Team OncoBites

Here at OncoBites, a team of cancer professionals and advocates has gathered to share cutting-edge research with a non-specialist audience.

Jessica Desamero, PhD (Co-Manager, Spring 2025)

Jessica is an educator and science communicator based in New York, USA. She completed her PhD in Biochemistry at the City University of New York (CUNY) Graduate Center, where she studied how molecules bind to and stabilize special DNA structures called DNA G-Quadruplexes. These molecules are potential chemotherapeutic agents, as stabilizing G-Quadruplexes in cancer cells can help prevent further tumor progression. One highlight of her PhD journey was speaking about her research at a general scicomm symposium, where she presented G-Quadruplexes as anticancer superheroes and referenced Batman and Poison Ivy.

Currently, she teaches undergraduate courses in general and organic chemistry at another CUNY college, and she has written with OncoBites since 2019. She also writes for ASBMB Today, the ASBMB society’s member magazine, and volunteers for BioBus, a science outreach organization. Most recently, she helped teach a lesson on writing science news articles for the iGEM Community’s Mastering SciComm course. She ultimately hopes to make a difference with her various science communication efforts.

Karli Norville, PhD (Co-Manager, Spring 2025)

Karli is a Clinical Scientist at a small, clinical-stage pharmaceutical company based in Maryland, USA. She received her B.S. in Microbiology from the University of California, Santa Barbara. She then went on to earn her PhD in Microbiology and Immunology from the University of Rochester, specializing in cancer immunology. Her doctoral research focused on manipulating the environment within a tumor using novel cytokine-based therapeutics in order to stimulate and support an immune response against the tumor. Her current work focuses on biomarker discovery and clinical trial management. Passionate about both research and science communication, Karli has written with OncoBites since 2023 and is an active member of the GRASP Cancer network.

Manisit Das, PhD, ISMPP CMPP™ (Co-Founder)

Manisit is a medical communications professional with a Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Sciences. He completed his doctoral dissertation at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, specializing in gastrointestinal oncology therapeutic development, in 2020. He is currently a Medical Communications Manager within Global Medical Affairs at United Therapeutics Corporation. He has previously served as a Senior Medical Writer in a medical communications agency, supporting biopharmaceutical organizations with publication development, publication planning, and other medical communications initiatives. He has been actively involved with the International Society of Medical Publications Professionals (ISMPP) and presented his research on inclusive language in biomedical publishing at the ISMPP Annual Meeting in 2022. Manisit has been an ISMPP certified medical publications professional™ since 2022.

Manisit grew up in West Bengal, India, and moved to the US in 2015. He takes an active interest in hiking and nature photography. He has hiked in all 41 NC State Parks and one day hopes to visit all the US National Parks. He also loves to try new food and experiment in the kitchen.

Find him on Mastodon

Kate Secombe, PhD (Co-Manager, Spring 2023)

Kate is a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Queensland Diamantina Institute (Australia), researching the impact of the gut microbiota on the development of type 1 diabetes. Prior to this role, Kate completed her PhD in the Cancer Treatment Toxicities Group at the University of Adelaide, focused on understanding how the gut microbiota affects chemotherapy-induced gastrointestinal injury. Her research interests lie in understanding immune-microbiota interactions, and understanding how we can use these interactions to develop personalised care, whether that be during cancer treatment, or in lifelong autoimmune diseases. Kate has a background in science communication, and was selected to compete in the worldwide final of Falling Walls Lab in Berlin in 2019.

Sara Musetti, PhD (Co-Founder)

Sara is an alumna of Wellesley College, Class of 2015, where she studied Biological Chemistry and reveled in being surrounded by strong, brilliant women out to change the world. She grew up in rural Pennsylvania and dreamed of studying science to help bring cures and relief to suffering patients. This dream brought Sara to UNC Chapel Hill and the Eshelman School of Pharmacy, where she worked under Dr. Leaf Huang developing cancer nanovaccines and targeted immunotherapies in pursuit of her Ph.D. She is passionate about science communication and education; her fondest memories of Wellesley include leading Supplemental Instruction in Chemistry. Sara hopes that OncoBites can help people stay informed about current research and encourage young people to see themselves in careers in science. Currently, she is a Medical Writer in Publications at RTI Health Solutions.

