The University of Toledo

Adam Blatt
IIT First Year Student-M.D./Ph.D. Program
Hometown: 
Project:  Role of complement regulatory proteins properdin and factor H in the formation of platelet/leukocyte aggregates
Advisor:  Dr. Viviana Ferreira, D.V.M., Ph.D.
Email: Adam.Blatt@rockets.utoledo.edu

Adaeze Izuogu B.Sc.
IIT Third Year Student - Ph.D. Program
Hometown: Abuja, Nigeria
Project: Virus-specific innate immunity to vector-borne flaviviruses 
Advisor: Dr. Travis Taylor, Ph.D.
Email:  Adaeze.Izuogu@rockets.utoledo.edu​

Brian H. Youseff, B.S.
IIT First Year Student- M.D./Ph.D Program
Hometown: Cleveland, Ohio
Project: "Investigation of the host Innate Immune Response to Flaviviruses"
Advisor: Dr. Travis Taylor, Ph.D.
Email: Brian.Youseff@rockets.utoledo.edu

Caitlin Baum, B.S.
IIT Second Year Student – M.D./Ph.D. Program
Hometown: Gaithersburg, MD
Project: “The role of IL-21 in chronic transplant rejection”
Advisor: Dr. Stanislaw Stepkowski, Ph.D.
Email: Caitlin.baum@rockets.utoledo.edu

Dulat Bekbolsynov, B.S.
IIT Second Year Student – Ph.D. Program
Hometown: Urumkai Village, Kazakhstan
Project: tba
Advisor: Stanislaw Stepkowski, Ph.D.
E-mail: dulat.bekbolsynov@utoledo.edu

Jennifer Ohtola, B.S.
IIT Second Year Student - M.D./Ph.D. Program
Hometown: Middlefield, Ohio
Project: "B cell responses to pneumococcal vaccination in the aging HIV+ population" 
Advisor: Dr. M. A. Julie Westerink, M.D.
Email:  jennifer.ohtola@rockets.utoledo.edu

Padmapriya Sekar, B.S., M.S.
IIT Second Year Student - Ph.D. Program
Hometown:  Mumbai, India
Project:  TBA
Advisor:  Dr. R. Mark Wooten, Ph.D.
Email:  Padmapriya.Sekar@uToledo.edu

Xiaojun "Wilma" Wu
IIT Third Year Student – Ph.D. Program
Hometown: Wuxi, Jiangsu, China
Project: "Identification of Francisella tularensis outer membrane virulence proteins"
Advisor: Dr. Jason F. Huntley, Ph.D.
Email: Xiaojun.Wu@rockets.utoledo.edu

David Leggat, M.S., B.S., A.S., A.A.
IIT Fifth Year Student - Ph.D. Program
Hometown: Detroit, MI
Project: "Pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccination in high risk elderly and HIV+ individuals."
Advisor: Dr. M.A. Julie Westerink, M.D.
Email: Dleggat@rockets.utoledo.edu

Gurpanna Saggu, M.S., B.S.
IIT Fifth Year Student - Ph.D. Program
Hometown: Mumbai, India
Project: "The role of complement regulatory protein properdin in complement activation on platelets and formation of platelet-leukocyte aggregates"
Advisor: Dr. Viviana P. Ferreira, D.V.M., Ph.D.
Email: gurpanna.saggu@rockets.utoledo.edu

Yi Yao, M.S. in Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
IIT Fifth Year Student - Ph.D. Program
Hometown: Province: Jilin, Country: China
Project: "Sequential priming of neutrophils and intravital visualization of early phase"
Advisor: Dr. Akira Takashima, M.D., Ph.D.
Email:  Yi.Yao@uToledo.edu

Nan Zhang, B.S., Medicine
IIT Fifth Year Student - Ph.D. Program
Hometown: Qinhuangdao, Province: Hebei,  Country: China
Project: "Role of p38 MAPK in Borrelia burgdorferi-elicitation of IL-10 and in dysregulating Inflammatory Responses important for Bacterial Clearance in Skin"
Advisor:  Dr. R. Mark Wooten, Ph.D.
Email: Nan.Zhang@rockets.utoledo.edu