butler Williams Scholars Program alumni. She is a current Faculty ACCESS program participant. Dr. Love-Rutledge is passionate about mentoring and training students; she has supervised 40 undergraduate and graduate students in her research lab. She has served as the UAH ALSAMP Program Director since 2019 and in 2021, received the UAH Martin Luther King Jr Award and the UAH Research and Creative Activity Undergraduate Mentor Award. She has received research support from NHLBI-NIH, AAUW, PAIR-UP, and the ASIP.
In 2018, Dr. Love-Rutledge learned about the ASIP at the ABRCMS meeting and followed the examples of her students formally joining the society in 2022. Three of her former undergraduate students have presented at ASIP conferences, been selected to present, and earned travel awards. In addition, she has worked with an ASIP-SROPP student who aims to present their research at a future ASIP meeting. Dr. Love-Rutledge plans to attend the upcoming Summer Liver Academy Meeting (SLAM) in June 2024 and bring student presenters.
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Meredith Mayer, PhD Candidate
Meredith Mayer is currently a PhD candidate in biomedical sciences completing her dissertation work at the Tulane National Primate Research Center (TNPRC) working under Dr. Tracy Fischer. Meredith received her BS in biology from Delaware Valley University with a minor in chemistry. Before completing her undergraduate degree, she was a summer student intern at the Jackson Laboratory in 2019.
At the TNPRC, Meredith showcases an enthusiastic commitment to her graduate education and mentoring. Her research focuses on the neuropathology of acute and post-acute SARS-CoV-2 infection in non-human primates providing insight into the neuroimmune and neurovascular consequences of infection. She has mentored several graduate and undergraduate students in basic research techniques in the Fischer lab. She served as a volunteer for the TNPRCs inaugural Women in Stem event promoting research to local high school students.
Meredith joined the ASIP in 2021 and is a member of the ASIP Neuropathology Scientific Interest Group (SIG). She has presented her research at PISA: The Young Investigators Virtual Meeting, Experimental Biology, the Tissue, Matrix & Pathobiology meeting, Tulane University sponsored meetings, and neuroscience National Primate Research Center webinars. In 2022, Meredith was awarded the Ralph D. Lillie poster award and The Histochemical Society (HCS) travel Graduate Medical Trainee and Graduate Student Cornerstone grant for her examination of tight junctions at the blood brain barrier in SARS-CoV-2 infection. She also received an HCS travel awards in 2022 and 2023.
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Erin Sanders, BS
Erin Sanders is a Pre-Doctoral Student in the lab of Dr. Pilar Alcaide at Tufts University (Boston, MA). She completed her BS in biology from Tufts, while exploring her interests in biomedical engineering within a biotechnology engineering minor.
While in high school, Erin sought out a three-year independent science research course which consisted of designing a project, connecting with a scientific mentor at the university level, executing that project and communicating your findings at local symposiums. This course was instrumental in demonstrating each phase of the scientific research process, and how to guide a project based off interest and service to the scientific community. While at Tufts, Erin was able to work with Dr. Eric Tytell on a project that was a collaboration between the biology and engineering departments that focused on developing a soft-bodied robot that swam similarly to that of an eel-like fish, for hopes of future use as an incognito aquatic surveillance device. This work offered the opportunity to present at her first conference and exposed to learning and sharing science in a conference setting.
Following completion of her undergraduate degree, Erin worked at a nonprofit biotech company as part of the viral vector team, producing AAV particles to be distributed to researchers at universities. Inspired by the excitement of progressing science and research process she decided to pursue a PhD focused on the growing field of cardioimmunology. Eric received the AHA predoctoral fellowship to aid in these efforts.
In 2023, Erin attended and gave her first oral presentation at the Tissue, Matrix & Pathobiology meeting in Salt Lake City. She received the Monga-Hans Trainee Scholar Award for Excellence in Cardiovascular Research to attend. She has also received institutional awards, and awards from a poster competition within Tufts. She participated in the Women in Pathology event and other networking opportunities.
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Inga-Marie Schaefer, MD
Dr. Inga-Marie Schaefer, is an Assistant Professor in Pathology at Harvard Medical School and Associate Pathologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Dr. Schaefer is also an Affiliate Faculty member in the Department of Pathology at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Associate Member of the Broad Institute.
Dr. Schaefer earned her MD from the Georg-August University in Göttingen, Germany, and the University of Bern, Switzerland. She trained in Anatomic Pathology at the University Hospital Göttingen and at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. During her postdoctoral studies at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, she characterized mechanisms of GIST genomic progression and identified early inactivation of the MAX tumor suppressor as recurrent event in GIST. In 2018, she obtained board certification in Anatomic Pathology and became faculty in the Department of Pathology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
Dr. Schaefer is a Board of Directors member of CTOS, a member of the ASIP, USCAP/IAP, AACR, SARC, and CTOS, and an editorial board member of Genes, Chromosomes & Cancer.
