Team OncoBites

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

Manisit Das, PhD (Co-Founder; Co-Manager, Spring 2022)

As a Medical Writer at MedThink SciCom, Manisit is currently responsible for providing educational medical writing support and developing strategic insights for pharmaceutical clients, specifically in the areas of neurology and oncology. He has a cumulative ten years of experience in scientific writing and preclinical research, working with academic and industry teams in the United States, Taiwan, and India. His therapeutic areas of expertise are gastrointestinal oncology and drug delivery platforms.

Manisit earned his MS in Chemistry from the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur and a PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, working on drug development for pancreatic cancer.

Manisit co-organized and chaired the organizing committee of ComSciCon Triangle, a workshop designed to empower STEM graduate students to communicate the concepts in their field and beyond to diverse audiences. He has comprehensive experience in medical and technical communication in a wide variety of formats, including community outreach with K-12 students in the US and Canada. He has been invited by North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences to deliver Science Saturday Talks to the general public on topics such as Immunity and Cancer. He is also passionate about conservation and outdoors. His photography have been featured by North Carolina State Parks, The Nature Conservancy, North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission among others.

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.

Kate Secombe, PhD (Co-Manager, Spring 2022)

Kate Secombe 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.

Core Contributors, Spring 2022:

1. Keighley Reisenauer, PhD (Postdoctoral Teaching Fellow, Baylor University, US)
2. Bhavuk Garg, PhD (Postdoctoral Researcher, Cleveland Clinic, US)
3. Vicky Tan (PhD Candidate, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Australia)
4. Mahrukh Fatima (Honours Biochemistry Student, McMaster University, Canada)
5. Jessica Desamero (Researcher, PhD Candidate at City University of New York, US)
6. Michael Marand (Undergraduate Researcher, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, US)
7. Ifeoluwa Oyelade (Clinical Trial Assistant, Reliance Clinical, Nigeria)
8. Sushma Teegala, PhD (Lecturer, Queensborough Community College, US)
9. Maha Said, PhD (Gustave Roussy, France)
10. Aishat Motolani (PhD Candidate, Indiana University, US)
11. Emily Costa (PhD Candidate, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, US)
12. Sohini Basu Roy, PhD (Subject Matter Expert, Jove, India)
13. Gabrielle Dardis (PhD Candidate, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, US)
14. Rachel Cherney (PhD Candidate, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, US)
15. Kayla Snare (Undergraduate Researcher, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, US)
16. Anna Salamero Boix (PhD Student, Georg-Speyer-Haus. Institute for Tumor Biology and Experimental Therapy, Germany)
17. Deanna MacNeil, PhD (Medical Writer, IC Axon, Canada)
18. Gabby Budziszewski, PhD (UNC Chapel Hill, US)
19. Susan Egbert, PharmD (Canada)

Past Contributors:

1. Patty Spears (Patient Research Advocate and Scientific Research Manager, Office of Clinical and Translational Research, UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center)
2. Morgan McSweeney, PhD (Scientist Immunology & Pharmaceutical Sciences)
3. Alex Woodell (PhD Candidate, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
4. Kedar Puvar, PhD (Research Fellow, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute)
5. Shaye Hagler, PhD (Science Communicator)
6. Nisitha Sengottuvel (MD-PhD Candidate, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
7. Taylor Johnson (Doctoral Student, Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Brody School of Medicine, East Carolina University)
8. Aishwarya Subramanian (Senior Research Associate at Magenta Therapeutics)
9. Zoey Tang, PhD (Clinical Pharmacometrician, AstraZeneca)
10. Tara Fernandez, PhD (Science Communicator, Abcellera)
11. Tamara Vital (PhD Candidate, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
12. Bekah Schulz, PhD (Senior Regulatory Affairs Associate at Parexel)
13. Payal Yokota, PhD (Postdoctoral Fellow at NYU Langone Health)
14. Alejandra Canales (PhD Candidate, UW-Madison)
15. Larissa Biggers (Senior Communications Specialist at Duke University Health System)
16. Swetha Srinivasan (PhD Candidate at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
17. Emily Bonacquisti (PhD Candidate at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
18. Sabarish Srinivasan (Student at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
19. Daniel Zhong (Accelerated Research Scholar and Honors student attending the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
20. Natalie Patzlaff, PhD (Associate Scientific Publications Manager, Global Medical Affairs at United Therapeutics Corporation) 
21. Christina Parker, PhD (Postdoctoral Scientist at Eli Lilly)
22. Emily B Harrison, PhD (Post-doctoral Research Associate, Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
23. Elizabeth Wayne, PhD (Assistant Professor at Carnegie Mellon University)
24. Kaitlyn Felsheim (Senior Account Executive at Spectrum Science) 
25. Karel Alcedo, PhD (Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Harvard Medical School)
26. Jason A Tetro (Visiting Scientist, College of Biological Science, University of Guelph)
27. Yitong Li, PhD (Consultant at IQVIA)
28. Beth Rogoyski, PhD (Senior Lecturer at De Montfort University)
29. Natasha Vinod, PhD (Visiting Fellow, National Cancer Institute)
30. Zina McSweeney, DO (Pediatric Resident)
31. Ananya Sen, PhD (Science Writer at Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology)
32. Varshit Dusad (MRes student, Systems and Synthetic Biology, Imperial College London)
33. Aileen Fernandez, PhD (Postdoctoral Associate at Yale University)
34. Anthony (Tony) Tao (MD/PhD Candidate at New York University School of Medicine)
35. Ariana Cardillo (PhD Candidate at Purdue University)
36. Brittany Avin McKelvey, PhD (Science Policy Analyst at Friends of Cancer Research)
37. Chamath Chandrasekera, PhD (Research Scientist II at GenScript)
38. Chris Wang, PharmD (PGY1 Pharmacy Resident at MD Anderson Cancer Center)
39. Christina Snyder (PhD Candidate, Cancer Biology, Wake Forest University)
40. Clare Meernik (PhD Candidate in Epidemiology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Gillings School of Global Public Health)
41. Darshak Bhatt (PhD Student at University Medical Center Groningen)
42. Diana Moreira (PhD Researcher at Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade do Porto)
43. Garima Khanna (Master Student, Université de Paris)
44. Josh Ghofrani (PhD Candidate, The George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences)
45. Kate Gavaghan (Writer, Web Publisher, and Research & Policy Analyst)
46. Leandro de Lima Coutinho (Graduate Student, Faculty of Medicine of the University of São Paulo)
47. Maryann Elizabeth Bowyer (Pharmacy Student, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
48. Prathyusha Konda (PhD Candidate, Dalhousie University)
49. Research Engineering and Applied Collaborations in Healthcare (REACH) Lab (Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University)
50. Snehal Midge, PhD (Pharmacovigilance Submissions Specialist at ProPharma Group)
51. Suchitra Mitra, PhD (Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Johns Hopkins Medicine) 
52. Tushar Date, PhD (Senior Business Analyst at AdametNext)
53. Taylor Poston, PhD, MPH (Postdoctoral Research Fellow at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)