Director: Jenny Munson, Ph.D.
Principal Investigator
Contact
​CV
Google Scholar
PubMed
@MunsonOEL
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Jenny completed her Ph.D. at Georgia Tech in Bioengineering followed by postdoctoral research at l'Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne in Switzerland. She's a Fulbright and Whitaker Alumna and started at the University of Virginia in 2014, moving to Virginia Tech in 2017. She was promoted to Associate Professor with tenure in 2020. Though she loves science and engineering, she also loves dancing with her daughters, Sadie, and June, travel, photography, and cooking.
Research Faculty and Staff
Sharon Michelhaugh, PhD
Research Scientist
Contact
Joined: November 2021
Sharon K. Michelhaugh hails from the Midwest with a BS in Life Science and Chemistry from Otterbein College, Westerville, OH, and her PhD from the Department of Pharmacology at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, in the laboratory of Margaret E. Gnegy. Her thesis work focused on changes of gene expression in dopaminergic circuits induced by psychostimulants in rats. This work was extended to humans in a postdoctoral fellowship followed by a permanent research position in the laboratory of Michael J. Bannon at Wayne State University, Detroit, MI by studying changes in the expression and activity of dopaminergic transcription factors in in vitro culture models and in cocaine overdose victims. Sharon then switched fields to neuro-oncology as the Research Scientist of the Translational Neuro-Oncology Research Lab at Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, under the direction of Neurosurgeon Sandeep Mittal, MD where they developed cell culture and patient-derived xenograft models of primary and metastatic brain tumors. Sharon will use this expertise to contribute to the Munson Lab studies of glioblastoma and Alzheimer's Disease.
Jessica Cunningham, PhD
Research Scientist
Contact
@CunninghamJessJ
Joined: January 2022
Jessica Cunningham was born in Michigan and traveled as far south as she could get to obtain a BS (applied mathematics / astrophysics) and MS (computer science) from the Florida Institute of Technology, Melbourne, FL. Her PhD in Mathematical Oncology from Maastricht University, Netherlands, and her time at the Integrated Mathematical Oncology department at the Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, FL focused on using mathematics as a bridge to study metastatic disease at the intersection of clinical oncology and evolutionary ecology. She is particularly interested in revolutionizing how we administer currently available drugs to delay or completely prevent evolution of resistance to available therapies, drastically reducing drug usage and lengthening the overall survival of patients with metastatic disease. In the Munson Lab she will be working across projects to develop new mathematical models and tools for the analysis and integration of therapeutic responses and interstitial fluid flow. Outside of the lab, she can be found playing with her daughters Penelope and Charlotte, sticking to her astronomy roots by using her 12-inch telescope, and Olympic weightlifting.
Yanping Liang
Research Associate
Contact
Joined: May 2022
Yanping Liang was born and raised in China. She obtained her AS in Computer Science from the Shanghai Jiao Tong University in China and received her BS in Biotechnology from Worcester State University in United States. After becoming a research assistant in Dr. Deborah Kelly’s lab at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute (the former Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute) in Virginia, she studied a highly mutated tumor suppressor protein called BRCA1 using cryo-
Electron Microscopy. Later, she joined Dr. Michael Fox’s lab at Fralin Biomedical Research Institute as a research coordinator, where she developed immunopanning method to purify and culture visual neurons in vitro to investigate these neurons at cellular and molecular levels. In the Munson Lab, her major responsibility will be to maintain lab stocks of cancer cell lines. In addition, she is going to carry out diverse molecular and biological experiments across different projects. Outside of the lab, she enjoys spending her time with her family for a variety of outdoor/indoor activities such as hiking, gardening, and cooking.
Peng Jin, PhD
Senior Research Associate
Contact
CV
Joined: February 2021
Google Scholar
Dr.Peng Jin was born and raised in China. He received his BS in Bioengineering from China (2011). He then moved to South Korea and received MS in Pharmaceutical Function (2013). During his master’s research, his research was focusing on drug discovery and screening, specifically anti-amyloidosis in Alzheimer’s disease. He pursued his Ph.D. degree in Biomedical Science from the College of Medicine at Seoul National University, South Korea (2018). During his doctoral research, he developed expertise in studying how astrocyte-derived CCL20 reinforces hypoxic responses in glioblastoma. In 2019, he started his postdoctoral research at UCSF in Dr. Rohit Bose’s Lab, studying hypermutated-prostate cancer evolution via organoids, cell lines, and mouse models. Then, he joined Munson Lab in 2021 and started his new scientific journey. He is exploring fluids and flows in brain cancer and neurological disorders with mouse models. Outside of science, Peng enjoys spending time with his son and family. He also loves to snowboard and play soccer as well as indoor rock climbing.
