Meet Our Research Team!
Who We Are
Team GABA is an interdisciplinary undergraduate research team in the Gemstone Honors program at the University of Maryland, College Park. We are composed of people from different academic backgrounds, united by a common goal: to explore how ACES and stress affect gastrointestinal health.
Dr. Héctor E. Alcalá
Mentor
Dr. Alcala studies the impact of early life adversity on health, particularly its link to cancer risk, and investigates ethnic and racial disparities in health outcomes. With expertise in survey sampling and interviewing within behavioral and community health, he addresses ethical, practical, and feasibility considerations in research. His work contributes to understanding health inequities and their implications for diverse populations.
Isabelle Baxter
Librarian
Associate Head of STEM Library and Agriculture and Natural Resources. Her specialities are (and are not limited to) database selection, developing search strategies, creating proper citations, publishing, supporting evidence synthesis work and more.
Paola Rojas
Mentor Liaison
Kathlyn Rodriguez
Team Liaison
Raquel Tolin
Social Media Liaison
Joyce Oruitemeka
Web Liaison
Eian Manalo
Financial Liaison
Maedot Aklilu
Social Media Liaison
Tehillah Sabath Beit-Halachmi
Experts and Library Liaison
Michael Abakah
Ombudsperson and Fundraising
April Collins
Team Clerk
Sarai Celestine
Team Clerk and Fundraising
Hailie Lim
Ombudsperson and Community Outreach