Get To Know Our "Postdocs"

Dr.Shumaila Hanif joined OUHSC on February 1, 2012 and works with Dr. Lucila Garcia Contreras in the Department of Phamaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy.  Her project is about "Inhaled Caprazamycin for tuberculosis therapy."  She will be presenting her work in the following upcoming conferences:  1)  Feb 4-6, 2013 at the 4th Kuwait Pharmacy International Conference in Kuwait; 2)  April 1-4, 2013 at 38th Annual GREAT Symposium, OUHSC; and 3) April 4-10, 2013 at 19th Congress of International Society for Aerosols in Medicine (ISAM), Chapel Hills, USA.

Dr. Hanif graduated from the Kuwait University in 1999 in Microbiology and earned a MSc degree in 2002 and a Ph.D degree in 2007 in Medical Microbiology from College of Medicine, Kuwait University.  She won the award for Best Graduate Research (Ph.D), awarded by Vice President for Research, Kuwait University in 2008.  She was also a winner of the awards for Best Basic Medical Sciences Research Poster 2002 and 2006 and a winner of the award for Best Graduate REsearch in Basic Sciences Poster (Ph.D) in 2008, awarded by the Faculty of Medicine Poster Conference Judging Committee, Kuwait University.  Furthermore, she won several travel awards to attend scientific meetings:  1)  Awarded with scholarship for attending 8th FIS/HIS annual conference, Liverpool, UK (funded by International Healthcare Infection Society (HIS) and Federation of Infection Societies (FIS) in 2012); 2)  Awarded with travel grant for attending 4th FEMS Congress for Microbiologist, Geneva, Switzerland (funded by Federation of European Microbiological Societies FEMS in 2011; 3)  Awarded with prestigious travel award for attening 5th Semmering Vaccine Symposium, Vienna, Austria (funded by Vienna vaccines in 2011); 4)  Awarded with prestigious global health travel award for attending Keystone Symposium: J3 Tuberculosis: Immunology, Cell Biology and Novel Vaccination Strategies, Vancouver, BC, Canada (funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in 2011); and 5) Scientific mission award for attending 106th Annual General Meeting of American Society for Microbiology (ASM), Orlando, FL (awarded by the College of Graduate Studies, Kuwait University in 2006).

Dr. Hanif had 10 full-length research publications, 38 abstracts and one chapter book.  She is a member of editorial board for open access journal, Mycobacterial Diseases 2012.  Dr. Hanif reviewed several papers for international journals.  She can speak multiple languages such as English, Arabic, Urdu and Punjabi.  She is skilled in many molecular biology, immunology, tissue culture techniques and animal work.  Her hobbies are cooking and travelling.

 

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Past Postdoc of the Month

 

Dr. Jane Yaciuk

Dr.Jane Yaciuk joined OUHSC on August 2011 and works with Dr. William Hildebrand in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology.  Her projects include "Discovery and Targeting of HIV-1 Associated Antigens" and on October 10, 2012, she will be presenting her work at the 38th Annual Meeting of the American Socity of Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics (ASHI) in San Juan, Puerto Rico.  Her abstract, "PEPTIDE LIGANDS PRESENTED BY NON-PROGRESSOR-ASSOCIATED HLA B*57:01 FOLLOWING HIV-1 INFECTION" was selected for presentation during Abstract Session 4: "Best of the Rest." [Human Immunology, Volume 73, Supplement, October 2012, Pages 31 (ASHI 2012 Puerto Rico Abstracts Issue)].

Dr. Yaciuk graduated from the Oklahoma School of Science and Mathematics in 1998 and earned a BS degree in Biochemistry and Linguistics in 2002 from the University of Oklahoma, where she was a Robert C Byrd scholar, an Oklahoma Regents Scholar and the recipient of numerous awards such as Phi Beta Kappa, Letzeiser, and magna cum laude honors.  She was a member of OUHSC's Graduate Program in Biomedical Sciences program from 2002-2003 and won Dean's Award for Outstand Research in 2006. She was also recognized by the American College of Rheumatology with a Medical and Graduate Student Achievement Award for exceptional research. 

