Experiential learning opportunity for student and post doctoral researchers.

Entrepreneurial skills are critical for many high-impact careers, including academia, biotech, healthcare, private practice, investing, and consulting. Our fellowship program is a 1 day/week commitment for a period of 9 months. This is expected to be in addition to the participants’ current responsibilities in academic research. This is a funded fellowship, allowing fellows to develop the gamut of executive skills, including critical thinking, persuasion, and judgment by exposure to many of the functions of a small, entrepreneurial organization, including competitive analysis, analytical marketing, regulatory, intellectual property, and even some aspects of legal and finance.

Alumni

Celdara has trained over 50 fellows who are pursuing a variety of academic, government and industry careers, including at Parexel, Acceleron, JDRF, Leerink, Bicycle Therapeutics, MIT, MGH, Monitor, Deloitte, Palantir, RBC Capital Markets, Genentech, Harvard, Cornell, Brigham & Women’s, and Advent Life Sciences, BMS, Virtici, and Celdara Medical.
Join the CHEF Fellowship Alumni Group
Lindsey Carlsen

Lindsey Carlsen, Brown University

Jessica Dennison

Jessica Dennison, University of Miami

Nikhil Khatwani

Nikhil Khatwani, Dartmouth College

Tyler Krause

Tyler Krause, Harvard University

Junghoon Lee

Junghoon Lee, Dartmouth College

Haleema Malik

Haleema Malik, Dartmouth College

Lianne Trigiani

Lianne Trigiani, Cornell University

Lindsey Carlsen

Lindsey Carlsen, Brown University

Lindsey is a fourth-year PhD Candidate in Dr. Wafik El-Deiry’s lab at Brown University. She studies the response of colorectal cancer to different chemotherapy regimens with a focus on identifying treatment combinations that bolster the immune response. Prior to graduate school, Lindsey worked as a research apprentice in the Photodynamic Therapy Center at the Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, where she characterized novel anti-cancer compounds. Lindsey received her BS in Biotechnology from the University at Buffalo. In her free time, Lindsey enjoys hiking, running, and cycling with friends.

Jessica Dennison

Jessica Dennison, University of Miami

Jessica is currently working on her Ph.D. in Neuroscience at the University of Miami, where she received the esteemed National Institutes of Health F31 Predoctoral Fellowship for her novel research ideas. Jessica’s thesis project is investigating the effects of menopause on glucose metabolism in the brain and relationship to Alzheimer’s disease. Previously, Jessica worked in Ireland, where she spearheaded a European Research Council-funded clinical trial designed to investigate the influence of a nutraceutical on visual and cognitive performance. Jessica received her BA in Natural Sciences from Fordham University. She enjoys doing NYT crossword puzzles, performing improv, baking, and scuba diving.

Nikhil Khatwani

Nikhil Khatwani, Dartmouth College

Nikhil Khatwani is an Immunology PhD candidate at Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth College. He currently focuses on tumor immunology, in particular melanoma, to investigate CD8+ resident memory T (TRM) response, its generation and maintenance for long term tumor protection. He is interested in discovering novel mechanisms underlying durable tumor protective responses and how such findings could be leveraged for improved cancer treatments. Nikhil has extensive experience in mRNA and small molecule drug development, pre-clinical immune profiling/characterization of drug product and assay development for platforms spanning multiple disease modalities. More recently, he has also worked on competitive analysis, scientific diligence and disease agnostic technology sourcing at a VC firm with an aim to bring novel therapies to clinic. He hopes to bring his collaborative mindset, problem solving skills and multitasking abilities with an aim to deliver high quality results.

Tyler Krause

Tyler Krause, Harvard University

Tyler is currently a PhD candidate at Harvard University in the Virology Program. His thesis focuses on elucidating neurosynaptic tracing virus interactions with host innate immune responses. Originally from Ohio, Tyler received a B.S. in Biology and a B.S. in Psychology at The Ohio State University. In his free time, you will find Tyler enjoying the outdoors and continuing his pursuit to master obscure hobbies. 

Junghoon Lee

Junghoon Lee, Dartmouth College

Junghoon is a graduate student in the department of Biochemistry and Cell Biology at Dartmouth College where his research aims to identify therapeutic applications in Niemann-Pick Type C disease by regulating cholesterol contents in vivo. Junghoon has a keen interest in neurodegenerative diseases, and he also has previous research experience in developing biomarkers for Alzheimer’s disease. Outside of school, Junghoon enjoys hiking, snowboarding, traveling, and finding new restaurants around the Upper Valley in NH. He received his BS and MS in Biology from GIST in Gwangju, South Korea.

Haleema Malik

Haleema Malik, Dartmouth College

Haleema is currently a 5th year graduate student in the Microbiology and Immunology department at Dartmouth College. Her thesis work is based on understanding the positive regulation of an innate immune mechanism, the pyrin inflammasome, in primary murine macrophages. Haleema was born and raised in Pakistan and received her BS in Biology in 2018 from LUMS in Lahore, Pakistan. Outside of lab, Haleema enjoys hanging out with her friends, watching movies, cooking with her husband, and binge-watching Grey’s Anatomy! 

Lianne Trigiani

Lianne Trigiani, Cornell University

Lianne obtained her PhD in Neuroscience from McGill University at the Montreal Neurological Institute under the supervision of Dr. Edith Hamel in 2020. Her research focused on how physical exercise and simvastatin could interfere with the development of cognitive decline in mouse models of vascular dementia, with particular interest in white matter and endothelial cell pathology. Currently a postdoctoral fellow at Cornell University working in the Schaffer-Nishimura lab, Lianne has continued her research on cerebrovascular pathology in dementia and is investigating how different genetic (ApoE and Trem2) and cardiovascular risk factors (hypertension and ischemic stroke) modify disease trajectory using in vivo 2-photon imaging. Primarily, she is investigating the nature of capillary stalls in ApoE3 and ApoE4 targeted replacement mice and how they may be modified by targeting specific perivascular cells or blood components. Lianne is also examining microglia dynamics in response to ischemia in mice with the R47h variant of Trem2. When not in the lab, Lianne can be found bouldering or searching for the best ice cream spot in town.

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