Meet our 2021-22 Scholars

Twelve students were selected for the 2021-22 UF Health Cancer Institute University Scholars Program.


Headshot of Melissa Andalia

Melissa Andalia

  • Major: Microbiology and Cell Sciences
  • Minor: Health Disparities, Dance in Medicine
  • Mentor: David Tran, MD, PhD
  • College of Medicine
  • Research Project Title:
  • TBD
  • Research Program: Cancer Therapeutics & Host Response 

Headshot of Dominique Day

Dominique Day

  • Major: Psychology
  • Minor: N/A
  • Mentor: Coy Heldermon, MD, PhD
  • College of Medicine
  • Research Project Title:
    The Gastrointestinal Microbiota and Breast Cancer
  • Research Program: Cancer Therapeutics & Host Response 

Headshot of Wellington Fernandes Dos Santos Jr

Wellington Fernandes Dos Santos Jr


Headshot of Bar Elmaleh

Bar Elmaleh

  • Major: Biochemistry
  • Minor: N/A
  • Mentor: Matthew Eddy, PhD
  • College of Liberal Arts & Sciences
  • Research Project Title:
    Allosteric regulation of A2A adenosine receptor for Immunotherapy
  • Research Program: Mechanisms of Oncogenesis

Headshot of Diana Feier

Diana Feier

  • Major: Biochemistry
  • Minor: N/A
  • Mentor: Loic Deleyrolle, PhD
  • College of Medicine
  • Research Project Title:
    Geospatial Analysis of Immune Infiltrates in Glioblastoma
  • Research Program: Cancer Therapeutics & Host Response

Headshot of Kendra Hall

Kendra Hall


Headshot of Julie Mallinger

Julie Mallinger

  • Major: Biomedical Engineering
  • Minor: N/A
  • Mentor: Matthew Sarkisian, PhD
  • College of Medicine
  • Research Project Title:
    TBD
  • Research Program: Cancer Therapeutics & Host Response

Headshot of Aubrey Mys

Aubrey Mys

  • Major: Psychology and Sociology
  • Minor: Mass Communications and Health Promotion
  • Mentor: Janice Krieger, PhD
  • College of Journalism & Communications
  • Research Project Title:
    Utilizing a Comparative Analysis with Women’s and Men’s Perceptions in Why they Use Kratom
  • Research Program: Cancer Control & Population Sciences

Headshot of Nicole Petit

Nicole Petit

  • Major: Biochemistry
  • Minor: N/A
  • Mentor: Jianping Huang, MD, PhD
  • College of Medicine
  • Research Project Title:
    Delineating the Expression of SPDYE3 in Malignant Gliomas
  • Research Program: Cancer Therapeutics & Host Response

Headshot of Lyndsey Thomas

Lyndsey Thomas


Headshot of Sydney Yu

Sydney Yu

  • Major: Electrical Engineering and Biochemistry
  • Minor: N/A
  • Mentor: Xin Tang, PhD
  • College of Engineering
  • Research Project Title:
    Interdisciplinary Approaches to the Investigation of Cancer Cells
  • Research Program: Cancer Therapeutics & Host Response

Headshot of Kevin Zhou

Kevin Zhou


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