Skylar Davis
Research Associate
Contact
Joined: August 2023
Skylar was born and raised in Alabama, where she earned her BS in biology at Jacksonville State University. Following college, she worked as a research technician at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) studying frontotemporal dementia. She then worked as a neurobiology lab manager at Duke University. After recently relocating to Virginia, she joined the Munson lab where she will use her expertise to develop and manage mouse models across all projects. Outside of work, she enjoys anything outdoors including hiking, camping, playing with her dog, and nature photography.
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Gabriela Mendes, PhD
Gabriela was born and raised in Brazil and received her BS in Biomedical Sciences (2013) and MS in Cell Biology (2015) from Federal University of Uberlandia. She then received a scholarship from the Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) in 2015 and moved to the US to pursue her PhD. She attended the Genetics Program at Texas A&M University where her research focused on protein-based materials and neovascularization. She joined the Munson lab as a postdoctoral researcher in July 2021 to work with CAR T-cell immunotherapy for glioblastoma. Outside the lab, Gabriela enjoys spending time with her husband, watching movies, traveling, doing embroidery, and video chatting with her family— especially with her niece and nephew.
Caleb Stine
Research Associate
Contact
Joined: August 2017
he/him/his
CV
Caleb was born and raised in Ohio and attended Ohio University where he received a BS in Mechanical Engineering. Following school, he worked as an engineer in the automotive and construction fields, but his desire to improve lives brought him to the biomedical field. He is excited to bring his background and experiences to the Munson lab to study the cancer cell microenvironment. In his free time, Caleb enjoys being outside, spending time with his wife, daughter, and two cats, woodworking, and playing basketball.
Austin Hoggarth, M.D.
Neurosurgery Fellow
Contact
Joined: July 2023
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Austin Hoggarth is a Neurosurgery Fellow at the Carilion Clinic in Roanoke, VA. He will be working in the Munson Lab for one year on projects related to fluid flow and patient-specific models of glioblastoma.
Graduate and Medical Students
Naciye Atay
Graduate Research Assistant
Contact
Joined: August 2018
A Turkish-American who lived most of her life in North Carolina, Naciye is a proud Tar Heel who earned a BS in Biomedical and Health Sciences Engineering from the Joint Department of BME at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University. Afterwards she ventured to Blacksburg to pursue her PhD in the Munson Lab. Her research focuses on understanding the role of CXCL12 and CXCR4 in flow-mediated glioma invasion. Outside of the lab she is a complete adrenaline junkie, although she also enjoys more normal activities such as photography and watching Turkish soap operas.
Cora Carman Esparza
Graduate Research Assistant
Contact
Joined: January 2019
Twitter: @cora_esparza
she/her
Cora received her bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering at New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology in May of 2018. Since then, she has married and moved from her hometown of Rio Rancho, NM to Blacksburg, VA to pursue her PhD in Biomedical Engineering. During her time in the Munson lab, she will study vasculature in in vivo and in vitro models. Outside of research, Cora and her husband have a vast list of entertainment activities, some of which include: board games, water sports, racquetball, gardening, and cooking. Cora is an NSFGRFP Awardee! Cora will also be traveling to Spain in 2022 to conduct research sponsored by the IIE-GIRE program (Read about this award and her work here).
Savieay Esparza
Graduate Research Assistant
Contact
Joined: August 2018
New Mexican from birth, Savieay attended New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, where he earned a BS in Biomedical Sciences with a concentration in Biochemical Engineering in 2018.
He has joined the Munson and Verbridge labs to study lymphatic and endothelial interaction in a 3D model. When not in the lab, Savieay loves to spend time wife his wife, cook "Xmas" style with (Hatch Red and Green Chile), play soccer, racquetball, board/video games, and hike.
Zoey Gong
Graduate Research Assistant
Contact
Joining: Spring 2024
Zoey is our newest graduate student joining us after completing her M.S. with Molly Stevens at Imperial College London.
