Sarina Abrishamcar, MPH
PhD Student (Epidemiology), she/her
I am a second year PhD student in the Department of Epidemiology. I received my BS in Pharmacology from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and my MPH in Epidemiology with a certificate in Genetic and Molecular Epidemiology from Emory University's Rollins School of Public Health. I have been working with Dr. Huels since 2020 as a data analyst and research assistant for projects within the Pregnancy and Childhood Epigenetics (PACE) consortium. I also completed my master's thesis with Dr. Huels, exploring the mediation of prenatal tobacco and alcohol exposure and child neurodevelopment by DNA methylation. Broadly, my research interests are in exposomics and genomics. Specifically, I am interested in how various perinatal, environmental, and psychosocial exposures affect health outcomes (such as neurodevelopment) in children and across the life course through epigenetic and other omics mechanisms.
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E-mail: sarina.abrishamcar@emory.edu
Junyu Chen, MPH
PhD Student (Epidemiology), he/him
I am a fourth-year doctoral student in the Department of Epidemiology. Before entering the program, I received a BS in Biological Science (focused on Molecular Biology) from Nanjing University in 2016 and my MPH in Epidemiology (focused on genetic epidemiology) from Emory University in 2018. I also worked in The Center for Computational and Quantitative Genetics in Emory University, where I turned my attention towards a methodological component of gene mapping studies. My current research interest is development and application of novel statistical and epidemiologic methods for multi-omics and GxE studies to understand the genetic contributions to complex diseases and traits. Currently, I am working with Dr. Huels to develop an analysis pipeline for the calculation of DNA methylation risk scores (MRS) and evaluate its robustness and applicability across diverse ancestries through simulation studies and real data analysis. In my free time, I like rock climbing, swimming, hiking and watching stand-up comedies.
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E-mail: junyu.chen@emory.edu
Lina Dimitrov, MPH
PhD Student (Epidemiology), she/her
I am a second-year doctoral student in the Department of Epidemiology at Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health. I received my BA in Neuroscience and Behavior from Barnard College, Columbia University in 2017 and my MPH in Epidemiology and Biostatistics from Boston University in 2020. My previous work experience between my degrees includes teaching English as a foreign language in France, pharmaceutical consulting in the US, and an ORISE Fellowship at the CDC in the National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities where I worked on (and continue to work on) projects related to children’s mental health. Broadly, my interests are in understanding the etiology of neurobehavioral outcomes, and I am particularly interested in exploring how socioeconomic factors and environmental chemicals may play into the development of these conditions. In my free time, I enjoy taking dance and aerial arts classes (and performing!), reading, hiking, and watching sitcoms that everyone else already watched 10 years ago.
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E-mail: lina.dimitrov@emory.edu
Tszshan Ma, MS
PhD Student (Environmental Health Sciences), she/her
I am a fourth-year doctoral student in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences. Before entering the program, I received a BS in Biochemistry from the University of Hong Kong in 2014, a MS in Biomedical engineering from Tsinghua University in 2018 and a MS in Epidemiology from Harvard School of Public Health in 2020. Broadly, my research focusing on assessing the long-term health effects of air pollution. Some examples of my current work include exploring relative toxicities of particulate matter components for cardiovascular diseases, and exploring joint and individual effects of air pollutants on cerebrovascular diseases. Currently, I am working with Dr. Huels to assess the potential mediation effects of DNA methylation of the association between ambient particulate matter exposure and cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers of Alzheimer’s Disease. In my free time, I enjoy swimming, reading, hiking, and skiing.
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E-mail: tsz.shan.ma@emory.edu
