Translational Lead

Thwisha Joshi, M.D.

Clinical Research Associate

Dr. Joshi serves as the clinical research associate for the Clinical laboratory. She has recently completed her medical degree from the University of Louisville and pursuing research before applying for medical residency. She brings her expertise from both preclinical and clinical background that she obtained while getting her education at the University of Louisville. She coordinates the clinical protocols on AUD and ALD studies. She works on the analyses of peptidome data for AUD pathology.

Clinical Support Lead

Suzanne Mann, LPN

Clinical Research Nurse

Ms. Mann graduated from the Humana Health Institute in 1992 with a Practical Nursing Diploma. Prior to that, she received an Associate Degree in Nutrition from Eastern Kentucky University in 1978. She has been with UofL since 2007 and has 16 years of experience in gastroenterology. She helps our clinical studies providing with the coordinatorship support and clinical requirements.

Alcohol Scholar & Clinical Investigator

Amor Royer, M.D.

Clinical Fellow, Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition

Dr. Royer completed Internal Medicine Residency at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. Presently, he is a clinical fellow in the Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition program in the Department of Medicine, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY. He has keen interest in alcohol-associated liver disease and NASH. He wishes to continue his clinical journey in Virgin Islands for specialty care, and continue the research work at his next clinical assignment.

Alcohol Scholar & Early-Career Clinical Investigator

Evan Winrich, M.D.

Internal Medicine Resident

Dr. Winrich received his undergraduate degree in Human Health Sciences at the University of Kentucky, Lexington KY. He then returned to his hometown at Louisville to attend medical school at the University of Louisville School of Medicine. Since completing medical school, Dr. Winrich has been continuing his clinical training in the Internal Medicine at the University of Louisville. He wishes to advance his training further in the area of gastroenterology, hepatology, and nutrition. His research interests in the field of gastroenterology and hepatology remain broad, but recent work has focused on alcohol associated liver disease.

Alcohol Scholar

Danielle Jayanty, M.D.

Internal Medicine Resident

Dr. Jayanty received her undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Denver and University of Colorado respectively. She completed her medical degree at the St. George’s University, Grenada, West Indies. She is presently undergoing the internal medicine residency at the University of Louisville, Louisville KY. Dr. Jayanty has career interest in Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition Fellowship program. Her present research efforts focus on alcohol associated liver disease, alcohol use disorder, and gut-dysfunction involvement in neurological diseases.

Alcohol Scholar

Harsh Tiwari, M.D.

Internal Medicine Resident

Dr. Tiwari has completed medical education from the University of Louisville. He is a medical resident in the Internal Medicine program at the University of Louisville, Louisville KY. He wishes to join clinical fellowship in the Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition field. Dr. Tiwari joined our lab in 2022 while being a medical student only. He is actively involved in the study analyses and contributed significantly in scholarly and original manuscripts related to alcohol-associated hepatitis and alcohol addiction.

Alcohol Scholar

Aishwarya Thakurdesai, M.D.

Internal Medicine Resident

Dr. Thakurdesai is a medical graduate from Seth G.S. Medical College, India. She is presently continuing with her residency program in Internal Medicine. She wishes to continue her medical training towards clinical fellowship in the field of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition. She joined the CLIDAOS lab in 2022 and contributes to the clinical studies and assessments for alcohol-associated liver diseases and alcohol use disorder.

Biostatistician

Sharmin Akter

Ph.D. Candidate

Ms. Akter is presently investigating the peptidome data derived from the patients suffering from alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) during her Ph.D. program. She also evaluates the biomarker targets of AUD and alcohol-associated liver disease (ALD). Ms. Akter explores risk factors for their modifying role in AUD using various statistical platforms and designs including R.

Research Interns

Present Interns

• Bhargavi Gulia (2023 – Present) - Ms. Gulia is a first year student at the University of California System, Los Angeles CA. She will run statistical analyses and development of graphs along side learning the concepts of clinical/ human trials. She wishes to pursue the directions of biomedical sciences.
• Bhavya Agrawal (2024 Incoming) - Ms. Agrawal is a student of Meyzeek Middle School, Louisville, KY. She will learn and support statistical analyses of the clinical studies. She wishes to pursue medical field towards her career efforts.

Collaborators

Khushboo S. Gala M.D. - Dr. Gala completed the Internal Medicine Residency program at the University of Louisville, Louisville KY. She is presently a clinical fellow in the Gastroenterology and Hepatology fellowship program at the Mayo Clinic, Rochester MN. She is making efforts to continue her training further in sub-specialty GI. She wishes to pursue academic medicine in a university medical system as her long-term career path.

Suman K. Jha, M.D. - Dr. Jha completed medical degree previously from B.P. Koirala Institute of Health Science, Nepal. Arriving in US, he joined the clinical coordinatorship in CLIDAOS and lead the translational goals of the lab. He is presently a medical resident in the University of North Dakota. Dr. Jha Continues to work with our lab as a junior clinical investigator. He aspires to join clinical fellowship and practice academic medicine at Carnegie R1 tier University Hospital System.

Past Lab Members

Residents

• Manasa Sagaram (2020 - 2023)
• Khushboo S. Gala (2018 - 2021)

Clinical Fellows

• Christina D. Rios-Perez (2019 - 2022)

Nursing Support

• Ryne Bruner (April 2022 - March 2023)
  

Interns

• Iyabo Erinkitola (medical research track) - Medical Student, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY (2023)
• Darsh Parajuli  (research track) - duPont Manual High School, Louisville, KY (2023)
• Ramiyah Sutton (research track) - Butler Traditional High School, Louisville, KY (2023)
• Rani Richardson (advisory) - M.D./Ph.D. Candidate, NIDA NIH (2022)
• Abhas Rajhans (research track) – B.Sc. Degree Neuroscience Candidate, UCLA, Westwood, CA (2020-2023)

Clinical Research Coordinator

• Suman K. Jha (July 2022 - June 2023)
• Zarlakhta Zamani (Jan 2022 - June 2022)