I received my B.A. cum laude in Psychology from Butler University in 2010. While at Butler my lab experience included research in animal (elephant) locomotion, and social psychology, including an independent thesis project in social psychology. My family is from Michigan, where I was born, but I have since lived in five other states, and three other countries (Germany, England and India). While living in India in the fall of 2010, I interned at Vignani Technologies, a startup firm developing LED lighting solutions for corporations. My free time is spent tinkering with computers or in fields that I am not yet well acquainted (e.g., electronics, holography, visual art).

•  2011 Presidential Scholar
•  Graduated cum laude with a BA in Psychology
• Presented twice at the Undergraduate Research Conference at Butler University
• Completed a thesis project in Social Psychology entitled "The Impact of Imagined Reactions on Feelings About Disclosing Stigmatized vs. Non-Stigmatized Beliefs"
• Completed an internship at a start-up firm in Bangalore, India

Born and raised in Texas, I majored in anthropology, sociology and psychology at the University of Houston. During my time there, I also took up projects in international and local community development, nonprofit management and ethnographic filmmaking. My first film, Marianismo, dealt with cultural factors surrounding the disproportionate spread of HIV/AIDS among Latina women living in Houston. As a part of an undergraduate thesis, my second film Pack and Deliver explored the roles and collaborative practices of local social service agencies aiding survivors of human trafficking. As a first year PhD student at UTMB's Institute for Medical Humanities, I am currently pursuing research interests in women's issues, visual studies, public anthropology, and immigrant health, particularly among the Latino community. To learn more about my work, please visit my website:
http://ericafletcher.weebly.com/index.html.

•  2011 Presidential Scholar
•  Glamour Magazine's Top 10 College Women of 2010
•  Featured in Latina Magazine, MSNBC, KUHF Radio, KPRC- Houston's Channel 2 "Student of the Week," Fox 26 Hola Houston, PBS Channel 8's UH Moment, Houston Chronicle, CultureMap.com
• Rhodes Scholarship Finalist
•  Marshall Scholarship Finalist
• Phi Kappa Phi Majorie Schoch Fellow
•  Speaker at the Young Presidents' Organization Rise Above Conference, Denver 2011
• University of Houston's Honors College Arete Recipient
• University of Houston's Homecoming Court 2010
• "Pack and Deliver" film, 2011

In 2011, I graduated summa cum laude from Texas A&M University with a Bachelor of Science. As an undergraduate, I double majored in Biomedical Sciences and Entomology, and during my senior year, I received The Gathright Scholar Award. At Texas A&M, I worked for two years in the Vector Biology Group laboratory under Dr. Albert Mulenga. I began to develop my interests in the area of vector borne infectious disease while in high school by working on a four-year mosquito surveillance project with Dr. Jim Olson as my advisor. I have had the opportunity to live overseas in Nigeria and Qatar, but I consider my hometown to be The Woodlands, Texas.

•  2011 Presidential Scholar
• Graduated summa cum laude
• GPA 4.0 / 4.0
• Gathright Scholar - Highest ranked Senior in the Biomedical Science program
• National Society of Collegiate Scholars
•  Phi Kappa Phi National Honor Society
• Seimens Semifinalist

I grew up in a small rural town in Northwest Ohio. An early interest in the virulence of viruses and their transmission prompted me to pursue a career in microbiological sciences. I received a B.S. degree in Biochemistry/Molecular Biology from Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio in 2010. I have recently joined the UTMB Experimental Pathology program which complements my continuing interests in molecular virology and viral pathogenesis. My area of research focus is in the pathogenesis of flaviviruses.

• 2010 Presidential Scholar
•  Graduate Student Organization: Representative for the Basic Biomedical Science Curriculum Graduate Student Organization: Vice-President
• 2010 Experimental Pathology Scholar

I graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Biology from the State University of New York at Buffalo where I worked for 2 years in the ecology laboratory of Dr. Katharina Dittmar de la Cruz studying bat flies. I am now in the Biochemistry and Molecular Biology department at UTMB and have an interest in translational science.  I am currently a member of the lab of Dr. Kenichi Fujise, engaged in studying the role of fortilin in atherosclerosis.

• 2010 Toxicology Scholar
• Career Development Committee, Co-chair

I was born in College Station, Texas and conducted my undergraduate studies in Psychology and Sociology at Texas A&M University. My studies in behavioral sciences sparked my interest in the role of social factors in shaping the course of disease and illness with a special focus on health of Mexican-Americans and the elderly. My interest in this topic made pursuing a Ph.D. in Population Health Science at The University of Texas Medical Branch a clear decision for me because it provided me with a unique opportunity to study a social discipline within the context of a medical institution.

•  2011 Presidential Scholar
• Graduated cum laude
•  Extensive studies of human behavior

Sarah Swinford graduated from Arizona State University in 2010 with a B.S. in Psychology. Her honors thesis, entitled “Preclinical Evidence That Blocking Serotonin 2A Receptors in the Prefrontal Cortex Inhibits Cocaine Craving in Rats,” was completed under the guidance of Dr. Janet Neisewander. This project spurred Sarah’s interests in drug addiction, which brought her to the Department of Neuroscience at UTMB to work with Dr. Kathryn Cunningham in the Center for Addiction Research.
Her primary research interest is in the role of serotonin in addiction, particularly how serotonin pharmacology can be capitalized upon to create novel treatments for cocaine addiction. Specifically, she intends to examine protein-protein interactions among serotonin receptor subtypes and their relative contributions to stimulant addiction. Outside the lab, Sarah is also very active in promoting community awareness of neuroscience research as the Vice President of the Society for Neuroscience Galveston Chapter.

• 2010 Presidential Scholar
• Travel Award to “Behavior, Biology, and Chemistry: Translational Research in Addiction”
• Frances Adoue Lynch Addiction Research Fund Award
• Leroy Olsen, Ph.D., Endowed Scholarship Award
•  Vice President, Society for Neuroscience Galveston Chapter
•  SfN Chapter Grant
• Pockros, L.A., Pentkowski, N.S., Swinford, S.E., & Neisewander, J.L. (2011). Blockade of serotonin 2A (5-HT2A) receptors in the medial prefrontal cortex attenuates reinstatement of cue-elicited cocaine-seeking behavior in rats. Psychopharmacology, 213(2), pp.307-320.

Beginning my second year at UTMB, I am currently in the Microbiology and Immunology Program and work in Dr. Thomas Geisbert's lab. My research interests include virus pathology and immune responses. I am originally from Cincinnati, OH and received a BS in Biochemistry from the University of Dayton. During my free time, I like to run, travel, read good books and hang out with friends.

• 2010 Presidential Scholar
• 2010: The Brother John Lucier S.M. Award for Excellence in Chemistry, University of Dayton Department of Chemistry
•  2010: John W. Berry Scholars Award, University of Dayton
• 2010: Bachelors of Science in Biochemistry with Honors, Magna Cum Laude

Publications:

• Versteeg KM, Knopf JM, Posluszny S, Vockell AB, Britto MT. (2009). Teenagers Wanting Medical Advice: Is MySpace the Answer? Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, 163(1), 91-92.
• Versteeg K, Zwilling D, Wang H, Church K. Synthesis, structure, and sugar dynamics of a 20 –spiroisoxazolidine thymidine analog. Tetrahedron. (2010).