Faculty, Staff & Students

Faculty & Staff

Mahya Aghaee

Department:

MD-PULMONARY SYSTEMS MEDICINE

Mahya Aghaee PhD

Postdoctoral Associate

Phone:

(352) 273-8738

Venkata Sai Narayana Bavisetty

Department:

MD-PULMONARY SYSTEMS MEDICINE

Venkata Sai Narayana Bavisetty Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Associate

Phone:

(352) 273-8738

Jason Cory Brunson

Department:

MD-PULMONARY SYSTEMS MEDICINE

Jason Cory Brunson PhD

Research Assistant Professor

Phone:

(352) 273-8718

Daniel A Cruz

Department:

MD-PULMONARY SYSTEMS MEDICINE

Daniel A Cruz PhD

Postdoctoral Associate

Phone:

(352) 273-8738

Luis L Fonseca

Department:

MD-PULMONARY SYSTEMS MEDICINE

Luis L Fonseca Ph.D.

Research Assistant Professor

Phone:

(352) 273-7903

Skylar Grey

Department:

MD-PULMONARY SYSTEMS MEDICINE

Skylar Grey PhD

Postdoctoral Associate

Phone:

(352) 273-8738

Quindel Jones

Department:

MD-PULMONARY SYSTEMS MEDICINE

Quindel Jones

POSTDOC ASO

Phone:

(352) 273-8738

Adam C Knapp

Department:

MD-PULMONARY SYSTEMS MEDICINE

Adam C Knapp PhD

Research Scientist

Phone:

(352) 273-8718

Reinhard Laubenbacher

Department:

MD-PULMONARY SYSTEMS MEDICINE

Reinhard Laubenbacher

Director

Phone:

(352) 294-2350

Barbara J Martin

Department:

MD-PULMONARY SYSTEMS MEDICINE

Barbara J Martin

Administrative Specialist

Phone:

(352) 273-8718

Helen Moore

Department:

MD-PULMONARY SYSTEMS MEDICINE

Helen Moore PhD

Associate Professor

Phone:

(352) 273-9552

Czerne M Reid

Department:

MD-PSYCHIATRY

Czerne M Reid Ph.D.

Instructional Associate Professor, Psychiatry & Affiliate Associate Professor, Journalism

Phone:

(352) 294-4921

T.J. Sego

Department:

MD-PULMONARY SYSTEMS MEDICINE

T.J. Sego PhD

Assistant Professor Of Medicine

Phone:

(352) 273-8738

Luis Sordo Vieira

Department:

MD-PULMONARY SYSTEMS MEDICINE

Luis Sordo Vieira Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Medicine

Phone:

(352) 273-8737

Sandra A Tsiorintsoa

Department:

MD-PULMONARY SYSTEMS MEDICINE

Sandra A Tsiorintsoa Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Associate

Phone:

(352) 273-8738

Henrique de Assis Lopes Ribeiro

Department:

MD-PULMONARY SYSTEMS MEDICINE

Henrique de Assis Lopes Ribeiro

Research Assistant Professor

Phone:

(352) 273-8718

Courtesy Faculty

Please contact Dr. Reinhard Laubenbacher with interest in joining our Courtesy Faculty.

James R Brown

Department:

MD-PULMONARY SYSTEMS MEDICINE

James R Brown

Courtesy Professor

Phone:

(352) 273-8738

Lucas Böttcher

Department:

MD-PULMONARY SYSTEMS MEDICINE

Lucas Böttcher

Courtesy Professor

Phone:

(352) 273-8738

Filippo Castiglione

Department:

MD-PULMONARY SYSTEMS MEDICINE

Filippo Castiglione

Courtesy Faculty

Phone:

(352) 273-8738

Anna Konstorum

Department:

MD-PULMONARY SYSTEMS MEDICINE

Anna Konstorum

Courtesy Professor

Phone:

(352) 273-8718

Byungjoon Min

Department:

MD-PULMONARY SYSTEMS MEDICINE

Byungjoon Min

Courtesy Professor

Phone:

(352) 273-8738

Karen Schlauch

Department:

MD-PULMONARY SYSTEMS MEDICINE

Karen Schlauch

CO RES PROF

Phone:

(352) 273-8738

Student Research Employees

The Laboratory for Systems Medicine mentors UF students who are also employees. Please reach out to our faculty members if you are interested in being included in a research project.

