The new faces of research
Meet the predoctoral fellows of the UF graduate program in biomedical sciences
Sept. 16, 2019 – For students with a propensity for scientific research, the act of peering under a microscope or collecting data can be some of life’s sweetest pleasures. The handful of students who make up the UF graduate program in biomedical sciences predoctoral fellowship program call the laboratory their home base, the place where their passion combines with work ethic to produce exciting discoveries, disappointing results and everything in between.
Meet this crop of current predoctoral fellows who have secured funding from large-scale organizations like the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation and the American Heart Association to pursue their passions for biomedical research.
John Calise

John Calise estimates he spends 50-60 hours each week working in the laboratory and reading at home about cell biology. The National Science Foundation graduate research fellow wouldn’t have it any other way — he’s fascinated by the elusive possibility of discovery that could strike at any moment his eye is glued to the microscope.
Calise’s research focuses on a subcellular structure that was only discovered in the mid-2000s. His thesis offers insight into the circumstances under which the cell forms these structures and what the structures do.
“When you do an experiment and look under the microscope — if you get a good result — in that moment, you’re the only person in the world who has that unique knowledge. Those feelings are few and far between. You live for those moments,” Calise says.
Calise credits his peers in the field of cell biology with propelling him forward in his unabating search for answers under the microscope.
“There’s a small community that studies these similar structures, and we see each other at least once a year. We motivate each other to learn things that no one else in the world knows, to become one of the world’s experts in your topic,” Calise says. “I want to contribute to uncovering the fundamentals of life.”
Kelly DeMars

The more Kelly DeMars learns about stroke, the more passionate she feels about her research to find novel therapeutic strategies to alleviate the devastating consequences of the disease.
With a stroke, the body’s immune response to dying brain tissue contributes to the spread of cell death up to days or weeks after the initial stroke. DeMars, a neuroscience doctoral student whose fellowship is funded by the American Heart Association, is in the lab with aims to treat aged male mice with strokes by repurposing a drug known to be effective at reducing inflammation caused by other diseases.
She credits the six-yearlong mentorship from Eduardo Candelario-Jalil, Ph.D., an assistant professor of neuroscience, for keeping her motivated in the face of relentless research.
“I don’t think I would have applied to graduate school or experienced as much success in my academic career without Candelario-Jalil’s level of support and dedication. He’s a great teacher and a good role model,” DeMars says. “When he gets excited about results, we all get giddy. He’s supportive, patient, understanding, thorough and committed. Even in the face of adversity, he’s kind and calm.”
Julie Bray

Julie Bray has found her life’s calling in one of the most overlooked organs of the body: the pancreas. For the last five years, Bray has researched pancreatic cancer and the molecular changes that occur when normal pancreatic cells begin the journey toward cancer development. She says her work comes at an important time for the deadly disease.
“Pancreatic cancer is essentially a death sentence, being the third-leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the U.S. with a survival rate of 6 percent,” she says. “This is a critical opportunity for research. My project will add to that knowledge pool.”
Receiving the National Institutes of Health F-31 fellowship has allowed Bray to pursue her passion for the pancreas while gaining valuable skills in communication and professional development.
“It’s mind-blowing to receive this fellowship. The impact spans beyond the financial. It affects how you communicate with other scientists and share your work,” she says. “If you can apply for grants, just try. Even if you don’t get the grant, learning what to do and what not to do in applications are equally valuable lessons. I reached out to previous recipients for advice and received paragraphs of information back. That support from fellow students blew me away. I try to pay that forward when people ask me about my award.”
Mat Sebastian

Before entering the UF MD-PhD Training Program, Mathew Sebastian spent two years as a post-baccalaureate fellow at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, where he built a foundation of knowledge in immunology that continues to fuel his research. As a current doctoral candidate, Sebastian says receiving the National Institutes of Health F30 grant has not only empowered him to do the cancer immunology research he feels passionate about — it’s afforded him the opportunity to share his work with the researchers who inspired him to devote his career to cancer research in the first place.
“I attended a Keystone Symposia entitled ‘Cancer Metastasis’ in Florence, Italy, and I got to present my work to Robert Weinberg, Ph.D., one of the foremost cancer experts. His work broke down the complexities of cancer into individual hallmarks that I could understand as an undergraduate. He helped inspire me to go into this field,” Sebastian recalls. “That was something I’ll remember forever.”
Sebastian’s research pinpoints a factor that may play a role in the way cancer spreads as well as cancer’s relationship with the immune system.
“If this factor is important for metastasis and can be targeted through the use of antibodies or small molecule inhibitors, then it could potentially be a way to stop the spread of cancer from the primary site,” Sebastian says. “Despite advances in cancer immunology, only 10-40 percent of patients of specific cancers respond to immunotherapy. The research I’m doing might help build the foundation to increase those numbers.”
Kyle Dyson

