Alumni Highlights

Gurmannat Kalra, PhD

Gurmannat Kalra is a Computational Biologist at GSK, a global biopharma company that prioritizes innovation in vaccines and specialty medicines, maximizing the increasing opportunities to prevent and treat diseases. In this role, she analyzes genomic data using large scale computational methods to understand mechanisms of disease. Dr. Kalra holds a PhD in Molecular Medicine from the University of Maryland Baltimore School of Medicine and a BS in Biochemistry from Rowan University. Dr. Kalra completed her PhD studies in the lab of Dr. Seth Ament where she focused on multi-omic analysis of hearing difficulty risk loci and gene regulatory networks in the mammalian cochlea. Drawing on her scientific training and work, Dr. Kalra creates interpretive artwork that blends technical precision of molecular biology with the expressive power of painting and digital media. In fact, her interpretive painting on hierarchical clustering was featured on the cover of Genetics in Medicine, the official journal of the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics. You can check out her artwork by clicking here.

Michael Kessler, PhD

Dr. Michael Kessler is Manager of Statistical Genetics at Regeneron, a leading biotechnology company using the power of science to bring new medicines to patients in need. In his role as a geneticist, Dr. Kessler applies statistical genetic techniques and modeling for the identification and interpretation of biological targets. Dr. Kessler holds a PhD in Molecular Medicine from the University of Maryland School of Medicine and a BA in Biology/Biological Sciences from University of Southern California. He completed his thesis work in the lab of Dr. Timothy O’Connor, where he studied variant prediction in diverse populations, cancer genetics, and de novo mutation. Throughout his PhD studies, Dr. Kessler demonstrated outstanding innovation in the field of applied population genetics, yielding over a dozen publications-- many of which were first-author publications.

Amber Mueller, PhD

Dr. Amber Mueller is a Scientific Editor at Cell Metabolism, Cell Press, an all-science publisher of over 50 scientific journals-- many of which are among the most reputable in their fields. In this role, she evaluates the impact, depth and rigor of scientific papers submitted to the journal and manages the peer review process. Dr. Mueller also collaborates with leading experts in the field to host symposia, communicate newly published work and drive scientific progress in key-defined areas. Prior to her current role at Cell Press, Dr. Mueller was a postdoctoral fellow in David Sinclair’s lab at Harvard Medical School. Using her background in studies of muscular dystrophies, her research focused on testing if epigenetic reprogramming could prevent or reverse aging in vivo, using muscle as model tissue. Dr. Mueller holds a PhD in Molecular Medicine from the University of Maryland School of Medicine and a BS in Physiology and Neurobiology from the University of Maryland. She completed her thesis work in the lab of Dr. Robert Bloch where she studied muscular dystrophy disease modeling and muscle regeneration. Throughout her PhD studies, Dr. Mueller dedicated countless hours to the betterment of the Molecular Medicine Program and the Graduate Program in Life Sciences. She was even awarded the prestigious Elaine Miye Otani Memorial Award for service and superior academic performance.

Marey Shriver, PhD

Dr. Marey Shriver is the Executive Director for Faculty Development of the Center for Advanced Research Training and Innovation (CARTI) at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. In this role, she supports research training and career development of early-stage investigators. Dr. Shriver has been working in the field of career/professional development for nearly eight years. She holds a degree in Molecular Medicine from the University of Maryland School of Medicine and a BS in Biochemistry from the University of North Texas. Dr. Shriver completed her PhD studies in the lab of Dr. Aikaterini Kontrogianni-Konstantopoulos where she focused on identification of the mechanism through which the giant obscurins suppress tumor formation through modification of cell-cell adhesion and cell signaling in breast epithelial cells.