PhD Students
Liting Chen
Undergraduate Education: Bachelor of Science, Pharmacy, Jiangsu University
Graduate Education: Master of Science, Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Southern California
Research Interests: Cancer, Drug Delivery
Faculty Advisor: Dr. Vassilios Papadopoulos
Year of Study: 2nd
Nidia Espinoza
Undergraduate Education: Bachelor of Science, Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of California, Irvine
Graduate Education: Master of Science, Pharmaceutical Sciences, Western University of Health Sciences
Research Interests: Alcohol Addiction, Alzheimer’s Disease, Drug Delivery, Drug Design, Drug Discovery, Neurodegeneration, Nanomedicine, Pain Management, Pharmacogenomics
Faculty Advisor: Dr. Vassilios Papadopoulos
Year of Study: 2nd
Melanie Galano
Undergraduate Education: Bachelor of Science, Biochemistry and Cell Biology (Double Major), University of California, San Diego
Research Interests: Cell Biology, Pharmacology, Steroids, Therapeutic Targets
Research Project or Thesis Title: CRISPR/Cas9-mediated steroidogenic acute regulatory protein (STAR) knockout in MA-10 cells
Faculty Advisor: Dr. Vassilios Papadopoulos
Year of Study: 4th
Samuel Garza
Undergraduate Education: Bachelor of Science, Biology, California State University Los Angeles
Graduate Education: Master of Science, Biology; California State University Los Angeles
Research Interests: Aging, Cellular Stress, Drug Design, Pharmacology, Steroids
Research Project or Thesis Title: Role of translocator protein (TSPO) in maintaining mitochondrial function in Leydig cells
Faculty Advisor: Dr. Vassilios Papadopoulos
Year of Study: 3rd
Awards: USC Graduate School Research Award (2019); USC School of Pharmacy Culty Diversity Award (2018)
Leadership: Senior Vice President, USC Graduate Student Government (GSG) (2020); Director of Operations, USC GSG (2019-2020); Chair, American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS) – USC Student Chapter (2019-2020); Board Member, Pharmacy Graduate Alliance (PGA) (2018-2020); Secretary, AAPS – USC Student Chapter (2018-2019)
Yiqi “Christina” Lin
Undergraduate Education: Bachelor of Science, Pharmacology Honours, Computer Science Minor, McGill University
Research Interests: Biochemistry, Neurodegeneration, Steroids
Research Project or Thesis Title: CYP11A1-independent synthesis of pregnenolone in the brain
Faculty Advisor: Dr. Vassilios Papadopoulos
Year of Study: 4th
Amy Tran
Undergraduate Education: Bachelor of Science, Biological Sciences, University of California, Irvine
Graduate Education: Master of Science, Regulatory Science, University of Southern California
Research Interests: Cancer, Molecular Biology, Pharmacology, Regulatory Science, Toxicology
Research Project or Thesis Title: Evaluating the role of the eicosanoid biosynthetic pathway in spermatogonial stem cell development
Faculty Advisor: Dr. Martine Culty
Year of Study: 4th
Anh Tan Truong
Undergraduate Education: Bachelor of Arts, Biological Sciences, Molecular Biology (Double Major), San Jose State University
Graduate Education: Doctor of Pharmacy, University of Southern California
Research Interests: Cell Biology, Molecular Biology, Protein Engineering
Research Project or Thesis Title: An alternative approach modulating signaling utilizing thermo-responsive biopolymers
Faculty Advisor: Dr. Andrew MacKay
Year of Study: 4th
Awards: Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science Postdoctoral Fellowship for US Researchers Award (Aug 2018); American College of Clinical Pharmacy Student Research Award (Aug 2018); Dr. B. Olive Graduate Educational Grant (Apr 2018); ACCP Research Institute Futures Grants Program (Sept 2017)
Casandra Walker
Education: Bachelor of Science, Molecular/Cellular Biology, Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University
Research Interests: Reproductive Biology, Toxicology
Research Project or Thesis Title: Analysis of testis transcriptome from adult rats exposed in utero to low dose mixtures of genistein and di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate
Faculty Advisor: Dr. Martine Culty
Year of Study: 4th
Awards: NIH Trainee Travel Award Recipient – 44th Annual American Society for Andrology Conference (Apr 2019)
Leadership: Founder/CEO of Curls & Careers non-profit organization (Apr 2019 – Present); USC School of Pharmacy Peer Mentor Program (PMP) (Aug 2019 – Present); Member, USC School of Pharmacy Student Committee for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (SC-DEI) (Oct 2018 – Present)