Meet the STEP Team

Christopher Sistrunk, Ph.D., is a tenure-track faculty member of the Department of Population Sciences at City of Hope, where he serves as an active member of the Division of Biomarkers of Early Detection and Prevention and the Division of Health Equities. His laboratory and outreach efforts primarily focus on developing a comprehensive research program that serves underrepresented minority communities. As a member of the research leadership team at City of Hope, Sistrunk serves as lead liaison for several clinical research projects and leaders of the communities these projects hope to serve. As a lead investigator, he currently utilizes his formal training as a molecular and cellular toxicologist to study the initiation and progression of triple-negative breast cancer. In addition, he also studies the increasing role the environment plays on genetic imprinting — specifically, projects that focus on the environmental impacts on drinking water and how underrepresented communities are affected genetically through chronic exposures. Dr. Sistrunk has been formally trained in the field of education and academic development, and he has served as a lifelong educator, trainer and mentor to the next generation of research scientists. Dr. Sistrunk currently serves as the founding director of City of Hope’s STEM Training and Education Program (STEP), which boasts a program that offers continuous STEM education programming for students that range from the third grade to postdoctoral or medical residency fellowships. In addition, he currently serves as the lead education and outreach investigator on multiple community-driven research projects. Programs Dr. Sistrunk has spearheaded have increased community trust, cancer and biomedical literacy, the number of underrepresented minorities participating in clinical trials, and the number of underrepresented minorities entering the biomedical workforce pipeline.

Fun Fact: Dr. Sistrunk was once an eighth grade science teacher and middle school basketball coach.

Cynthia Ulloa started working for City of Hope during the summer of 2017 as a summer trainee/instructor for the Hilton Science and Nutrition Summer Research Program. After the program concluded, Cynthia extended her internship while in college and later transitioned into a full-time associate program coordinator after earning her bachelor’s degree in biology from Whittier College in 2018. 

In 2021, she accepted a position at UCLA as a public admin analyst where she coordinated three clinical research projects in the field of gastroenterology. Cynthia later returned to the STEP team in the fall of 2023 as an admin program manager, where she hopes to focus her efforts on developing and maintaining meaningful opportunities for students interested in entering the STEM workforce. 

Fun Fact: Cynthia loves to bake in her free time. She especially loves to bake dog treats for her chihuahua and poodle.

Danielle Guardado graduated from Whittier College with a B.A. in mathematics with an emphasis in applied mathematics. While in college, she always enrolled herself in courses pertaining to the medical field and health-related issues, which is how she came to find an opportunity at City of Hope. During her undergraduate program, she was granted an internship with the STEP team. While interning, she continued her education and attended the University of Southern California, where she earned her Master in Public health degree, with a concentration in biostatistics and epidemiology. During her master’s program, she was then promoted to a STEP Program Coordinator, and has loved every minute of it ever since. She loves being able to explain (what can be very) complex, scientific topics to students in a way that they will be able to understand. Danielle has always had a love for both biology and mathematics, and wants to blend these two worlds together; not just for herself, but for her students as well.

Fun Fact: She was once a collegiate athlete on the track and field team for four years at Whittier College, and once held the school record for the 4x100m race.

Lluvia Nunez graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara with a B.S. in Biological Sciences and a minor in Feminist Studies. As an undergraduate, she specialized in molecular, cellular, and developmental biology. She later took on the Feminist Studies minor because she wanted to be well informed on the disparities that women and underrepresented minorities face. Nunez became a STEP intern the summer after her first year of college, where she was given the opportunity to share her interest and passion for science! She is now a Program Coordinator with the STEP team and is excited to continue on this journey with City of Hope. Her current goal is to gain research experience and share her love for science before she applies to medical school.

Fun Fact: Nunez played the flute for over seven years!

Victor Zhivich graduated with a B.S. in Biology and MS in Biotechnology from Brandeis University. From his high school science classes Victor discovered his passion for biology and knew he wanted to pursue a career in the sciences. After graduating, Victor worked for 7 years in a variety of laboratory research roles at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, the Broad Institute, and Homology Medicines, a rare-disease gene therapy company. After the pandemic hit, Victor was struck by how important science communication and community engagement was in making science accessible to everyone and shifted from being in a laboratory role to a Program Coordinator role in the STEP program. In the STEP program, he loves to engage with students to get them thinking and developing their science skills and is excited to help the next generation pursue their STEM careers. 

