Executive Committee
Administration
The PDA Executive Committee administers the Postdoctoral Association. Their job is to coordinate the activities of several subcommittees, which deal with issues such as benefits, career development, social activities, and maintenance of the PDA web site.
PDA Executive Committee Members
Rajesh Ramakrishnan, Ph.D. (President)
Dr. Ramakrishnan obtained a M.Sc. degree in Microbiology from University of Bombay in India. Then he worked at Franco-Indian Pharmaceuticals and Rhone-Poulenc (I) Ltd (now Aventis) in Bombay. Dr. Ramakrishnan received a Ph.D. in Microbiology & Immunology from University of Arizona in 2005. His dissertation was on molecular mechanisms of HIV-1 infection in cord blood mononuclear cells and mechanisms of HIV-1 perinatal transmission. He is currently a postdoctoral associate in Andy Rice's lab (Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology) focusing on identifying the activating kinase of Cdk9 and the kinetics of CDk9 regulation in primary cells relevant to HIV-1 infection.
Joseph Hyser, Ph.D. (Vice President)
Dr. Hyser earned a Bachelor of Arts degree for Biology and Philosophy from Augustana College, Rock Island, Illinois in 1999. For his doctoral thesis work, Dr. Hyser examined the antigenic structure and mapped the calcium binding sites of the rotavirus nonstructural protein 4 (NSP4) in the lab or Dr. Mary Estes, Ph.D. at Baylor College of Medicine. Dr. Hyser earned his Ph.D. in 2007 and is continuing in the Estes lab as a Postdoctoral Fellow. His work focuses on determining the mechanisms of how NSP4 disrupts cellular calcium homeostasis in rotavirus-infected cells.
Juan Chang, Ph.D. (Secretary)
Dr. Chang obtained his B.S. Biochemistry (1999) and B.S. Computer Science (2000) from the University of Texas at Austin. His dissertation "Synergistic Approaches for Virus Structure Determination" lead to a Ph.D. in Structural and Computational Biology and Molecular Biophysics (2007) from Baylor College of Medicine. He is currently a postdoctoral associate in Wah Chiu's lab using cryo electron microscopy and tomography to determine and understand the structure of various biological specimens.
Felicity Ashcroft, Ph.D.
Dr. Ashcroft received her Bachelor of Science degree in Physiology (1996) and Ph.D. in Molecular and Cellular Physiology (2003) from the University of Liverpool, UK. Her thesis focused on the role and regulation of regenerating gene protein in the gastric epithelium. Currently, she is a postdoctoral associate in Mike Mancini's lab (Molecular and Cellular Biology) using high-throughput microscopy-based approaches to study nuclear receptor biology.
Owen Kavanagh, Ph.D.
Dr. Kavanagh received a Bachelor of Science degree (Pharmacology) from the University College Dublin, Ireland, in 1996. He then obtained his Ph.D. in Immunology from Queens' University Belfast in 2003, developing and testing biodegradable microparticles as a vaccine delivery system. Currently, he is a postdoctoral associate in Mary Estes' lab (Molecular Virology & Microbiology) working on viruses that infect the gastrointestinal tract.
Dr. Gustavo Rodriguez completed his Ph.D. in Pharmacology at Purdue University. Gustavo is a postdoctoral fellow in Theodore G. Wensel's laboratory (Dept. of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology) where he combines bioinformatics and biochemical approaches to elucidate mechanism for G protein-coupled receptors selectivity and activation. He is currently a fellow in the Pharmacoinformatics Training Program at the Keck Center of the Gulf Coast Consortia.
Veronica Tovar-Sepulveda, Ph.D.
Dr.Tovar-Sepulveda finished both undergraduate studies in Biology and Master Degree in Genetics and Biochemistry, under the combined German "Diplom" degree at the University of Heidelberg, Germany. Her master thesis focused on investigating whether the total MMTV superantigen expression from a full-length provirus is altered in response to dexamethasone treatment and the relationship between MMTV and mammary carcinogenesis at the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) also in Heidelberg. Dr.Tovar-Sepulveda did her dissertation research for Ph.D.in the Department of Pharmacology & Toxicology at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, TX. Her dissertation focused on studying the effect of PTHrP on growth regulation of human breast and prostate cancer cell lines, as well as the use of 1,25-dihydroxy-vitamin D and its non-hypercalcemic analogs as possible cancer treatments. Her first postdoctoral research, also at UTMB, focused on the effect of oxidative stress and inflammation on insulin signaling during aging. Dr.Tovar-Sepulveda is doing her second postdoctoral research in Carolyn L. Smith's lab at the Molecular and Cellular Biology Department working again with cancer, this time studying the role of ER on the chemoprevention of bladder cancer.
Gil Gilbert, Ph.D. (Associate Dean for Academics and Postdoctoral Research)
Dr. H. F. (Gil) Gilbert, senior associate dean for Admissions and Academic Affairs, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences; professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. He is available if you have any academic or professional difficulties during your stay here at Baylor. His laboratory research focuses on the mechanisms of chaperone-mediated protein folding.
Paula Aracena, Ph.D. (Ex-Officio) Dr. Aracena received her Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences from the University of Chile (Santiago, Chile). Her main expertise is protein biochemistry but she is trying to learn more Molecular Biology. She is very interested in the regulation of cellular signaling by reduction-oxidation (redox) reactions; currently, she is studying the redox modulation of Ryanodine receptors. These massive proteins (about 570 KDa per subunit and 2.3 MDa per homotetramer) are Ca2+-release channels involved in several physiological processes, including muscle contraction and learning/memory.