UVA Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program, 1300 Jefferson Park Avenue, Charlottesville, VA (2026)

09/04/2026

Happy Graduate Admissions Season!

On September 1st, the UVA BIMS application window opened, kicking off this year’s admissions season! If you’re interested in applying and would like to know more about our programs, please join us for one of our virtual Open House sessions this Fall:

UVA BIMS Virtual Open House

Tuesday, September 22nd, 10:00am EST: https://applycentral.virginia.edu/register/?id=13fadce9-8031-46ad-b2d1-a423e05aa20e&utm_source=ig&utm_medium=social&utm_content=link_in_bio&fbclid=PAcGRvZgJleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZA85MzY2MTk3NDMzOTI0NTkAAaeVIoPqmQZcReuYKzouxIVQv4jrBzxDaSYhp7ffKEcafZz5BdcUB1-nn3-mHQ_aem_Vh3gDtSCuyzw_74jmxSmIA

Wednesday, October 21st, 4:00pm EST: https://applycentral.virginia.edu/register/?id=6b0917b4-6a7d-48a6-8859-86ee01b2258c&utm_source=ig&utm_medium=social&utm_content=link_in_bio&fbclid=PAcGRvZgJleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZA85MzY2MTk3NDMzOTI0NTkAAaceSCiXEHEYwFZ27X7t1wahThDSNk_IrruVHtRePneP1qulo9zBrWuW7TWpXg_aem_TajxA40ZzS5zSkZQQ98JhA

We hope to see you there!

09/04/2026

Rossymar Rivera was awarded the NIH F31 Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award from the National Cancer Institute which began on September 1, 2026. Rossymar received her Bachelor of Science degree in Biomedical Sciences from the University of Puerto Rico at Ponce. Rossymar is doctoral candidate in Cancer Biology in the lab of Dr. Kristin Anderson. We asked Rossymar to tell us about her research and hopes for the future.

Tell us about your research:

The Anderson lab develops engineered T cell therapies that can recognize and kill ovarian cancer cells, while studying how tumors create barriers that prevent these therapies from working effectively. My research focuses on one of these barriers by studying a molecule called the adenosine A2A receptor (A2AR), which can act as a “brake” on the immune response. We have found that blocking A2AR helps engineered T cells function better within ovarian tumors. My project aims to understand how this pathway shapes the tumor environment and how targeting it can strengthen T cell therapy. Ultimately, I hope this work contributes to more effective immunotherapies for ovarian cancer and other solid tumors that use similar mechanisms to evade the immune system.

What drives or motivates your scientific pursuits?

Science was a passion of mine from a young age, but it became deeply personal through my father’s experience with cancer. He was diagnosed with a blood cancer at a time when treatment options were much more limited and seeing how far cancer research has advanced since then has shown me the impact scientific discovery can have on patients’ lives. Over time, that personal connection grew into a genuine curiosity about how cancer interacts with the immune system and why some therapies succeed while others fail. I want to address these questions and contribute to discoveries that could change how we understand and treat cancer.

What are your future goals?

My future goal is to build a career where I can continue contributing to cancer research and the development of better therapies for patients. I hope to lead a research group addressing important questions in cancer biology, mentor the next generation of scientists, and continue advocating for greater representation and opportunities for Latinas in STEM.

Congratulations, Rossymar!

09/04/2026

Omina Nazarzoda was awarded an NIH F31 Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) that began July 1, 2026.

Omina is a doctoral candidate in Neuroscience the lab of Drs. Sarah Siegrist and Michelle Bland.

Omina received her Bachelor of Science degree from CUNY Brooklyn College in Chemistry.

Tell us about your research:

In the Siegrist lab, we investigate how intrinsic and extrinsic factors affect neurodevelopment. The Bland lab studies metabolism and innate immunity. My research focuses on understanding how an organism balances important developmental processes, when challenged (e.g., with infection), with an equally important immune response to survive. I am interested in understanding the capacity of a system to carry out both competing processes without compromise, e.g., if we keep the neural development "ON" genetically, would the organism still be able to mount an immune response and survive an infection.

What drives or motivates your scientific pursuits?

