GCTP Student Life

Jada Pugh graduated from Auburn University in May of 2019 with a B.S. in Interdisciplinary Studies with emphases in Biology and Psychology. She spent her summers in basic research, as a Genetic Counseling Intern at HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology, and as an NSF Bioinformatics Fellow working with Dr. Nancy Merner to engage local minority communities in Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer research in Alabama. In addition to these immersive summers, Jada has served as a Client Advocate at Women’s Hope Medical Center, shadowed genetic counselors, and attended NSGC to prepare for matriculation. In her free time, she enjoys coaching and playing volleyball, running through Patterson Park, petting dogs, and days at the beach.

Wes Solem graduated from Western Washington University (WWU) in 2019 with a B.S. in Behavioral Neuroscience and a minor in Biology. As an undergraduate at WWU, he worked as a laboratory assistant in the lab of Dr. Jeff Carroll, studying the neurobiology and behavior of mice modeling Huntington’s disease. Wes was a Donald A. King Summer Research Fellow for the Huntington’s Disease Society of America (HDSA) and presented this research at HDSA’s 34th annual convention in Boston, Mass. In 2018, Wes completed an internship in neurodiagnostics at PeaceHealth Cascade Brain & Spine Center, as well as Northwestern University’s summer internship in genetic counseling. He also volunteered as a one-on-one peer sexual health educator at WWU and a crisis counselor for Crisis Text Line. Wes enjoys cats, coffee and alliteration.

Ben Akman is a native of Towson, Maryland. He graduated from University of Maryland at College Park in 2017 with a B.S. in Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics. Throughout his undergrad career, Ben worked as a research assistant, first in a lab at Johns Hopkins studying the connection between epigenetics and ovarian cancer and then in a lab at UMD studying the use of entomopathogenic fungi as a biopesticide targeting stinkbugs. After graduation, he conducted a two year post-baccalaureate research fellowship with Dinah Singer at the National Cancer institute studying interactions between the transcriptional regulation protein BRD4 and the oncoprotein C-MYC. Outside of the lab Ben was an officer for the service group Vintage Voices, which brought oldies music and good company to seniors in assisted living and nursing homes. He was also part of the Nerds in Harmony, an acapella made up of fellows and other scientists who work at the NIH. Ben enjoys birdwatching, going on hikes, playing video games and singing in choral groups.    

Margaret Sidor grew up in a small town in the Hudson Valley region of New York. She received her B.S. from the University of Rochester in 2006; she went on to earn her Ph.D. in Genetics also from the University of Rochester in 2013. Her thesis explored novel roles for a conserved guanylate kinase in development and neuron function in the nematode C. elegans. After graduating, Margaret pursued her enjoyment of teaching through working as an educator at both the Seneca Park Zoo in Rochester and the Detroit Zoo. More recently, she worked for the Northern Virginia Therapeutic Riding Program, which offers therapeutic riding instruction and hippotherapy to adults and children with disabilities. For several years, she has also volunteered as a crisis counselor with the Crisis Text Line. In her free time, Margaret enjoys hiking and camping with her husband in the many beautiful parks in the area.

JaLisa Decker studied Biology at Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina as a Hollingsworth Scholar, receiving her B.S. in 2019 with honors. As an undergraduate, JaLisa contributed to research at Furman on transcription factors in cancer cells as well as research at Samford University on vitamin transport in the human gut microbiota. She volunteered for Mental Health America’s crisis and suicide hotline for three years while also connecting others to crisis center volunteer opportunities through Furman University’s Heller Service Corps. In pursuing her passion for working with children, she served as a summer counselor to help children with various medical conditions have a fun and safe experience at Camp Rise Above. JaLisa shadowed genetic counselors and geneticists for several weeks at Greenwood Genetic Center and interned for four months with genetic counselors at the Cancer Institute of Greenville Health System. In addition to her professional pursuits, JaLisa enjoys exploring farmer’s markets, planning embroidery projects and trying out new recipes whenever she can!

