Here at OncoBites, a team of cancer professionals and advocates has gathered to share cutting-edge research with a non-specialist audience.
Manisit Das, Ph.D. (Co-Founder)
Manisit completed his Ph.D. from the Eshelman School of Pharmacy at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is a pharmaceutical scientist with eight years of experience in diverse domains of biomedical research and development with a specialty in oncology drug development, and medical/technical communication in the US, Taiwan, and India.
Manisit’s Ph.D. research focused on adjusting the immune suppressed tumor environment in pancreatic cancer using nanoparticles for drug delivery. He enjoys delving into the available evidence and identify the most compelling way to share science that delivers value and action. He 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. Manisit 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 pictures have been featured by North Carolina State Parks, The Nature Conservancy, North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission among others.
Sara Musetti (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 works 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.
Core Contributors, Fall 2019:
Sara Musetti
Ph.D. Candidate
Division of Pharmacoengineering and Molecular Pharmaceutics
Eshelman School of Pharmacy
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Manisit Das, Ph.D.
Division of Pharmacoengineering and Molecular Pharmaceutics
Eshelman School of Pharmacy
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Morgan McSweeney, Ph.D.
Division of Pharmacoengineering and Molecular Pharmaceutics
Eshelman School of Pharmacy
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Alex Woodell
Graduate Student
Division of Pharmacoengineering and Molecular Pharmaceutics
Eshelman School of Pharmacy
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Kedar Puvar
Ph.D candidate
Department of Chemistry
Purdue University
Patty Spears
Patient Research Advocate and Scientific Research Manager
Office of Clinical and Translational Research
UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center
Shaye Hagler
Ph.D. Candidate
Division of Pharmacoengineering and Molecular Pharmaceutics
Eshelman School of Pharmacy
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Nisitha Sengottuvel
M.D./Ph.D. Candidate
University of North Carolina School of Medicine
Medical Scientist Training Program
Rachel Cherney
Ph.D. Candidate, Genetics and Molecular Biology Curriculum
Pharmacology Department
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Jessica Desamero
Ph.D. Candidate
Department of Biochemistry
City University of New York (CUNY)
Taylor Johnson, M.S.
Doctoral Student
Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology
Brody School of Medicine
East Carolina University
Aishwarya Subramanian
Research Assistant
Affinivax
Zoey Tang
Graduate Research Assistant
Eshelman School of Pharmacy, UNC Chapel Hill
Tara Fernandez
Product Manager
Precision NanoSystems
Tamara Vital
Ph.D. Candidate
Genetics and Molecular Biology Curriculum
Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Kate Secombe
PhD Candidate
Adelaide Medical School, University of Adelaide, Australia
Michael Marand
Undergraduate Research Assistant
Eshelman School of Pharmacy
Keighley Reisenauer
PhD Candidate
Baylor University
Bekah Schulz
Ph.D. Candidate
Genetics and Molecular Biology Curriculum
Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Payal Yokota, Ph.D.
Post-doctoral Research Associate, NYU Langone
Alejandra Canales
PhD candidate
Neuroscience Training Program, UW-Madison
Larissa Biggers
Director of Learning
ColoWrap, LLC
Swetha Srinivasan
Ph.D. Candidate
Division of Pharmaceutical Outcomes and Policy
Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Emily Bonacquisti
Graduate research assistant
Eshelman School of Pharmacy, UNC Chapel Hill
Sabarish Srinivasan
Medical Researcher
Duke Clinical Research Institute
Daniel Zhong
Intern
Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry (CBMC)
University of North Carolina Eshelman School of Pharmacy
Natalie Patzlaff, Ph.D.
Medical Writer Freelance
Past Contributors:
Christina Parker, Ph.D. (Division of Pharmacoengineering and Molecular Pharmaceutics, Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
Emily B. Harrison, Ph.D. (Post-doctoral Research Associate, Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
Elizabeth Wayne, Ph.D. (2017 TED Fellow, Postdoctoral Fellow, NIH C-CNTP T-32, Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
Kaitlyn Felsheim (PhD student, Microbiology and Immunology, Georgetown University)
Karel Alcedo (Graduate Student, Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
Jason A. Tetro (Visiting Scientist, College of Biological Science, University of Guelph)
Yitong Li (Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, School of Medicine University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
Beth Rogoyski (Ph.D. student, University of Leicester)
Natasha Vinod (Ph.D. student, Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering at University of Chapel Hill, and NC State University)
Zina McSweeney (Medical Student (MS-IV), Campbell University School of Osteopathic Medicine)
Ananya Sen (Ph.D. student, Department of Microbiology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)
Varshit Dusad (MRes student, Systems and Synthetic Biology, Imperial College London)
