Recent Graduates/Past Members

Emma Bentley

Emma Bentley is an undergraduate student majoring in general biology and studio art at the University of Rochester. During her gap year after graduation, Emma intends to complete a Master’s degree in Legal studies with a concentration in healthcare law before attending medical school. She serves as a clinical research assistant for CCPL and is contributing to the nationwide cohort investigating the effects of chemotherapy on cognitive function in breast cancer patients and non-cancer control participants.

Emma enjoys cooking, skiing, and exploring upstate New York in her free time.

Mark Gallagher

Mark supports the Biobanking aspect of the CCPL lab. This involves moving the clinical samples from large tubes and cardboard kits into capillary straws and goblets using the newly purchased CBS MAPI System. He has been a lab tech at URMC since 1980.

Devin Hott

Devin Hott is currently a sophomore at the University of Rochester. She is majoring in Bioethics, with a double minor in Genetics and Clinical Psychology. On campus, she is the secretary of the D'Lions; an organization devoted to community service and helping freshman adjust to college life. In her free time, she is a founding member of an improv comedy troupe on campus. In the lab, she works under Dr. Janelsins and spends most of her time working with Bryan Thompson in investigating the effects of chemotherapy drugs on the brain tissue of mice.

Aaron Huynh

Aaron Huynh is a Post-Baccalaureate Research Education Program (PREP) Scholar serving as a research assistant for CCPL as he applies to Neuroscience Ph.D. programs. He received his B.S. in Brain & Cognitive Sciences from the University of Rochester in 2022. As an undergraduate, Aaron worked with Martina Poletti in the Active Perception Lab, Duje Tadin in the Tadin Lab, as well as Elise Piazza in the Piazza Lab. His research background includes human vision and psychophysics, perception and action, as well as psycholinguistics and human prosody. He is currently contributing to a longitudinal project investigating how biomarker concentrations may affect cancer-related cognitive impairments (CRCIs) in a nationwide cohort of breast cancer and Hodgkin's lymphoma patients seeking chemotherapy.

In his free time, Aaron enjoys playing lacrosse, cooking, and exploring the art, music, and outdoor scenery around the city of Rochester.

Lianlian Lei

Lianlian Lei is a Research Assistant for CCPL.  She obtained her M.A. in economics and is now a doctoral candidate in the Health Service Research and Policy program in the department of Public Health Sciences.  Her project investigates the associations between biomarkers, cognition, and frailty among breast cancer patients.

In her spare time she likes playing tennis, badminton, table tennis, hiking, and travel.

Jazsmine Robinson

I am one of the lab techs at the CCPL. I received my bachelors in Biological Sciences from Louisiana State University in 2022. After graduating, I worked in a Genetics Lab that required me to maintain fruit fly stock collection and perform experiments with those flies such as RT-PCR and Western Blotting. I now contribute to checking in and entering biospecimens in the database and assist with Luminex Kits. In my spare time, I like to cook, travel, play the guitar, write lyrics and spend time with friends.

Paige Van Haute

Paige Van Haute is one of the lab techs for CCPL. She received her B.S. in Molecular Genetics from the University of Rochester in 2021. Following her graduation, Paige worked as a lab tech for Infinity Biologix growing cancer cell lines and supporting the company’s biobanking needs before returning to Rochester. She assists CCPL with assays and is responsible for receiving and checking in assorted biospecimen shipped to the lab for the various NCORP studies.

In her free time, Paige enjoys crocheting, playing in the local Wind Symphony, and spending time with her friends and family.

Zach Werner

Zach Werner is from Rochester and graduated from SUNY Geneseo with a biochemistry degree this past May.  He is currently applying to medical school with plans to attend next summer.  In the lab he is assisting with Dr. Kern’s radiotoxicity research as well as Dr. Janelsins’ CRCI project.

In his spare time, he enjoys spending time with friends and family as well as playing rugby.

Annalynn Williams

Dr. Williams recently defended her Ph.D. in Epidemiology under the mentorship of Dr. Janelsins and Dr. van van Winjgaarden. She received at prestigious F99/K00 award from NCI. She is now pursuing a post-doctoral fellowship at St. Jude under the mentorship of Dr. Kevin Krull and Dr. Les Robison.
 

Rachel Yang

Rachel Yang is currently a senior at the University of Rochester.  She is a microbiology major, and she will be staying for a fifth year at UR through the Take 5 Program.  As a T5 Scholar, she will be studying mainly philosophy and art during her fifth year.  Rachel recently was named a Fulbrigth Scholar and will be traveling to South Korea to teach English next year.      

On campus, she is an EMT-B and is an active member of the River Campus Medical Emergency Response Team.  Rachel is also a Teaching Assistant for organic chemistry and genetics.  In her free time, she works as a patient care technician at Unity Hospital on the neurosurgical unit.  In the lab, she works under Dr. Janelsins and closely with Bryan Thompson in investigating the effects of chemotherapy drugs on cells in the brain tissue.