New Tropical Medicine Graduate Students for Fall 2016

The Tropical Medicine Graduate Program welcomed nine new students to their MS, PhD and new Graduate Certificate Program for Fall 2016.
Tropical Medicine graduate students: Front row, Blane Garcia, Jourdan Posner, Jasmine Tyson, Lauren Ching, Liana Medina, Kenji Mfuh, Micah Tepora, Danielle Clements, Priscilla Seabourn, Francine Azouz, Sairel Labasan, Kellyan Nguyen; Back row, Livo Esema, Thomas Premeaux, Han Ha Youn, Nelson Lazaga, Alanna Tseng, Joanna Kettlewell, David Siemann, Keeton Krause, Payal Maharaj, Brooks Mitchell, Glen Chew, Matthew Connery.

Tropical Medicine graduate students: Front row, Blane Garcia, Jourdan Posner, Jasmine Tyson, Lauren Ching, Liana Medina, Kenji Mfuh, Micah Tepora, Danielle Clements, Priscilla Seabourn, Francine Azouz, Sairel Labasan, Kellyan Nguyen; Back row, Livo Esema, Thomas Premeaux, Han Ha Youn, Nelson Lazaga, Alanna Tseng, Joanna Kettlewell, David Siemann, Keeton Krause, Payal Maharaj, Brooks Mitchell, Glen Chew, Matthew Connery.

Tropical Medicine PhD Program:

Payal Maharaj will be a PhD student with Dr. Saguna Verma.  Payal is an East West Center fellow who is from Fiji.  She received a BSc in Chemistry, Zoology and Biotechnology from Bangalore University, India, a Postgraduate Diploma in Biodiversity and Conservation from the University of the South Pacific, Fiji, and an MS in Climate Change Studies from the University of the South Pacific, Fiji.  Prior to joining our graduate program, Pyal was Conservation Coordinator for the Pacific Regional Environment Program in Apia, Western Samoa.  Livo Esema is a PhD student at the University of Yaoundè 1 in Cameroon who will be spending this semester in the department.  Livo received a scholarship from the UK HIV Trust to receive training in microarray analysis of HIV-infected placental cells and will be advised by Tropical Medicine faculty Drs. Vivek Nerurkar, Lishomwa Ndhlovu, Diane W. Taylor, and John Chen. While in Cameroon, he collaborated with Tropical Medicine PhD alumna, Dr. Anna Babakhanyan. He is also supported by NIH D43 training grant entitled, “Training of Cameroonian Scientist in Research on Malaria”

Tropical Medicine MS Program:

Keeton Krause will be mentored by Dr. Mukesh Kumar as an MS student.  Keeton is originally from Loveland, Colorado and completed a BS in Biology from University of Saint Mary, Kansas. While in college he played as a pitcher for the USM baseball team, the Spires.  Thomas Premeaux will be a MS student with Dr. Lishomwa Ndhlovu. Thomas received a BA in Business Administration and AD in Natural Science from the University of Hawaii at Manoa and Kapiolani Community College, respectively. He was previously a Research Assistant in the Ndhlovu laboratory since 2014. Jasmine Tyson will be a MS student with Dr. Wei-Kung Wang. Jasmine earned a BS in Microbiology with a minor in Political Science from the University of Hawaii at Manoa. She was a Research Assistant with Dr. Wang since 2014.  Jasmine has also been a Japanese Instructor and played French horn/mellophone in the UH marching band and concert band.

Also joining the department as a research volunteer for Dr. Mukesh Kumar is Francine Azouz. Francine received her Bachelor’s Degree in Biological Sciences from the University of Southern Santa Catarina, Brazil.

Tropical Medicine Graduate Certificate Program:

Tropical Medicine Graduate Certificate Students: Matthew Connery, Sairel Labasan, Kellyan Nguyen, and Blane Garcia.

Tropical Medicine Graduate Certificate Students: Matthew Connery, Sairel Labasan, Kellyan Nguyen, and Blane Garcia.

 The department welcomed four students for the inaugural year of its Tropical Medicine Graduate Certificate Program.  These students are enrolled in a new one-year program that includes a core curriculum in infectious disease microbiology, epidemiology and disease control, and travelers’ health. It also involves a capstone project to be based on the student’s interests and conducted under the guidance of a faculty mentor. Matthew Connery received a Bachelor of Arts and Science in Public Health Studies from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. He also did international course work in Uganda on public health intervention strategies for health and medically-related issues. Blane Garcia earned a BA in Microbiology and MPH in Native Hawaiian and Indigenous Health at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. He was a Research Assistant at Waianae Comprehensive Health Center where he conducted community-based participatory research on asthma. Sairel Labasan received a BS in Biology from University of Hawaii at Manoa. Sairel participated in a research project at Mahidol University, Thailand through the Minority Health and Health Disparities International Research Training (MHIRT) Program during the summer of 2015.  Kellyan Nguyen completed a BS in Biology at the University of Hawaii at Manoa and was a Inouye Scholar in the Japan Foundation/Tomodachi program.  Kellyan also was an undergraduate biomedical researcher in Bangkok, Thailand through the MHIRT Program.

Photo credits: Amanda Shell