UNT Health Biomedical and Translational Sciences

Two new publications from the Tick-Borne Disease Research Lab at UNT Health Fort Worth 🔎 📄

👉 In Emerging Infectious Diseases, the Lab provides an update on tick surveillance results in Texas spanning from 2014-2021, and discusses the geographic distribution of tick species and the pathogens they carry to monitor risks for the general public across the state.

👉 In the Journal of Medical Entomology, Dr. Michael Allen, in collaboration with researchers at UT Arlington, published modeling results on how mammal biodiversity affects Lyme disease risk.

🔗 Get details: https://bit.ly/45OyInD

🎉 Congratulations Dr. Dipti Debnath!

Dipti successfully defended her dissertation to fulfill the requirements for the PhD in Biochemistry and Cancer Biology under the guidance of Dr. Robert Barber. Dipti’s dissertation, titled “Investigating Genetic Variants That Explain the Inverse Relationship Between Alzheimer’s Disease and Cancer,” explored a surprising connection between two very different diseases.

Scientists have noticed for many years that people who have Alzheimer's disease tend to have a lower chance of developing cancer, and people who have cancer tend to have a lower chance of developing Alzheimer's. The research aims to understand whether our genes could help explain this unusual link. To study this, Dipti analyzed genetic information from more than one hundred thousand people using computer-based methods. She looked for specific regions in our DNA and specific genes that seem to push the body in opposite directions, raising the risk of one disease while lowering the risk of the other. The results identified several genes and biological pathways that appear to sit at the center of this trade off, many of which control how cells grow, divide, and repair themselves.

“Understanding this connection matters because it could one day help researchers find better ways to protect the brain without increasing cancer risk, or to treat cancer without harming brain health. My hope is that this work adds a small but meaningful piece to the larger puzzle of how these two diseases are related,” Dipti said.

“Looking ahead, I hope to continue working at the intersection of genetics, data science, and human health. My goal is to keep using computational and biological research to better understand complex diseases and to help turn scientific discoveries into real benefits for patients. I am excited to begin the next chapter of my career and to keep contributing to research that makes a difference in people's lives.”

Welcome to campus, new students!

We are so glad you are here.

📷 Here are a few highlights from orientation.

💡 Alumni Spotlight: Lindsey Lassiter, BS in Biomedical Sciences 💡

Before Lindsey Lassiter walked the stage at commencement, her vision for her future was clear: she wanted to pursue a professional degree in the pharmacy field. Now that she has earned her BS in Biomedical Sciences at UNT Health Fort Worth, she has a strong foundation for taking the next step.

🔗 Read more about what drew her to the program, the mentors who helped her through it and where she’s headed next: https://bit.ly/4qouAEs

🎉 Congratulations Dr. Jonna Smith!

Jonna successfully defended her dissertation to fulfill the requirements for the PhD in Integrative Physiology under the guidance and supervision of Dr. Mark Cunningham.

Jonna’s dissertation, “Alterations in Pregnancy and Sexually Dimorphic Changes in Blood Pressure and Renal Function in Adult Rodents Exposed to Early Life Stress,” explored how early life stress, in utero and during childhood, impacts future pregnancies, blood pressure and kidney function in adulthood.

With PhD in hand, Jonna plans to take some much deserved time off with her family and will pursue a career in higher education teaching anatomy and physiology.

👏 Congratulations Dr. Nana Kofi K**i Boadum!

Nana fulfilled the requirements for his PhD degree in Pharmacology and Neuroscience under the guidance and supervision of Dr. Michael Forster and Dr. Nathalie Sumien.

His dissertation, “Central and Peripheral Determinants of the Locomotor, Discriminative, and Reinforcing Effects of Nicotine,” focused on understanding how ni****ne acts on different receptors in the brain and body to produce behaviors associated with addiction.

With fewer than 10 out of every 100 people with to***co use disorder successfully quitting, there is a need to explore additional biological mechanisms that could be targeted to improve treatment outcomes. His research used established animal models of addiction and drugs that selectively activate or block specific ni****ne receptors inside and outside the brain.