Fun Fact: Victor loves to play ultimate frisbee, and can be found playing pick up on Saturday mornings in the LA Historic State Park.

Marisa Bowers, Ph.D., graduated with a B.A. in biology from Occidental College. While in college, she interned in a neuroscience laboratory at City of Hope, which is where she discovered a passion for research. She then attended the Irell & Manella Graduate School of Biological Sciences at City of Hope, from which she earned her Ph.D. in cancer biology, with a focus in hematopoietic stem cells and leukemia. 

During graduate school, Dr. Bowers volunteered for the SEPAC Program (the program that preceded STEP) and became passionate about introducing and explaining complex scientific concepts to students in a way they could understand. After graduating with her Ph.D. in 2014, she joined the SEPAC team as assistant program coordinator. Dr. Bowers then helped to create and design STEP and served as assistant director of the program for 3 years. In 2023 Dr. Bowers left the STEP Team to pursue a career in a biotechnology company as a Production Team Manager.

Erin Seewaldt-Dietze was a former intern for the STEP program. Erin graduated summa cum laude from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service. She majored in Regional and Comparative Studies with a focus on Russia, Eastern Europe, and Eurasia and minored in Diplomatic Studies. One of her favorite parts of college was getting to study abroad in Saint Petersburg, Russia for a semester. Erin is also very interested in education, which is what brought her to STEP. This interest was sparked by participating in tutoring programs for ESL students in both high school and college capacities. Erin is now back in Washington D.C. and working in foreign affairs but is remembered for making such a major impact on the STEP team and City of Hope community. 

Fun Fact: Erin loves baking! Her favorite dessert to make is cranberry-lime pie, which she makes every year for Thanksgiving.

After earning an Associate of Science degree in animal health technology, Stefanie Wright-Golightly, M.Ed., honed her animal nursing and practitioner skills in animal hospitals and emergency clinics for many years before transitioning into laboratory animal science environments. Because of the high demand of these skills in animal studies in biomedical research, Wright-Golightly quickly rose to leadership and training roles, as well as teaching laboratory animal certification classes to the animal care staff, and hands-on training workshops to graduate students and postdoctoral fellows in the Irell & Manella Graduate School of Biological Sciences at Beckman Research Institute of City of Hope. She also developed and implemented the Animal User Training and Post-Approval Monitoring Programs for City of Hope’s Animal Care and Use Committee. After returning to school, she earned a B.S. in organizational leadership, a master’s degree in education, learning design and technology (instructional design), and is currently a higher education leadership doctoral candidate (2021). In her current role as administrative program manager, she is responsible for providing career development and other soft skill courses for students from racially underrepresented identities who participate in City of Hope’s YES2SUCCESS programs. She is also passionate about increasing diversity in biomedical research and faculty mentor training that will equip faculty with the skills needed (including cultural competencies) to ensure effective mentoring of students from minoritized populations.

Chiara Schwindt double majored in Biology and Spanish while attending Whittier College. She always loved taking science classes in high school and decided to focus on taking upper biology courses in college. She has worked with the City of La Mirada as a Recreational Aid for four years now, helping watch the kids and creating activities for each different age group during summer programs. This has helped her grow and develop new skills for working with children. What led Chiara to City of Hope was her interest in wanting to pursue a great opportunity that consisted of both working with kids and teaching science. She served as an Intern for STEP, focusing on the Saturday Science Days program and the Hilton Science and Nutrition Summer Research program at City of Hope. Chiara wants to pursue a career in the medical field. She is interested in specializing as a neonatal nurse specialist. 

Fun Fact: Chiara received a NSF undergraduate research grant in her first year of college. She really enjoyed working with Nor 20 cancer cells, and the compound that she chose to study, Leptin, actually had great results! The compound Leptin was able to destroy some of the Nor 20 cancer cells!

Selina Pacheco was a summer intern at City of Hope during 2019. She was part of the Department of Population Sciences and worked in Sistrunk’s lab doing really cool cancer research! In 2020, she was very fortunate to join Sistrunk’s lab once again.

In spring of 2020, she earned an A.A. degree in natural sciences from Pasadena City College and, in fall of 2020, started school at the University of California Berkeley as a Regents’ and Chancellor’s Scholar! Her intended major is molecular and cell biology, with an emphasis in neurobiology, and she plans to minor in public health. Pacheco’s ultimate goal is to become a physician-scientist. She plans to get there through an M.D./Ph.D. program, which takes an average of eight years to complete. She only needs an M.D. to become a physician-scientist, but her love of research has inspired her to go for the dual program!

