Mark Woodford, Alexandra Gorji, Leah Nemi, Julia Burkacki, Megan Steele, Roy Nasr, Ronen Shapiro, Jonathan Dekhtyar, Dimitra Bourboulia & Mehdi Mollapour
Outreach and Diversity Activities in the Mollapour Lab
​We are deeply committed to fostering diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility in all aspects of its research and outreach activities. Our transdisciplinary research integrates expertise from biochemistry, molecular and cell biology, and translational science to explore the regulatory mechanisms of the Hsp90 chaperone machinery. This collaborative approach drives innovation and strengthens partnerships with diverse institutions, including research-intensive universities and colleges focused on graduate and undergraduate education. By prioritizing geographic diversity and actively engaging underrepresented groups, such as women, racial and ethnic minorities, and individuals with disabilities, we cultivate a research environment enriched by varied perspectives. Through mentorship, skill development, and professional growth opportunities, the lab supports researchers at all career stages, including early-career scientists, postdoctoral fellows, and graduate students. Our summer research programs offer high school students from underrepresented groups hands-on experiences in scientific research, fostering curiosity and building a robust pipeline for future diversity in STEM fields. These efforts have enabled students to excel at events like the Central New York Science and Engineering Fair.
Alumni
High School Students
Summer 2024 Ronen Shapiro (Jamesville-Dewitt High School)
Summer 2022: Kaelin Feliu (Jamesville-Dewitt High School)
Summer 2019: Josiah S. Lee (West Genesee High School)
Summer 2019: Michael Bratslavsky (Jamesville-Dewitt High School)
Summer 2017: Bryanna T DiGregorio
Summer 2017: Victor Chen, Liverpool High School
Summer 2017: Aryanna Davila, Liverpool High School
Summer 2017: Katie Meluni, Liverpool High School
Summer 2016: Sierra J. Falcone, East Syracuse Minoa High School
Summer 2016: Kaylee Lammers, East Syracuse Minoa High School
Summer 2016: Cassie Schader, Pine Grove Middle School East Syracuse
Summer 2016: Elijah Harris, Liverpool High School
Summer 2015, 2014: Sarina Bottone, East Syracuse Minoa High School
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Special Volunteers
2024 Amitees Fazeli
2023 Alex Bever
2022 Rachel Yakubov
2018 Alan M Makedon (Paper #72)
2016-2017 Ryan Murphy (Paper #65)
2014 Jonelle Miller, (Paper #57)
2015 Dante Capriotti, (Paper #61)
2015 Sami Jamal, (Paper #57)
2016 Olga Ostrovetsky
2010-2011: Anna Konstantinova, (Paper #30, 36)
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Undergraduate Students
2024 Roy Nasr (Syracuse University)
2021 Katie Meluni (Cornell University)
2020-2021 Tyler Anderson
2019-2020 Gustavo Yepes
2019 Daniel Shulman
2018-2019 Victor Chen (Emory University)
2018-2019 Bryanna T DiGregorio (SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry), (Paper # 72)
2018-2019 Lauren Major (SUNY Upstate Medical University)
2018 Alan M Makedon (Washington University in St. Louis), (Paper #72)
2017-2018 Bryanna DiGregorio (SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry)
2017-2018 Sarah Backe, (SUNY Upstate Medical University)
2014-2015 Joseph Ciciarelli, (SUNY Upstate Medical University), (Paper #60)
2004 Robert A. Blassberg (Undergraduate Student, University of Sheffield, UK)
2003 Shandel Pariag (Undergraduate Student, University of Sheffield, UK)
2002 Dhana Fong (Undergraduate Student, UCL, UK), (Paper #13)
2001 Krishna Balakrishnan (Undergraduate Student, UCL, UK), (Paper #13)
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Medical Students
2024 Jessica L. Dobler, Upstate Medical University
2023 Michael Leyderman, Upstate Medical University
2019 Alice Licinio - San Raffaele University in Milan, Italy
2019 Lorenzo Lorenzo - San Raffaele University in Milan, Italy
2019 Louis Arens - Upstate Medical University
2019 Bethany Regan - Upstate Medical University
2019 Julian Sit - Upstate Medical University
2016 Daniel P Kaufman- Upstate Medical University
2016 Jonathon Li- Upstate Medical University
2016 Brandon Madris- St. George’s University School of Medicine- St. George’s, Grenada
2014 Raju Chelluri- Upstate Medical University, (Paper #51)
2010-2011: Ben Cohen (Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), Medical Student Scholar)
2009-2010: Mari Tokita (HHMI, Medical Student Scholar) (Paper # 32, 45)
2008-2009: Adam Kern (HHMI, Medical Student Scholar)
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Graduate Students
2022 Jennifer Heritz (PhD Candidate), Thesis: Molecular mechanism of the tumor suppressor
mediated inhibition of LDHA
2019-2023 Elham Ahanin (PhD Candidate), Thesis: Targeting the Protein Phosphatase-5 in renal cancer. (Papers #102).
