Team

Basic Science Research Team

Bahiyyah 'Mia' Jefferson

Cell/Molecular Expert

BAHIYYAH@pitt.edu 

Stephanie Fulton

Rodent Behavior/Surgery Expert

SAF113@pitt.edu

Christopher 'Chris' Sullivan

Mouse Colony Manager

cjs39@pitt.edu 

 

Clinical Pancreas Research Team

Melanie 'Mel' Mays

Regulatory Specialist

MEM322@pitt.edu 

Melanie Mays BS, CCRP is the Pancreas Research Team Clinical Research Manager.  Her role is regulatory, drug safety reporting, SOPs, compliance, budgets, contracting and staffing for Pitt and multi-center clinical trials.

 In her free time, Mel enjoys making jewelry. 

Kimberly 'Kim' Stello

Clinical Lab Manager

corradokm@upmc.edu 

Kim graduated from Community College with two Associates Degrees: Biology and Biotechnology, and has been working at the University of Pittsburgh for 15 years. Kim’s favorite band is Iron Maiden.

In her free time, Kim likes to go four-wheeling.

Trainees

Shilang 'Eason' Xiao

Visiting Scholar

shilangx@pitt.edu 

Shilang studies medicine at the Xiangya School of Medicine, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China. His studies focus on the role of NRP1 in regulating pancreas cancer development and cancer pain. 

Metrah Mohammed Nader

MS4, Class of 2023 

Nader.Metrah@medstudent.pitt.edu 

Metrah received her B.S from Portland State University where she studied science and sociology. She also received her MS in biomedical science from University of Pittsburgh. Metrah is working on biomarkers studies in chronic pancreatitis pain.

In her free time she likes to cook, bake, and learn new languages (she speaks Russian, Farsi, and Uzbek fluently). 

Olivia Babyok

PhD student,                                                 Center for Neuroscience (CNUP)                            OLB42@pitt.edu 

Olivia received her Bachelor’s degree from Duquesne University where she majored in biomedical sciences. She is currently investigating neural regulation of pancreatitis.

In her free time, Olivia enjoys horology. 

 

 

Former Lab Members

Julien Maliha (Biomedical Masters Student, 2019-2020)

Neeharika Nallapati (Undergraduate Researcher, 2020-2022)

Yifan ‘Paul’ Zhou (Research Technician, 2022)