As a young child, Kyle Dyson was already sure his future would be devoted to studying the world around him. It wasn’t until his college years, however, that he realized biomedical research, specifically studying cancer immunology, would form his life’s work.
Dyson, who is a recipient of the Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award for Individual Predoctoral Fellows, is working to develop a cellular immunotherapy to treat medulloblastoma, the most common form of malignant brain tumor in children. He says leveraging the “potency and specificity” of the immune system may lead to the development of personalized treatments for cancer patients in desperate need of effective, less toxic care.
“For the worst subtypes of this disease, the survival rate is abysmal. These tumors do respond somewhat to radiotherapy, but children who respond may ultimately relapse or be left with neurological deficits and developmental delays. When you’re using these toxic treatments, you affect the brain’s ability to develop properly,” Dyson says. “The reason we come to the lab every day is to find a better solution. I’m motivated by seeing the children and families affected by this disease and knowing that if we focus our attentions on a solution, we can affect them in a positive way and provide them with less toxicity, more comfort and more time with their families.”
Melanie Shapiro

Every day in the lab, Melanie Shapiro works to answer questions about a disease that has impacted her own life since she was 5.
As the recipient of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases F31 fellowship, she studies a set of hormones called insulin-like growth factors, measuring their potential as biomarkers to predict Type 1 diabetes before a patient develops the disease. Shapiro says she’s felt driven to understand Type 1 diabetes since she was a teen with a budding interest in science.
“I was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when I was 5. When I was a teenager, my parents would clip out news articles about potential cures for Type 1 that never happened. It made me want to understand why these promising findings didn’t translate from mice models to humans,” she says.
Shapiro says measuring a patient’s levels of insulin-like growth factors could be used as a future alternative to the current standard of oral glucose tolerance testing, which draws a patient’s blood four times over three hours. Since coming to UF and beginning her research, Shapiro’s found something she’s searched for since childhood: a community of like-minded people searching for answers in diabetes.
“I didn’t have a lot of experience interacting with other people with Type 1 while I was growing up. UF has an amazing Type 1 diabetes center. A lot of my coworkers, lab technicians and the students I’ve mentored have diabetes. It’s beyond a support system; it’s a group of people who want to understand the mechanisms behind how diabetes develops and use that knowledge to help others affected by the disease,” she says.
Danielle Vermilyea

As early as her elementary school years, Danielle Vermilyea regularly checked out library books on the “lifestyles of crazy animals.” Years later, biology remains at the forefront of her mind as she now focuses on tiny bacteria and the big impact they leave on human life.
The National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research F-31 grant recipient studies bacteria that live in the mouth and the diseases that result if proper hygiene regiments aren’t followed.
“My research studies tiny, living organisms that attach to your teeth. They can cause damage if you don’t brush and floss,” she says. “My passion lies in better understanding oral bacteria in order to prevent and treat diseases that result, like periodontal disease.”
Vermilyea says her work has wide applications, as research has recently unearthed the connection between oral health and the health of the rest of the body.
“More and more research is showing that periodontal disease is linked to diseases like Alzheimer’s and rheumatoid arthritis,” she says. “If we can understand how these bacteria cause periodontal disease, we can come up with intervention strategies to prevent and treat that disease, and because of its link to other systemic diseases, we could find ways to treat those as well. It all starts at square one with basic science research.”
Olivia Bailey

When Olivia Bailey interviewed at potential graduate schools, she was impressed by the preeminence of the UF Diabetes Institute and recognized the UF College of Medicine as the perfect place to conduct her research. The National Institutes of Health F-31 grant recipient researches the immunopathogenesis of Type 1 diabetes, its process of disease development and the role the immune system plays at the cellular and molecular level.
“My work uses a low-dose immunosuppressant treatment in combination with genetically modified live bacteria that secrete the protein proinsulin, which is targeted by the immune system in Type 1 diabetes,” Bailey says.
It’s this kind of basic research that could lead to the development of new treatments for those with Type 1 diabetes, she says. The resulting therapeutic regimen could also be used to prevent an autoimmune attack against the pancreas in pre-diabetic children and individuals who receive islet transplants.
“This research could create a non-invasive and non-expensive form of treatment that could help prevent not just Type 1 diabetes but other autoimmune disorders,” she says.
Kyu Lee

As Kyu Lee thinks about her future career as a dental clinician and researcher, she feels confident that the training she’s receiving as a dual DMD/PhD student in both the colleges of Dentistry and Medicine is preparing her well for what’s ahead. Receiving The National Institutes of Health F30 grant also provides her with ample opportunities for developing her skills and knowledge base.
“My fellowship gives me the opportunity to integrate both research and clinical training, which is what I want to do for my career. It’s given me the chance to learn new techniques, to conduct independent, mentored research and to network with other fellows at conferences. It’s been very helpful,” she says.
Lee’s research focuses on dental caries, commonly known as cavities, and the bacteria that contribute or, in some cases, prevent them from occurring.
“I look at bacteria with probiotic potential that could inhibit the bacteria that cause cavities. If patients have more of these good bacteria, then they have less of a chance of getting cavities,” Lee says. “After studying the microbiome in the mouth, my perspective in treating patients has changed. It helps me think more critically about my patients’ oral and medical health.”