Fun fact: Pacheco is ambidextrous. She writes with her left hand but does everything else with her right hand — including erasing a written mistake when writing with a pencil.

Kai Littlehjohn received her bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering at Tuskegee University. She has worked with City of Hope since February 2019 and has worked with the Sistrunk group since December of 2019, helping with the various outreach programs under STEP. Her research interests include immuno-engineering, cancer-related health disparities and increasing diversity in the field of biomedical engineering. She will be leaving City of Hope this fall to pursue a Ph.D. in biomedical engineering and hopes to use her training from the Department of Population Sciences to spearhead a similar pipeline program for minority students in the Atlanta area who lack early exposure to STEM. In addition, she plans to work internationally, designing safe and reliable processes for vaccine development.

Fun fact: Littlehjohn loves nature photography!

Ombeni Idassi graduated with a B.S. in biology from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (NC A&T). Throughout his time at NC A&T, he participated in several research projects, stemming from brain cancer to working with bacteria. Furthermore, he was active in tutoring and mentoring refugee youth in Greensboro, North Carolina. Once he graduated in 2015, he joined the Victoria Seewaldt lab, collecting and processing breast cancer tissue and blood at Duke University. The lab eventually moved to City of Hope and this is where he began to work with the SEPAC Program. Through working with Sistrunk and Bowers, he gained an appreciation for science education, student engagement and creating fun activities for students to explore their own passion for learning. He led various activities focusing on disease transmission, ELISA testing and other STEM activities. He was also one of the coordinators and leaders for the Hilton Science and Nutrition Summer Program. Idassi is currently a medical student at Meharry Medical College.

Fun Fact: Idassi is an avid moviegoer and fan of most movie genres! While he loves the Marvel Cinematic Universe, his favorite two favorite movies are directed by Christopher Nolan (“The Prestige” and “The Dark Knight”).

Alan Nunez graduated from the University of California Santa Barbara with a B.S. in biological sciences. His coursework primarily focused on the molecular, cellular and developmental aspects of biology, and eventually led to employment at Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, where he validated the systems that bring drugs to market. After being introduced to the medical field, Nunez began working in the breast cancer research laboratory of Victoria Seewaldt, M.D., the Ruth Ziegler Chair in Population Sciences at City of Hope, where he focused on culturing adipose breast tissue. While at City of Hope, he also volunteered with STEP and helped Bowers expose students to the wonders of science. Nunez is currently pursuing a M.S. in physiology from North Carolina State University, while preparing to apply to medical school.

Fun Fact: Nunez loves spicy food. You’ll often find his fridge freshly stocked with habaneros. He also maintains a healthy collection of hot sauce.

Alexandra Race is passionate about equitable science education and has devoted her career to understanding what factors may limit it in formal and informal education settings. She holds a biology degree from University of California Berkeley, a master's degree in educational media design from University of California Irvine and is currently in the fourth year of her Ph.D. program at University of California Santa Cruz. She was inspired to pursue her Ph.D. during her time working at City of Hope as a science education program coordinator in the SEPAC Program from 2014 to 2017, as she became more aware of the disparities in science education. Now, most of her time is focused on conducting research about how equitable, inquiry-driven, place-based learning is (1) understood and taken into practice by preservice teachers and (2) may impact undergraduate science student success. When she is teaching her students recognize her by her Ms. Frizzle-esque outfits.

Fun Fact: Race collects rocks!

Susan Kane, Ph.D., grew up in Southern California and graduated from Stanford University with a B.S. in biology. She was a biology teaching assistant and worked in two different research labs while she was in college. After taking a year off from formal education, she attended Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore for her Ph.D. in biology. Kane then went to the National Cancer Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health, for her postdoctoral fellowship, where she started her studies on drug resistance in cancer. Kane arrived at City of Hope in 1990, where she established her independent research program, focused primarily on drug resistance in breast cancer. During her time at City of Hope, she also helped establish the Irell & Manella Graduate School of Biological Sciences, served as chair of the Department of Molecular Medicine and associate director of Beckman Research Institute of City of Hope, and founded the SEPAC Program that was the precursor to STEP.

Fun Fact: Kane planned to be a science writer before she discovered the joy and challenge of laboratory research, but her love of writing was always a big part of her career and success in science.