Lab Alumni

Naveed graduated from NYIT-COM in 2020. He studied Biochemistry at New York University during his undergraduate education. He is currently in his 3rd year of Internal Medicine Residency and SUNY Downstate Medical Center. He was selected to be a Chief Resident for Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center for the  2023-2024 academic year. He will be applying for a Hematology/Oncology fellowship after completing his Chief Resident year. 

Daniella is a third-year medical student who is interested in pursuing a career in surgery. She graduated from CUNY Queens College in 2018 with a Bachelor's in Neuroscience & Biology and a Chemistry Minor. In addition to her studies as a medical student, she is working on her Masters's in Medical/Healthcare Simulation at NYIT. When she is not in the school or lab, she spends her time tutoring, working at a daycare center, or spending time with her two amazing sisters, mom, husband, and dog Oreo.

Burcak is a third-year medical student who is interested in pediatric dermatology. She graduated from Stony Brook University in 2019 with a Bachelor of Science in Biology and has previously worked on post-transcriptional gene expression in order to find the function and biological properties of RNP's. She joined Dr. Zhang's lab in December of 2020 where she worked on validating the ER stress and ROS pathway in melanoma cells after CBD treatment. She continued her research through the summer after being accepted into the Summer Student Research Program Fellowship in 2021, where she presented her findings along with Samantha Cornwell and Jawad Ahmad. 

Noelle is a third-year medical student who was an Academic Medicine Scholar in Dr. Zhang's lab. She graduated from the New Jersey Institute of Technology in 2019 with a B.S. in Biology and also played D1 soccer. Noelle is interested in Emergency Medicine and Critical Care. Noelle knew that she wanted to use her scholar year to learn and develop new skills. She has always been interested in cancer biology so Dr. Zhang's Lab was an excellent fit. Having never done bench research before, this year has taught Noelle to be meticulous and detail-oriented, which directly translates to treating patients in high-acuity settings. When Noelle is not in the lab, you can find her teaching the 1st- and 2nd-year Anatomy, OMM, and DPR classes. Outside of school, you can find Noelle at the gym (she is also a certified personal trainer at F45), coaching youth soccer, being at the beach, or snowboarding!  

Sanket is a third-year medical student who is currently in his Scholar year of the Academic Medicine Scholar Program, with a focus on research. He graduated from Stony Brook University. Sanket is interested in Radiology. 

Lauren is a current internal medicine resident at Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH. Lauren got her bachelor degree in science from Cornell University. When she was a medical student at NYITCOM, Lauren became an academic medicine scholar and worked with Dr. Zhang during her scholar year and later two clinical research rotations. Lauren contributed two publications in Dr. Zhang’s lab.

Rama Hussein is originally from Jacksonville, Florida. She attended undergrad at the University of Florida where she received a B.S. in Biology. Working with Dr.Zhang was her first time partaking in lab-based research. Rama's experience in the lab deepened her understanding of the scientific method and intricacies of working in a lab! Rama celebrated Match Day with matching in Internal Medicine at Mount Sinai Morningside-West. 

Joyce is a second year dermatology resident at Hackensack Meridian Health Palisades Medical Center in North Bergen, NJ. Prior to graduating from NYITCOM in 2020, she studied Biochemistry at New York University. In her free time, she enjoys outdoor activities, exploring new places, and/or spending time with friends/family.

Katherine is a fourth-year medical student. She received a B.S. in Integrative Neuroscience at Binghamton University. In Dr. Zhang’s lab, Katherine was involved in studying the ALT pathway and aging. Outside of medicine, she loves all things outdoors! She will be an Internal Medicine resident at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center next year.

Danny graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Neurobiology from Boston University. He is a current pediatrics resident at Advocate Children's Hospital in Park Ridge, IL. When he was a student at NYIT, he became an academic medicine scholar. Danny joined Dr. Zhang's lab to study telomere stress using super-resolution microscopy. Danny also contributed to several publications, particularly a review that summarizes the clinical implications of ALT-positive neoplasia. Danny is looking forward to a future in either general outpatient pediatrics or pediatric hematology-oncology. Danny has been featured on NYIT COM's Student Profile. Feel free to reach out to Danny if you have any questions! 

Contact: dmack07@outlook.com

https://www.nyit.edu/news/profiles/student_profile_danny_mackenzie 

Andrej is a 4th-year medical student applying for a residency in Internal Medicine. He graduated from Arizona State University Sum cum Laude/honors from Barrett the Honors College with a B.S. in Biochemistry, specialization in medicinal chemistry, a Spanish minor, and an honors thesis in the molecular consequences of Temozolomide-treated glioblastoma cells and the relationship to autophagy. The honors thesis project was conducted at Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, AZ under the mentorship of Dr. Nhan L. Tran, Ph.D.. In the meantime, he has been involved in other research projects at Arizona State University, NYU Langone, and Dr. Zhang’s lab. In Dr. Zhang’s lab, he conducted bench research and meta-analysis of alterations of BARD1 genes in non-breast and non-gynecological cancers. Outside of medical school, Andrej likes to spend time with his wife, two dogs, and a cat. 

Julie is a fourth-year medical student. She received a B.S. in Biological Science from Drexel University. She will be a pediatric resident at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center starting in the Fall of 2023.