Brittany Counts, PhD
Postdoctoral Associate

Brittany is a postdoctoral scholar studying the role of NF-kB and STAT3 signaling in skeletal muscle in PDAC cachexia. She received her BS from West Chester University and her MS from the University of Mississippi where she studied exercise physiology. Brittany received her PhD from the University of Tennessee in Memphis, where she examined the effects of physical activity and exercise on skeletal muscle plasticity during cancer cachexia progression. Outside of the lab, she enjoys hiking, playing tennis, and baking.  

Rafael Correia, BS
MS Student

Rafael earned his BS in Physical Education and is currently a Masters's student at São Paulo State University on the Multicenter Graduate Program in Physiological Sciences, from Brazil. He is been studying cancer cachexia and investigating the influence of exercise and nanoparticles carrying chemotherapy during his master's degree. He is doing a scientific internship on the Zimmers Lab at Oregon Health and Science University, looking for interactions between skeletal muscle and tumor during cancer cachexia under exercise stimulation. Outside of his studies, Rafael loves playing soccer, drinking coffee, watching movies and series, and reading interesting books.

Omnia Gaafer, MS
Graduate Student, PhD Candidate

Omnia is an international PhD student from Egypt studying immunometabolic changes in PDAC cachexia. She received her BS in biotechnology and molecular biology from Cairo University, Egypt, and her MS in biotechnology from Eastern Virginia Medical School, USA, through a Fulbright Scholarship. Omnia is an assistant lecturer in the Biotechnology department at Cairo University and enjoys teaching and looking forward to transferring her experience to her students. Outside work, she enjoys hiking, reading, and watching movies.

Tewfik Hamidi, PhD
Senior Research Associate

Tewfik was educated at Université de Franche-Comté and Université Aix-Marseille II and carried out his PhD dissertation work at INSERM. After a postdoctoral fellowship and time as a research scientist at MD Anderson Cancer Center, he joined the Zimmers and Koniaris laboratories at Indiana University and now at OHSU. Tewfik studies liver-muscle crosstalk and the physiological cachexia induced by organ injury and its role in repair, with particular interest in epigenetics and exosomes. Tewfik enjoys his family, horses, travel, and weight training outside the lab.

Sephora Jean, BS
Graduate Student, PhD Candidate

Sephora is a native of the beautiful island of Haiti. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Biology at the illustrious Tuskegee University in Alabama. Sephora is a current doctoral student in Anatomy, Cell Biology & Physiology at Indiana University School of Medicine (IUSM) and a current visiting scholar at Oregon Health and Science University in Dr. Teresa Zimmers’ lab.  Sephora's focus in the Zimmers’ lab is the investigation of the adipose tissue microenvironment and the role of STAT3 and NF-kB in driving fat wasting in pancreatic cancer cachexia both in vivo and in vitro. Beyond her work in the lab, Sephora enjoys spending quality moments with her family, watching soccer, cooking traditional Haitian cuisine, and exploring her creative side through drawing and painting.

Sam Newton, BS
Research Assistant 2

Sam received a B.S. in biology and a minor in chemistry from Oregon State University in 2022. After graduation, Sam joined OHSU as a research assistant working in the field of cachexia with a long-term goal of pursuing a MD.  Some of his hobbies include skiing, mountain biking, and traveling whenever given the chance. 

Sara Ota, BA
Senior Research Associate

Sara is a Portland native who recently joined the Zimmers Lab where she will use patient derived pancreatic cancer cell lines to study the role of OSMR in the tumor microenvironment. Sara received her BA from Whitman College, and she has spent the past several years studying developmental and cancer pathways in the context of activating mutations in FGFR3. Outside of the lab Sara enjoys playing and watching soccer, being active outdoors, baking, cooking and reading.

Katherine Pelz, BS
Graduate Student, MD/PhD Candidate

Katherine is a MD/PhD student at OHSU and is part of the Department of Biomedical Engineering. She completed her B.A. at Pomona College. For her research, Katherine will be working towards understanding cachexia and metastasis in pancreatic cancer. Because she is early in her medical training, Katherine is still deciding on what to specialize in. So far, she has really enjoyed her medical oncology rotation. Her overarching career goal is to be able to work with and treat patients, while pursuing research that provides insight into their diseases and ultimately can translate into better treatment for them. Katherine enjoys spending her free time outdoors with her pup, Kona.