University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus

Our Students

Applicants represent universities nationwide and come from diverse backgrounds with vast cultural knowledge. We are proud to include students in our program who come from rural and urban communities, who are the first in their families to attend college, DACA recipients, attendees of local Colorado universities and Ivy League schools, international students, Putska, Boettcher, and Gates scholars, and students who are just like you!

Our program typically receives an average of 60 or more applications from students across the country with an average 10% acceptance rate. We wish we could include more deserving students, but because we pair students one to one with faculty mentors to work on a range of real-life clinical research projects, our cohorts tend to be small. We value the ability to build camaraderie, professionalism and peer support within each small cohort.

Below are the students from past cohorts of PURPLE and their respective university, degree, and their matched mentors.

Name	University	Degree	Mentor(s)
Blankenship, Alan	Metropolitan State University	Psychology	Matt Mishkind, PhD
Calderon, Cassidy	University of Colorado, Denver	Biology	Allison Dempsey, PhD
Fishman, Jennifer	Illinois State University	Psychology	Emily Hemendinger, LCSW
Hadgu, Tsenaat	University of Colorado, Denver	Psychology	Sarah Nagle-Yang, MD and Karen Longenecker, MA, LCSW
Lamberton, Katelyn	University of Denver	Psychology	Ayelet Talmi, PhD and Jessica Kenny, PhD
McNeil, Sequoia	Metropolitan State University	Psychology	Michelle West, PhD
Naibauer, Sydney	Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology	Biomedical Engineering	Rachel Davis, MD
Nguyen, Ashlyn	University of Southern California	Health and Human Sciences	Kimberly Kelsay, MD
Sosa, Melanie	University of Colorado, Denver	Biology	Ellen Stern, MA

Name	University	Degree	Mentor(s)
Cristina Casler	University of Arizona	Neuroscience	Allison Dempsey, PhD
Aarushi Singh	University of Colorado, Boulder	Neuroscience and Psychology	Jessica Megan Ross, PhD
Miarri Phillips	University of Colorado, Denver	Psychology and Sociology	Michelle L. West, PhD
Hunter Orr	University of Colorado, Boulder	Psychology	Emily Hemendinger, LCSW
Brian Melendez	University of Colorado, Boulder	Psychology	Patrick Romani, PhD
Keinada Andereas	University of Colorado, Denver	Psychology	Aviva Olsavsky, MD
Haley Almeida	University of Colorado, Denver	Psychology	Jessica Kenny, PhD and Ayelet Talmi, PhD

Name	University	Degree	Mentor(s)
Aafia Alladin	Hofstra University	Psychology	Laura Anthony, PhD & Jessica Holmes, PhD
Mona Eyghanifard	University of Colorado, Denver	Psychology	Bethany Ashby, PsyD
Elizabeth Garcia	University of Colorado, Denver	Psychology	Michelle L. West, PhD
Rebecca Himberger	University of Colorado, Colorado Springs	Biochemistry	Monique Germone, PhD, MA
Krista Luttkus	Cornell College	Sociology	Patrick Romani, PhD
Jenny Nguyen	University of Colorado, Denver	Psychology	Jessica Kenny, PhD & Ayelet Talmi, PhD
Christian Olivencia	University of Colorado, Denver	Psychology	Jacob Holzman, PhD
QinXiao (Allie) Wu	University of Notre Dame	Neuroscience and Behavior	Bruno Anthony, PhD & Jessica Holmes, PhD
Selihom Yosief	Yale University	Cognitive Science	Noy Phimphasone-Brady, PhD

Name	University	Degree	Mentor(s)
Alazar Gebremichael	University of Colorado, Boulder	Integrated Physiology	Sarah Kennedy, PhD
Madison Harris	University of Colorado, Colorado Springs	Biomedical Science/History	Monique Germone, PhD, MA
Evamaria Kent	University of Colorado, Boulder	Integrative Physiology	Allison Dempsey, PhD
Adriana Lopez	Regis University	Psychology/Spanish	Amber McDonald, PhD
Luis Alan Martinez	Metropolitan State University of Denver	Psychology	Christine Garver-Apgar, PhD
Eddy Panklang	University of Colorado, Denver	Psychology	Patrick Romani, PhD
Aneri Patel	Union College and Clarkson University	Chemistry/Anthropology/Healthcare Administration	Jarrod Ellingson, PhD and Joe Schacht, PhD
Shanna Trott	Stanford University	Psychology	Michelle West, PhD
Naomi Tubbs	Regis University	Psychology	Jacob Holzman, PhD

