People (IDEAS)

College of Pharmacy

Current Students

Lymelsie in front of a poster for a scientific conference at UPR

Lymelsie Aponte Ramos

IDEAS Student--Williams Lab

Josue Cuero

Josue Cuero

IDEAS Student--Heys Lab

photo of rain in front of a scientific poster

Rain Evans

IDEAS Student--Wachowiak Lab

Isabella Hixson

Isabella Hixson

IDEAS Student--Link Lab

Cayli McEvoy

Cayli McEvoy

IDEAS Student--Wilcox Lab

Muehlberger, Jordan outside

Jordan Muehlberger

IDEAS Student--West Lab

Chandler Peterson photo

Chandler Peterson

IDEAS Student--Williams Lab

Photo of Camille

Camille Reynoso Fernandez

IDEAS Student--Zelikowsky Lab

photo of teagan rooney along dark background

Teagan Rooney

IDEAS Student--Shepherd Lab

Post-Bacc Student Activities

image of inhibitory neurons — Congrats to Chandler Peterson and the Williams Lab for their publication of Inhibitory Neurons Marked by the Connectivity Molecule Kirrel3 Regulate Memory Precision in JNeurosci (The Journal of Neuroscience)! Chandler's image, shown here, was chosen for the cover! Published September 17, 2025

students in an atrium playing board games — IDEAS and IM-PREP students celebrate the end of the 1st week of school with board games and a late lunch.

a group of students in the art museum — IDEAS students, IM-PREP students, and peer mentors at the University of Utah Museum of Fine Arts, July 2025.

photo of a woman in front of a conference presentation — IDEAS student Lymelsie Aponte Ramos at the 40th Interamerican Congress of Psychology, July 2025, Puerto Rico

students and mentors at red butte gardens — Orientation for IDEAS & IM-Prep students -- students and mentors pictured at Red Butte Gardens, June 2025

7 post bacc students at orientation — Orientation for IDEAS & IM-Prep students (from Left to Right) Jaime Minaya, Will Balding, Tessa Black, Rain Evans, Izzy Hixson, Kelcey Stapleton, and Teagan Rooney

IDEAS and IM-Prep Celebration — Post Bacc Picnic &Celebration (Left to Right): Josue Cuero, Jason Ortega, Yesica Landaverde, Camille Reynoso Fernandez, Tyler Jones, Sydney Larsen, Antonio Suazo, and Natalia Matias, May 2025

Jordan and Peter West at 2025 Post Bacc Symposium — IDEAS Student Jordan Muehlberger (West Lab) and Dr. Peter West at the Poster Session at the annual Post Bacc Symposium, May 2025

2025 Post Bacc Symposium Poster Session in the Atrium — Poster Session at the annual Post Bacc Symposium, May 2025

Josue Cuero and Karen Wilcox at the Post Bacc Symposium — IDEAS student Josue Cuero (Heys Lab) and Dr. Karen Wilcox (IDEAS Program Director) at the annual Post Bacc Symposium, May 2025

Students and faculty at post bacc symposium — Organizers, Presenters, and Invited Speakers at the Utah Neuroimmunology Trainee T32 Symposium, April 2025. IDEAS students gave Lightning Talks at this event.

A woman stands in front of poster at a conference — Yesica Landaverde presented her research at the 2025 Association for Research in Vision and Opthamology (ARVO) in May.

speakers and organizers of the UNIT Symposium — Organizers, Presenters, and Invited Speakers at the Utah Neuroimmunology Trainee T32 Symposium, April 2025. IDEAS students gave Lightning Talks at this event.

post baccs at the Natural History Museum — IDEAS & IM-Prep Students, Mentors, and Program Managers at the Natural History Museum of Utah, April 2025

students in front of the triceratops wall at NHMU — IDEAS & IM-Prep Students, Mentors, and Program Managers at the Natural History Museum of Utah, April 2025

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

a student presenting her poster about the NITG Symposium — IDEAS student Yesica Landaverde Rodriguez (Williams Lab) presenting her research at the Utah Neuroimmunology Trainee Symposium, April 2024

photo of Jason Ortega, Post Bacc Symposium — IDEAS student, Jason Ortega (Zelikowsky Lab) 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

Jason Ortega, standing next to his poster — Jason Ortega, standing in front of his poster at the 2025 Winter Conference on Brain Research at Lake Tahoe.

IM-Prep and IDEAS students — IDEAS and IM-Prep students, joined by program director Karen Wilcox, bowling this fall.

Jordan sharing her research via her poster — Jordan Muehlberger sharing her research at the Post-Bacc Symposium, May 2024

Program Directors

Ryan O'Connell, Associate Chief, Division of Microbiology and Immunology

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

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, Assistant Professor of Neurobiology at the University of Utah

Nichole Link, PhD

Assistant Professor, Neurobiology

Nichole Link Research

Ryan O'Connell, Associate Chief, Division of Microbiology and Immunology

Ryan O'Connell, PhD

Associate Chief, Division of Microbiology and Immunology

Ryan O'Connell Research

Sungjin Park, Assistant Professor of Neurobiology and Anatomy, University of Utah

Sungjin Park, PhD

Assistant Professor, Neurobiology and Anatomy

Sungjin Park Research

Stefan Pulst, Professor and Chair, Neurology, University of Utah

Stefan Pulst, MD

Professor and Chair, Neurology

Stefan Pulst Research

June Round, Associate Professor of Pathology, University of Utah

June Round, PhD

Associate Professor, Pathology

June Round Research

Michelle Schober, Associate Professor of Pediatrics, University of Utah

Michelle Schober, MD

Associate Professor, Pediatrics

Michelle Schober Research

Jason Shepherd, Associate Professor of Neurobiology, University of Utah

Jason Shepherd, PhD

Associate Professor, Neurobiology

Jason Shepherd Research

Dean Tantin, Professor of Pathology, University of Utah

Dean Tantin, PhD

Professor, Pathology

Dean Tantin Research

Monica Vetter, Professor and Chair, Neurobiology, University of Utah

Monica Vetter, PhD

Professor and Chair, Neurobiology

Monica Vetter Research

Matt Wachowiak, Professor of Neurobiology, University of Utah

Matt Wachowiak, PhD

Professor, Neurobiology

Matt Wachowiak Research

Karen Wilcox, PhD

Distinguished Professor and Chair, Pharmacology and Toxicology

Karen Wilcox Research

Megan Williams, Associate Professor of Neurobiology and Anatomy, University of Utah

Megan Williams, PhD

Associate Professor, Neurobiology and Anatomy

Megan Williams Research

photo of Dr. Moriel Zelikowsky

Moriel Zelikowsky, PhD

Assistant Professor, Neurobiology

Moriel Zelikowsky Research

Alumni

Yesica Landaverde Rodriguez

Yesica Landaverde Rodriguez

IDEAS Student--Vetter Lab

Jason ortega, student outside

Jason Ortega

IDEAS Student--Zelikowsky Lab