Former Graduate Students
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Kensey Bergdorf-Smith graduated from West Virginia University with dual degrees in Immunology and Medical Microbiology and Multidisciplinary Studies before entering the Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in 2018. She joined the Weiss and Lee labs and department of pharmacology in 2019 under the support of the pharmacology T32 training grant. Her work in the lab focused on model system development, characterizing Wnt signaling and response to Wnt inhibition in thyroid cancer, and high-throughput drug screening to identify therapeutic candidates for anaplastic thyroid carcinoma. This work led to Kensey recieving an NRSA F31 and multiple internal grants to fund smaller side projects. She was also involved in the pharmacology graduate student association and curriculum committee. Kensey defended her dissertation, “Improving Therapeutics for Anaplastic Thyroid Carcinoma” in March 2022 and is now a post-doctoral trainee with Ann Richmond in the Integrated Biological Systems Training in Oncology program.
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George is originally from Ontario, Canada and grew up in Franklin, TN. He attended the University of Pennsylvania where he graduated with his bachelor’s degree in Molecular Biology. George joined the Weiss lab in November 2019 and is currently studying the role of molecular drivers in thyroid cancer progression. George is interested in using computational analysis of genetic and microenvironmental factors to predict cancer outcomes. For fun, George enjoys running, weightlifting, and exploring the Nashville food scene.