Meet the Team

Viridiana Carreno is a Research Specialist in the Sharifi Lab where she takes part in cutting-edge research that uses translational liquid biopsy based approaches and patient derived models to better understand the role of subtype switching in treatment response and resistance in breast cancer. She was born and raised in Wisconsin and received her B.S. at UW-Madison. She enjoys cooking, diamond painting, and spending time with her dog and family.

Alex Chang (he/him) is a researcher in the Sharifi lab interested in pathway activation and protein expression in cell lines and patients with resistant metastatic prostate and breast cancer. He was born and raised in Austin, Texas and received his B.S. at Texas A&M University, then later achieved a Master’s in Bacteriology at UW-Madison in 2021 before joining the Sharifi lab. In his free time, he enjoys going to concerts, discovering local events, and learning new fiber arts while hoarding mountains of yarn.

Dr. David Gallo completed his Ph.D. in Biochemistry at the University of Toronto in the lab of Dr. Grant Brown, where he used budding yeast as a model organism to study DNA replication and mutagenesis. He then conducted his postdoctoral research in the lab of Dr. Daniel Durocher at the Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute in collaboration with Repare Therapeutics, focusing on mechanism-of-action studies for synthetic-lethal precision oncology targets. His work contributed to the development of the first-in-human PKMYT1 inhibitor, lunresertib, and supported its advancement into clinical trials. Following his postdoc, he continued at Repare Therapeutics as a Senior Scientist in Cancer Biology, working with cross-functional preclinical and translational teams to advance precision oncology programs toward clinical development. His current work in the Sharifi Lab focuses on uncovering prostate and breast cancer biomarkers related to therapeutic efficacy and resistance using liquid biopsy techniques.

Will Stump graduated from the University of Alabama in Huntsville in 2020, as a 4-year varsity athlete, with a B.S. in Biological Sciences. He then completed a 2-year post baccalaureate program at the National Cancer Institute Surgery Branch where he worked in support of multiple adoptive cell therapy clinical trials. Will is now in his 4^th year of the Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP) at UW-Madison, pursuing his PhD in Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology under the guidance of Dr. Sharifi. After completing his MSTP training, Will plans to complete a residency in internal medicine and a fellowship in medical oncology.

Jordan joined the Sharifi lab as an Administrative Manager in June 2025. He previously interned with UW’s Department of Ophthalmology and Vision Sciences, and also spent seven years as a Project Manager in regulatory affairs and quality assurance (RA/QA), where he supported medical device and IVD manufacturers in obtaining global regulatory approvals. He holds BAs in Portuguese and Latin American, Caribbean and Iberian Studies, and an MS in Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis: Global Higher Education from UW-Madison.