Core Contributors, Spring 2025:

1. Rachel Cherney (PhD Candidate, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, US)
2. Gabrielle Dardis (PhD Candidate, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, US)
3. Bhavuk Garg, PhD (Postdoctoral Researcher, Cleveland Clinic, US)
4. Michael Marand (Researcher at MIT Chemical Engineering, US)
5. Aishat Motolani (PhD Candidate, Indiana University, US)
6. Ifeoluwa Oyelade (Programs and Projects at Haim Health Initiative, Nigeria)
7. Keighley Reisenauer, PhD (Postdoctoral Teaching Fellow, Baylor University, US)
8. Maha Said, PhD (Gustave Roussy, France)
9. Kayla Snare (Undergraduate Researcher, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, US)
10. Patty Spears (Patient Research Advocate and Scientific Research Manager, Office of Clinical and Translational Research, UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, US)
11. Vicky Tan (PhD Candidate, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Australia)
12. Sushma Teegala, PhD (Lecturer, Queensborough Community College, US)
13. Hema Saranya Ilamathi, PhD (Postdoctoral Fellow at University Quebec Tois-Rivieres, Canada)
14. Chris Wang, PharmD (PGY1 Pharmacy Resident at MD Anderson Cancer Center)
15. Anthony (Tony) Tao (MD/PhD Candidate at New York University School of Medicine)
16. Colin Ong (Medical Science Writer, PhD from McGill University, Canada)
17. Yousra Iftequar (Medical student at Dr.V.R.K. Women’s Medical College, India)
18. Nicholas A. Egan (Postdoctoral researcher at Baylor College of Medicine, US)
19. Colette Bilynsky (PhD student at Carnegie Mellon University, US)
20. Andrea Lius, PhD (PhD graduate at University of Washington-School of Medicine)
21. Brittane Strahan, RN (RN, Medical Writer, MS in Nursing Education at Post University)
22. Joycelyn Ghansah, MPH (Writer, Content Consultant, MPH at Oklahoma State University)
23. Nicole Bowens, PhD (Medical Writer, PhD in Neuroscience and Neuropharmacology at Albany Medical College)
24. Dolores Mruk, PhD (Freelance Medical Writer and Editor)
25. Mariella Careaga, PhD (Science Writer, PhD in Neuroscience at Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Brazil)
26. Preeti Prangya Panda (Medical and Health Content Writer)
27. Mikayla Sheild (Clinical Assistant, BS at Arizona State University)
28. Laura Urbina, PhD (Scientific and Medical Writer, PhD at Tecnologico de Monterrey, Mexico)
29. Sandhyaa Venkatachalam

Past Contributors:

