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MSTP students in the Sahoo lab
Medical Scientist Training Program
Casey Zoss

Casey Zoss

G4 Student

Faculty Advisor

  • Kathleen Schmainda, PhD, and Christopher Chitambar, MD, Biophysics

Locations

  • Medical Scientist Training Program

Contact Information

Education

BS, Biochemistry; Mathematics, Briar Cliff University, 2020

Research Interests

Cancer biology, neuro-oncology, and neuro-imaging

Research Experience

Medical College of Wisconsin, 2022-present
Advisor: Kathleen Schmainda, PhD
Project: Discovery and application of glioblastoma biomarkers to optimize treatment with gallium maltolate (MCW Cancer Center Graduate Fellowship)

Briar Cliff University, 2018-2020
Advisor: Paul Weber, PhD and Daniel Jung, PhD
Project: Antibacterial and structural characterization of compounds isolated from the prairie turnip (Psoralea esculenta)

Sanford Research, 2019
Advisors: Jill Weimer, PhD and Jacob Cain, PhD
Project: Stereological investigation of cortical interneuron loss in CLN3 Batten Disease

Briar Cliff University, 2017-2018
Advisor: Ted Bryan, PhD
Project: Synthesis and IR spectroscopy of ruthenium coordinate complexes

Publications

Jennings CE, Zoss CJ, Morrison EA. Arginine anchor points govern H3 tail dynamics. Front Mol Biosci. 2023 May 2;10:1150400. doi: 10.3389/fmolb.2023.1150400. PMID: 37261328; PMCID: PMC10228543

Meeting Abstracts

Zoss C, Connelly J, Schmainda K, Chitambar C. Iron-related hematologic changes in the Phase I trial of oral gallium maltolate for recurrent glioblastoma. International Society for the Study of Iron in Biology and Medicine (BioIron), Montreal, QC, Canada. 2025 [Poster]

Zoss C, Prah M, Chitambar C, Connelly J, Schmainda K. Fractional tumor burden (FTB) mapping helps to monitor glioblastoma progression in the clinical trial of gallium maltolate: case report. American Society of Neuroradiology Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, PA. 2025 [Poster]

Zoss C, Mathison A, Jin V, Liu S, Treffy R, Schmainda K, Chitambar C. RNA sequencing to investigate antineoplastic mechanisms of gallium maltolate in glioblastoma. MCW Cancer Center Trainee Symposium, Milwaukee, WI. 2025. [Oral and Poster]

Al-Gizawiy M, Wujek R, Zoss C, Connelly J, Tanaka R, Rumler S, Mirza S, Chitambar C, Schmainda K. Gallium maltolate as a potent anti-neoplastic agent for the treatment of adult and pediatric primary brain tumors. Glioblastoma Drug Development Summit, Boston, MA. 2025. [Poster]

Zoss C, Giampietro F, Connelly J, Schmainda K, Chitambar C. Exploring factors affecting glioblastoma sensitivity to gallium maltolate. Wisconsin Science Education and Research Consortium (WiSER) Conference, Milwaukee, WI. 2024. [Poster]

Zoss C, Connelly J, Chitambar C, Schmainda K. Application of fractional tumor burden mapping to monitor glioblastoma progression in the Phase 1 trial of gallium maltolate. Society for Neuro-Oncology Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC, Canada. 2023. [Poster]

Connelly J, Zoss C, Schmainda K, Al-Gizawiy M, Santos Pinheiro F, Fonkem E, Chitambar C. Preliminary results of a Phase 1 trial of oral gallium maltolate (GaM) in recurrent glioblastoma. Society for Neuro-Oncology Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC, Canada. 2023. [Poster]

Al-Gizawiy M, Wujek R, Zoss C, Tanaka R, Mirza S, Chitambar C, Schmainda K. Characterization of the effect of the oral iron-mimetic gallium maltolate on pediatric glioblastoma growth in vivo. Pediatric Neuro-Oncology Research Conference, Washington, DC. 2023. [Poster]

Al-Gizawiy M, Wujek R, Connelly J, Zoss C, Chitambar C, Schmainda K. The oral iron-mimetic gallium maltolate suppresses treatment- resistant glioblastoma - in vivo validation. Society for Neuro-Oncology Annual Meeting, Tampa, FL. 2022. [Poster]

Zoss C, Paintsil E, Hammonds E, Morrison E. Arginine anchor points in histone H3 tail dynamics. Biophysical Society Annual Meeting. San Francisco, CA. 2022. [Poster]

Zoss C, Johnson T, Cain J, Likhite S, White K, Timm D, Meyerink B, Pratt M, Davis S, Dennys-Rivers C, Meyer K, Weimer J. Stereological Investigation of Interneuron Loss and Rescue in CLN3 Batten Disease. Sanford Research Symposium. Sioux Falls, SD. 2019. [Poster]

Pham A, Soria R, Zoss C, Jung, D, Weber P. Antibacterial and Chemical Properties of Components Isolated from Prairie Turnip (Psoralea esculenta). Briar Cliff University Excellence Event. Sioux City, IA. 2019 [Poster]

General Interests

Playing volleyball, eating desserts, and re-watching The Office

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