Student Recognition
Congratulations to our newest PhD Dr. Aditya Mahadevan! Dr. Mehadevan successfully defended his dissertation on June 1, 2026 and has earned a Medical Sciences doctoral degree in the Physiology and Cell Biology concentration under the mentorship of Dr. Helen Jones.
Congratulations to Dr. Sophia Eikenberry on her successful dissertation defense to earn a Medical Sciences doctoral degree in the Physiology and Cell Biology concentration. Dr. Eikenberry is now working as a Bioscience Sales Specialist for Nikon of Florida!
Congratulations to Dr. Ivy Price on earning her doctoral degree in Anatomical Sciences Education this past weekend (5/2/2026)! Dr. Price was accepted into the Anatomical Sciences Education PhD program in Fall of 2022 and will now continue her journey as Assistant Professor of Anatomy at Colorado Mesa University.
Congratulations to Dr. Julian Tobon on earning his doctoral degree in Biomedical Sciences with a concentration in Cancer Biology under the mentorship of Dr. Rene Opavksy. Dr. Tobon graduated on April 30, 2026 and is currently a postdoctoral associate in Dr. Jatinder Lamba’s lab in the Department of Pharmacology and Translational Research at UF College of Pharmacy.
Congratulations to the 2026 Physiology and Cell Biology Concentration Medical Guild award winners! Sophia Eikenberry from Dr. Michelle Gumz’s lab received the Silver Award in the research category and Jacob Ricci from Dr. Katelyn Bruno’s lab received the Candidacy Award.
Congratulations to Diana Gegaj on winning 1st Place in the Pre-Dental/Undergraduate Student Division under the Basic Science Research Category for her abstract titled “Resetting the Muscle Clock Against Myotube Atrophy” at Spring Synergy 2026! Diana’s mentors in the lab are Dr. Karyn Esser and Dr. Fran Morena Clark.
The anatomy crew recently headed off to Albuquerque, New Mexico to attend Anatomy Connected 2026 – the annual meeting for the American Association for Anatomy. There, UF’s Anatomical Sciences PhD program was represented by five presentations driven by our current and former students. Special congratulations go to Cheyenne Leatham, who won second place in the Langman Graduate Student Platform Morphological Sciences Award!
Congratulations to Dr. Alyssa Richelle Mickle on earning her doctoral degree this past weekend (12/13/25). Dr. Mickle is a member in Dr. Erica Dale’s lab and was enrolled in the Neuroscience concentration.
Congratulations to Dr Jesus David Penaloza Aponte and Dr Darius Ramkhalawan on earning their doctoral degrees this past weekend (8/9/25)! Dr Aponte is a member of Dr Erica Dale’s lab and was enrolled in the Neuroscience concentration. Dr Ramkhalawan is a member of Dr Nadja Makki’s lab and was enrolled in the Molecular Cell Biology concentration.
Congratulations to the following PhD students on successfully passing their qualifying exams. The inaugural College of Medicine White Coat Ceremony was held on May 31th, 2025.
The Gator Nation’s newest alumni include cancer researcher Fulbright scholar Syeda “Rida” Rizvi, who studied pancreatic cancer in the lab of Maria Zajac-Kaye, Ph.D., earned her master’s in medical sciences with a focus on molecular and cellular biology this spring. As she prepares to head back to Pakistan this summer to pursue her Ph.D., she said she was grateful to experience “the true essence of American culture” by meeting so many people at UF.
Congratulations to Martin Schonk who received the Silver Medal at this year’s Medical Guild Symposium for his outstanding research and presentation! Martin is a graduate student in the Physiology and Functional Genomics concentration and a member of Dr. Andrew Judge’s lab.
Congratulations to these University of Florida undergraduate students who were selected as a College of Medicine University Scholars for the 2025-2026 academic school year.
- Eve Cook; Mentor Dr. Michelle Gumz (top left)
- Bayan Sabripour; Mentor Dr. Rene Opavsky (top right)
- Isabel Perea; Mentor Drs. Karyn Esser and Natalie Bohmke (bottom left)
- Diana Gegaj; Mentors Drs. Karyn Esser and Fran Morena Clark (bottom right)
February 25, 2025
Celebration of Research
Catherine Jacobs, a UF undergraduate student presented her poster at the 15th annual UF CoM Celebration of Research 2025. Catherine's mentor is Dr. Ryan Martin, a post-doc in Dr. Karyn Esser's lab.
