Post Doctoral Fellowship Program

Postdoctoral Research Fellows are actively involved in research in the Pathology department. Our post-doctoral candidates are highly educated, well-trained individuals who have studied at major research institutions worldwide. This broad spectrum of highly trained fellows provides an intellectually stimulating atmosphere ripe for collaborations and exchange of ideas. Their insight and knowledge provides dynamic discussions at our Works in Progress meetings, which are held every Friday during the academic year.
The Belfer Institute for Advanced Biomedical Studies is responsible for the oversight of the many aspects of the postdoctoral experience at Albert Einstein College of Medicine.

Postdoctoral Research Fellows

Swati Bajaj, PhD

Research Fellow (Hazan Lab)
Graduate Institution: University College of Science, University of Calcutta, India
PhD: Indian Institute of Chemical Biology, Jadavpur University, India
Research involves investigating the relationship between cell-cell adhesion and metastasis in breast cancer.

Yair Botbol, PhD

Research Fellow (Macian Lab)
Graduate Institution: University of Paris VI, Paris, France
Research: I am presently characterizing macroautophagy in CD4+ T helper cells. The goal of my research is to understand how macroautophagy is regulated in T helper cells, characterize the function of this form of autophagy during an immune response and identify the mechanisms that modulate cargo selectivity of this process in T cells.

Ross Gruber, PhD

Research Fellow (Zagarbo Lab)
Graduate Institution: SUNY Upstate Medical University
I am investigating mechanisms of oligodendrocyte and neuronal survival in order to aid remyelination of the CNS after insult.

Seaho Kim, PhD

Research Fellow (Hazan Lab)
Graduate Institution: Pusan National University, Department of Pharmacy, Republic of Korea; Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI
Research: I am currently investigating roles of Slug in breast cancer metastasis. Slug is one of key factors which orchestrates epithelial-meshenchymal transition (EMT) during development and is correlated with poor prognosis of human breast cancer. My research goal is to elucidate the mechanisms of how slug expression is implicated in breast tumor cell invasion and metastasis.

Enric Mocholli-Gimeno, PhD

Research Fellow (Macian Lab)
PhD Universidad Cardenal Herrera – CEU, Spain
Research: My current work involves investigating the characterization of the mechanisms that regulate cancer-induced tolerance, developing a line of research aimed at understanding how cancer cells can inhibit T cell responses and evaluating the contribution of tumor-induced tolerance on the local growth of a tumor and in its ability to form distal metastases.

Kateryna Morozova, PhD

Research Fellow (Santambrogio Lab)
M.Sc., PhD, Kharkiv National State University, Ukraine
Research: Microautophagy: endosomal delivery of cytosolic antigens

Sheila Christina Nardelli, PhD

Research Fellow (Tanowitz Lab)
MSc Fundacao Oswaldo Cruz, Brazil;
PhD Universidadade Federal de Sao Paulo, Brazil
Research: Involves epigenomics of Toxoplasma, specifically how modifications of histones by chromatin remodelers results in expression of genes important for Toxoplasma virulence and developmental transitions.

Fernando Periera-Bruno, MD

Research Fellow (Desruisseaux Lab)
Medical Degree: Universidade Federal Do Rio de Janeiro, (Federal University of Rio de Janeiro), Brazil
Research: I am currently exploring the physiopathology of Cerebral Malaria by examining the effects of infection on cultured mouse neurons and astrocytes. My investigations also involve correlating alterations in signaling pathways to disease outcome using imaging studies to examine the structural changes in the brains of infected mice.

Xia QianHazen, MD, PhD

Research Fellow (Hazan Lab)
Graduate University: Nanjing Medical University, Jiangsu, China
Research: My work involves studying the relationship between cell-cell adhesion, cell cycle, and metastasis in breast cancer.

Brian Scharf, PhD

Research Fellow (Santambrogio Lab)
Graduate Degree: St. John’s University, NY
Research: Hypersensitivity Reactions to metals and alkane polymers

Vador-Alonso, PhD

Research Fellow (Macian Lab)
Graduate Institution: University of Murcia, Spain.
Research: Goal is to characterize of the role of Chaperone Mediated Autophagy (CMA) in T cell function, to understand how this selective form of autophagy is regulated in T cells and to determine the processes controlled by CMA during T cell activation. I am also interested in understanding how changes in CMA activity with age may affect T cell responses in the elderly.

Jiahong Yao, MD

Research Fellow (Hazan Lab)
Graduate Institution: School of Medicine, China Three Gorges University, China
Medical Institution: School of Public Health, Tongji Medical University, China
Research: Generation of mouse models expressing mutations of the N-cadherin and R-cadherin genes and determining their effect on mammary tumor progression and metastasis.

Visiting Postdoctoral Fellows

Sarah Kearns, MPH, PhD

Visiting Research Fellow (Ostrer Lab)
MPH: Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
PhD: Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
Research: Identification of genetic and clinical variables associated with response to radiation therapy among men treated for prostate cancer; identification of the genetic basis for a novel familial disorder characterized by intrauterine growth retardation, short stature, and early onset diabetes.

Erica Rinella, PhD

Visiting Research Fellow (Ostrer Lab)
Identification of genetic and clinical variables associated with breast cancer risk in Ashkenazi Jewish women; identification of genetic and clinical variables associated with weigh regain following gastric bypass surgery for sever/morbid obesity.