Former Ph.D. Student Graduates

Shelli "Elf" Williams

Dr. Williams is a May 2006 graduate of the Shack and currently works for the Department of Defense.  Shelli worked as a scientific consultant with the MITRE corporation and the Central Intelligence Agency following postdoctoral training in forensic sciences and biodefense. Doc Elf is also an author, having written a textbook with the Docs C. called Integrated Genomics: A Discovery Based Laboratory Course sold internationally by  John Wiley & Sons.  Our beloved Elf was also the primary person responsible for establishing our epilepsy research where her work was the subject of an international press release from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute

Songsong "David" Cao (see "Right Hand Men...and Women" page)

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Former Research Staff

Lindsay Faircloth

Our former amazingly fabulous research technician, Lindsay has headed by to the land of the Tar Heels to pursue her doctorate in biochemisty at UNC-Chapel Hill. Lindsay was the lead author on a manuscript published in Cell Stress & Chaperones while in da Shack.

Cody Locke

Cody, who started in The Shack as a freshman and ended as a post-grad technician, was a 2005 Goldwater Scholarship recipient and was named THREE TIMES named to the USA Today All-USA College Academic Team. In 2003, Cody was chosen as 1 of only 4 nationwide recipients of the Benjamin Cummings Biology Prize. He was the recipient of The Merit Award from the National Society of Collegiate Scholars. As President of the UA chapter of Beta Beta Beta national biology honor society, he was Editor-in-Chief of JOSHUA for 2 years and founder/webmaster of the online edition.  Among his many accomplishments, Cody developed a novel public database on the genetics of epilepsy, aptly named CarpeDB, which was featured in Biotechniques, Epilepsy USA, and  Science magazine.
  As the leader of "Team Seize", Cody was co-author of research articles published in Human Molecular Genetics , Brain Research, Neuroscience Letters, and Innovations in Epilepsy Research (with more to come still). His research was the subject of an international press release from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and was highlighted by the American Society for Cell Biology as one of only 11 abstracts selected for their 2003 Press Book at their 2003 international meeting.   Through this illustrious collegiate career, Cody "was indeed "UA" (see Cody's TV commerical with NFL Pro-Bowler DeMeco Ryans), but has now moved on to pursue his doctorate in neuroscience at UCSF.  Carpe 'frisco Cody!

Amber Clark

A former stellar undergrad researcher turned techncian in The Shack, Amber personified "working hard and playing hard" (and sleeping well, sometimes in lab meeting!).  She was our lead researcher in the STOP-PD intitiatve and co-authored a paper with colleagues at The Mayo Clinic in The Journal of Neuroscience.   Amber was also a big part of the Shack's drug discovery research that led to a sponsored research agreement with QRxPharma, Ltd.   Hearing the call of the big city, Amber , a part-time guitar player but full time scientist, now lives in freakin' Brooklyn and is a research technician at the Mt. Sinai Medical Center in the field of human genetics for our collaborator Dr. Laurie Ozelius.  Give our regards to B'way, Amber!

Cindi Makowsky

A former member of STOP-PD team in the Shack, Cindi, an animal lover extraordinaire, now works at Trinity River Authority of Texas.

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Former M.S. Student Graduates

Bwarenaba Kautu (see Ph.D. students now!)

Summer Slater

Summer finished her M.S. degree in 2005 and is a teacher at a private academy in Lafayette, LA.

Chris Gelwix

Dr. Gelwix completed an outstanding M.S. degree in 2003 and then his M.D. at UAB.  "Nerms" is currently a medical resident at the Medical College of Virginia in Richmond.  His "excellent" legend lives on in The Shack, where he knows "Who's doing the science?" is always the question being asked. Chris was responsible for initiating the Shack's research into dopamine neurodegeneration and co-authored papers in Human Molecular Genetics and The Journal of Neuroscience in his all too brief time as a Shacker.

Elaina Sexton

Dr. Sexton completed her M.S. in 2002 and co-authored papers in Human Molecular Genetics.  Elaina iearned her  M.D. from the University of South Alabama, where she is also currently a medical resident.

Mike Shiffler

Mike was the very first graduate student in The Worm Shack.  A former BYU running back, Mike receved his M.S. in our lab and now also holds an MBA from UA.  He runs his own successful photography business. 

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Former Visiting Scholars

Bettina Reischmann

Bettina, a German Ph.D. student, shared 6 wonderful months of 2006 with us all in the Shack learning how to use worms to study human movement disorders.  She has taken her training back to the lab of Dr. Olaf Reiss at the Universität Tübingen, where we will continue our collaboration (and visit!).