1. Sohini Basu Roy, PhD (Subject Matter Expert, Jove, India)
2. Emily Costa (PhD Candidate, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, US)
3. Mahrukh Fatima (Honours Biochemistry Student, McMaster University, Canada)
4. Karel Alcedo, PhD (Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Harvard Medical School)
5. Darshak Bhatt (PhD Student at University Medical Center Groningen)
6. Larissa Biggers (Senior Communications Specialist at Duke University Health System)
7. Anna Salamero Boix (PhD Student, Georg-Speyer-Haus. Institute for Tumor Biology and Experimental Therapy, German)
8. Emily Bonacquisti (PhD Candidate at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
9. Maryann Elizabeth Bowyer (Pharmacy Student, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
10. Gabby Budziszewski, PhD (UNC Chapel Hill, US)
11. Alejandra Canales (PhD Candidate, UW-Madison)
12. Ariana Cardillo (PhD Candidate at Purdue University)
13. Emily Chan (Biophysics PhD Candidate at Ohio State, US)
14. Chamath Chandrasekera, PhD (Research Scientist II at GenScript)
15. Nayela Chowdhury (PhD Candidate at Indiana University School of Medicine, US)
16. Leandro de Lima Coutinho (Graduate Student, Faculty of Medicine of the University of São Paulo)
17. Sneha Das (PhD candidate in Microbiology at University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, US
18. Tushar Date, PhD (Senior Business Analyst at AdametNext)
19. Varshit Dusad (MRes student, Systems and Synthetic Biology, Imperial College London)
20. Susan Egbert, PharmD (Graduate Student at University of Manitoba, Canada)
21. Aya Elmeligy (Master student in Molecule Medicine at the University of East Anglia, UK)
22. Kaitlyn Felsheim (Senior Account Executive at Spectrum Science) 
23. Aileen Fernandez, PhD (Postdoctoral Associate at Yale University)
24. Tara Fernandez, PhD (Science Communicator, Abcellera)
25. Shreyas Gaikwad (PhD candidate at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, US)
26. Kate Gavaghan (Writer, Web Publisher, and Research & Policy Analyst)
27. Pratyusha Ghanta (Doctoral Student at Kent State University, US)
28. Josh Ghofrani (PhD Candidate, The George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences)
29. Indiwari Gopallawa, PhD (Senior Scientist, Pharmacology at AstraZeneca, US)
30. Shaye Hagler, PhD (Science Communicator)
31. Emily B Harrison, PhD (Post-doctoral Research Associate, Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
32. Deepika Jayaprakash (PhD Candidate at Adam’s School of Dentistry, UNC, US)
33. Taylor Johnson (Doctoral Student, Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Brody School of Medicine, East Carolina University)
34. Prathyusha Konda, PhD (Postdoc at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute & Harvard Medical School, US)
35. Garima Khanna (Master Student, Université de Paris)
36. Yitong Li, PhD (Consultant at IQVIA)
37. Deanna MacNeil, PhD (Assistant Science Editor at The Scientist, Canada)
38. Megan Majocha (Predoctoral fellow at National Cancer Institute [NCI], US
39. Brittany Avin McKelvey, PhD (Science Policy Analyst at Friends of Cancer Research)
40. Morgan McSweeney, PhD (Scientist Immunology & Pharmaceutical Sciences)
41. Zina McSweeney, DO (Pediatric Resident)
42. Clare Meernik (PhD Candidate in Epidemiology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Gillings School of Global Public Health)
43. Snehal Midge, PhD (Pharmacovigilance Submissions Specialist at ProPharma Group)
44. Suchitra Mitra, PhD (Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Johns Hopkins Medicine) 
45. Diana Moreira (PhD Researcher at Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade do Porto)
46. Christina Niavi (PhD candidate & Laney fellow, Immunology and Molecular Pathogenesis at Emory University, US)
47. Namrata Nilavar, PhD (Postdoctoral fellow at Medical College of Wisconsin)
48. Ana Isabel Castillo Orozco (PhD Student in Human Genetics at McGill University, Canada)
49. Melanie Padalino (Chemistry PhD Student at Vanderbilt University, US)
50. Christina Parker, PhD (Postdoctoral Scientist at Eli Lilly)
51. Natalie Patzlaff, PhD (Medical Communications Manager, Global Medical Affairs at United Therapeutics Corporation) 
52. Taylor Poston, PhD, MPH (Postdoctoral Research Fellow at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
53. Kedar Puvar, PhD (Research Fellow, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute)
54. Felicites Rapon (Masters student in Pharmacy, France)
55. Bekah Schulz, PhD (Senior Regulatory Affairs Associate at Parexel)
56. Ananya Sen, PhD (Science Writer at Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology)
57. Nisitha Sengottuvel (MD-PhD Candidate, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
58. Research Engineering and Applied Collaborations in Healthcare (REACH) Lab (Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University)
59. Ryan Ripsman (Masters student in Pharmacology at University of Toronto, Canada)
60. Beth Rogoyski, PhD (Senior Lecturer at De Montfort University)
61. Sydney Scatigno (Client Manager at Charles River Laboratories, US)
62. Christina Snyder (PhD Candidate, Cancer Biology, Wake Forest University)
63. Sabarish Srinivasan (Student at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
64. Swetha Srinivasan (PhD Candidate at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
65. Aishwarya Subramanian (Senior Research Associate at Magenta Therapeutics)
66. Zoey Tang, PhD (Clinical Pharmacometrician, AstraZeneca)
67. Jason A Tetro (Visiting Scientist, College of Biological Science, University of Guelph)
68. Natasha Vinod, PhD (Visiting Fellow, National Cancer Institute)
69. Tamara Vital (PhD Candidate, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
70. Elizabeth Wayne, PhD (Assistant Professor at Carnegie Mellon University)
71. Alex Woodell (PhD Candidate, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
72. Payal Yokota, PhD (Postdoctoral Fellow at NYU Langone Health)
73. Hannah Young (PhD Graduate Student at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, US)
74. Daniel Zhong (Accelerated Research Scholar and Honors student attending the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)