iTHRIV is Sunsetting
iTHRIV will end operations effective October 1, 2025.
Our Facebook page will be taken down on October 1, 2025.
Our website will be taken down in December 2025.
Thank you for your support and partnership!
Meet the 2024-2026 iTHRIV Scholars
Virginia Gallagher, PhD
Assistant Professor
Department of Neurology
Division of Memory & Aging Care
UVA School of Medicine
Primary Mentor: Carol Manning, PhD
Research Project: Characterization of Millennial caregivers of persons with cognitive decline: Identifying intervention targets using a mixed-methods approach
Funding: UVA Department of Neurology & UVA Brain Institute
Christine Nelson, PhD
Assistant Professor
Department of Medicine
Division of Pulmonary & Critical Care
UVA School of Medicine
Primary Mentor: Imre Noth, MD
Research Project: Degree and timing of T cell co-stimulation determine protective immunity to M. tuberculosis infection
Funding: UVA Department of Medicine, Division of Pulm and Critical Care, & UVA Vice President for Research
Alexander Podboy, MD
Assistant Professor
Department of Medicine
Division of Gastroenterology & Hepatology
UVA School of Medicine
Primary Mentor: Emily McGowan, MD, PhD
Research Project: Deciphering the Immunologic Landscape of Gastroparesis-Associated Pylorospasm: Insights from Single-Cell RNA Sequencing and Gastric Per-oral Endoscopic Myotomy
Funding: UVA School of Medicine
Russell Witt, MD, MAS
Assistant Professor
Department of Surgery
Division of Surgical Oncology
UVA School of Medicine
Primary Mentors: Craig Slingluff Jr., MD, and Allan Tsung, MD
Research Project: Exploring the Role of Adipokine Signaling in Melanoma: Deciphering the Obesity Paradox
Funding: UVA Comprehensive Cancer Center
Meet the 2023-2025 iTHRIV Scholars
Caitlyn Collins, PhD
Department of Biomedical Engineering & Mechanics
VT School of Engineering
Primary Mentor: Raffaella De Vita, PhD
Research Project: Development of strain-associated biomarkers for precision medicine in delayed fracture healing
Funding: VT Department of Biomedical Engineering & Mechanics
Lora Henderson Smith, PhD, MEd
Assistant Professor
Department of Human Services
UVA School of Ed &Human Development
Primary Mentor: Catherine Bradshaw, PhD, MEd
Research Project: Leveraging data from mental health emergency department visits to inform an online, multi-part, mixed-reality training for school mental-health professionals
Funding: UVA Vice President for Research & UVA School of Ed and Human Development
Jamie MacLeod, MD
Assistant Professor
Department of Medicine
Division of Pulmonary & Critical Care
UVA School of Medicine
Primary Mentor: Michael Shim, MD
Research Project: Biomolecular and clinical outcomes of FK-506 immunosuppression in lung transplantation
Funding: UVA School of Medicine
Jennifer Sasson, MD, MS
Assistant Professor
Department of Medicine
Division of Infect. Disease & Int’l. Health
UVA School of Medicine
Primary Mentor: William Petri, MD, PhD
Research Project: Acute and long-term implications of IL-13 in COVID-19 associated hypoxic respiratory failure
Funding: KL2TR003016
Mary Wesley, DrPH, MPH
Assistant Professor
Department of Health Systems & Implementation Science
VTC School of Medicine
Primary Mentor: Kathy Hosig, PhD, MPH, RD
Research Project: Facilitators and barriers of integrating community health workers (CHWs) into maternal and infant care for rural populations in Southwest Virginia
Funding: VTC Department of Health Systems & Implementation Science
Meet the 2022-2024 iTHRIV Scholars
Shannon Armbruster, MD, MPH
Assistant Professor
Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Division of Gynecologic Oncology
Carilion Clinic
Primary Mentors: Samantha Harden, PhD and Jamie Zoellner, PhD
Research Project: Group-based exercise intervention for endometrial cancer survivors: Exploration of physical activity and quality of life impact
Funding: KL2TR003016
Andrew Barros, MD
Assistant Professor
Department of Medicine
Division of Pulmonary & Critical Care
UVA School of Medicine
Primary Mentor: Randall Moorman, MD
Research Project: Machine Learning to Improve Sepsis Care
Funding: UVA School of Medicine
Christine Ibilibor, MD, MSc
Assistant Professor
Department of Urology
