MSTP Team
Ronald J. Koenig, MD, PhD
Director of the MSTP and Professor of Internal Medicine
Dr. Koenig is a graduate of Yale University (B.S. in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry) and the Rockefeller University - Cornell University Medical College M.D./Ph.D. program. Dr. Koenig undertook residency training in internal medicine and a fellowship in endocrinology at the Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston MA. He has been a faculty member at the University of Michigan since 1988 and Director of the MSTP since 1995. Dr. Koenig is active in basic research, the clinical practice of endocrinology, and the teaching of medical and graduate students. Research in the Koenig lab focuses on the regulation of transcription by nuclear hormone receptors, with an emphasis on thyroid hormone receptors and thyroid cancer.
Juanita L. Merchant, MD, PhD
Associate Director of the MSTP and Professor of Internal Medicine and Molecular & Integrative Physiology
Dr. Merchant is a graduate of Stanford University (B.S. in Biology) and the Yale University MSTP. Dr. Merchant undertook an Internal Medicine residency and a research fellowship in Gastroenterology at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston and clinical fellowship training in Gastroenterology at UCLA.. She has been a faculty member at the University of Michigan since 1991 and Associate Director of the MSTP since 2008. Dr. Merchant is active in basic research, the clinical practice of gastroenterology, and the teaching of medical and graduate students. Her primary research interests include transcriptional control mechanisms regulating cell growth and differentiation and microbial-host interactions in the upper GI tract.
Linda McAllister-Lucas , MD, PhD
Associate Director of the MSTP and Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology
Dr. McAllister-Lucas is a graduate of Carleton College (B.A. in Chemistry) and the Vanderbilt University MSTP. Dr. McAllister-Lucas undertook pediatric residency and pediatric hematology/oncology fellowship training at the University of Michigan Medical School. She has been a faculty member at the University of Michigan since 2004 and became Associate Director of the MSTP in 2011. Dr. McAllister-Lucas is active in basic/translational research, the clinical practice of pediatric oncology, and the teaching of medical and graduate students. Research in the McAllister-Lucas lab focuses on the mechanisms by which deregulated inflammatory signaling promotes vascular and neoplastic disease, with a current emphasis on B-cell Lymphoma.
Ellen Elkin, Assistant Director
Ellen is responsible for the overall management of the MSTP Office and student services..
Hilkka Ketola, Financial Analyst
Hilkka is the MSTP's financial guru. She is responsible for all matters relating to student funding, payments, travel money, etc.
Laurie Koivupalo, Administrative Assistant
Laurie is responsible for administrative and secretarial duties for the MSTP. She is the primary contact for the Admissions process.