Nadjalisse Reynolds-Lallement received her B.S. in biochemistry and molecular biology from Oregon State University in 2018. At OSU, she completed an undergraduate thesis on age-related differences in brain activations during spatial memory formation. Outside of class, Nadjalisse was a STEM tutor for high school and undergraduate students and a student social media writer for OSU's science department.  She has also volunteered as an advocate for survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence. After graduating, she worked as a faculty research assistant investigating the effects of multivitamin use and military service on cognitive aging. In her free time, Nadjalisse enjoys cooking, hiking, and exploring the Baltimore-DC area.

Emerald Kaitryn earned her BA in Psychology from Lewis and Clark College in May 2015, with a minor in Neuroscience. After graduating she began working as a medical scribe, first in the Emergency Department at Providence Portland Medical Center and then from 2016-2018 at ORM Fertility. Starting in 2018, she became a Genetic Counseling Assistant at UCSF’s Cancer Genetics and Prevention Program, collaborating with program leadership to develop an alternate service model, the “Genetic Testing Station” (GTS), meeting with 10-15 patients weekly at the GTS to discuss genetic testing/family history, and participating in weekly cancer genetics tumor boards. She has experience as a Research Assistant at Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU) - both in the Nigg Lab, investigating the neurodevelopment of ADHD by conducting cognitive functioning and emotional processing assessments in a longitudinal study of children and teens, as well as in the Unni Lab, where she contributed to a lab publication through work characterizing protein aggregation and Lewy Body formation in a novel transgenic mouse model for Parkinson’s disease. Later, as a Research Assistant at Portland Psychotherapy in 2017, she studied the connections between shame and substance use, developed a nonverbal shame coding system, and rated over 300 participant video interviews. From 2014-2017 she served as a Crisis Hotline Responder for Call to Safety, a Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Crisis Hotline, where she completed certified training in providing needs assessments, safety planning, emotional support, and resource navigation.

Makenna Tiger earned her AB in French Language and Literature from Princeton University in June 2017 with certificates in Urban Studies and American Studies. As a Princeton senior with a strong interest in research, Makenna wrote an eighty-page thesis in English and translated it into French. In September 2019, she completed her 40-hour training and served as a Crisis of Mercer County, New Jersey, Hotline volunteer, answering suicide intervention phone calls and responding to lifeline crisis chat messages from both children and adults. She was also a volunteer facilitator at Good Grief in Princeton, New Jersey, where she led a weekly small group of young elementary school students in discussion about the death of a parent and/or sibling in a supportive environment. She completed a 36-hour training composed of workshops on active listening techniques, childrens’ understanding of death at different age levels, and the process of grief for adults and children; her training also included practice facilitation of support groups. Starting in August 2019, she shadowed a genetic counselor on a weekly basis in the Maternal Fetal Medicine Unit at the UPenn Medicine Princeton Medical Hospital. She observed about 65 counseling sessions, including consultations about advanced maternal age, neurofibromatosis, triploidies, molar pregnancies, Hunter syndrome, fibroids, and craniosynostosis.

Julia Castro earned her BS in Genetics and Genomics from the University of California, Davis in June 2020 with minors in Spanish and Psychology. Since 2019 she has served as a Laboratory Research Assistant in the UC Davis Ori-McKenney Lab, where she became particularly interested in neurogenetics after studying the effects of mutated microtubule-associated proteins on brain development in this lab. From 2018-19 she served as a Clinical Research Assistant in the 22q11.2 Research Center at the UC Davis Medical Investigation of Neurodevelopmental Disorders (MIND) Institute, supporting children with 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome during EEGs and MRIs and organizing neuropsychological assessments of 100 patients. Her clinical shadowing experience at the UC Davis MIND Institute includes consulting with genetic counselors on how to address negative emotional patient reactions and observing patient visits involving genetic counselors/geneticists. She was a member of the UC Davis Genetic Counseling Club, which includes engaging in mock counseling sessions guided by a CGC. Starting in 2018 she served as a volunteer and student assistant for the UC Davis MIND Institute working with children with various developmental disorders in camps and during appointments. She has also served as a Crisis Line and Meeting Advocate at My Sister’s House in Sacramento, CA, where she developed a safety plan for callers in crisis and supported Spanish-speaking domestic violence victims.