Emily Chacko

Department:

MD-PULMONARY SYSTEMS MEDICINE

Emily Chacko

STU AST – NON-CLERICAL & ADMIN

Phone:

(352) 273-8738

Sean S Hershkowitz

Department:

MD-PULMONARY SYSTEMS MEDICINE

Sean S Hershkowitz

STU AST – NON-CLERICAL & ADMIN

Phone:

(352) 273-8738

Kent Phipps

Department:

EG-COMPUTER / INFO SCI & ENG

Kent Phipps

STU AST – NON-CLERICAL & ADMIN

Phone:

(954) 588-1196

Olivia C Maule

Department:

MD-PULMONARY SYSTEMS MEDICINE

Olivia C Maule

Researcher

Phone:

(352) 392-1721

Graduate Research Students

The Laboratory for Systems Medicine mentors Graduate students from various schools. Please reach out to our faculty members if you are interested in being included in a research project.

Kyle Adams

I graduated from the University of Florida in 2022 with a double major in mathematics and statistics. I taught high school mathematics for a year and I am now a graduate student in the mathematics department here at UF. I work with Dr. Helen Moore on mathematically modeling breast cancer tumor dynamics. My research interests currently lie broadly in applied mathematics, but specifically include mathematical oncology.

Kyle Adams

Raja Al-Bahou

UF MD Scholar
Research with Dr. Helen Moore.

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Lindsey Brinkley

UF MD Scholar
Research with Dr. Helen Moore.

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Julia F. Bruner

UF MD – Ph.D. Scholar
Research with Dr. Helen Moore.

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Austin Edwards

I am a second-year Medical Student at the University of Florida, with a foundation in biology, chemistry, and leadership. Currently, I am working under the mentorship of Dr. Moore, focusing on the development of a mathematical model of glioma and its interaction with the glioma immune-microenvironment.

In this role, I am involved in exploring the intricate dynamics between glioma cells and the immune system within the tumor microenvironment. Our research aims to elucidate the mechanisms of tumor growth, immune evasion, and potential therapeutic targets. By integrating mathematical modeling with experimental data, we strive to advance our understanding of glioma biology and contribute to the development of treatment strategies.

My work involves collaborating with a multidisciplinary team to ensure our model accurately reflects the complexity of glioma-immune interactions. This experience has not only enhanced my analytical and research skills but also reinforced my commitment to pursuing a career in medical research and oncology.

austin edwards

Undergraduate Research Students

The Laboratory for Systems Medicine mentors Undergraduate students from various schools. Please reach out to our faculty members if you are interested in being included in a research project.

Rohun Gargya

UF Undergraduate Scholar
Research with Dr. Luis Sordo Vieira

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James Golabek

UF Undergraduate Scholar
Research with Dr. Cory Brunson

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JB Gracey

UF Undergraduate Scholar
Research with Dr. Cory Brunson

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Sofia John

I am a third-year Statistics major and Women’s Studies minor at UF. I have been working on a project to create an agent-based model of bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis with Dr. Sordo Vieira and Dr. Wheeler. It is our hope with this model to be able to better understand the mechanisms which induce fibrosis in the lungs. My interest in computational modeling began in high school after I participated in an internship with the Integrated Mathematical Oncology department at Moffitt Cancer Center. There I worked on differential equations to model dormancy in multiple myeloma with Dr. Miller and Dr. Basanta. Outside of research, I volunteer in the Pediatric Cardiac ICU and the Pediatric ICU at Shands Children’s Hospital through a student organization called Dream Team and I also work with the Alachua County Victim Services and Rape Crisis Center as a helpline volunteer.

