Here at OncoBites, a team of cancer professionals and advocates has gathered to share cutting-edge research with a non-specialist audience.
Manisit Das (Co-Founder)
Manisit is a 4th year Ph.D. candidate in the Eshelman School of Pharmacy at UNC-Chapel Hill. Manisit’s research focuses on adjusting the immune suppressed tumor environment in pancreatic cancer using nanoparticles for drug delivery. 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 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 for Summer 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. Candidate
Division of Pharmacoengineering and Molecular Pharmaceutics
Eshelman School of Pharmacy
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Morgan McSweeney
PhD Candidate
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
Christina Parker
Ph.D. Candidate
Division of Pharmacoengineering and Molecular Pharmaceutics
Eshelman School of Pharmacy
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
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
Ariana L. Cardillo
PhD Candidate
Hrycyna Laboratory
Department of Chemistry
Purdue University
Jessica Desamero
Ph.D. Candidate
Department of Biochemistry
City University of New York (CUNY)
Taylor B. Poston, Ph.D., MPH
Postdoctoral Fellow, Training Program in STDs and HIV
Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, School of Medicine
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Taylor Johnson, M.S.
Doctoral Student
Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology
Brody School of Medicine
East Carolina University
Varshit Dusad
MRes student
Systems and Synthetic Biology
Imperial College London
Past Contributors:
- Emily B. Harrison, Ph.D. (Post-doctoral Research Associate, Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
- Payal Yokota, Ph.D. (Post-doctoral Research Associate, NYU Langone)
- 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)
- Bekah Schulz (Ph.D. Candidate, Genetics and Molecular Biology Curriculum, Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
- Karel Alcedo (Graduate Student, Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
- Tamara Vital (Ph.D. Candidate, Genetics and Molecular Biology Curriculum, Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, 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)
- Swetha Srinivasan (Ph.D. Candidate, Division of Pharmaceutical Outcomes and Policy Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
