Adna Curukovic, M.S., Ed.D.
Adna received her B.S. in Biomedical Sciences from Northwestern State University. In 2015, she completed her M.S. in Molecular and Cellular Biology at Louisiana State University in Shreveport. During her master’s studies, Adna worked in the laboratory of Dr. Tara Williams-Hart, whose research was focused on finding the potential molecular targets of a putative anti-cancer drug, fusarochromanone (FC101). In 2019, Adna received her doctoral degree in Healthcare Leadership from LSU Shreveport. A former number 1 ranked tennis player in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Adna also holds a USPTA certification and teaches tennis in her free time.
Shweta Tiwary, Ph.D.
Shweta received a B.S. degree in Biotechnology from Banasthali University in 2011. In 2013, she completed her M.S. degree from Banasthali University. During her Master dissertation she worked on the role of Ayurvedic drugs on apoptosis in Drosophila at Banaras Hindu University (BHU). She obtained her Ph.D. in Biological Sciences from the Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB) in New Delhi, India in 2020. During her graduate studies, she focused on studying the role of Mitochondria-associated membrane (MAM) proteins in islet cell apoptosis in diabetes. In her free time, she enjoys dancing and painting. She also loves gardening and has a small garden of her own.
Cristina Guerena, B.S.
Cristina earned her B.S. degree in Cellular and Molecular Biochemistry from the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) in 2022. During her time at UTEP, she participated in the esteemed research program known as BUILDing Scholars, which is designed to engage students more deeply in the STEM field. During her sophomore year at UTEP she joined a lab under Dr. Renato Aguilera and studied the cytotoxicity of various compounds against cancerous and non-cancerous cell lines. In her free time she enjoys spending time outdoors either playing tennis or walking my dogs.
Maddie Goodman
Maddie currently attends Denison University and is expected to graduate in May 2025 with a B.S. in Biochemistry. She will join the Jewell lab as a participant of UT Southwestern's Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship in the summer of 2024. At Denison, Maddie has conducted research in Dr. Rachel Mitton-Fry's lab, working on the characterization of catalytic RNA, notably MTR1. Maddie plays on the varsity women's basketball team at Denison and enjoys reading in her spare time.
Tshering Lama-Sherpa, Ph.D.
Tshering (Tesh) Lama-Sherpa is originally from Nepal. After completing her bachelor's degree at Mississippi University for Women, she joined the Ph.D. program in Cancer Biology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham in 2015. Her Ph.D. research project focused on understanding the role of the hedgehog signaling pathway in cellular defense against toxic DNA damages and adaptation to the hypoxic breast tumor microenvironment.
Praneeth Moturi, B.S.
Fall 2023 - Starting Medical School
Praneeth received his B.S. in Biology from University of Texas at Dallas in 2020. Previously, he volunteered in Dr. Zhang's lab assisting with identifying the role of heme in neuronal development and how altered heme homeostasis leads to Alzheimer's disease. He joined the Jewell lab to continue expanding his understanding of molecular and cell biology as well as cancer biology. In his free time, he likes to play football and basketball and volunteer at COVID-19 vaccination drives.
Greg Urquhart
Greg has an AAS degree in biotechnology from Collin College. He has been at UT Southwestern Medical Center since 2001.
Amana Khan
Aamna is a current student at UT Dallas and will graduate in May 2025 with a B.S. in Neuroscience. Prior to joining the Jewell Lab, she was studying the effects of substance abuse on the neural circuitry of rodents under Dr. Sven Kroener. In her free time, she enjoys rock climbing.
Solangie Pulido-Gomez, B.S.
Solangie received her bachelor's degrees in Genetics and Biochemistry at Clemson University. She joined the Jewell lab as part of the Postbaccalaureate to PhD (PB2PHD) Program.
While at Clemson, Solangie worked with Dr. Kimberely Paul, studying fatty acid uptake in the parasite Trypanosoma brucei. In her free time, Solangie likes to run and read.