I joined the Doctoral program in Human Toxicology in Fall 2012. During my Physician training in India, I got opportunities to study, understand and treat several diseases from pathologic-clinical standpoints. After that, my master’s education in public health (environmental health) gave me opportunities to explore the determinants of diseases from an environmental standpoint.

As a logical extension to my research interest, in my PhD program I would like to investigate the mechanisms that relate the environmental pollutants to the mysterious disease conditions and contribute to the propagation of toxicology research process. Interdisciplinary nature and lab-rotation component of the Tox program have been giving me opportunities to re-discover my research interests.

Dissertation Title: Inflammatory Cytokine Signaling Contribute to Erlotinib Resistance in Head and Neck Cancer

Advisor: Andrean L. Simons-Burnett, PhD

Year of Graduation: 2016

Program: Ph.D.

Current Position: Director of Process Improvement

Current Employer/Institution: Prime Healthcare Management

Publications:

Park JH, Mudunkotuwa IA, Kim JS, Stanam A, Thorne PS, Grassian VH, Peters TM, Physicochemical Characterization of Simulated Welding Fume from a Spark Discharge System, Aerosol Sci Technol. 2014 Jul 1;47(7):768-776

Koch AT, Love-Homan L, Espinosa-Cotton M, Stanam A, Simons AL., MyD88-Dependent Signaling Decreases the Antitumor Efficacy of Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Inhibition in Head and Neck Cancer Cells, Cancer Res. 2015 Apr 15;75(8):1657-67

Stanam A, Love-Homan L, Joseph TS, Espinosa-Cotton M, Simons AL., Upregulated interleukin-6 expression contributes to erlotinib resistance in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, Mol Oncol. 2015 Aug;9(7):1371-83

Stanam A, Gibson-Corley KN, Love-Homan L, Ihejirika N, Simons AL., Interleukin-1 blockade overcomes erlotinib resistance in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, Oncotarget. 2016 Nov 15;7(46):76087-76100