header-logo
MSTP students in the Sahoo lab
Medical Scientist Training Program
Shana Snarrenberg

Shana Lara

G5 Student

Faculty Advisor

  • Kirsten Beyer, PhD, MPH, Public & Community Health

Locations

  • Medical Scientist Training Program

Contact Information

Education

BA, Philosophy-Neuroscience-Psychology, Washington University in St. Louis, 2012
BS, Biomedical Engineering, University of Illinois at Chicago, 2018

Research Interests

I am interested in community engaged quantitative and qualitative methods to investigate children's mental and physical health disparities

Research Experience

Medical College of Wisconsin, 2021-present Advisor: Kirsten Beyer, PhD, MPH, MS Project: Children's social emotional health disparities 

Publications

Lara ST, Rein LE, Simanek AM, Totoraitis MF, Rausch DJ, Weston BW, Ahn KW, Meurer JR, Beyer KMM. Asthma as a Risk Factor for Hospitalization in Children and Youth With COVID-19: A Retrospective Cohort Study. Pediatr Infect Dis J. 2024 May 1;43(5):437-443. doi: 10.1097/INF.0000000000004248. Epub 2024 Apr 10. PMID: 38241639.

Rine S, Lara ST, Bikomeye JC, Beltrán-Ponce S, Kibudde S, Niyonzima N, Lawal OO, Mulamira P, Beyer KM. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cancer care including innovations implemented in Sub-Saharan Africa: A systematic review. J Glob Health. 2023 Nov 17;13:06048. doi: 10.7189/jogh.13.06048. PMID: 37976409; PMCID: PMC10656081.

Liu X, Vickstrom CR, Yu H, Liu S, Snarrenberg ST, Friedman V, Mu L, Chen B, Kelly TJ, Baker DA, Liu QS. Epac2 in midbrain dopamine neurons contributes to cocaine reinforcement via enhancement of dopamine release. Elife. 2022 Aug 22;11:e80747. doi: 10.7554/eLife.80747. PMID: 35993549; PMCID: PMC9436413.

Vickstrom CR, Snarrenberg ST, Friedman V, Liu QS. Application of optogenetics and in vivo imaging approaches for elucidating the neurobiology of addiction. Mol Psychiatry. 2022 Jan;27(1):640-651. doi: 10.1038/s41380-021-01181-3. Epub 2021 Jun 18. PMID: 34145393; PMCID: PMC9190069.

Vickstrom CR, Liu X, Zhang Y, Zhang Y, Mu L, Kelly TJ, Yan X, Hu MM, Snarrenberg ST, Liu QS (2020). T-type calcium channels contribute to burst firing in a subpopulation of medial habenula neurons [published online ahead of print, 2020 Jul 27]. eNeuro. 2020;ENEURO.0201-20.2020. doi:10.1523/ENEURO.0201-20.2020

Waas M, Snarrenberg ST, Littrell J, Jones Lipinski RA, Hansen PA, Corbett JA, Gundry RL. SurfaceGenie: A web-based application for prioritizing cell-type specific marker candidates, Bioinformatics, 2020, PMID: 32053146. 

Meeting Abstracts

Lara ST, Zhou Y, Jankowski C, Hegarty J, Neeb L, Rodriguez C, Xu W, Canales B, Kai Y, De Leon E, Angel-Gonzalez J, Hafeez I, Beyer KMM. Elementary school students' physical activity levels on greened schoolyards at recess. 2024 American Public Health Association (APHA) Annual Meeting, Minneapolis, MN. 2024. [Oral]

Lara ST, Talarico K, Neeb L. (Un)paving a path towards improving climate health and health equity. Wisconsin Society of Science Teachers (WSST) 2024 Conference, La Crosse, WI. 2024. [Oral]

Lara ST, Canales B, Zhou Y, Jankowski C, Berendt M, Amini-Hajibashi C, Bikomeye JC, Yang K, Beyer KMM. Socioemotional health disparities in urban elementary schools: Mixed effects regression analysis. 2023 American Public Health Association (APHA) Annual Meeting. 2023. [Oral]

Beyer KMM, Jankowski C, Vargo T, Brands AT KM, Perez Y, Lara S, Canales B, Willoughby K, Klammer K, Young C, Summers A, Ferschinger J, Schmitz T, & Leinbach K. Relax and breathe easy: Quantifying the health value of urban park walks. 3rd World Conference on Forests for Public Health, Sherbrooke, Canada. 2023. [Oral]

Abunike S, Snarrenberg ST, Bikomeye JC, Beltran-Ponce S, Beyer KMM. The impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic on Cancer Care in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Systematic Review. 2023 Consortium of Universities for Global Health Conference (CUGH). 2023. [Poster]

Snarrenberg ST, Jankowski C, Beyer KMM. Greenspace & Health Research. 2022 Green & Healthy Schools Conference, Milwaukee, WI. 2022. [Oral]

Snarrenberg ST, Bikomeye J, Beyer KMM. Schoolyard greening effects on health and air quality. Science Strikes Back 2022, Milwaukee, WI. 2022. [Poster]

Snarrenberg S, Sevak BN, Patton JL. Modeling Nerve Compression in Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine & Biology Society. July 2018. doi: 10.1109/EMBC.2018.8513580. [Poster] 

General Interests

I enjoy spending time with my family, swimming, playing music (violin, viola), live shows, getting outside in nature, gardening, cooking healthy foods, eating delicious foods, and sometimes reading for pleasure. Working towards improving access to quality education and health care are my passions as well as mentorship and teaching.

© 2025 Medical College of Wisconsin.  All rights reserved.  | Terms and Privacy | Web Accessibility Statement

Non-Discrimination Statement
The Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW) is committed to fostering a diverse community of outstanding faculty, staff, and students, as well as ensuring equal educational opportunity, employment, and access to services, programs, and activities, without regard to an individual's race, color, national origin, religion, age, disability, sex, gender identity/expression, sexual orientation, marital status, pregnancy, predisposing genetic characteristic, or military status. Employees, students, applicants or other members of the MCW community (including but not limited to vendors, visitors, and guests) may not be subjected to harassment that is prohibited by law or treated adversely or retaliated against based upon a protected characteristic. MCW’s policy as well as federal and state laws and regulations prohibit unlawful discrimination and harassment.

Notice of Compliance with Laws and Commitment to Civil Rights
The Medical College of Wisconsin is committed to full compliance with all applicable federal, state, and local laws and regulations in the pursuit of our missions. Consistent with recent federal guidance, we affirm our commitment to individual merit, fairness, and equal treatment in all aspects of academic and institutional decision-making. As part of this commitment, we are actively reviewing our policies and materials to ensure they align with federal nondiscrimination obligations.