Jennifer Hammel
Graduate Research Assistant
Contact
Joined: Fall 2020
@JennHammel11
she/her
Jenn received her BS in Bioengineering from Temple University in Philadelphia, PA. As an undergraduate, she was an NIH MARC scholar and studied the cross-talk between adipocytes and endothelial cells in an engineered adipose tissue model in the BellasFATLab. Her research interests include tissue engineeeing, in vitro disease models, and cell-cell communication. She will now move to Roanoke, VA to pursue her PhD in Biomedical Engineering in the Munson Lab as a VT ICTAS Doctoral Scholar. Outside of the lab, Jenn enjoys hiking, reading true crime and mystery novels, and playing with her two cats.
Samantha Haynes
B.S/M.S. Student
Major: Biomedical Engineering
Class of 2024
Samantha Howerton
Graduate Research Assistant
Contact
Joined: June 2021
she/her
Samantha is a West Virginia native that has been asking questions about disease physiology since high-school A&P. She began studying cancer biology as an undergraduate at Concord University and has joined the Munson lab to characterize the glioblastoma microenvironment for treatment development. Samantha is pursuing her Ph.D. in Translational Biology, Medicine, and Health from Virginia Tech. Outside of the lab, Samantha greatly enjoys creative activities like colored pencil drawing and 3D modeling, but most of all adventuring with her husband and reading Tolkien together.
Rhea John
Graduate Research Assistant
Contact
Joined: January 2022
she/her/hers
Rhea was born in and raised in Pune, India. She completed her Bachelors in Electronics and Telecommunications Engineering from University of Pune in 2019. However, she wanted to make a difference in healthcare and give back to society. Keeping that in mind, she moved to the United States for her MS in Biomedical Engineering at State University of New York, Binghamton. She joined the Munson lab at Virginia Tech for her PhD in Biomedical Engineering in January 2022 with a research focus on the Fluid flow in Alzheimer's Disease and the use of FUS as a therapeutic mechanism for pediatric gliomas. In her free time she loves to dance, play soccer, try cooking different culinary fusions and play with her dog!
Sarah Kremer
Medical Student Research Assistant
Contact
Joined: November 2021
she/her
Sarah was born and raised in Southern California. She attended UCLA where she received her BS in Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics in 2020. While at UCLA, Sarah worked in the Ribas lab where she studied melanoma and sarcoma and their response to various types of immunotherapy. Sarah is now pursuing her MD degree at Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine. She is excited to join the Munson Lab in early 2022. Outside of school and the lab, Sarah likes to read, hike, practice yoga, and spend time with friends and family.
Lincoln Kartchner
Medical Student Research Assistant
Contact
Joined: February 2023
Lincoln is a second year medical student at VT-Carilion School of Medicine. He completed his B.S. in Biomedical Engineering at Johns Hopkins.
Joseph Owens
Graduate Research Assistant
Contact
Joined: 2022
Joseph was born in England and grew up in southern New Hampshire. He received a bachelor's degree in biology at Keene State College along with minors in chemistry and computer science. During undergrad Joseph worked in a lab for three years studying the interactions between arsenic and nutrition. He moved to Roanoke in 2020 to pursue a PhD in Translational Biology Medicine and Health and Joined the Munson Lab in 2022 where he will do research that will prepare him to work in regenerative medicine. Outside of the lab Joseph enjoys drawing and painting, traveling, and outdoor activities such as hiking and kayaking.
Aileen Suarez
Graduate Research Assistant
Contact
Joined: Fall 2020
Website: https://linktr.ee/Romeacs
they/them
Aileen is from Miami, Florida, and graduated from the Georgia Institute of Technology with a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering in 2019. They are excited to join the Munson and STRETCH lab to study lymphatic interactions in female reproductive tissue. Outside of science they enjoy spending time with family, dancing, critiquing movies, and going to art museums.
Undergraduate Students
Louna Abdalla
Undergraduate Research Assistant
Major: Material Science and Engineering
Class of 2023
Caroline O'Brien
Undergraduate Research Assistant
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Adam Klumpp
Undergraduate Research Assistant
Major: General Engineering
Class of 2025
Caroline O'Brien
Undergraduate Research Assistant
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Sophia Schumaecker
Roanoke Valley Governor’s School Student Researcher
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