Principal Investigator

C. Ryan Miller, M.D., Ph.D. is a physician-scientist, Professor and Director of the Division of Neuropathology in the Department of Pathology at UAB, and Senior Scientist in the O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center and Comprehensive Neuroscience Center. He is a graduate of Vanderbilt University (BA in Chemistry and Mathematics, 1992) and the UAB Medical Scientist Training Program (MD, PhD, 1992-2002). He completed an Anatomic Pathology residency and a Neuropathology fellowship at Washington University in St. Louis and Barnes-Jewish Hospital (2002-2006). He received his first faculty appointment at UNC Chapel Hill and the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center (LCCC), spending 12 years there, rising through the ranks to Professor. From 2008 to 2019, he served as the Faculty Director of the Translational Pathology Laboratory, a LCCC core facility. A former Damon Runyon-Genentech Clinical Investigator (2009-2012), he currently serves on the Pathology and Neuro-oncology Committees for NCI Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology (2011-present). He was a member of the TCGA Disease and Analysis Working Groups for glioblastoma and lower-grade gliomas for over a decade (2006-2016). Since establishing his independent research laboratory in 2010, he has focused on developing genetically engineered models of gliomas and their genomic and proteomic characterization for preclinical experimental therapeutics. He spends his free time coding in R, playing golf, and enjoying lake life. Email: ryanmiller {at} uabmc.edu.

Laboratory Manager

Richard Kirkman, MS is a senior research scientist who joined Dr. Miller’s lab in Spring 2025.

Graduate Students

Julia Ziebro is a Ph.D. student in the UAB Graduate Biomedical Sciences (GBS) who joined Dr. Miller’s lab in Spring 2020 after receiving her B.S. in chemistry at Northern Kentucky University. When she isn’t in lab, she enjoys rock climbing, and hiking with friends. Email: ziebroj1 {at} uab.edu.

Benjamin Lin is an MD-PhD student in the Genetics, Genomics, and Bioinformatics (GGB) theme at UAB who joined Dr. Miller’s lab in 2021. He is originally from California and received his B.S. in Biological Sciences from the University of California, Irvine, in 2017. In 2019, he relocated to Alabama to join the UAB Medical Scientist Training Program. His hobbies include photography, playing tennis, and traveling. Email: benlin {at} uab.edu

Lab Alumni

  • Ryan E. Bash, M.S. – Research Specialist – 2007 – 2024
  • Kasey R. Skinner, Ph.D. – Graduate Student – 2017-2023
  • Abigail Shelton, Ph.D. – Graduate Student – 2017-2022
  • Erin Smithberger, Ph.D. – Graduate Student – 2017-2022
  • Allie Stamper – Undergraduate – 2019 – 2021
  • Alannah Jones – Undergraduate – 2018-2019
  • Alyssa Steller – Undergraduate – 2018-2019
  • Shrey Patel – Undergraduate – 2018-2019
  • Anna Lin – Undergraduate – 2017-2019
  • Annaliese Lahey – Undergraduate – 2018-2019
  • John Clifton Brown – Undergraduate – 2018-2019
  • Courtney Quick – SURE – Undergraduate – 2018
  • Madisyn Hill – Undergraduate – 2017-2018
  • Madison Butler – Undergraduate – 2015-2018
  • Emily Stallings – SURE – Undergraduate – 2017
  • Robert McNeill, Ph.D. – Graduate Student – 2011-2017
  • Peter Cheng – Undergraduate – 2016-2017
  • Tamille Rhynes – Undergraduate -2016-2017
  • Maychoua Yang – Undergraduate – 2015-2017
  • David Irvin, Ph.D. – Graduate Student – 2011-2016
  • Ralph Schmid, Ph.D. – Research Associate – 2010-2016
  • Marissa Rice – Undergraduate- 2014-2015
  • Jessica Lam – Undergraduate- 2014-2015
  • Carolyn Liu – Undergraduate- 2014-2015
  • Muhammad Rahim – Undergraduate – 2014-2015
  • Gabrielle Williams – Undergraduate – 2014-2015
  • Annie Whitacre – Undergraduate – 2013-2016
  • Emily Stroobant – Undergraduate – 2013-2015
  • Mark Vitucci, Ph.D. – Graduate Student – 2007-2013
  • Kristen White – Research Specialist – 2008-2013
  • Daniel Roth – Research Specialist – 2009-2013
  • Stephanie Gillette – Undergraduate – 2012-2013
  • Susannah Krom – Undergraduate – 2012-2013
  • Hannah Min Yoo – Undergraduate – 2012-2013
  • James Zhu – Undergraduate – 2012-2013
  • Demitra Canoutas – Undergraduate – 2011-2015
  • Carter McCormick – Undergraduate – 2011-2015
  • Kaitlyn Lohrei – Undergraduate – 2011-2015
  • Anna Sirbu – Undergraduate – 2010-2014
  • Hannah Chae – Undergraduate – 2010-2013
  • Andrea Werneke – Undergraduate – 2010-2011, Research Specialist – 2011-2013
  • Lauren Huey – Undergraduate – 2009-2012, Research Specialist – 2012-2015
  • Greximar Mercado – SOLAR – 2010
  • Heather Thompsen – Undergraduate – 2008-2009