Trainees from diverse backgrounds at different stages of their career development enrich the Department of Cell Biology research environment and, through their tireless efforts, advance our scientific mission. As our trainees develop core competencies, they build scientific, professional, and career skills that facilitate career transitions and help build successful STEM careers. Our trainees contribute to cutting-edge scientific research, explore professional development opportunities, and contribute to the scholarship of the wider academic community at Emory and beyond. We celebrate the commitment and success of all of our dedicated trainees. We further recognize the exceptional achievements of the following trainees, who were nominated and vetted by a faculty advisory committee.
Graduate Students
Tana Potorff-Nitcher
Graduate Student
Alvarez Lab
I am currently a 4th year Neuroscience Ph.D. candidate performing my dissertation research in Dr. Francisco Alvarez’s lab. I took a roundabout journey to acquiring a Ph.D. in neuroscience. I received my B.A. in biology from William Jewell College in Liberty, Missouri where I studied the role of Nicotinamide Mononucleotide Adenylyltransferase 2 (NMNAT2) and Golgi fragmentation on axon degeneration in dorsal root ganglion sensory neurons under the mentorship of Dr. Bhupinder Vohra. During this experience, I discovered my interest in performing research, more specifically my enjoyment of microscopy, and left with my first primary authorship publication (Pottorf et al. 2018, Neurochemistry International).
Following undergrad, I acquired a position as a research technician in Dr. Pamela Tran’s ciliopathy lab at the University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City, Kansas. In addition to performing routine administration and mouse husbandry duties, I was granted the privilege to contribute work on all current lab research projects and have my own personal research project as well. My personal research project was a pharmaceutical study investigating the effects of methionine aminopeptidase 2 (MetAP2) inhibition as a treatment option for hyperphagia and obesity side effects of ciliopathies such as Bardet-Biedl and Alström syndromes (Pottorf et al. 2020, JCI Insight). In addition, I contributed to multiple other research projects in the lab understanding the effect of ciliary protein, intraflagellar-transport A (IFT-A) dysfunction on cilia disassembly, signaling, and embryogenesis, insulin resistance and obesity, and autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) and liver disease (ADPLD). My contributing works resulted in six co-authorship publications. My final contribution to the lab was a biomedical engineering project creating a 3D kidney tubule model that forms cysts and will respond to flow throughput similar to in vivo (preprint available on Biorxiv). Through my experience as a research technician in the Tran lab, I solidified my desire to chase after a career in research. Further, I was privileged to work with nearly every tissue type and was therefore able to identify the field of research that interested me most, which also happened to be my first research experience field – neuroscience.
As a member of Emory’s Neuroscience Ph.D. “Covid Cohort” I did not officially step foot on campus until the spring of my first year. However, we did have the chance to perform a virtual “directed study” in lieu of rotations during our first semester. My directed study was under the guidance of Drs. Trisha Kesar and Joe Nocera investigating one’s locomotor adaptation capability as an early indicator of fall risk and cognitive decline (Pottorf et al. 2022, Frontiers in Neurology). During my condensed spring rotations, I was privileged to contribute to a publication in Dr. Jill Ward’s lab investigating the effects of fibrin glue combined with exercise therapy on axon regeneration following peripheral nerve injury (PNI) (Wariyar et al. 2022, Experimental Neurology). Both of these wonderful experiences led me back to my first love of microscopy and working in peripheral nerves, and thus I joined the Alvarez lab. Together, we are investigating the microglia-motoneuron interactions in the spinal cord after peripheral nerve injury as they relate to motoneuron cell death and permanent loss of the stretch reflex. Specifically, I am investigating the microglia receptor, Triggering Receptor Expressed on Myeloid Cells- 2 (TREM2), as it relates to microglia function and organismal functional recovery. This research has been funded by my T32 (T32NS096050-26) and F31 (F31NS130993-01A1). Outside of research, I have participated in multiple teaching opportunities including being an instructor for the undergraduate course Molecular Mechanisms of Neurological Diseases; served on executive boards for Emory’s First Generation Low-Income Graduate Professionals (FLIP-GP), Emory Women in Neuroscience (EWIN), and the Atlanta Chapter of Society for Neuroscience (ACSfN); volunteered at numerous events including the Atlanta Brain Bee, Emory Splash, What’s New in Atlanta Neuroscience; and have reviewed articles for Grey Matters Emory, Journal of Emerging Investigators, and Journal of Neuroscience Research.