Current Trainees

Post Docs/Residents/Fellows

Dr. Javier Tamargo
Postdoctoral Fellow

Dr. Tamargo is a T32 Postdoctoral Fellow in Pain and Aging and a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN) with a PhD in Nutrition and Dietetics. He is interested in the role of nutrition and nutrition-based interventions on pain management and the maintenance of physical function in older adults to promote health, longevity, and independence. Additionally, he is interested in the intersection of nutrition and socioeconomic factors, such as food insecurity, and how these influence health and functional status among older adults, particularly those of vulnerable and minority groups.


Hamilton
Dr. Katrina Hamilton, PhD Postdoctoral Fellow

Dr. Hamilton is a biobehavioral pain postdoctoral fellow in the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and an awardee of the University of Florida Center for Advancing Minority Pain and Aging Science (CAMPAS) Pilot Project Awards for Research on Pain, Aging, and Disability. In 2021 she began working with Dr. Sibille to hone her expertise in allostatic load, cellular aging, and pain research, with a particular focus on the physiological consequences of higher chronic pain stage. Her current primary project leverages a large number of saliva samples that were collected from individuals who were healthy or had a chronic musculoskeletal condition (i.e., knee osteoarthritis, temporomandibular disorder) to examine how higher chronic pain stage and sleep disturbances are related to telomere length.  


Pratscher, Steve
Steve Pratscher, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow

Dr. Pratscher is a postdoctoral fellow in an integrative and multidisciplinary pain and aging research training program at the University of Florida. He is interested in examining the effectiveness and mechanisms of action of various mind-body and integrative interventions to improve health, vitality, stress, chronic pain, aging, and well-being. Dr. Pratscher is particularly drawn to psychedelic-assisted therapies and breathwork and how both can alter consciousness and support the body’s natural ability to heal.


Taylor Buchanan, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow

Dr. Buchanan is a MERIT/IRACDA Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She earned a doctoral degree in Applied Physiology and Kinesiology from the University of Florida. Dr. Buchanan’s research currently focuses on understanding how exercise and pain impact mobility and cardiovascular function of older adults.


Medical/Graduate/Doctoral Students


Udell Holmes
Udell Holmes III, Graduate Student

Udell Holmes III is a second-year PhD student at the College of Public Health & Health Professions at the University of Florida. In 2019 he participated in an internship called Summer of Translational Aging and Research for Undergraduates with Columbia University where he examined relationships between subjective cognitive decline and functional connectivity. He graduated from Cleveland State University with a bachelor’s in psychology in 2020. His research interests include finding predictive values in aging, health disparities, and pain. With his love for the brain, he loves learning about neuroscience and finds genuine interest in learning from diverse and unique viewpoints of others to inspire him.


Kara
Kara Eversole, Graduate Student

Kara is a first-year clinical psychology PhD student in the College of Public Health & Health Professions at the University of Florida. She earned her master’s degree in psychological sciences in 2022, during which she examined novel scoring paradigms for a neuropsychological test in a sample of older adults. Prior to this, she worked as a psychometrist at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center in Columbus, Ohio. Kara is passionate about community health and has also served as a volunteer for several community health organizations. Her current research interests include the detection of cognitive decline and impairment, and health equity and disparities.


Mariam Farag
2023 MSRP Student

2023 MSRP Student

Mariam Farag


2022 MSRP students
2022 MSRP Students

2022 MSRP Students

Isis Sweeney
Logan Pucci
Olivier Barolette
Ahmed Rashid


2021 MSRP Student

2021 MSRP Student

Bankole Olowofela