The Center for Clinical and Translational Sciences (CCTS) leaders are proud to announce the appointment of the 2025 T32 predoctoral and postdoctoral trainee cohort, the first since the conclusion of the TL1 translational research training program in 2024. The T32 clinical and translational sciences training program, funded by the National Institute of Health (NIH) and led by Joya Chandra, PhD, professor at MD Anderson Cancer Center and Jeffrey Frost, PhD, Associate Dean for Academic and Faculty Affairs at the Graduate School, gives students the opportunity to participate in translational research and create and adapt laboratory discoveries for treating human diseases.   

“The new T32 for Training in Translational Science will provide students with an understanding of how discoveries in the lab ultimately get used by the public at large,” said Frost. “It also dramatically expands the population of trainees that we can reach by including our Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA) partner institutions Rice University, UT Rio Grande Valley, UT Tyler Health Science Center, and Texas Tech Health Science Center El Paso. The transition from the prior TL1 training program coincided with a new focus by the sponsoring institute National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) on translation science rather than translational research and enabled a broader reviewer base to evaluate new applications.”   

Learn more about the T32 program, meet the 2025 trainees, and learn about their unique projects and aspirations as part of the program. As they get settled into the program, several students are preparing for their first challenge, presenting their research at the Association for Clinical and Translational Science conference in Washington, D.C., in April.

Congratulations to all incoming and returning trainees! 

Predoctoral 

• Natalie West, Radiation Oncology; Mentor: Clifton Fuller, MD, PhD
• Romeesa Khan, Neurology; Mentor: Louise McCullough, MD, PhD
• Sarah Ghalayini, Cancer Biology; Mentor: Natividad Fuentes Jr., PhD 
• Xingzheng (Jason) Sun, Bioengineering, Rice University; Mentor: George Lu, PhD  

Postdoctoral 

• Hugo Lee, PhD, Experimental Therapeutics; Mentor: Xi Chen, PhD  
• Madigan Snyder, PhD, Metabolic & Degenerative Diseases; Mentor: Aaron Cox, PhD 
• Ritu Bohat, PhD, Stem Cell Transplantation Research; Mentor: Katy Rezvani, MD, PhD 

Returning T32 Trainees 

Predoctoral 

• Trey Waldrop, Radiation Physics; Mentor: Emil Schueler, PhD
• Maryam Elizondo, Genetics; Mentor: Kai Sun, MD, PhD
• Jacob Mattia, Biochemistry & Molecular Biology; Mentor: Wenbo Li, PhD
• Morgan Riba, Immunology; Mentor: Stephanie Watowich, PhD
• Gemalene Sunga, Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery; Mentor: Simon Young, DDS, MD, PhD
• Brandy Walker, MS, Pediatrics; Mentor: Rachel Miller, PhD 

Postdoctoral 

• Kaira Church, PhD, Cancer Biology; Mentor: Raghu Kalluri, MD, PhD
• Antonio Pagan, PhD, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences; Mentor: Katherine Loveland, PhD
• Lacin Yapindi, PhD, Thoracic/Head and Neck Medical Oncology; Mentor: Faye Johnson, MD, PhD