TL1 Deep South KUH PRIME Translational Research Training Program
NIH-funded pre-doctoral fellowships are available for research training in the areas broadly related to
Kidney, Urology, and non-malignant Hematology diseases.
Current Pre-Doctoral Fellows
Gillian Kelly
Early life stress mediates vascular dysfunction through reprogramming of the endothelium
Mentor: Dr. Jennifer Pollock
UAB
Katherine Mantilla
Impact of menopause on hypertension and kidney damage in polycystic ovarian syndrome
Mentor: Dr. Heddwen Brooks
Tulane University
William Spanier
Molecular clock and oxalate synthesis
Mentors: David Pollock, PhD John Knight, PhD
UAB
Hiruni Aponso
The Interplay Between Early Life Stress and Circadian Disruption on Hypertension
Mentor: David Pollock, PhD
UAB
Armaan Verma
Modeling Kidney Injury and
Cardiorenal Signaling
Using Kidney and Cardiac
Organoids: A Platform for
Studying Nephrotoxicity,
Diabetes, and Inter-Organ
Crosstalk
Mentors: Drs. Palaniappan Sethu and Timmy Lee
UAB
Ahmad Mohammad
Spatially Resolved Transcriptional Profiling of Tertiary Lymphoid Organs in Human Kidney Transplant Biopsies
Mentors: Dr. Mike Seifert
UAB
Past Pre-Doctoral Fellows
Arin Melkonian
12/01/2023-06/01/2025
The Role of Dual BRD4-RIPK3 Inhibition in AKI Pathogenesis and Recovery
Mentors: Drs. Anupam Agarwal and James George
UAB
Abby Brooks
12/01/2023-
11/30/2025
The immune ET-1/ETA axis in diabetic kidney disease
Mentors: Dr. Carmen De Miguel and Andre Ballesteros-Tato
UAB
Huy Q Nguyen
12/01/2023-
11/30/2025
Fibroblast HDAC1 activation and immune responses following acute kidney injury leading to interstitial fibrosis
Mentor: Dr. Kelly Hyndman
UAB
Tha Luong
12/01/2023-
11/30/2025
Endothelin-1 and ETa receptor activation in diet-induced obesity
Mentors: Drs. David and Jennifer Pollock
UAB
Rebecca Horowitz
01/01/2024-
12/31/2025
Mechanisms of Vaccine Hyporesponse in Hypertension
Mentors: Drs. James McLachlan and Heddwen Brooks
Tulane