My introduction to sciences like zoology, anatomy, and chemistry was only from textbooks in middle school. With a growing interest in a research career path, I applied for a summer research internship carried out my first immunofluorescence experiment with fluorescent microscope imaging. We saw brain cells, blood vessels, immune cells, and some non-specific antibody binding revealing cell processes. I realized: the more we learn, the more we discover how little we know. That experience not only guided my interest in Neuroscience, but it also deepened my appreciation of research and critical thinking in understanding the world.

What are your future goals?

Research and mentorship are the most fulfilling experiences of grad school. We do research every day, and I have been fortunate to have teaching opportunities to work with fellow students, researchers and local communities. My post-doctoral career goal is to continue research and investigation in the federal government, with outreach opportunities for mentoring new generations of scientists as an integral part of it.

Congratulations, Omina!

08/26/2026

UVA’s Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program has scheduled two virtual opportunities this Fall for interested applicants to learn more about our programs and connect with faculty and current students. We will be discussing the structure of our graduate program, curriculum, student perspectives, life in Charlottesville, and more! We encourage you to register and attend one of these virtual Open House sessions:

UVA BIMS Virtual Open House

Tuesday, September 22nd, 10:00am EST
Registration Link: https://applycentral.virginia.edu/register/?id=13fadce9-8031-46ad-b2d1-a423e05aa20e

Wednesday, October 21st, 4:00pm EST
Registration Link: https://applycentral.virginia.edu/register/?id=6b0917b4-6a7d-48a6-8859-86ee01b2258c

08/26/2026

Valeria Molinary was awarded the NIH F31 Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award from the NIAID which began on August 1, 2026.

Valeria received her Bachelor of Science degree in Microbiology and Cell Science from the University of Florida.

Valeria is a doctoral candidate in Pharmacology in Dr. Bimal N. Desai's lab.

We asked Valeria to tell us about her research and hopes for the future:

Tell us about your research:

Research in the Desai lab focuses on how ion channels and signaling pathways affect immune cell function. My research investigates how mitochondrial calcium signaling regulates alveolar macrophage inflammatory and antimicrobial functions during bacterial pneumonia. Alveolar macrophages are the resident immune cells of the lung and serve as the first line of defense against inhaled pathogens while maintaining tissue homeostasis. Despite their critical role in pulmonary immunity, the intracellular signaling pathways that regulate alveolar macrophage function during infection remain incompletely understood. I seek to define the molecular mechanisms that enable these cells to balance effective pathogen clearance with controlled inflammation. By advancing our understanding of alveolar macrophage biology, this work may ultimately help identify new therapeutic strategies for infectious lung diseases.

What drives or motivates your scientific pursuits?

My scientific interests have always centered on host-pathogen interactions with the hope of better understanding these relationships in order to advance medicine. During my undergraduate studies, I was really immersed in the pathogen side of infectious disease, particularly with bacterial pathogenesis. However, in graduate school I’ve become captivated by our immune cells and how they handle infection and stress. They’re critical in maintaining our health, yet there’s still so much to learn about them! That curiosity continues to drive my research and my interest in immunology.

What are your future goals?

I hope to pursue a career in biomedical research with a continued focus on immunology. I’m particularly interested in a career in academia or as a scientist at a government research institute, where I can continue advancing immunology research while also contributing to public outreach and science communication. Ultimately, I hope to combine my interests in research and outreach to help advance our understanding of human health while making science more accessible.

Congratulations Valeria!

08/26/2026

Bryce Murillo was awarded the NIH F31 Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award from the NHLBI which began on August 1, 2026.

Bryce received his Bachelor of Science degree in Applied Physiology and Kinesiology from the University of Florida.

Bryce is a doctoral candidate in Pharmacology in the labs of Jeffrey Saucerman and Matthew Wolf.

