Pharmacology and Physiology Doubles Number of Postdoctoral Fellows

Monara Angelim, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral fellow
Lab of Juliana Navia Pelaez, Ph.D.
Start date: Sept. 1

Angelim is from Brazil. She completed her doctorate at the Sorbonne Université, Paris, where she focused on elucidating the intersection between immune and neuronal cells during mouse embryo development. Following her doctoral studies, she pursued a postdoctoral position at the Institute of Psychiatry and Neuroscience of Paris (IPNP), where she delved into the development of neurovascular diseases through confocal microscopy, utilizing the mouse retina as a model system.

As a postdoctoral fellow at the laboratory of Immunometabolism at the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP), São Paulo, Brazil, she expanded her research scope to investigate immune cell interactions with neurons, immune cell profiles in adipose tissue and the impact of SARS-COV2 infection on a mouse model. Her expertise extends to cell biology, metabolism assessment, immune phenotyping through flow cytometry, and RNA-seq analysis. Her research interests are neuro-immune mechanisms and mitochondria dynamics in disease states. In the Navia lab she will study how microglia and macrophages’ metabolism affect neuronal sensitization in different models of pain. 

Lakshmanakumar Kinthada, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral fellow
Lab of John Walker, Ph.D.
Start: Aug. 5 

Kinthada earned his doctorate from the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Bhopal, India. His thesis research, under the supervision of Alakesh Bisai, focused on synthetic methodology to synthesize 3-hydroxy-2-oxindoles. This work resulted in several publications in peer-reviewed journals including five first author publications.

His prior postdoctoral research experience at McMaster University was in medicinal chemistry. Here he synthesized a series of heterocyclic compounds to generate structure-activity relationships as potential chemotherapy agents. In the Walker lab, Kinthada will focus on the design and synthesis of novel antibacterial compounds. Specifically, his research will be on optimization of a novel series of pyridyl benzamidine compounds that act as efflux pump inhibitors in Acientobacter baumannii. Compounds targeting A. baumannii is of critical importance because of its ability to develop multi-drug resistance. He will also contribute to the lab efforts to develop novel antagonists of GPCRs for neuropathic pain states. 

Janaine Prata, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral fellow
Lab of Daniela Salvemini, Ph.D.
Start date: July 1 

Prata received her doctorate in pharmacology from the University of São Paulo, Brazil, under the mentoring of Soraia Costa. During her doctorate studies, she developed a new model of orofacial pain induced by occlusal trauma, explored molecular and cellular mechanisms involved in pain transduction and identified novel therapeutics based on hydrogen sulfide-releasing derivatives of NSAIDs.

Prata also spent a year as a visiting researcher at the University of K.U. Leuven in Belgium under the mentorship of Alexandre Denadai, M.D., in the hepatology division. During her period in Belgium, she explored the protective effects of various drugs in the intestinal barrier using human intestinal organoids and intestinal epithelial cells. She has broad experience in pain mechanisms, in vivo pharmacology, imaging and RNA-sequencing analysis. In the Salvemini lab, she will explore new pharmacological treatments for neuropathic pain and their impact on neuroimmune interactions. 

Rachel Schafer, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral fellow
Lab of Daniela Salvemini, Ph.D.
Start date: July 1 

Schafer received her doctorate in pharmacology and physiology at Saint Louis University School of Medicine. Her research interests include the neurobiological mechanisms of pain, pain modulation, and the development of new pain management therapies. At Saint Louis University, she will be focusing on investigating the pathways and molecular mechanisms involved in chronic pain and exploring potential therapeutic targets for pain relief. 

Simon Guignard, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral fellow
Lab of Vincenza Cifarelli, Ph.D.
Start: July 1 

Guignard holds a doctorate in pathophysiology and cell biology obtained from the Digestive Health Research Institute at INSERM in Toulouse, France, under the mentorship of Natalie Vergnolle, M.D., a world-renowned expert in gastrointestinal inflammation and diseases. In the Cifarelli laboratory, Guignard will be responsible for investigating mechanisms regulating gastrointestinal inflammation and immune response via lymphatics during metabolic perturbation and/or cancer. 

Clemence Giere, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral fellow
Lab of Aubin Moutal
Start: June 17 

Giere received her doctorate in Strasbourg, France, where she focused on how the nervous system differentially processes thermal hot and cold information. Using both an electrophysiological and behavioral approach, she aimed to apprehend the pain response in all its complexity, by studying not only the neuronal activity during the transmission of a nociceptive information, but also the cognitive and emotional processes that leads to an adaptive behavior of an organism faced with a stimulus that endangers its integrity.

Her goal in the Moutal lab is to further her understanding of pain processes, particularly how pain, normally a useful alarm bell for the body, becomes an antagonist of the body when it becomes chronic. To do so, she will keep an integrated point of view by using a wide range of techniques, from molecular to functional and behavioral approaches, to elucidate the underlying mechanisms leading to the apparition and maintenance of chronic pain. 

Naga Lakshmi Challa, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral fellow
Lab of Anutosh Chakraborty, Ph.D.
Start: April 15

Challa obtained a master's in pharmacology and a doctorate from India. She conducted her graduate research in the laboratory of Parimal Misra at Reddy’s Institute of Life Sciences (DRILS), Hyderabad. Her thesis project employed biochemical, molecular biological and pharmacological tools in cell culture and mouse models to discover the impact of the enzyme trimethylguanosine synthase 1 (TGS1, alias: PIMT) on macrophage polarization, inflammation and skeletal muscle insulin resistance.

Challa has published her work in leading journals such as Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA), Drug Discovery and The FASEB Journal. Currently, she is a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Anutosh Chakraborty, Ph.D. Her primary research focus is to determine metabolic consequences of the IP6K1-Ube4A interaction in obesity and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD). She is also engaged in discovering the role of novel proteins in these diseases. Her goal is to uncover new therapeutic strategies for the treatment of obesity and MASLD. 

Vineet Babu, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral fellow
Lab of Anutosh Chakraborty, Ph.D.
Start: Sept. 18, 2023

Babu graduated from the Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants Institute, Lucknow, India. His thesis research, under the supervision of Dnyaneshwar Bawankule, Ph.D., determined the beneficial roles of various phytochemicals on rheumatoid arthritis, pain, inflammation, hyperuricemia and diabetes. He has published in reputed journals such as Phytotherapy Research, Inflammopharmacology, Planta Medical and Chemical Biology & Drug Design. Babu has adequate research experience in working with rodent models of metabolic and inflammatory diseases.

Since September 2023, he has been working as a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Anutosh Chakraborty Ph.D. His primary research focus is to evaluate effects of the newly developed IP6K inhibitors on obesity and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD). He is also engaged in understanding the hepatocyte-specific role of the E3 ligase Ube4A in obesity and MASLD. He aims to develop new drugs that ameliorate obesity and MASLD by targeting novel proteins and pathways.