2019 Xiguang Yang (Rotation)
2018 Fiza Hashmi (Rotation)
2018 Merin Roy (Rotation),
2018 Andrew Phillips (Rotation)
2017-2021 Mark Woodford (PhD), Thesis: The tumor suppressor FLCN: Endogenous inhibitor of lactate dehydrogenase-A.
2017-2022 Sarah Backe (PhD), Thesis: mTOR independent function of the Tsc1 and FNIPs.
2017-2018 Natela Dushukyan, (MS with honors), Thesis: Targeting the serine/threonine phosphatase PP5 in kidney cancer, (Paper #66).
2017 Nicholas Zehrbach (Rotation).
2017 Alexander J. Baker-Williams (Rotation), (Paper #66).
2014-2018 Rebecca Sager, (PhD with honors), Thesis: Post-translational regulation of the co- chaperone FNIP1 in cancer. (Papers #65, 66, 67).
2016 Javier Pozo (Rotation)
2013-2017 Diana Dunn, (PhD with honors), Thesis: Role of co-chaperone and post-modifications on Hsp90 drug sensitivity. (Papers #54, 56, 57, 58, 60, 61).
2013 Jacqualyn Schulman (Rotation), (Paper #54, 50).
2013 Cassandra Barnes (Rotation).
2012-2013: Sahar Khan (MSc program NIH-The Johns Hopkins University), (Paper #46, 47, 48, 51).
2010-2011: Allison Donnelly (PhD Student, The University of Kansas-NCI), (Paper #32, 35, 43).
2005-2006: Andrew Shepherd (PhD Student, University of Sheffield, UK), (Paper #23, 29).
2004-2006: James Nuttal (PhD Student, University of Sheffield, UK), (Paper #17, 19, 20, 25).
2002-2006: Andrew Truman (PhD Student, University of Sheffield, UK), (Paper #17, 19, 20).
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Technician
2023 Katie Meluni (Paper #101, 96)
2023 Sara Cayaban
2021-2023 Laura Wengert (Paper #93)
2019-2020 Alan M Makedon, (Papers #72, 73)
2014-2016 Richard Cotran- Masters Program at The George Washington University (Paper #58)
2013-2014 Taylor Remillard- Medical Student and Upstate Medical University, (Paper #54)
2013-2017 Mark Woodford, (Papers #50, 51, 54, 56, 57, 59, 60)
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Upstate Urology Residents
2022 Michael Basin MD
2020 Alexandr Pinkhasov MD
2020 Garrett Smith MD
2020 Jessica Schardein MD
2019 Priyanka Kancherla MD
2019 Michael Hughes MD
2018 Daniela Kaefer MD
2017 Michael Daneshvar MD (Paper #66)
2015 Mahmood Chehab MD (Paper #53)
2014 Alosh Madala MD (Paper #50)
2014 Mourad Abouelleil MD (Paper #58)
NCI- Research Fellows
2012-2013: Anne Walton-Diaz MD, (Papers #46, 47, 48)
2012 Armine Smith MD
2012 Anthony Hoang MD, (Papers #51)
2011 Srinivas Vourganti MD, (Papers # 36, 55)
2010 Art Rastinehad MD