Dr. Schaefer leads a research program centered on the biology, genetic, and molecular mechanisms of sarcomas with the goal to develop novel therapeutics. In 2023, Dr. Schaefer was a recipient of the ASIP Fred Sanfilippo Visiting Lectureship Program Award. She has also been awarded the Sperling Family Fellowship in Precision Healthcare, the Liddy Shriver Early Career Research Award, and several research grants from the NIH, the Sarcoma Foundation of America, the Pablove Foundation and SARC.
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Mary Ann Sens, MD, PhD
Dr. Mary Ann Sens is a Professor and Chair of Pathology University of North Dakota. Dr. Sens earned her BS from Eastern Michigan University (Ypsilanti, MI), her PHD from the University of South Carolina (Columbia, SC) and her MD from the Medical University of South Carolina (Charleston, SC).
Dr. Sens’s academic career began in physical inorganic chemistry, obtaining her PhD in the magnetic resonance studies of heavy metal and borohydride compounds. Following medical school and training in pathology, clinical activities included renal pathology and forensic pathology while assisting with cardiac and transplant pathology services. She runs the North Dakota Statewide Cancer Registry, reinforcing the value of objective, validated data.
Dr. Sens is a Board-Certified Forensic Pathologist with broad experience in various medicolegal systems. She developed a medicolegal system of 41 counties in three states and 55,000 square miles. The clinical practice of forensic pathology has been a constant throughout her professional career, achieving national recognition in this field. She is involved with studies in sudden infant death, quality management, and basic studies in forensic pathology. In the last eight years, she served on two expert panels recommending more cohesive certification and coding of sudden pediatric deaths; the changes recommended are targeted to revise the WHO coding of deaths for infants and children.
Forensic pathology is the O negative of medicine, encompassing all humans—we see the worst and the best in humans. In this system, with minimal selection bias and potentially 100% inclusion, forensic pathology has unparalleled opportunities for determining outcomes and identifying inequities. Public and family health are vital practice components in forensic pathology.
Dr. Sens’s current publications center on pipeline development—getting K-12 and undergraduates interested in STEM careers to promoting autopsy and forensic pathology within medical school. In a previous NIJ grant, she developed an online forensic training program with over 15,000 registrations during a single year of availability. My experiences in forensic pathology led me to develop "Violence as a Medical Disease," a dedicated, week-long curriculum for medical students that explores the profound effect of family violence on society and medicine, adverse childhood experiences and health, and the transformational role physicians may play in reversing effects of violence and promoting resilience among people, especially youth.
Dr. Sens has been a member of the ASIP for over 30 years, serving on various Committees including Research and Science Policy and Women in Pathology.
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Rachel Stubler, PhD Candidate
Rachel Stubler is a third-year PhD candidate at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, SC. Rachel earned her BS in biochemistry from Gannon University in 2021, where she began undergraduate research during her freshman year. Her first research project studied the trafficking of nitrogen permeases in Saccharomyces cerevisiae under the direction of Dr. Quyen Aoh. This laboratory experience inspired her to apply to biomedical research PhD programs. Rachel matriculated to the PhD program at the Medical University of South Carolina in 2021. She is a member of Dr. Amy Engevik’s lab which studies the impact of cellular trafficking on gastrointestinal cell biology and physiology. Her current project focuses on the impact of reduced myosin 5b on the trafficking of intestinal alkaline phosphatase and subsequent susceptibility to colonic inflammation. Rachel is currently funded by a clinical and translational T32 training program and a Histochemical Society Cornerstone Grant. She serves as a Supplemental Instructor for the first-year curriculum courses for Ph.D. and master’s students. As an Inflammatory Bowel Disease patient and a scientist, her ultimate career goal is to improve our understanding of Inflammatory Bowel Disease pathobiology. Rachel joined the ASIP in 2022 and attended the 2023 Tissue, Matrix, and Pathobiology Meeting where she gave her first research talk to a live audience and received a Histochemical Society (HCS) Trainee Travel Award. During the meeting, Rachel also participated in career development and mentoring workshops. Most recently, she gave a talk at Pathobiology 2024 in Baltimore.
