Recent Graduates

KATE TUITE, Ph.D.

Defense Date: June 2025
UT Health San Antonio Mentor: David Morilak, Ph.D.
Dissertation: ‘Role of thalamic afferents to the orbitofrontal cortex in the effects of chronic stress on reversal learning’
Current Position: NIH/NIDA T32 Training in Drug Abuse Research: Behavior and Neurobiology (Drs. Charles France and David Morilak)

JACOB ESSIF, Ph.D.

Defense Date: May 2025
UT Health San Antonio Mentor: April Risinger, Ph.D.
Dissertation: ‘Septin 9 isoform expression and response to taxane treatment in breast cancer patients ”
Current Position: Postdoctoral Fellow
Frontiers in Therapeutic Research Center, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine (Dr. H. Michael Shepard)

CAITLYN FASTENAU, Ph.D.

Defense Date: April 2025
UT Health San Antonio Mentor: Sarah Hopp, Ph.D.
Dissertation: ‘The dynamic role of sialylation on microglia activity in Alzheimer’s disease clinical trial’
Current Position: Postdoctoral Fellow
Buck Institute for Research on Aging

SHAWN FLYNN, Ph.D.

Defense Date: November 2024
UT Health San Antonio Mentor: Charles France, Ph.D.
Dissertation: ‘Effects of mu opioid receptor agonist mixtures and reversal of opioid-induced ventilatory depression’
Current Position: Postdoctoral Fellow
Department of Pharmacology, University of Michigan (Drs. John Traynor and Erica Levitt)

KRISTIAN FALKON, Ph.D.

Defense Date: October 2024
UT Health San Antonio Mentor: Sarah Hopp, Ph.D.
Dissertation: ‘Endo/lysosomal uptake and degradation of protein aggregates in Alzheimer’s disease and frontotemporal dementia pathology’
Current Position: Postdoctoral Fellow
Innovative Medicine, Johnson & Johnson

LEILA TAKAHASHI-RUIZ, Ph.D.

Defense Date: October 2024
UT Health San Antonio Mentor: April Risinger, Ph.D.
Dissertation: ”Innovations in microtubule-targeting agents: immunological effects and new drug candidates for overcoming drug resistance’
Current Position: Unknown

NICOLE EASSA, Ph.D.

Defense Date: April 2024
UT Health San Antonio Mentor: Dan Lodge, Ph.D.
Dissertation: ‘Targeting hippocampal hyperactivity as a novel therapeutic approach for comorbid psychosis in Alzheimer’s disease’
Current Position: Medical Student
UT Health San Antonio – UT San Antonio