Center for Clinical and Translational Science

On July 1, 2017, seven New Clinical Scholars joined the Rockefeller University Clinical Scholars Program.  They are Drs. Tobias Becher, Scott Drutman, Krithi Irmady, Chin-Lan Lu, Ethan Ravetch, and Tukisa Smith.  Additionally, Bernice Yan, a 3rd year medical student from Weill Cornell Medical College joined the CCTS Year-Off Medical Student Training Program in the Clinical and Translational Science in the Laboratory for Investigative Dermatology of Dr. James Krueger.  Below are the new Scholars’ descriptions of their research interests.

 

Tobias Becher, MD
Mentor: Dr. Paul Cohen
Laboratory: Laboratory of Molecular Metabolism

Dr. Tobias Becher received his MD from the Friedrich-Wilhelms University Bonn, Germany.  He completed his internal medicine residency and invasive cardiology and intensive care medicine fellowship at the University Medical Center Mannheim, Germany.  As a Clinical Scholar, Dr. Becher is studying the genetic factors that influence brown fat activity in adults.  

Scott Drutman, MD, PhD
Mentor: Dr. Jean-Laurent Casanova
Laboratory: St. Giles Laboratory of Human Genetics of Infectious Diseases

Dr. Scott Drutman received his MD and PhD from the New York University School of Medicine.  He completed his internal medicine residency/medical research track at New York Presbyterian-Weill Cornell Medical Center and medical oncology fellowship at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.  As a Clinical Scholar, Dr. Drutman is studying the immunologic failure that underlies the development of oncovirus driven malignancies.

Krithi Irmady, MD, PhD
Mentor: Dr. Robert Darnell
Laboratory: Laboratory of Molecular Neuro-oncology

Dr. Krithi Irmady received her MBBS from the Mysore Medical College, Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences, Mysore, India and her PhD from the University of Heidelberg, Germany. She did her post-doctoral training in neuroscience at Griffin Hospital, Derby, Connecticut.  Dr. Irmady completed her neurology residency at Yale New Haven Hospital.  As a Clinical Scholar, Dr. Irmady will study the role of microRNAs in the pathogenesis of Parkinson’s disease.

Ching-Lan Lu, MD, PhD
Mentor: Dr. Michel Nussenzweig
Laboratory: Laboratory of Molecular Immunology

Dr. Ching-Lan Lu received her MD from the Chang Gung University, Taiwan and PhD from Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences.  She completed her internal medicine residency and her infectious disease fellowship at the National Taiwan University Hospital. As a Clinical Scholar, Dr. Lu is studying the role of immunotherapy in HIV infection.

Ethan Ravetch, MD
Mentor: Sohail Tavazoie
Laboratory: Elizabeth and Vincent Meyer Laboratory of Systems Cancer Biology

Dr. Ethan Ravetch received his MD from the State University of New York Downstate College of Medicine.  He completed his surgical residency at Einstein/Montefiore Medical Center. As a Clinical Scholar, Dr. Ravetch is studying the molecular mechanism of cancer metastasis and the role of pentraxin proteins in cancer progression.

 

Franck Rapaport, PhD
Mentor: Dr. Jean-Laurent Casanova
Laboratory: St. Giles Laboratory of Human Genetics of Infectious Diseases

Dr. Franck Rapaport received his PhD from the Pierre-and-Marie-Curie University, France. He completed his post-doctoral training in bioinformatics at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.  As a Clinical Scholar, Dr. Rapaport is studying the genetic factors contributing to pediatric appendicitis.

 

Tukisa Smith, MD
Mentors: Drs. Jan Breslow and Manish Ponda
Laboratory: Laboratory of Biochemical Genetics and Metabolism

Dr. Tukisa Smith received her MD from Saint Louis University School of Medicine.  She completed her internal medicine residency at the State University of New York Downstate College of Medicine and her clinical allergy and immunology fellowship at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Dr Smith is studying the coagulation contact-activation system, in particularly the role of factor XII, in immune-mediated diseases and inflammation in primary immunodeficiencies.

 

Bernice Yan
Mentor: Dr. James Krueger
Laboratory: Laboratory of Investigative Dermatology

Research Project: Ms. Yan’s project revolves around the molecular characterization of dysplastic nevi and melanoma using differential gene expression analysis.