Name	University	Degree	Mentor(s)
Adriana Lopez	Regis University	Psychology/Spanish	Amber McDonald, PhD, LCSW, MSW
Evamaria Kent	University of Colorado, Boulder	Integrative Biology	Allison Dempsey, PhD
Kate Maegley	University of Denver	Psychology	Kimberley Sheffield, PhD, MA, BS
Luis Martinez	Metropolitan State University	Psychology	Christine Garver-Apgar, PhD
Jeneva Moreno	University of Colorado Boulder	Psychology	Aviva Olsavsky, MD
Eddy Panklang	University of Colorado, Denver	Psychology	Patrick Romani, PhD
Aneri Patel	Union College	Chemistry/Anthropology/Healthcare Administration	Jarrod Ellingson, PhD & Joseph Schacht, PhD
Camryn Slosky	Swarthmore College	Neuroscience	Monique Germone, PhD, MA

Year	Name	University	Degree	Mentor(s)
2019	Hannah Christensen	Regis University	Psychology/Women's and Gender Studies	Benjamin Mullin, PhD
	Tennyson Dahlman	Regis University	Psychology	Joel Stoddard, MD
	Sara Kvidahl	Metropolitan State University	Psychology	Jessica Malmberg, PhD & Jacob Holzman, PhD
	Amy Linares-Francois	Metropolitan State University	Psychology	Elizabeth Steinberg, PhD & Amie Lofton, PsyD
	Jada Lister	University of Colorado, Denver	Psychology	Patrick Romani, PhD & Tara Hayes, MA
	Yunliang (Lily) Luo	University of Colorado, Denver	Biology/Pre-Med	Ayelet Talmi, PhD & Catherine Wolcott, PhD
	Hisham Nsier	University of Colorado, Denver	Psychology	Allison Dempsey, PhD
2018	Brianna Barkocy	Regis University	Psychology/Religious Studies	Monique Germone, PhD, BCBA
	Austin Chavez	University of Colorado, Denver	Public Health/Pre-Med	Ayelet Talmi, PhD
	Eve Delao	University of Colorado, Denver	Psychology	Jonathan Miller, PhD
	Haley Dellinger	University of Colorado, Denver	Psychology	Justin Michener, PhD & Emily Laux, PsyD & David Walick, MD
	Kristen Torres	Colorado State University	Psychology	Jennifer Hagman, MD
	Maria Torres	University of Colorado, Denver	Public Health/Psychology	Patrick Romani, PhD, BCBA-D
2017	Andrea Boorse	University of Colorado, Denver	Psychology/Sociology	Patrick Romani, PhD
	Analyse deSousa	Regis University	Neuroscience	Joel Stoddard, PhD
	Gabrielle Fabrikant	University of Southern California	Psychology	Jennifer Hagman, MD & Mindy Solomon, PhD
	Rohit Gupta	Rice University	Biochemistry and Cell Biology	Benjamin Mullin, PhD
	Cassandra LeFebre	University of Northern Colorado	Nursing	Jennifer Lindwall, PhD
	Vishruti Patel	University of Colorado, Denver	Integrative Biology/Leadership Studies	Cindy Buchanan, PhD & Elizabeth Steinburg, PhD
	Yovana Perez	University of Colorado, Denver	Psychology/Sociology	Ayelet Talmi, PhD
2016	Alexandra Malek	University of Colorado, Denver	Biology	Guido Frank, PhD
	Joseph Rosales	University of Colorado, Denver	Psychology	Benjamin Mullin, PhD
	Kristina Samon	University of Colorado, Anschutz Medical Campus	Nursing	Cindy Buchanan, PhD
	Shengh Xiong	University of Colorado, Denver	Biology/Ethnic Studies	Ayelet Talmi, PhD

PURPLE Cohort Demographics

Gender	n (N=46)	%
Male	9	19.5%
Female	36	78.0%
Others	1	2.5%
Race/Ethnicity
Hispanic or Latino	14	30%
White or Caucasian	16	35%
Black or African American	5	11%
Asian	9	20%
American Indian or Native American	0	0%
Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander	0	0%
Prefer not to answer/Other	2	4%
Currently Working at CU	14	30%

Psychiatry (SOM)

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Aurora, CO 80045

303-724-4940

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PURPLE Cohort Demographics

Psychiatry (SOM)