SofiaJohn

Bhavya Kambara

I am a first-year Data Science major on the pre-health track at the Univeristy of Florida. I am currently working with Dr. Helen Moore and my partner to develop a computational model for the cellular dynamics of the disease Sarcoidosis. The purpose of our research is to understand which cell types have the greatest impact on the progression of the disease in patients through the use of differential equations and computer science modeling. We aim to deepen our understanding of the disease and contribute to the development of more advanced, targeted treatment options. I am interested in interdisciplinary research because it provides me the opportunity to expand my knowledge into creating solutions to real-world problems. The multidisciplinary research allows for me to combine my passions in computer science and medicine to make a lasting impact.

bhavya

Achyudhan Kutuva

I am a second-year undergraduate student at the University of Florida double majoring in Microbiology and Cell Sciences, Data Science in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. I currently work with Dr. Ribeiro to investigate gene regulation and expression in lung-based epithelial cells in response to COVID-19 to develop a Boolean network model. This model will tie together various signaling pathways of inflammation response to stochastically understand the biological effects of the novel coronavirus.

Achyudhan Kutuva

Chhavi Pokharna

I am a first-year biomedical engineering major on the pre-health track at the University of Florida. Currently, I am working with Dr. Helen Moore and my research partner to develop a mathematical model for the cellular dynamics of the disease Sarcoidosis. The significance of this project is to find therapeutic targets that have the biggest impact on the disease by understanding the different cell types through the use of differential equations and coding. Our goal is to understand this disease and contribute to the limited knowledge there is to receive more advanced and helpful treatment options. 

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Giuseppe Scibilia

I am a freshman at The University of Florida currently studying mathematics. I am working with Dr. Moore to create a model of the microenvironment that interacts with myeloma cells. This model will be created by determining equations which modeling the kinetics of the microenvironment. With this, we hope to find new signaling pathways essential to myeloma cells which we can block using medication. We can then simulate millions of trials using our model, varying multiple elements of the treatment process, with the goal of determining a new, or optimizing a current, treatment regimen for multiple myeloma.

Scibilia_Giuseppe

Alice Zhang

UF Undergraduate Scholar
Research with Dr. Cory Brunson

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Alexandra Haddad

I am a first year undergraduate student at the University of Florida studying health science with a minor in French on the pre-med track, interested in pursuing a career in anesthesiology. I’m currently a part of Dr. Helen Moore’s research working with a team of advanced thinkers to apply mathematics to the medical field as a way of finding cures for many different types of diseases. The team is creating models of these diseases with each arrow (typically signifying cell loss or cell gain) having an equation behind it so it can be better understood which mechanisms to focus one when creating treatments. We hope to give patients with these diseases and conditions a better chance at overcoming them.

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High School & Middle School Research Students

The Laboratory for Systems Medicine mentors students in High School and Middle School. Please reach out to our faculty members if you are interested in being included in a research project.

We are proud to mentor students from the Orlando Math Circle.

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Former Lab Members

Adi Cohen

I graduated from the University of Florida pre-med program with a major in Biology and minors in Disabilities in Society and Health Disparities in Society. I worked with Dr. Brunson on a systematic review of medical literature to determine how patient similarity–based individualized modeling is conducted using retrospective data. I currently attend Nova Southeastern University for medical school to further my passion for medicine and healthcare.

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Ryan Elkind

I am a third-year Mathematics and Economics double major at the University of Florida, with a mathematical background in topological data analysis. I am working with Dr. Brunson on an analysis of the structure and function of glomerular capillaries. Using computational methods, we aim to characterize the three-dimensional structure of the glomerular capillary network, with the objective of providing useful insight into glomerular function.

