Below you will find details on our program alumni. For a comprehensive list of our graduates, please click HERE.
Feel free to search for and reach out to ITEHP alumni via LinkedIn or reach out to Joel or Jessica for an introduction.
Alicia R Timme-Laragy, PhD
PhD Program: Environment (2007) Faculty Advisor: Richard Di Giulio, PhD Dissertation: Mechanisms of synergistic developmental toxicity of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in zebrafish (Danio rerio) Updates …
Allison Phillips (Flynn), PhD
Pronouns: she / her / hers PhD Program: Environment (2019) Faculty Advisor: Heather Stapleton, PhD Dissertation: Exposure, Metabolism, and in Vitro Effects of Isopropylated and …
Casey Lindberg, PhD
Pronouns: she / her / hers PhD Program: Environment (2019) Faculty Advisor: Richard Di Giulio, PhD Dissertation: The Impacts of Embryonic Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon and …
Chrissy (Figan) Crute, PhD
Pronouns: she / her / hers PhD Program: Environment (2022) Faculty Advisors: Susan Murphy, PhD; Liping Feng, MD Dissertation: The Effects of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl …
Dana Dolinoy, PhD
Pronouns: she / her / hers PhD Program: Genetics & Genomics (2007) Faculty Advisor: Randy Jirtle, PhD Dissertation: Epigenetic Gene Regulation: Linking Early Developmental Environment …
Daniel Brown, PhD
Pronouns: he/ him / his PhD Program: Environment (2015) Faculty Advisor: Richard Di Giulio, PhD Dissertation: Later Life Consequences of Sublethal Embryonic Exposure to Complex …
Dillon King, PhD
PhD Program: Environment (2023) Faculty Advisors: Joel Meyer, PhD; Susan Murphy, PhD Dissertation: Nuclear and Mitochondrial Epigenetics Responses to Environmental Exposures LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dillon-king-phd-4b2b1b108/ Update 6/2025 …
Jess Brandt, PhD
Pronouns: she / her / hers PhD Program: Environment (2018) Faculty Advisor: Richard Di Giulio, PhD; Emily Bernhardt, PhD Dissertation: Coal combustion residuals in receiving …
Joel Meyer, PhD
Pronouns: he / him / his PhD Program: Environment (2003) Faculty Advisor: Richard Di Giulio, PhD LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joel-meyer-0a57797/ Lab Website: https://sites.nicholas.duke.edu/meyer/ Updates 9/2020 Employment: Associate Professor of …
Katherine Morton, PhD
PhD Program: Environment (2024) Faculty Advisor: Joel Meyer, PhD Dissertation: Mitochondrial Mechanisms of Toxicant Induced Dopaminergic Neurodegeneration in Caenorhabditis elegans Employment: Postdoctoral Fellow, University of …
Kirsten Overdahl, PhD
PhD Program: Environment (2021) Faculty Advisors: P. Lee Ferguson, PhD; Heather Stapleton, PhD Dissertation: Characterizing Exposures and In Vitro Effects of Azobenzene Disperse Dyes in …
Kristina D. (Dam) Chadwick, PhD, DABT
Pronouns: she / her / hers PhD Program: Pharmacology (2000) Faculty Advisor: Theodore Slotkin, PhD Dissertation: Developmental Neurotoxicity of the Pesticide, Chlorpyrifos: Mechanisms and Consequences …
Marissa Guttenberg, PhD
PhD Program: Environment (2024) Faculty Advisor: Robert Tighe, MD Dissertation: Macrophage-derived mechanisms of resolution of environmental lung injury LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marissa-guttenberg-57b079115/ Update 6/2025 Employment: Postdoctoral Researcher, …
Matthew Ruis, PhD
PhD Program: Environment (2021) Faculty Advisor: Heather Stapleton Dissertation: Using in vitro and in vivo Placental Models to Investigate the Localization of Brominated Flame Retardants …
Maxwell Leung, PhD
PhD Program: Environment (2012) Faculty Advisor: Joel Meyer, PhD Dissertation: Later-life Effects of Mitochondrial DNA Damage During Development in the Whole Organism Model Caenorhabditis elegans …
Paige (Bippus) Varner, PhD
Pronouns: she / her / hers PhD Program: Civil & Environmental Engineering (2022) Faculty Advisor: Claudia K. Gunsch, PhD Dissertation: Evaluating the Impact of Ecological …
Sam (Samantha) Hall, PhD
Pronouns: she / her / hers PhD Program: Environment (2022) Faculty Advisor: Heather Stapleton, PhD Dissertation: Characterizing environmental per- and polyfluoroalklyl substance (PFAS) exposure and …
Taylor Hoxie, PhD
PhD Program: Environment (2024) Faculty Advisor: Heather Stapleton, PhD Dissertation: Assessing Exposure to Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances in the Indoor and Ambient Environment Utilizing Silicone …
Tess Leuthner, PhD
PhD Program: Environment (2022) Faculty Advisor: Joel Meyer, PhD Dissertation: Effects of Chemical Exposures on Mitochondrial DNA Mutagenesis Employment: NIH F32 Postdoctoral Research Scholar, Biology …
Zoie Diana, PhD
PhD Program: Marine Science & Conservation (2023) Faculty Advisor: Daniel Rittschof, PhD Dissertation: Multisector mitigation of single-use plastic pollution: approaches from biology, policy, law, and …