CNN Postdocs
Dinah Farrington, M.D., Ph.D.
Hometown: Stephentown, NY, USA
Prior Institutions: Bryn Mawr College, Bryn Mawr, PA - B.A.
Rensselaer Polytechnic Inst. Troy, NY PhD Chemistry
Advisor: Dr. Joseph T. Warden
Thesis: “Crystallization of Photosystem 1 and a Proposal for
Covalent Modification of PSAC Protein and Study of its Electron
Transport Pathway”
Univ. of Pennsylvania School of Medicine MD
Research: Structure and mechanisms of G-protein activation of the Serotonin Type 2
receptors
Memberships: Society for Neuroscience
National Association for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression
Mentor/CNN Lab: Kathy Herrick-Davis, Ph.D.
Email: FarrinD@mail.amc.edu
Stephanie J. Mah, Ph.D.
Hometown: Albany, New York
Prior Institutions: Barnard College - BA
University of Pennyslvania - Ph.D.
Advisor: Steven J Fluharty
Research: Effect of ethanol on calcium signaling in developing hippocampal neurons
Awards: Textron Scholarship, Textron University Fellowship, University of Pennsylvania
Theoretical and Integrative Biology Traineeship, NIH (PHS)
Cardiovascular Traineeship, NIH (PHS)
Postdoctoral Fellowship, NINDS (PHS)
Mentor/CNN Lab: Tara Lindsley, Ph.D.
Email: MahS@mail.amc.edu
Alena Rudkouskaya, Ph.D.
Hometown: Minsk, Belarus
Prior Institutions: Belarus State University, B.S., Plant Physiology
National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, Ph.D., Plant Physiology
Ph.D. Thesis: "Polysaccharide-induced changes in transport
properties of plasmalemma of immobilized algae cells"
Mentor: Vladimir M. Yurin, Ph.D., Dr.Sci.
Wadsworth Center of New York State Department of Health,
Postdoc training, Virology
Research: Molecular mechanisms underlying inhibition of synaptic transmission in stroke;
Pathologically relevant glutamate release from glial cells
Mentor/CNN Lab: Alexander Mongin, Ph.D.
Email: RudkouA@mail.amc.edu
Olga Taraschenko, M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H.
Hometown: Kiev, Ukraine
Prior Institutions: National Medical University - M.D.
SUNY Albany - M.P.H.
Albany Medical College - Ph.D.
Advisor: Stanley Glick
Thesis: 18-Methoxycoronaridine, morphine and the cholinergic
habenulo-interpeduncular pathway
Research: Development of new treatments for obesity, cholinergic mechanisms of obesity.
Awards: 2006 Dean’s certificate and Frank C. Ferguson, Jr. Award for Excellence in the
Quality of Science
1999 E. Muskie International Academic Fellowship Award
1997, 1996 Scholarships of the Austrian Federal Ministry of Science and Research
and Internship at the Medical Center of Vienna University, Austria
Mentor/CNN Lab: Stanley Glick, Ph.D., M.D.
Email: TarascO@mail.amc.edu
Melissa VanAlstine, Ph.D.
Hometown: Gloverville, NY
Prior Institutions: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute - B.S. Chemistry 2003
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute - Ph.D. Chemistry 2007
Advisor: Mark P. Wentland
Thesis: Design, Synthesis, and Evaluation of Novel
N-Substituted Derivatives of 8-Carboxamidocyclazocine
Research: Cytochrome P450s, Pain Mechanisms
Mentor/CNN Lab: Lindsay Hough, Ph.D.
Email: VanAlsM@mail.amc.edu
Jinfang Wu, M.D., Ph.D.
Hometown: Yixing, China
Prior Institutions: Nanjing University - M.D.
University of Rhode Island - Ph.D.
Advisor: Nasser Zawia
Thesis: Alzheimer's disease-like pathology in Cynomolgus monkey
following developmental lead (Pb) exposure and mechanism
Research: Regulation of mTOR signaling pathway in neurons
Mentor/CNN Lab: Yunfei Huang, Ph.D.
Email: WuJ@mail.amc.edu
Jun Yang, M.D., Ph.D.
Hometown: Suizhou, China
Prior Institutions: Wuhan University - M.D.
Peking Union Medical College & the Chinese Academy of
Medical Sciences - Ph.D.
Advisor: Yufei Shen
Thesis: Molecular mechanism of histone deacetylase inhibitors TSA
involved in cell apoptosis and cell cycle arrest in lung cancer
Research: Pain Mechanisms
Mentor/CNN Lab: Lindsay Hough, Ph.D.
Email: YangJ1@mail.amc.edu