Ayse Kanneci

Ayse, a molecular biology student at the Istanbul Technical University in Turkey, was a visiting Shacker for the summer of 2007, and assisted with our Parkinson's research. 

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Former Undergraduate Researchers

Lauren Bryant

Lauren, a UHP and Blount Scholar, was a Shacker during her freshman and sophomore years at UA.

Emily Kay Woods

Emily worked in the Shack during her freshman year at UA, during which time she was awarded a Walker Scholarship and was named one of the original Alabama Dystonia Scholars.

Renee Rivas

The lovely soon-to-be Dr. Rivas, a 2006 Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship recipient, was also one of only 4 national recipients of the Benjamin Cummings Biology Prize in 2006 and served as an author and Editor-in-Chief of The Journal of Science and Health at the University of Alabama (JOSHUA). Renee was named to the 2008 USA Today All-USA Academic Team, 1st Team for her research into Parkinson's disease that was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.   Check out her full-page ad in Nature too!  Renee is currently a M.D./Ph.D. student in the UCSF Medical Scientist Training Program.

Robyn Thomas

While a Shacker,  Rockin' Robyn was a contributor to multiple research projects and served as an author and Editor-in-Chief of The Journal of Science and Health at the University of Alabama (JOSHUA).  Robyn was selected from nearly 20,000 applicants as a recipient of a prestigious Amgen Fellowship from Teach for America, for whom she currently teaches high school science in, yes, Hawaii.  Poor Robin. :(
Aloha from da Shack, Miss Thomas!

David Agee

David is a former Howard Hughes Medical Intern in the Shack.  He is currently applying his talents to pursue a degree in Public Relations at UA and aspires to become a dentist.

Shermeen Memon

Shemeen is the recipient of national scholarships from Golden Key and Alpha Lambda Delta as a medical student at The University of Alabama School of Medicine at UA.  Shermeen was co-author on a paper published in Chemical Communications and has a second paper in preparation with us.

John Phillips

John, a former Truman Scholar while in the Shack, is medical student on full scholarship at Vanderbilt University.

Meaghan Till

A Biology major and 2006 Isabella Hummel Graham Scholarship recipient of The University Women's Club, Meaghan is a Psychology major and is also a former Howard Hughes Rural Science Scholar.

Amy Gargis

A former 2004 Isabella Hummel Graham Scholarship recipient of The University Women's Club, and 2004 Randall Outstanding Undergraduate Research Award recipient while in the Shack, Amy is now a UA graduate student pursuing a career in food microbiology with Dr. Gary Sloan.

Kim Peters

'lil Kim is now a Ph.D. student at UNC-Chapel Hill.

Stephanie Brennan

Stephanie is medial student at the University of Alabama School of Medicine, where she works in the lab of our collaborator, Dr. David Standaert.

Perry Guevara

Perry is a graduate student in English at Georgetown University.

Sarah Fulghum

Dr. Fulghum was the Shack's first USA Today All-American Academic Team member and the co-founder of JOSHUA . Sarah received her medical degree at The University of Alabama School of Medicine and is now a medical resident  in Tuscaloosa.

Andrea Braden

Our ever caffinated "Dr. Tweek" received her medical degree at the University of South Alabama and is now a resident at the University of Connecticut.

Matt Cybulsky

Master Matt received a first M.S. degree in Bioethics from Case Western Reserve University and second M.S. degree in  Hosptial Administration at UAB.  He is now a hospital administrator in Dallas.

Jenny Whitworth

Our very first HUg, Dr. Jenny received her M.D. at The University of Alabama School of Medicine in Birmingham.

Dan Wyatt

Dan was the former the coordinator of biology laboratories at Birmingham Southern College and currently works at the Alabama Eye Bank. He is attending pharmacy school at that other college across the state.

Jay Garrett

Jay is a medical student in Grenada.

Sarah Howard

Sarah is an information technology specialist in Atlanta.

Meiklejohn McKenzie

Dr. McKenzie is a medical resident in pathology at UAB.

Clay Blanton

Clay is working in the mangament information systems field in Atlanta.

John Paul Bevel

John Paul was the VERY first student to set foot in The Shack.  He is a Biology graduate of UA and co-author of a paper in Human Molecular Genetics.  He played on The Crimson Tide football team, and now works in the pharmaceutical industry in Birmingham.