Center for Clinical and Translational Science

Starting July 1, 2008, eight new Clinical Scholars embarked on their course of research and education within our program. The eight new Clinical Scholars are: Dr. Jules Cohen, Dr. Rohit Chandwani, Dr. Batya Davidovici, Dr. Jooyun Lee, Dr. Maria Maningat, Dr. Andreas Mauer, Dr. Mina Pastagia, and Dr. Shen-Ying Zhang. One medical student, Ms. Shawniqua Williams, will spend one year conducting translational research with support from the Center for Clinical and Translational Science. Below are brief biographies and research interests of each new Scholar and Ms. Williams. Please join us in welcoming them to the program!


Rohit Chandwani, MD
Email: Rohit.Chandwani@mail.rockefeller.edu
Mentor: Dr. Alexander Tarakhovsky

Dr. Rohit Chandwani received his MD from Yale University and went on for additional training in General Surgery at NYPH – Columbia University Medical Center. He previously performed research in the lab of Dr. Douglas F. Nixon at the Gladstone Institute of Virology & Immunolgy. As a Clinical Scholar, Dr. Chandwani will study micro RNAs and Argonaute proteins in developmental immunology and their role in innate immunity to viruses in Dr. Tarakhovsky’s laboratory.


Jules Cohen, MD
Email: Jules.Cohen@mail.rockefeller.edu
Mentor: Dr. Ralph Steinman

Dr. Jules Cohen received his MD from Weill Cornell Medical College and went on for additional training in Hematology and Oncology at NYPH – Weill Cornell Medical College. He previously performed research on vitilgo in the lab of Dr. James Krueger. As a Clinical Scholar, Dr. Cohen will study the immunologic basis of HIV and will develop a clinical protocol studying the immune response to a DNA vaccine targeting dendritic cells in humans in Dr. Steinman’s laboratory.


Batya Davidovici, MD
Mentor: Dr. James Krueger

Dr. Batya Davidovici received her MD from Ben–Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheba and went on for additional training in Dermatology and Venerology at Soroka Medical Center in Beer-Sheba. She previously performed research with Dr. Sima Halevy at the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. As a Clinical Scholar, Dr. Davidovici will study potential infectious contributions to psoriasis pathophysiology using advanced genetic and epidemiologic approaches in Dr. Krueger’s laboratory.


Jooyun Lee, MD
Mentor: Dr. Marty Markowitz

Dr. Jooyun Lee received her MD from Seoul National University College of Medicine and went on for additional training in Infectious Diseases at Mount Sinai. She previously performed research on antimicrobial therapy for infections caused by Klebsiella pneumoniae carbapenemase-producing pathogens in Dr. Steven Jenkins’ lab at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine. As a Clinical Scholar, Dr. Lee will study the effects of monoclonal antibody therapy on early HIV infection in Dr. Martin Markowitz’s laboratory.


Maria Patricia Maningat, MD
Email: MariaPatricia.Maningat@mail.rockefeller.edu
Mentor: Dr. Jan Breslow

Dr. Patricia Maningat received her MD from the University of the Philippines College of Medicine in Manila and went on for additional training in Internal Medicine and Endocrinology at the Philippine General Hospital. She previously performed research on the use of stable isotopic tracers to determine the carbon sources for human milk lactose that were not derived directly from plasma glucose in Dr. Morey Haymond’s lab at the Children’s Nutrition Research Center in Houston, Texas. As a Clinical Scholar, she will study the muscle toxicity of statin medications in Dr. Jan Breslow’s laboratory.


Andreas Mauer, MD
Email: Andreas.Mauer@mail.rockefeller.edu
Mentor: Dr. Barry Coller

Dr. Andreas Mauer received his MD from the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine and went on for additional training in Internal Medicine at NYPH – Weill Cornell Medical College. He previously performed research on localization of idiopathic ventricular tachycardia via comparison of surface electrocardiograms and electroanatomic mapping in Dr. Bruce Lerman’s lab at NYPH - Weill Cornell Medical College. As a Clinical Scholar, Dr. Mauer will be developing and validating a standardized electronic phenotyping instrument for bleeding disorders in Dr. Barry Coller’s laboratory.


Mina Pastagia, MD
Email: Mina.Pastagia@mail.rockefeller.edu
Mentors: Dr. Vincent Fischetti and Dr. James Krueger

Dr. Mina Pastagia received her MD from the State University of New York at Downstate Medical School and went on for additional training in Infectious Diseases at Mount Sinai Medical Center. She previously performed research on quantifying in vitro antibiotic sensitivities of isolates of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in Dr. Mary Klotman’s lab at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine. As a Clinical Scholar, Dr. Pastagia will study a novel lytic enzyme treatment for staphylococcal skin infections in patients with psoriasis in the laboratories of Drs. Vincent Fischetti and James Krueger.


Shen-Ying Zhang, MD
Mentor: Dr. Jean-Laurent Casanova

Dr. Zhang received her MD from Shanghai Fudan University in China and then went on for additional training in Human Genetics and Immunology at the Necker Medical School of the University Paris, René Descartes, France. She previously performed research on the genetics of immunodeficiencies in the lab of Drs. Jean-Laurent Casanova and Laurent Abel at University Paris René Descartes and INSERM, France. As a Clinical Scholar, she will continue her studies of the genetic predisposition to infectious diseases in children in Dr. Jean-Laurent Casanova’s laboratory.


Ms. Shawniqua Williams
Mentor: Dr. Nicholas Schiff

Ms. Williams is currently a 3rd year student at the Weill Cornell Medical College. Ms. Williams will spend a year studying functional neuroimaging of patients in the minimally conscious state in the laboratory of Dr. Nicholas Schiff.