Board Members
Ashwini Sri Hari
Senior Chair
Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology
Ashwini is a Post-doctoral Research Associate in the Anticonvulsant Drug Development (ADD) Program and the Metcalf lab under the mentorships of Drs. Karen Wilcox and Cameron Metcalf in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology. Ashwini earned her doctoral degree in Toxicology (neuroscience) from the University of Colorado, Anschutz Medical campus. Her research focuses on understanding the pathophysiology of catastrophic childhood epilepsies like Dravet Syndrome in order to uncover new druggable targets. Ashwini joined the UPDA to help enrich the Postdoc experience at the U by fostering community interactions, and creating opportunities to grow on both a professional and personal level.
Kari Lien
Chair of Communication
Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders
Kari Lien is a postdoctoral research associate in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders. She completed her PhD in Speech and Hearing Science at Arizona State University, and she obtained clinical and research experience working on a metropolitan cleft team in Phoenix. Her research focuses on speech production in children with cleft palate and craniofacial conditions.
Kirstyn Grams
Board Member
Department of Neurobiology
Kirstyn is a postdoctoral research associate in the Department of Neurobiology. Her research focuses on exploring how top-down modulation shapes olfactory processing during odor-guided tasks, and understanding the circuits that generate sniffing behavior. Kirstyn received her PhD in Respiratory Physiology at the Medical College of Wisconsin in 2022. She joined the UPDA board to help develop opportunities for professional growth and to connect with other postdocs at the U.
Paula Roy
Board Member
Department of Neurobiology
Paula is a postdoc in the Neurobiology Department where she serves as chair of the department postdoctoral group. She completed her PhD in evolutionary biology at the University of Kansas. She is now investigating the genetic basis of rare disorder epilepsy comorbidity in Nichole Link’s lab. Paula joined the UPDA board to get to serve as a liaison for her department postdocs, as well as support the postdoctoral community on a broader scale.
Adam Hogendorf
Board Member
Department of Medicinal Chemistry
Adam is a postdoc in the Department of Medicinal Chemistry. He has been recently working on the application of DNA-encoded libraries for drug discovery under the supervision of prof. Raphael Franzini. His research interests include the development of CNS-targeting pharmaceutical drugs, serotonin system organic chemistry in general. He has been an inventor and preclinical developer of an investigational new painkiller drug. Hobbies include reading, climbing, and backcountry skiing.
Amy Barrios
ASSOCIATE DEAN FOR POSTDOCTORAL AFFAIRS
University of Utah Graduate School
Professor of Medicinal Chemistry
University of Utah College of Pharmacy
Prof. Barrios earned her PhD in Inorganic Chemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and she served as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of San Francisco. She joined the University of Utah in 2007 from a previous faculty appointment at the University of Southern California. Dr. Barrios maintains an active NIH-funded research program centered upon the development of novel chemical probes to elucidate the efficacy of new pharmaceutical approaches to the treatment of cancer and other human diseases. Prof. Barrios was awarded the University of Utah Presidential Scholar Award in 2016 and served as the Co-Director of the Medical School’s Women in Health, Medicine, and Science Program from 2015 to 2019. At University commencement in May 2019, Prof. Barrios received the University of Utah Distinguished Graduate and Postdoctoral Mentor award in recognition of her outstanding contributions to graduate and postdoctoral education.