Graduate Researcher
MCB
I completed my bachelor’s degree at Georgia State University, where I researched the effects of polyphenols on macrophages, showing that these antioxidant compounds scavenge free radicals but also influence inflammatory signalling pathways in cells. Additionally, I completed a summer research program in the Yilmaz lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where I explored the role of ceramides in colorectal cancer metastasis.
In the Dillin lab, my research largely focuses on intercellular mitochondrial transfer and engineered mitochondrial depletion and repletion, using both C. elegans and human cells as model systems.
Publications
Goswami S, Zhang Q, Yildiz AB, Das Adhikari U, Raghawan AK, Bulliard M, Sedhain S, Darawshi O, Celik CE, Cansiz F, Krempe CP, Rösler J, Allies G, Meckelmann SW, Chi C, Hormann FL, Heiles S, Sedlak J, Grace W, Eng G, Reich E, Alquati C, Williams KJ, Read BJ, Rashan EH, Li Z, Jnawali A, Ortiz JA, Jain C, Whittaker CA, Yilmaz OH, Deshpande V, Schmitz OJ, Sickmann A, York AG, Kwon DS, Neumann U, Fedorova M, Vander Heiden MG, Ogretmen B, Sethi NS, Tasdogan A, Yilmaz ÖH. Ceramide synthesis mediates colorectal cancer metastasis through a YAP-driven regenerative program. Science. 2026 Sep 24;393(6818):eadw8520. doi: 10.1126/science.adw8520. Epub 2026 Sep 24. PMID: 42784694.
Najjar RS, Grace WW, Siqueira APS, Setka AM, Lu W, Wang S, Feresin RG. Polyphenols have unique cellular effects that are distinct from antioxidant function in Toll-like receptor 4-mediated inflammation in RAW264.7 macrophage-like cells. Nutr Res. 2024 Dec;132:136-151. doi: 10.1016/j.nutres.2024.10.007. Epub 2024 Oct 28. PMID: 39580917.