The findings provide new insight into two brain pathways that can be thought of as the “gas” and “brake” of ni****ne addiction one promoting ni****ne’s desirable (rewarding) effects and another limiting ni****ne use by contributing to its unpleasant (aversive) effects. The work adds to growing evidence that understanding and potentially targeting the brain pathways responsible for ni****ne’s aversive effects may provide another avenue for developing more effective treatments for to***co use disorder.

“Having trained as a PharmD and a PhD now, I plan to build a career that combines my training in pharmacology and clinical pharmacy with my passion for science communication especially in pharmaceutical and healthcare industries,” Nana said.

“I also intend to continue communicating science through art, increasing public appreciation for science and its role in everyday life.”

Last week, students in our Pulse and SOAR summer programs wrapped up their 10-week journeys by presenting their completed research projects.

🫀 Pulse (led by Dr. Paula Gregory, supported by the American Heart Association) places interns in UNT Health's Department of Physiology & Anatomy labs to explore cardiovascular health through hands-on, mentored research. Their research topics included heat therapy, pulsatile perfusion therapy and vascular response.

🧠 SOAR (led by Dr. Rachel Menegaz) pairs undergrads with faculty mentors in the same department to design independent research projects. Their presentations covered topics like human thermoregulation, bone mineral density and the brain's response to stress.

These students took home awards for their presentations:

🥇 1st Place: Irene Kaiser - Pulse Program, Romero Lab
🥈 2nd Place: Sarah Smith - SOAR Program, Menegaz Lab
🥉 3rd Place: Melody Gutzmer - SOAR Program, Cho & Maddux Labs

🎉 Congratulations to all our interns on a summer of great science!

As the summer heat sets in, you might be more keenly aware of your body’s ability to regulate its temperature. Typically, your skin gets all the credit for keeping you cool through processes like sweating or vasodilation. But there’s another part of your body that might play a larger role in regulating temperatures – your nose.

Baonhu Tran, a PhD candidate at UNT Health Fort Worth’s College of Biomedical and Translational Sciences, has focused her dissertation research on the topic, specifically how the size and shape of your nose might play an important role in how your brain and body regulate heat.

Baonhu, who took an interest in researching nasal passages while she was an undergraduate intern at UNT Health’s Summer Opportunities in Anatomy Research program, is getting some major support for her work. She earned grants to fund her research from the National Science Foundation, the Leakey Foundation and the Wenner-Gren Foundation. Additionally, Baonhu was accepted to the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program, which supports outstanding graduate students who demonstrate the potential to make significant contributions in STEM. She is the first UNT Health student to be accepted to the fellowship program.

Read more about Baonhu’s research 👉 https://bit.ly/3TXcDjT

☀️ Undergraduate students in the SOAR program are spending their summers in the labs at UNT Health Fort Worth doing hands-on research.

📈 The Summer Opportunities in Anatomy Research program pairs interns with faculty mentors in the Department of Physiology and Anatomy. Led by Dr. Rachel Menegaz, the 10-week program gives students the opportunity to design and conduct independent research projects and present their findings in a podium symposium.

🔬 Along the way they learn about using medical imaging in research, explore careers in the anatomical sciences and develop their scientific communications skills.

🧠 Students in the 2026 SOAR cohort are engaged in research projects that investigate topics such as human thermoregulation, bone mineral density quantification and how the brain responds to stress.

Jeff Brown's nontraditional path to graduate school has taken him through some unlikely places, including a farm. Read his inspiring story of perseverance.

For Jeff Brown, the journey to medicine included years of seasonal farm work, overcoming housing and food insecurity, and discovering that true responsibility comes from caring deeply about the work you do! 💚 Today, he's pursuing his dream through UNT Health Fort Worth's Master of Science in Biomedical Sciences. Read Jeff's inspiring journey: bit.ly/45eOrfk