Upon completing her dissertation work on T cell tolerance in Dr. A Darise Farris' lab, Dr. Yaciuk pursued postdoctoral work in the internationally recognized laboratory of Dr. Jose Aberola-Ila at the OMRF.  While at OMRF, she was the Primary Investigator of her own National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Kirschstein National Research Service Award Postdoctoral Fellowship.  The focus of her studies was "the role of PTPRkappa (a protein tyrosine phosphatase) in Lck regulating during T cell development." 

As a "born and bred" Sooner, Dr. Yaciuk is proud to be a part of the Hildebrand Lab and be able to promote the amazing work that goes on in Oklahoma when she travels to world-wide conferences. 

Dr. Yaciuk has been married ten years to Tim and a "Dr. Mom" to a 4 year-old son Trevor.  Her philosophy about life is "the glass is always full" no matter how much or how little it holds, reflecting her positive and optimistic nature.  She believes it is best to go with the flow and see where the journey takes you.  She loves people and animals, is laid back about everything, and is passionate about teaching and helping others.

Some of her favorites quotes are: "The best way to find out who you are is to get to that place hwere you don't have to be anything else" (Unknown) and "The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams" (Eleanor Roosevelt).  Her favorite movie is The Wizard of Oz and her favorite books are The Lives of a Cell, Oh the Places You'll Go, Charlotte's Web and many more.

Congratulations, Dr. Yaciuk on being the OUHSC Postdoc of the Month!

 

Dr. Ilangovan Ramachandran

Dr. Ilangovan Ramachandran joined OUHSC on August 2007 and works with Dr. Lurdes Queimado in the Department of Otorhinolaryngology. His winning project is titled "Wnt inhibitory factor 1 is down-regulated in human cervical cancer and its re-expression inhibits cervical cancer growth," which looks at the role of Wnt signaling and Wnt inhibitors on head and neck cancer and cervical cancer.

Dr. Ramachandran has won several awards during his Ph.D program in India: 1) Second prize for the best oral presentation ("Serum DHT is a major determinant of bone mineral density in men") in the XXIV National Symposium on Reproductive Biology and Comparative Endocrinology (2006); 2) Third prize for the best poster presentation ("Effects of androgen on insulin-like growth factor system and Cbfa1 gene expression in human osteosarcoma cells") in the XXIII National Symposium on Reproductive Biology and Comparative Endocrinology (2005); and 3) First prize for the best poster presentation ("Circulating levels of IGF system components in normal and osteoporotic men") in the XXII National Symposium on Reproductive Biology and Comparative Endocrinology (2004).

Dr. Ramachandran feels that OUHSC is one of the best universities in the U.S. and enjoys available facilities, active research, and the working environment in OUHSC.

Dr. Ramachandran is from Pondicherry, India and earned PhD in Endocrinology from the University of Madras, India. His parents, eldest brother and elder sister live in India while his other elder brother, who is also a researcher, works in Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, New York.

During his free time, Dr. Ramachandran loves to play cricket and table tennis/ping pong and likes to watch science fiction and funny movies.

Congratulations, Dr. Ramachandran on winning the OUHSC postdoctoral scientific achievement at the 2011 Graduate Research and Academic Technology Symposium!

 

Dr. Imoh Okon

 

Dr. Imoh Okon joined OUHSC on Dec 2009 to work on his winning project titled: “Repression of the VEGF receptor, neuropilin-1 (NRP-1) by LKB1: potential target for angiogenesis”.

Dr. Okon works with Dr. Ming-Hui Zou (Chief, Section of Molecular Medicine and Vice Chair for Research) at the Department of Medicine, Section of Endocrinology and Diabetes. Dr. Okon said that a postdoctoral fellowship at OUHSC: “ is a challenging position with the potential of making huge impact on several medical conditions that afflict many lives. In addition to basic research, the post-doctoral training phase provides opportunities to other aspects of academic profession, such as teaching and grant writing”.

Dr. Okon comes from an academic background as both his parents are academicians. He graduated with his Ph.D. from the Imperial College in London, UK. Dr. Okon is the proud father of a lovely son and a daughter and says “my family is my greatest source of joy… My free time is dedicated to family. I travel quite often and since moving to Oklahoma, I have returned to London ones every year.”

Congratulations, Dr. Okon on winning the OUHSC postdoctoral scientific achievement at the 2011 Graduate Research and Academic Technology Symposium!