In Training Membership

Chair
Jessica Garcia de Paredes
Rutgers New Jersey Medical School

Co Chair
Virginia Chu Cheung, PhD
University of California, San Diego

I am currently a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Pathology at the University of California, San Diego. I received my PhD from Northwestern University with Dr. John A. Kessler as my thesis advisor. For my thesis, I used pluripotent stem cells and 3-dimensional organoid models to student stromal-epithelial signaling in the human endometrium. Currently, I am working with Dr. Mana M. Parast to understand the role of decidual natural killer (dNK) cells in pregnancy complications such as preterm birth using induced pluripotent stem cells. As an in-training member, I really value the opportunities for basic and clinical science to interface and career development provided by SRI so I am delighted to be able to support these programs as a part of the SRI In-Training Committee.

Xixi Plummer, MD, PhD
Stanford University

I am currently a Maternal-Fetal Medicine fellow in the Department of OB/GYN at Stanford University. I received my MD/PhD from the University of Michigan in 2019, where my doctoral research focused on embryonic and adult neurogenesis. I then completed my OB/GYN residency at Case Western Reserve University/MetroHealth Medical Center in 2023. My current research, under the mentorship of Drs. Virginia Winn and Matteo Molè, uses induced pluripotent stem cells to investigate the pathophysiology of preeclampsia. As a member of the SRI In-Training Committee, I am excited to foster mentorship, promote collaboration, and build the bridge between basic science and clinical medicine in reproductive health.

Begum Aydogan Mathyk, MD
University of South Florida

I am currently completing my ObGyn residency training at USF Morsani College of Medicine GME, Brandon Regional Hospital, FL. I have been actively involved in a multitude of projects, including endometrial receptivity, ovarian reserve, PCOS, metabolism, and aerospace medicine, while working with mentors at the University of North Carolina and Tufts Medical Center. As a member of GeneLab’s Multi-Omics Analysis Working Group, my current research focus is on insulin and estrogen signaling during spaceflight in females. I am also an active member of SRI, ASRM, and Women in Aerospace Medicine. I am excited to be a part of ITMC and am looking forward to both national and international collaborations while sharing my passion for interdisciplinary research and innovations.

Brenda F. Narice, MSc, PhD
Sheffield NHS Teaching Hospitals, United Kingdom

I am a National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Academic Clinical Lecturer and registrar in Obstetrics and Gynaecology currently working at the University of Sheffield, UK. After completing a MSc in Clinical Research in 2017, I was awarded a PhD in Obstetrics in 2020 for exploring non-invasive spectroscopic techniques for prediction of preterm birth. My research interests lie on the elucidation of cost-effective cervical remodelling and chorioamnionitis biomarkers which can be used in low-resource settings. I am very excited to join the SRI In Training Member Committee to support fellow members all around the world in pushing the boundaries of our current scientific understanding and improving the care we provide to our communities well in alignment with the SRI mission. In my spare time, I am an active medical translator at the Chartered Institute of Linguists researching language barriers to healthcare and science in diverse and less favoured communities.

Andrea Joseph
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Dr. Andrea Joseph, PhD is a postdoctoral researcher at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in the Women's Biomedical Research Institute. She received her Bachelor of Science in chemical and biomolecular engineering from Johns Hopkins University in 2016, and a doctoral degree in chemical engineering from the University of Washington in 2021. Under the mentorship of Michal Elovitz, M.D., she studies the etiology of preterm birth, and as a preterm survivor herself, Joseph's long-term career goal is to establish an academic lab to investigate nanotechnology for the prevention of preterm birth and treatment of its downstream effects. She is committed to advocacy for women and early career scientists and currently serves as the Chair of the Postdoctoral Council of the National Postdoc Association and Secretary/ Treasurer for the Controlled Release Society's Women in Science group, in addition to her work with the Society for Reproductive Investigation.

Germán Alberto Arenas Menéndez
Universidad de O'Higgins, Chile

Germán earned his bachelor's degree in Biology from the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, and then continued his PhD in Biological Sciences, with a focus on Physiology. His interests are concentrated in cardiovascular physiology, specifically mechanical interaction blood-artery flow. Germán was also a recipient of the 2023-2024 SRI International Training Grant, which led him to the University of Colorado to train in Dr. Ramón A. Lorca's lab. Here, Germán was trained in electrophysiology techniques, recorded potassium currents in vascular smooth muscle cells from human and mouse blood vessels, and helped build an electrophysiology rig.

Jaime Roura, MD, MS
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Dr. Roura completed his medical school at the University of Puerto Rico, his residency in obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Puerto Rico and has been practicing as an obstetrician and gynecologist since 2020.  He worked for two years at the Dominion Fertility clinic and conducted research at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. Dr. Roura has contributed to multiple publications, including research on simvastatin and curcumin on uterine fibroids and studies on sexual violence among Hispanic women and HPV knowledge in Puerto Rico.