Sarah Roth holds a BA in International and Area Studies from Washington University in St. Louis and an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Notre Dame. She joined Johns Hopkins University as a Ph.D. student in Anthropology in August 2017 and advanced to doctoral candidacy in August 2020. In this capacity, she instructed courses in cultural and medical anthropology, completed field examinations in History of Medicine and Science & Technology Studies, and managed long-term ethnographic research on experiences of genetic diagnosis in the U.S. and Mexico. She presented on this preliminary work at the American Ethnological Society Annual Meeting in 2019. She is an active member of the Johns Hopkins Center for Medical Humanities and Social Medicine, which she joined as a graduate fellow in August 2018, and where she serves as a founding editor of Tendon, a literary and visual arts journal. Before arriving to Hopkins, Sarah worked at Genetic Alliance, a health advocacy organization in Washington, D.C., from 2015 to 2016. As a Program Coordinator for Genes in Life, she developed health history resources and coordinated a study of patient navigation programs for youth and families with complex care needs. She has served as a Peer Navigator and Volunteer for Facing Our Risk of Cancer Empowered (FORCE) since December 2017, holding peer support calls with women navigating high-risk diagnoses or family histories of cancer. Sarah has shadowed geneticists as they consulted with patients on genetic risk at the Instituto Nacional de Cancerología in Mexico City, care teams in the Cancer Risk Evaluation Program at the Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine in Philadelphia, and Parent Navigators in the Complex Care Program at Children’s National Medical Center in D.C. 

Jessica Sweeney earned her BA in Public Health Studies and a BA in Natural Sciences from Johns Hopkins University in December 2019 with a minor in Psychology. Her research interests/specialization areas include rare genetic diseases and prenatal counseling, connective tissue disorders and social determinants of health. Her research experience includes a publication entitled Bullying and Resilience in Adolescents with Marfan and Loeys-Dietz syndromes, presented at the virtual American College of Medical Genetics meeting in March 2020. Starting in 2019 she participated in a Baltimore County Family Crisis Hotline, which involves crisis counseling training, answering calls to provide support for trauma victims in crisis, advising callers on resources and providing a safe space for talking through issues.  Starting in 2016 she worked with the Thread organization to mentor and support at-risk Baltimore youth and plan community-building events for volunteers. She participated in a Casa de los Niños Internship in the Summer of 2018, a community center in San José, Costa Rica specializing in helping families affected by drug addiction. In 2019 she participated in a Johns Hopkins Hospital genetic counseling internship, observing counseling sessions for an 8-week rotation and working on data analysis regarding bullying, resilience and genetic connective tissue disorders. Jessica developed a passion for basketball in sixth grade, serving as Captain of the JHU Varsity basketball team. She is excited about the opportunity in genetic counseling to empower patients the same way she has been empowered through basketball, including working collaboratively as a team.

Katelynd Faler earned her bachelor’s degrees in economics and geological sciences from Cleveland State University in 2011. Following her graduation, Katelynd worked as a uranium production geologist until 2014, and served as a senior economist for the Wyoming Department of Workforce Services from 2014 to 2020. As an economist, she carried out quantitative labor market research, and developed an education and outreach program to present complex workforce information to communities, businesses, and legislators. Some of Katelynd’s community involvement has included volunteering with Central Wyoming Hospice and Transitions, serving on the Board of Directors for Mercer Family Resource Center, and tutoring English for Inglés! Family Language Learning. In her free time, Katelynd enjoys the collaborative performing arts, and has acted and directed professionally in theatre, film, television, radio, and opera.