Division of Urologic Oncology
UVA School of Medicine
Primary Mentor:Tracey Krupski, MD
Research Project: Pre-Habilitation and Mindfulness Program for Patients Undergoing Radical Cystectomy
Funding: UVA School of Medicine
Irène Mathieu, MD
Assistant Professor
Department of Pediatrics
UVA School of Medicine
Primary Mentor: James Nataro, MD, PhD, MBA
Research Project: Community-based approaches to improving pediatric mental health
Funding: UVA School of Medicine
Rose Nevill, PhD
Assistant Professor
Department of Human Services
UVA School of Ed & Human Development
Primary Mentor: Micah Mazurek, PhD
Research Project: Advancing the Evidence-base for Mindfulness-Based Interventions for Treating Behavioral Health in Adults with Autism and Intellectual Disability
Funding: UVA Vice President for Research & UVA School of Ed and Human Development
Rell Parker, DVM, PhD, DACVIM
Assistant Professor
Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences, VT Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine
Primary Mentor: Andrea Bertke, PhD
Research Project: Investigating Functional Changes in alpha6 Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptors Following Nerve Injury
Funding: VT Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences
Patricia Rodriguez Lozano, MD
Assistant Professor
Department of Medicine
Division of Cardiology Medicine
UVA School of Medicine
Primary Mentor: Christopher Kramer, MD
Research Project: Novel Therapy to treat Microvascular Disease in Women
Funding: KL2TR003016
Jia-Ray Yu, PhD
Assistant Professor
Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC
Primary Mentor: Catherine Bollard, MD, MBChB
Research Project: The Molecular basis of euchromatic dysregulation in Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG)
Funding: Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC
Meet the 2021-2023 iTHRIV Scholars
Julia Basso, PhD
Assistant Professor
Department of Human Nutrition, Foods, and Exercise
VT College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Primary Mentor: Martha Ann Bell, PhD
Research Project: Examining the clinical utility of dance to support social skills and behavioral and neural synchrony in individuals with autism spectrum disorder
Funding: VT Department of Human Nutrition, Foods and Exercise
Jessie Gibson, PhD, RN
Assistant Professor
Acute and Specialty Care
UVA School of Nursing
Primary Mentor: Bethany Teachman, PhD
Research Project: Measurement and Modification of Threat Interpretation Bias to Reduce Anxiety in Huntington’s Disease
Funding: KL2TR003016
Lee Ann Johnson, PhD, RN
Assistant Professor
Acute and Specialty Care
UVA School of Nursing
Primary Mentor: Sarah Ratcliffe, PhD
Research Project: Comorbidity Profiles and Their Influence on Treatment and Survival Among Underserved Individuals with Advanced Lung Cancer
Funding: UVA Comprehensive Cancer Center
Shawna Klahn, DVM
Associate Professor
Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences
VT VA-MD College of Veterinary Medicine
Primary Mentor: Nicola Mason, BVetMed, PhD
Research Project: Nanopulse stimulation as an ablative immune modifier in spontaneous canine
diffuse large B-cell lymphoma
Funding: VT Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences
Gregory Madden, MD
Assistant Professor
Department of Medicine
Division of Infect. Disease & Int’l. Health
UVA School of Medicine
Primary Mentor: William Petri, MD, PhD
Research Project: Immune profiling to stratify Clostridioides difficile infection outcomes
Funding: K23AI163368
Kazlin Mason, PhD
Assistant Professor
Department of Human Services
UVA School of Ed & Human Development
Primary Mentor: Silvia Blemker, PhD
Research Project: Improving speech outcomes for cleft and craniofacial conditions through applications of machine learning algorithms and patient-specific pre-operative assessment
Funding: KL2TR003016
Adema Ribic, PhD
Assistant Professor
Department of Psychology
UVA College of Arts & Sciences
Primary Mentor: Jessica Connelly, PhD
Research Project: Vision deficits of non-retinal origin in preterm infants: circuit mechanisms and noninvasive approach for prevention and treatment
Funding: UVA Vice President for Research & UVA College of Arts and Sciences