Our Team
Wenjun (Nana) Li
Graduate Student
Nana is from Suzhou, China. She joined Garzon lab as a lab technician in 2023 and is a graduate student in the Oncological Sciences department. In 2021, she earned Honors BSc degree at the University of Toronto, Canada, majoring in pharmacology and physiology. She also earned a Distinction MSc degree in Biomedical Research at Imperial College London, UK, focusing on cardiovascular sciences and stem cell research. After her graduation, she transitioned to an oncology safety scientist at AstraZeneca, utilizing bone marrow-on-a-chip to predict chemotherapy drug combinations and clinical schedules in patients. Her current research focuses on investigating the differences between leukemic and healthy bone marrow microenvironment using 3D bone marrow constructs. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, swimming, and playing badminton. Her MBTI personality is ENFJ-A.
Chinmayee Goda
Research Scientist
Chinmayee received her PhD in Cancer and Cell Biology from Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. Her thesis work focused on dissecting the transcriptional regulation of vasculature in lung cancer. She is interested in understanding the mechanisms by which the tumor microenvironment regulates cancer progression. During her free time, she likes to binge-watch TV shows and movies. She also loves to travel and explore new destinations with her family.
Divya Bhat
Post Doc
Divya received her PhD in Cancer Biology from the University of Iowa, where her thesis research focused on the therapeutic discovery of RAD52 inhibitors for BRCA-deficient cancers. Her current research at the Huntsman Cancer Institute explores how cellular interactions within the tumor microenvironment contributes to disease progression in hematologic malignancies. She is also expanding her expertise in data analysis using R and Python to integrate molecular and clinical datasets for translational cancer research. Outside of the lab, Divya enjoys learning new languages, hiking and spending time with her friends and family.
Sadie Chidester
Laboratory Specialist
Sadie was born and raised in the Salt Lake Valley. She spent her younger years exploring the outdoor world, collecting bugs, and creating tiny self-sustaining ecosystems in old soda bottles. She’s always been fascinated by life, and the way things work. This inspired her to go to college and graduate with her Bachelor of Science from the University of Utah in 2020. She began her career in 2018 at HCI in the PCM core, where she became skilled in study design and refined her mouse handling, surgical and bench work skills. She came to the Dorrance lab in 2023 where she enjoys managing the mouse colonies, assists with training new personnel and starting mouse studies. She most enjoys cooking at home, hanging out with her bird, continuing her many crafts, and obsessing over all things detailed and tiny.
Israel Davila Aleman
Lab Technician
Israel was born in Peru and raised in Utah. He loves spending time with his wife, family, and friends. He also loves playing soccer in his free time and volunteering at a free clinic. He graduated from Brigham Young University with a bachelor’s degree in Cell Biology and Physiology with a University Honors Distinction. He plans to pursue an MD-PhD in the following years. He joined the lab in June of 2025. His main work is on hematopoietic stem cells in preleukemic and leukemic stages using our lab’s AML mouse model.
Amog Urs
Research Scientist
Amog is from Mysuru, India, and did his Ph.D. in Biochemistry studying antiquorin, a thrombin-like protease from Euphorbia antiquorum, along with other projects on snake venom pharmacology. He joined the lab in 2020 as a postdoc at Ohio State, moved with the team to Utah, and became a Research Scientist in 2025. His current work looks at how non-coding RNAs impact leukemia and how signaling pathways regulate blood stem cells. In his free time, he enjoys cooking and spending time with his family.
Greg Poffenberger
Senior Laboratory Specialist
Originally from Hagerstown, Maryland, Greg began his professional journey in aerospace engineering in Nashville, TN, working on iconic aircraft such as the C-5 Galaxy, B-1 Bomber, and C-130. His passion for science led him to pursue BA and MS degrees in biochemistry and laboratory science at Lipscomb University and Vanderbilt University, respectively. At Vanderbilt, he spent over two decades in diabetes research, contributing to more than 40 publications and helping establish the Human Islet Phenotyping Program (HIPP) and the Biomolecular Multimodal Imaging Center. He also trained researchers nationwide in microsurgery techniques. During the pandemic, he co-invented a microperifusion device—an innovation born in his garage. In 2021, he joined the Huntsman Cancer Institute in Salt Lake City, where he currently contributes to drug development for acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in the labs of Drs. Paul Shami, Ramiro Garzon, and Adrienne Dorrance.
Yaphet Bustos
Lab Technician
Yaphet obtained his bachelor's degree in Molecular Biology from Brigham Young University and plans to attend medical school. He is currently working on a project looking at changes in hematopoietic stem cells in both the preleukemic and leukemic stage using our lab’s AML mouse model. In his free time, he volunteers at a free clinic as a medical interpreter for Hispanic patients. He enjoys singing, playing volleyball, and soccer.