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Saranyaraajan Varadarajan, PhD
Saranyaraajan Varadarajan, PhD
Dr. Saranyaraajan (Sara) Varadarajan is a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor in the labs of Dr. Charles Parkos and Dr. Asma Nusrat. She completed her B.Tech in India, her MS in cell biology from Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, and her PhD in molecular, cellular and developmental biology from Michigan.
Dr. Varadarajan has a long-standing interest in understanding intercellular signaling crosstalk in complex tissue environments. Her research in Parkos-Nusrat lab focuses on understanding the mechanisms that mediate crosstalk between the intestinal epithelium and immune cells to promote repair of mucosal wounds during injury and inflammation. Specifically, she is investigating the pro-repair function of leukotriene LTB4 in intestinal mucosal wound repair. During her graduate studies, she identified a key mechanosensitive mechanism by which intracellular calcium signaling regulates epithelial barrier function in Dr. Ann Miller’s lab at Michigan. She received Predoctoral Fellowship from American Heart Association (AHA), and various institutional awards during her graduate studies.
Outside of research, Dr. Varadarajan is passionate about promoting science to the public, mentoring graduate/undergraduate students, and increasing diversity in science. She actively designs and leads interactive STEM activities for elementary and middle schoolers in and around Ann Arbor. As a Postdoc, she serves as Co-President of the University of Michigan Postdoctoral Association (UMPDA).
Dr. Varadarajan is new to ASIP, joining society in 2023. She attended the Tissue, Matrix, and Pathobiology 2023 meeting in Salt Lake City, presented her research, and received Marion and Lawrence Muller Trainee Scholar Award for Outstanding Research in Experimental Pathology. Most recently, she attended the Pathobiology 2024 meeting in Baltimore and will present in the Young Investigator Seminar Series in July 2024.
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Joy Winfield, Undergraduate Student
Joy Winfield, Undergraduate Student
Joy Winfield is an undergraduate student studying medical humanities and biology at Columbia University (New York, NY). She has been working as a research assistant and technician in the lab of Dr. Kevin Gardner (Chair of Pathology and Cell Biology at Columbia University Medical Center) since 2021 with the support of a summer ASIP SROPP grant and supplemental NIH funding.
A current project she is working on as first author pertains to Kaiso interactions with the Cadherin-Catenin complex, and the population-specific impact those interactions have on breast cancer patient survival outcomes.
Joy joined the ASIP in 2021 and was awarded an ASIP Summer Research Opportunity Program in Pathology (SROPP) grant to conduct research as an intern in the Gardner Lab. Her SROPP project focused on how interactions between gp78 (an E3-ligase), CD82 (a metastasis-suppressing glycoprotein), and DARC (an endothelial cell receptor) impact the breast cancer tumor microenvironment and contribute to racial disparities in breast cancer survival rates between African American and European American women. She was a contributing author on the paper entitled “Protein expression of the gp78 E3 ligase predicts poor breast cancer outcome based on race”, which was published in JCI Insight.
In addition, Joy has worked for the Dahl Lab as a Stanford REU Radiological Sciences summer intern, presented her research at the Stanford REU 2021 and Columbia CUPP 2023 student poster symposiums, and previously served in AmeriCorps as a STEM and Literacy director for a local Boys and Girls Club.
Joy has served as a member of the Publications and Research & Science Policy Committees, has participated in the Path Forward Career Development Program with Janiece Glover (PhD candidate) as her mentor, and recently presented two posters at the Pathobiology 2024 in Baltimore. She will be applying to Pathobiology and Experimental Pathology PhD programs in the near future.
Maria Antonia Zambrano, PhD Candidate
Maria Antonia Zambrano, PhD Candidate
Maria Antonia Zambrano is a third-year immunology graduate student at Tufts University in Boston, MA. She completed her BS in behavioral neuroscience at Northeastern University while working at McLean Hospital, Pandion Therapeutics, and Dana Farber for exposure in neuroscience and immunological studies. Currently under Dr. Pilar Alcaide’s mentorship, her research focuses on investigating the contribution of cardiac fibroblast-MHCII to cardiac pathophysiology in Doxorubicin-induced cardiomyopathy.
Since beginning her graduate program, she has received an institutional award, a fellowship from the NIH, an internal award for poster competition, and travel awards to attend conferences to present my research.
Maria joined the Society in 2022, and received the GALL Trainee Scholar Award for Excellence in Cardiovascular Research, showcasing her research at the Tissue, Matrix, and Pathobiology meeting in 2023. Maria is an active participant of Women in Pathology and most recently attended Pathobiology 2024 in Baltimore. She will be a featured speaker in the Young Investigator Keynote Seminar Series this coming October.
Connect with Maria on LinkedIn and follow Women in Pathology on Facebook and X.