People (IDEAS)

College of Pharmacy

Current Students

Yesica Landaverde Rodriguez

IDEAS Student--Vetter Lab

Jordan Muehlberger

IDEAS Student--West Lab

Jason Ortega

IDEAS Student--Zelikowsky Lab

Josue Cuero

IDEAS Student--Heys Lab

Cayli McEvoy

IDEAS Student--Wilcox Lab

Chandler Peterson

IDEAS Student--Williams Lab

Camille Reynoso Fernandez

IDEAS Student--Zelikowsky Lab

Post-Bacc Student Activities

IDEAS students and mentors — IDEAS students and mentors at Red Butte Gardens, part of the University of Utah, in July 2024. Chandler Peterson, Camille Reynoso Fernandez, Lauren Naatz, Yesica Landaverde Rodriguez, Cayli McEvoy, and Josue Cuero

IDEAS and IM-Prep Students and Mentors — IDEAS and IM-Prep students with some of their mentors after the University of Utah Post-Baccalaureate Symposium, May 2024

student presenting research at NITG — IDEAS student Yesica Landaverde Rodriguez presenting her research at the Utah Neuroimmunology Trainee Symposium, April 2024

Jason Ortega, photo — IDEAS student, Jason Ortega, presenting his research at the Post Baccalaureate Symposium, May 2024

students in front of fall foliage — IDEAS and IM-Prep students with Dr. Keke Fairfax after hiking to Willow Heights, Big Cottonwood Canyon, October 2024

2 students in front of a poster, Skaggs Building

2 students in front of a poster, Skaggs Building — Jason Ortega, standing in front of his poster at the 2025 Winter Conference on Brain Research at Lake Tahoe.

2 students in front of a poster, Skaggs Building — IDEAS and IM-Prep students, joined by program director Karen Wilcox, bowling this fall.

2 students in front of a poster, Skaggs Building — Jordan Muehlberger sharing her research at the Post-Bacc Symposium, May 2024

Program Directors

Wilcox Lab

Ryan O'Connell, PhD

Associate Chief, Division of Microbiology and Immunology

Ryan O'Connell Research

Karen Wilcox, PhD

Distinguished Professor and Chair, Pharmacology and Toxicology

Karen Wilcox Research

Faculty Mentors

Faculty mentors for the IDEAS program are included below. Before arriving on campus, students will choose five faculty mentors they would like to rotate with. When they arrive at the University of Utah, students will attend orientation, and then complete 3 one-week mini rotations in three different labs, eventually choosing a lab to join.

KC Brennan, MD

Professor, Neurology

KC Brennan Research

Jessica Brown, PhD

Associate Professor, Pathology

Jessica Brown Lab

Sophie Caron, PhD

Associate Professor, Biology

Sophie Caron Research

Clement Chow, PhD

Associate Professor, Human Genetics

Clement Chow Research

Ana Beatriz DePaula-Silva, PhD

Assistant Professor, Pharmacology and Toxicology

Richard Dorsky, PhD

Professor, Neurobiology and Anatomy

Richard Dorsky Research

Brian Evavold, PhD

Professor and Chief, Division of Microbiology and Immunology

Brian Evavold Research

Jim Heys, PhD

Assistant Professor, Neurobiology and Anatomy

Jim Heys Research

David Krizaj, PhD

John Frederick Carter Professor in Ophthalmology & Visual Science

David Krizaj Research

Tracey Lamb, PhD

Associate Professor, Pathology

Tracey Lamb Research

Nichole Link, PhD

Assistant Professor, Neurobiology

Nichole Link Research

Ryan O'Connell, PhD

Associate Chief, Division of Microbiology and Immunology

Ryan O'Connell Research

Sungjin Park, PhD

Assistant Professor, Neurobiology and Anatomy

Sungjin Park Research

Stefan Pulst, MD

Professor and Chair, Neurology

Stefan Pulst Research

June Round, PhD

Associate Professor, Pathology

June Round Research

Michelle Schober, MD

Associate Professor, Pediatrics

Michelle Schober Research

Jason Shepherd, PhD

Associate Professor, Neurobiology

Jason Shepherd Research

Dean Tantin, PhD

Professor, Pathology

Dean Tantin Research

Monica Vetter, PhD

Professor and Chair, Neurobiology

Monica Vetter Research

Matt Wachowiak, PhD

Professor, Neurobiology

Matt Wachowiak Research

Karen Wilcox, PhD

Distinguished Professor and Chair, Pharmacology and Toxicology

Karen Wilcox Research

Megan Williams, PhD

Associate Professor, Neurobiology and Anatomy

Megan Williams Research

Moriel Zelikowsky, PhD

Assistant Professor, Neurobiology

Moriel Zelikowsky Research