Ryan Elkind

Baylor Fain

A bio-physicist that applies computational and mathematical techniques, commonly used in Physics, to solve important problems in virology, epidemiology, public health and beyond.
Areas of Interest:
Agent-based models
Non-markovian processes
Master equations
Inquiry-based learning

Baylor Fain

Nobel Chowdary Mandepudi

Nobel was a Graduate Research Assistant with Dr. Brunson on the CTSI Precision Health Initiative Pilot Award project “Efficient Modeling of Individualized COVID-19 Mortality Risk”. He completed a Master’s degree in the Department of Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) and is currently interning at Arm.

Nobel Chowdary Mandepudi

Bhuvan Muvva

UF Graduate Scholar
Research with Dr. Cory Brunson

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Lisa M. Oppel

Lisa received her BFA from College of Fine Arts in 2010. She has since worked in the realms of ideas and budgets on film sets and later in the UF College of Medicine. Lisa took a promotion with the UF College of the Arts as Grants Accountant.

lisa

Abhinav Penmetcha

I am a Biology major and Bioinformatics minor at UF and will be graduating in May 2024. I am working with Dr. Brunson on a project to analyze the relationships between race/ethnicity, socioeconomic determinants of health, clinical profiles, and post-transplant survival in lung transplant patients through statistical modeling. With these models, we hope to gain a better understanding of the set of interaction effects between these variables to gauge the historical and current statuses of disparities in lung transplantation.

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Bruce Shapiro

I was Research Assistant Professor in the Laboratory for Systems Medicine. I managed the standup of the lab’s physical presence in the College of Medicine and tracked all room remodeling from inception to completion. I am currently Associate Professor of Mathematics at Rock Valley College.

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Yara N Skaf

Areas of Interest:
Biomedical informatics
Computational biology
Mathematical data science
Topological Data Analysis (TDA)

Yara N Skaf

Igor Sokolov

I am a UF class of 2023 mathematics major with a physics minor working with Dr. Brunson and Dr. Sordo Vieira on creating a software package to perform analysis on signal transduction networks using minimal functional routes, graph expansion and the route modulus. I hope that this work will prove a valuable tool for researchers and further our understanding of static boolean networks.

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Kristina Suarez

I graduated from the University of Florida with a BS in Mathematics and plan to attend medical school in Fall 2023. I am working with Dr. Brunson on a study of the structure and function of glomerular capillaries using network and topological analysis.

Suarez

Van Thuy Truong

I am a pharmacist by training and an applied mathematics PhD student with AstraZeneca and University of Leeds, UK. I am working on combining agent-based models with pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic models (simulated as ODEs and PDEs) to predict tumour growth and interaction with immune cells during mono and combination therapy. I am visiting the systems medicine lab to work with Dr. Fonseca and learn about techniques to fit ODEs to my agent-based model for predicting tumour behaviour and optimising treatment schedules.

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Melody Walker

I was a Postdoctoral Associate in the Laboratory for Systems Medicine. I performed biological experiments on endothelial cells and monocytes as well as worked on a mathematical model of endothelial cells. I am now a Postdoctoral Fellow for the College of Pharmacy at UF.

Melody A Walker, Ph.D.

Veronika Zeindl

I graduated from the Technical University of Munich with a MS in Mathematics. I worked with Dr. Walker on understanding the sensitivity analysis method eFAST. The ultimate goal is to use eFAST to analyze and reduce agent-based models.

Veronika Zeindl

Xinya Zhang

I am a third-year Statistics and Mathematics major and Computer Science minor at UF. I am working with Dr. Brunson on a project that compares conventional statistical learning models with individualized cohort models on clinical diagnosis. I plan to attend graduate school in biostatistics or data science, and I wish to work with healthcare data science in the future.

Xinyi Zhang

Ivan Ramirez Zuniga

I was a postdoctoral associate in the Laboratory for Systems Medicine, working with Dr. Sordo Vieira, where I developed mathematical models of the immune response to Aspergillosis. Currently, I am an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mathematics, with a courtesy appointment in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University of Texas at Tyler.

Ivan Ramirez Zuniga

Samantha Williams

UF Graduate Scholar
Research with Dr. Cory Brunson

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