Featured Trainees are students, postdoctoral fellows, practicing physicians and faculty, and others who work under the tutelage of Levy CIMAR Core Faculty members and who stand out for their efforts in the fight against antimicrobial resistance. Trainees might be graduate students, antimicrobial stewards, educators, scientific researchers, medical doctors, veterinarians, pharmacists, or a combination of any of these and other professions. If you are a Levy CIMAR Core Faculty member and would like to nominate someone for “Featured Trainee” distinction, please email us any time at cimar@tufts.edu.
Winter 2022 Featured Trainee:
Irene Nagawa
- Senior at UMass Boston majoring in biology and working with the Levy CIMAR’s Aimee Shen, PhD
- Inaugural recipient of the Levy CIMAR Undergraduate Summer Internship for Underrepresented Groups in Science and Medicine
Irene Nagawa is a senior biology major at the University of Massachusetts-Boston who first came to Tufts University School of Medicine last winter for the Pathway to a Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences (P2P) winter enrichment program. P2P is a three-week mentored, hands-on, research-intensive experience for undergraduates interested in biomedical research careers.
Irene excelled in P2P and was soon one of just two students awarded the first Levy CIMAR Undergraduate Summer Internships for Underrepresented Groups in Science and Medicine in 2022. For her internship, she worked on a Clostridioides difficile (C. difficile) research project in the lab of Dr. Aimee Shen. The Shen lab focuses on how C. difficile, a leading cause of antibiotic-associated diarrhea and healthcare-associated infections in the United States, how it creates contagious spores, and how these spores germinate in response to particular bile salts found within the gastrointestinal tract. Irene’s research goal this summer was to characterize the growth and sporulation properties of Ribotype 078 (RT078) C. difficile strains, which are responsible for a significant number of community-acquired and zoonotic infections. She submitted an abstract of this work to the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minoritized Scientists (ABRCMS) and received a ABRCMS travel award to present her research this fall.
Irene has a keen interest in the biomedical sciences on a professional level but also chose to major in biology in hopes of encouraging other young women to pursue similar career paths. “A biology major provides me with endless possibilities and in any research field I end up in,” she says. “My goal is to work hard and inspire other women, especially women of color. I want to demonstrate to other women that they too can pursue their passions. I also hope that my journey will inspire more Black girls to pursue careers in science.”
Irene was born in Uganda and immigrated to the United States as a young child. “My hope is to broaden my knowledge in graduate school and my perspective of the world as well as to better understand how to serve people from all backgrounds,” she says.
Outside of school and research, she likes to travel, work out, meditate, do yoga, cook, and hike. She is passionate about going on adventures and learning new things.
Meet all of the Levy CIMAR's Featured Trainees:
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Irene Nagawa, Inaugural Recipient of the Levy CIMAR’s Undergraduate Summer Internship
Senior at UMass Boston majoring in biology and working with the Levy CIMAR’s Aimee Shen, PhD; Inaugural recipient of the Levy CIMAR Undergraduate Summer Internship for Underrepresented Groups in Science and Medicine
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Rebecca Tenner, Inaugural Recipient of the Levy CIMAR’s Undergraduate Summer Internship
Rising Senior at Tufts University’s Undergraduate School of Arts & Sciences working with the Levy CIMAR’s Alysse Wurcel, MD; Inaugural recipient of the Levy CIMAR Undergraduate Summer Internship for Underrepresented Groups in Science and Medicine
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Emma Price, VMD, master’s candidate in Clinical and Translational Science at Tufts University’s Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences
2nd year master’s candidate in Clinical and Translational Science at Tufts University’s Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences working with the Levy CIMAR’s Claire Fellman DVM, PhD, and Shira Doron MD, to identify factors driving antimicrobial prescription in hospitalized dogs and cats
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Joshua Khuvis, MD Candidate at Tufts University School of Medicine and Levy CIMAR Student Researcher
MD Candidate at Tufts University School of Medicine and Levy CIMAR Student Researcher working with Dr. Shira Doron on exploring the impact of diagnostic stewardship interventions on Clostridioides difficile test ordering practices and results
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Efrat Hamami, Molecular Microbiology PhD Candidate Working to Identify Vulnerabilities in Drug Resistant A. baumannii Isolates
Molecular Microbiology PhD Candidate Working in the Ralph Isberg Lab to Identify Vulnerabilities in Drug Resistant A. baumannii Isolates
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Kathleen Davis, PhD, Postdoctoral Scholar Working on Adapting Drug Combination Testing of Clinical Isolates
Postdoctoral Scholar working to identify antibiotic and small molecule combinations that function against problematic community and hospital-acquired pathogens; Working on adapting drug combination testing of clinical isolates
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Shailab Shrestha, MERGE-ID Ph.D. Candidate and Recipient of the Tufts GSBS Fellowship For International Students
PhD Candidate in Molecular Microbiology, MERGE-ID (Medically-oriented Research in Graduate Education – Infectious Disease) track at Tufts University’s Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences; Inaugural Recipient, Tufts University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences Fellowship Supporting International Student Education, 2018
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Courtney Chan, Infection Prevention Coordinator, Medical Scribe, and Researcher
Infection Prevention Coordinator and Infectious Diseases Clinic Medical Scribe at Tufts Medical Center; Research contributor and co-author with the Levy CIMAR’s Drs. Maya Nadimpalli and Shira Doron: “Antibiotic Resistance: A Call to Action to Prevent the Next Epidemic of Inequality,” in Nature Medicine (2021)
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Eve Abraha, Undergraduate Researcher and Co-Teacher
Undergraduate Researcher at Tufts Medical Center working with the Levy CIMAR’s Dr. Shira Doron; Co-teacher in the PARE (Prevalence of Antibiotic Resistance in the Environment) program’s short course, PARE-Seq, under the guidance of the Levy CIMAR’s Drs. Carol Bascom-Slack and Amy Pickering
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Aubrey Specht, DVM Candidate and Award Winner, 2020 Tufts Vet Summer Research Training Program
Second-Year Graduate Student pursuing a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) at the Cummings School; Winner, Basic Science Award at the 2020 Tufts Vet Summer Research Training Program
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Iyob Gebremariam, Levy CIMAR Software Developer
Software Developer working with the Levy CIMAR on our Cutter and DiaMOND research and analytics tools; Masters student studying International Business at the Tufts Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy
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Juan A. Hernández-Bird, MERGE-ID PhD Student
2019 American Society of Microbiology (ASM) Capstone Fellowship awardee and PhD Candidate in Molecular Microbiology – MERGE-ID (Medically-oriented Research in Graduate Education - Infectious Disease) track at Tufts University’s Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences
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Scarlet Bliss, Undergraduate Laidlaw Fellow
Laidlaw Scholar working with CIMAR’s Drs. Amy Pickering and Carol Bascom-Slack to incorporate molecular methods into the PARE (Prevalence of Antibiotic Resistance in the Environment) project
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Erica Fuhrmeister, PhD, Postdoctoral Scholar and National Science Foundation Fellow
Postdoctoral Fellow, Pickering Lab, Tufts University School of Engineering; Recipient: National Science Foundation Fellowship titled, “Transfer of Antimicrobial Resistance Genes betwee
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Gabriela Andujar Vazquez, MD, Inaugural LEAP Fellow
Attending physician, Division of Geographic Medicine and Infectious Diseases, Tufts Medical Center; Assistant Professor of Medicine, Tufts University School of Medicine; Inaugural LEAP Fellow for 2018-2019