People


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 Anatomic Pathology residency and Neuropathology fellowships 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 2008-2019, he served as Faculty Director for 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 or playing golf and legend has it he once ate a banana. Email: ryanmiller@uabmc.edu.

Lab Manager

Ryan Bash is the Miller lab manager and obtained his master’s degree in Genetics and Molecular Biology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is an awesome rock climber, snowboarder, and dog/cat dad. Email: rbash@uabmc.edu.

Graduate Students

Kasey Skinner is a Ph.D. candidate who joined Dr. Miller’s lab in the spring of 2017 after receiving her B.S. in Chemistry from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her research focuses on the genomics and epigenetics of pediatric gliomas with histone mutations. When she’s not in the lab, she can probably be found anywhere outside, hiking with her pups Aspen and Echo, running, or doing yoga. Email: krskinne@uab.edu.

Abby Shelton is a Ph.D. candidate in Pathology at the University of North Carolina who joined the lab in 2017. Her projects involve elucidating the mechanisms of EGFR (epidermal growth factor receptor) mediated acquired drug resistance in glioblastoma. She uses transcriptomic and proteomic techniques to profile sensitive and resistant cell lines to identify potential molecular targets for novel therapies for GBM. In her spare time she enjoys reading, couponing, running, rock climbing, and taking care of her animal menagerie (two cats and two hedgehogs… for now). Email: abbyk93@email.unc.edu.

Erin Smithberger is a Ph.D. candidate in Pathology at the University of North Carolina who joined Dr. Miller’s lab in 2017. She is studying EGFR inhibitor resistance and genotypic effects in glioblastoma.  She graduated from Virginia Tech with a B.S. in biochemistry and M.S. degrees in Cancer Biology and Translational Science from The University of Chicago.  She enjoys sleeping, rock climbing, and acquiring conference swag. Email: erinsmithberger@gmail.com.

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@uab.edu.

Benjamin Lin is a 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@uab.edu

Undergraduates

Allie Stamper graduated from UAB in spring of 2020 with a B.S. in Biomedical Sciences. She took a gap year in the Miller lab in 2021 before joining the NIH Post-baccalaureate Program (2021-2023). In her free time, Allie enjoys hiking, rock climbing, and aerial silks. Her favorite hike so far was the Colorado Trail!

Lab Alumni

  • 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 – 2018
  • Madisyn Hill – Undergraduate – 2017-2018
  • Madison Butler – Undergraduate – 2015-2018
  • Emily Stallings – SURE – 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

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