Student Profiles
| PhD-Students PhD in Reproductive Sciences-Students |
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| Carly Gratopp | Carly got her BS in both Physiology and Chemistry from Michigan State University. Upon graduation, she took a position as a research assistant in the biomechanics research lab at Beaumont Hospital where she continues to work full time while pursuing her masters degree in physiology. Regarding her research interests, she likes the orthopedic biomechanics research she has done in the past but also likes the work she doing now on the effects of bone morphogenetic proteins (BMP’s) in degenerative disc disease. Overall: cellular/molecular physiology |
 Arrua Keerl |
Arrua always knew she would be involved in the physical sciences, thought for a long time after being allowed to help an ER doctor stitch her mother’s scalp injury she thought it would be as a physician. It was in her neuroscience lab class at Alma College where she found the area of science that interested her. When someone has a neurological disorder it affects the very person they are; sometimes stripping them of their identity as is the case with Alzheimer’s disease. “In my lab class we learned how Alzheimer’s affects the brain. We were able to reproduce in vivo experiments from the literature to better grasp the concepts being taught… it was the most rewarding part of my education because it gave a chance to observe science first hand, not just by merely reading a book.” After graduating with her BS, she decided to put off applying to graduate school so she could get more ‘hands on’ experience in research. She took a job Pfizer where she was “working with an in vivo pre-clinical drug discovery group exploring therapeutic strategies for fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS).” Once Pfizer decided to close their Ann Arbor facility, Arrua found a research assistants position with Dr. Jean Peduzzi-Nelson in the Anatomy and Cell Biology Dept here at Wayne State. Arrua started our MS program this fall as a way to ease into the world of graduate school since she’s still a full-time employee. It’s her desire to eventually change her status to Ph.D. |
 David Peters |
Dave is from Alma, Michigan, he’s a proud Chippewa from Central, where he dual majored in psychology and biology, and spent a term working toward a graduate degree in experimental psychology. He also received a Juris Doctor degree from Wayne’s Law School. Dave calls his research interest, “Translational Forensic Neuroscience”, which he says gets you exactly zero Google hits. Translational forensic refers to the idea of applying research findings in the context of medico-legal problems, such as juvenile delinquency. He’s also very interested in investigating truth detection using a combined EEG/fMRI approach to augment traditional polygraph techniques. “I like to figure out new ways to use the magnet and EEG toys.” Dr. Nash Boutros is his research advisor, and he also relies on Richard Genik & Christopher Green. |
 Shree Samantray |
“Throughout my undergraduate work at Marygrove College, I have engaged in a variety of activities to help prepare me for graduate school.” One such activity was applying to and being accepted to the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) program coordinated by Dr. Ram. She was paired up with Dr. Jena and says, “At first I was little afraid of working in a medical school laboratory but after proper training I was eager to work! Our research involved the role of synaptic vesicle swelling under different pH conditions.” Shree says this was an exciting experience for her and cemented her goal of graduate school! Shree earned her BS in biology in December 2006 wasted little time in applying to our program. She was admitted to our MS program with the hopes of changing her status to PhD soon. |
 Garen Wolff |
Garen is originally from the Detroit area. While pursuing her undergraduate studies at Wellesley College, Garen also took a very active role in non academic activities. She served on many committees such as: Assistant Director of the Wellesley College Mentoring in the Sciences Program; President of the Wellesley College Hippocratic Society; President Advisory Representative for the student body of Wellesley College (an elected position); and Howard Hughes Program Coordinator, to name a few. Garen's ultimate goal is to be accepted into an MD/PhD program. This would enable her to follow both of her passions: the need to discover; and the need to help others. |