We asked Bryce to tell us about his research and hopes for the future:

Tell us about your research:

Adult mammalian cardiomyocytes have a limited proliferative capacity which prevents full recovery of the myocardium after traumatic heart injuries like a heart attack. My project looks at how dual-specificity tyrosine phosphorylation regulated kinase 1A (DYRK1A) regulates cardiomyocyte cell cycle activity and how its inhibition can promote endogenous cardiomyocyte proliferation. We have shown through a combination of computational and experimental methods the mechanisms by which small molecule inhibition of DYRK1A promotes cardiomyocyte cycling and improves cardiac function after an ischemic/reperfusion myocardial infarction (I/R MI). What is even more interesting is that DYRK1A inhibition only promotes cardiomyocyte cycling after I/R MI and not in healthy myocardium. This raises an exciting question about what is changing in the myocardium during MI that makes DYRK1A susceptible to inhibition to promote cardiomyocyte proliferation. Overall, the goal of my project is to understand how DYRK1A mediates cardiomyocyte cell cycle activity after injury.

What drives or motivates your scientific pursuits?

I have always been interested in how we could advance treatment for human disease. There is so much to learn and discover about combating human disease that I can’t imagine I would ever get bored!

What are your future goals?

I would like to pursue a career in industry, working on drug development projects that would hopefully impact human health. Although I would love to continue doing cardiovascular research, I would be happy working on anything that could really help people.

Congratulations Bryce!

08/25/2026

Christopher Pastore was awarded the NIH F31 Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award from the NHLBI which begins on September 1st, 2026.

Christopher received his Bachelor of Science in Microbiology from the University of Pittsburgh.

Christopher is a doctoral candidate in Microbiology in Dr. Anne Sperling's lab.

We asked Christopher to tell us about his research and hopes for the future:

Tell us about your research:

The Sperling lab studies asthma/allergy, lung injury, and fibrotic lung diseases. In particular, we investigate how the immune response can be pathological and/or protective. Following acute lung injury, the immune response can protect the host from pathogens while simultaneously promote barrier repair and restore lung function. The Sperling lab has discovered that an immune cytokine, interleukin-5 (IL-5), can promote survival from acute lung injury. I am interested in what types of cells are responding to IL-5 through its receptor and the mechanisms that promote survival and whether these responses are potentially a risk for developing fibrosis long-term.

What drives or motivates your scientific pursuits?

Ever since taking an undergraduate immunology course, I have been intrigued by how the host defends itself against pathogens. Now, there are so many successful therapeutics for the activation or silencing of the immune response for diseases such as asthma, arthritis, cancer, and more. I am motivated to expand upon our knowledge of the immune system so we can properly enhance or inhibit it to our advantage.

What are your future goals?

Currently, I plan to pursue a postdoc in academia continuing to study immune responses. I have been fortunate to have been mentored by some incredible people, and I hope to be able to do the same for the future generations of scientists.

Congratulations Christopher!

08/24/2026

Zeguela Kamagate was awarded the American Society of Hematology Fellowship which began on July 1st, 2026.

Zeguela received her Bachelor of Science in Cell/Cellular and Molecular Biology from Towson University.

Zeguela is a doctoral candidate in Experimental Pathology in the Loughran lab.

We asked Zeguela to tell us about her research and hopes for the future:

Tell us about your research:

My research focuses on understanding how patient-derived STAT3 mutations contribute to large granular lymphocyte leukemia (LGLL), a chronic lymphoproliferative disorder. STAT3 is especially important because activating mutations occur in more than half of patients with LGLL and are associated with distinct clinical phenotypes, yet the functional consequences of individual mutations remain incompletely understood. I developed a lentiviral STAT3 expression system and a panel of twelve LGLL-associated STAT3 mutants spanning multiple functional domains of the protein. I first screen these mutations in HEK293 cells for differences in STAT3 phosphorylation and transcriptional activity, then evaluate selected activating mutants in primary human T cells. I also use proteomic approaches and CUT&Tag to study how these mutations alter protein interactions and genomic occupancy. Ultimately, my goal is to define mutation-specific mechanisms that contribute to LGLL pathogenesis and may inform future therapeutic strategies.

What drives or motivates your scientific pursuits?

My motivation for pursuing science stems from my origins. Growing up in Côte d’Ivoire, I witnessed the impact of sickle cell disease on my community, including losing a young cousin to complications of the disease. That experience shaped my commitment to studying difficult and understudied hematologic disorders.

