MS in Physiology

By Amy Oakley Director, MS Program and Lecturer, Molecular & Integrative Physiology

Iam honored to serve as the new Director of the MS Program in Physiology, now in its ninth year. We are exceedingly proud of our present cohort and the ongoing success of our former students. Our team’s goal is to maintain and continue to improve the experience of our cohort both inside and outside the classroom. With our small class size (31 students matriculated Fall 2019), we are able to preserve the collegial and familial feel that I experienced as a PhD student in the department. This year’s cohort bonded very early and has organized social events such as a crochet tutorial, intramural sports, a yoga session led by an alumna registered yoga instructor, a trip to Cedar Point, coordinating onesie Halloween costumes, “Friendsgiving,” a Super Bowl viewing party, and a recent ski trip up north. Lest you think they are all play and no work, our students impress us with their hard work ethic and service to community. Our Coordinator of Advising, Peggy Zitek, continues to work on our student’s personal and professional writing development, health professions school application content, and mock interviews. We are excited to welcome to the team the new Program Administrator, Folaké Graves, and the new Associate Director, Dr. Isola Brown, who both hit the ground running, bringing fresh perspectives and contributions to the M.S. Program team.

Isola Brown, Ph.D. joined the MS Program in Physiology as Associate Program Director in October 2019. Isola earned her Ph.D. in Pharmacology and Toxicology at Michigan State University in 2017, where she worked in the lab of Dr. Brian Gulbransen. Isola’s graduate work focused on the role of enteric glial cells in regulating inflammation, oxidative stress, and motility, within the gastrointestinal tract. She then completed a Ford Foundation-funded Postdoctoral Fellowship with Dr. Brant Isakson at the University of Virginia, studying the role of vascular endothelial cells in the pathology of viral infections, before returning to Michigan to join the MS Program and MIP.

Throughout her academic and professional career, Isola has always had a passion for, and been drawn towards, student teaching, outreach, and mentoring. As a graduate student and postdoc, she developed outreach activities for young scientists through the MSU Chapter of the Graduate Women in Science, and the American Physiological Society, and was a guest lecturer for multiple undergraduates and graduate pharmacology and physiology courses. One of her favorite activities outside of the classroom is attending the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students

(ABRCMS), where she mentors and advises undergraduate and graduate underrepresented scientists, and at the 2019 meeting, co-led a workshop on Science Communication.

In her role as Associate Director of the MS Program in Physiology, she is able to fully explore and develop those interests in teaching and mentoring through working with the talented students who make up the MS program cohorts. Isola serves as co-Course Director for PHYSIOL 592: Integrated Neuroscience, PHYSIOL 610: Translational and Pathophysiology, and PHYSIOL 605: Professional Development Seminar. Along with the rest of the program staff, she helps to advise the MS students through development of their end-of-year capstone papers and presentations, and in deciding their next steps after completion of the program.

Outside of work, Isola enjoys traveling (to warmer places), testing her patience with jigsaw puzzles, and running outdoors (when we finally get summer in Michigan). Isola has been warmly welcomed by the rest of the MS Program staff, and the wider department, and has thoroughly enjoyed her first few months as a Wolverine.

Folaké Graves holds an MA in Education degree from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Her professional career has always involved working with diverse student populations at two- and four-year institutes. She enjoys being immersed in the educational and cultural hub at the University of Michigan, where she has 13 years of student advising experience in LSA. In her new role in the Department of Physiology as of May 2019, Folaké’s responsibilities include administrative functions, student support, and curricular coordination. She resides in Ann Arbor with her husband, who received his Ph.D. at the University of Michigan’s Cellular & Molecular Biology Department (PIBS alum), and two teen daughters. In her spare time, Folaké enjoys spending time with her family and loves to travel. She looks forward to building relationships with staff and faculty within the Physiology department in order to provide students with the best service and educational experience during their time at the University.