Today, I am grateful to train in an environment where I can help move the needle forward by uncovering disease mechanisms and contributing to new therapeutic strategies in hematology. My work in LGLL continues to remind me that behind our scientific questions are patients and families who may one day benefit from the answers.

What are your future goals?

I plan to build a career focused on hematologic diseases, whether through clinical trials, translational research, or public health. I hope to contribute to the development of novel treatments, improve access to emerging therapies, strengthen communication between the research community and the public, and mentor the next generation of scientists.

Congratulations Zeguela!

08/24/2026

James Boehlke was awarded the NIH F31 Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award from the NIAID which began on August 15th, 2026.

James received his Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry from Colorado State University.

James is a doctoral candidate in Microbiology in Dr. Anna Cliffe's lab.

We asked James to tell us about his research and hopes for the future:

Tell us about your research:

The Cliffe lab studies how Herpes Simplex Virus 1 (HSV-1) is able to establish latency and hide in neurons and how it is subsequently able to reactivate and cause disease. Although HSV-1 is most commonly associated with cold-sores or blisters, recurrent reactivation can cause keratitis or even encephalitis. It has previously been shown that the HSV-1 genome associates with host histones and forms chromatin in neurons which is epigenetically regulated to form repressive heterochromatin. We have recently discovered a type of viral heterochromatin, formed through the deposition of the histone post-translational modification H2AK119ub1, that appears to make the virus more prone to reactivating. I am interested in how this reactivation-competent heterochromatin is formed on the viral genome and why it is only found in a subset of latently infected neurons. The ultimate goal of this project is to understand how HSV-1 achieves this “reactivation-competent” latency and how we may be able to prevent or target this specific form of latency.

What drives or motivates your scientific pursuits?

I have always been fascinated by viruses and the clever mechanisms both host and pathogen have evolved to combat one another for survival. This is certainly true for HSV-1, which has been co-evolving with humans for millions of years. Understanding the intimate relationship between host and pathogen, as frustrating and confusing it can be, feels like a puzzle that keeps me coming back.

What are your future goals?

I hope to stay in academia and continue studying virology. I would love to establish a lab to study how viruses manipulate host pathways, with the goal of revealing new therapeutic targets to control infection and disease.

Congratulations James!

08/24/2026

John Duncan was awarded the NIH F31 Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award from the NIAID which began on August 1st, 2026.

John received his Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Sciences with a minor in Chemistry from Susquehanna University.

John is a doctoral candidate in Pharmacology in Dr. Bimal N. Desai's lab.

We asked John to tell us about his research and hopes for the future:

Tell us about your research:

My research investigates how macrophages maintain the acidic compartments they use to break down pathogens and cellular debris. A proton pump drives acidification, but its activity creates a buildup of positive charge that restrains the pump. I am testing whether the ion channel TRPM7 relieves this electrical buildup and allows the compartments to fully acidify.

To answer this question, I use endolysosomal electrophysiology, an advanced technique that allows me to record the movement of charged particles across the membranes of these cellular compartments. This work may explain how TRPM7 permits the acidification necessary for certain viruses to infect cells. More broadly, it could reveal a central component to immune defense and inflammation.

What drives or motivates your scientific pursuits?

Throughout my life, I have been fortunate to learn from many exceptional mentors, several of whom I have lost to diseases that basic science will one day help us understand and prevent. I am motivated to honor their memory by providing the next generation of scientists with the same exceptional guidance I received, so that our combined efforts can move us closer to that future.

What are your future goals?

My goal is to become a biology and immunology professor at a primarily undergraduate institution. In the classroom, I want to help students develop the composure to apply what they have learned to unfamiliar biological problems. In the laboratory, I want to provide undergraduates with the theoretical understanding and technical skills they need to become excellent, independent researchers.

Congratulations John!

UVA Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program

09/04/2026

09/04/2026

09/04/2026

08/26/2026

08/26/2026

08/26/2026

08/25/2026

08/24/2026

08/24/2026

08/24/2026

Address

Website

Alerts

Contact The University

Shortcuts

Share

Category

Listing takedown request