ORBIT Lab: Overcoming Real-World Barriers In Type 2 Diabetes

Interested in joining our group or collaborating? Email MaryEllen.Vajravelu@pitt.edu

Current lab members:

Nyesha Rainey

Nyesha joined the ORBIT Lab as clinical research program supervisor in January 2026. She grew up in Philadelphia, PA, and graduated from Carlow University in Pittsburgh, PA. Prior to joining ORBIT, she served as a Clinical Research Coordinator in Orthopedics and Genetics and Gynecology research. Nyesha's greatest interest is seeing how the research she supports helps and shapes the world around her. 

Vrinda Mullapudi

Vrinda joined the ORBIT Lab as a clinical research assistant in May 2026. She graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with a BS in Biological Sciences, Minors in Chemistry and Economics, and Certificates in Global Health and Conceptual Foundations of Medicine in May 2026. She was previously involved in oncology research in a clinical research lab with UPMC Hillman Cancer Center as well as in the Department of Endocrinology at a research lab in the School of Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh. She is planning on attending medical school and is assisting with various research studies in her gap year. She currently assists with recruitment, enrollment, data collection, and data analysis. In her free time, she loves cooking, dancing, photography, and exploring new places with her friends. 

Brooke Myers

Brooke is a medical assistant and data analyst within UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh Division of Pediatric Endocrinology and Diabetes. She has contributed to the ORBIT Lab since 2026, supporting clinical recruitment for multiple studies.

Angela Koo Chong

Dr. Koo is a pediatric endocrinology fellow at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. She graduated medical school from the Universidad Latina de Panamá before moving to the US to continue her medical training. She was a postdoctoral research fellow at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, MA and then completed her pediatrics residency at the University of Florida College of Medicine in Jacksonville, FL. Angela's main interest is optimizing care and outcomes in children and adolescents with obesity, prediabetes and type 2 diabetes, and currently working on multiple related projects with Dr. Vajravelu. 

Jubel Puthusseril

Dr. Puthusseril is a pediatric endocrinology fellow at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. She graduated from the University of South Florida with Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Sciences and received her DO degree from West Virgina School of Osteopathic Medicine. She completed her pediatrics residency at Akron Children’s Hospital in Akron, OH. Passionate about exploring how novel pharmacologic treatments, such as GLP-1, can be optimized for pediatric populations and how to better support patients in starting and managing the use of new treatments, she is working with Dr. Vajravelu on several related projects during her pediatric endocrinology fellowship.

Afsana Dhali

Afsana is an Honors Pre-Med student at the University of Pittsburgh who is majoring in Biology and Economics. She has a research interest in the relationship between historical famine exposure and metabolic health. As a member of the ORBIT Lab, she contributes to ongoing projects related to nutrition and metabolic health.

Camila De Valencia

Camila joined the ORBIT Lab during her second year of medical school at the University of Pittsburgh. She is originally from Quebec, Canada, and graduated from Cornell University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Human Biology, Health, and Society. She will conduct a retrospective study examining factors associated with GLP-1 use and discontinuation in youth.

Hannah Hardeo

Hannah joined the ORBIT Lab during her first year of medical school at the University of Pittsburgh. She examined associations between the shape of glucose response curves on continuous glucose monitoring (CGM)-based oral glucose tolerance tests (OGTT) versus lab-based OGTT, with an abstract accepted for poster presentation at the 2026 ObesityWeek conference.

Brian Gao

Brian joined the ORBIT Lab during his first year of medical school at the University of Pittsburgh. He graduated from the University of California, Riverside, with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology. He is supporting the literature review and analysis for a scoping review examining ethical guidelines and considerations for the use of GLP-1 receptor agonists in pediatric obesity management. Outside of school, he enjoys running and chess.

Mikayla Bisignani

Mikayla joined the ORBIT Lab during her third year of medical school at the University of Pittsburgh. She is from Latrobe, PA, and graduated from Johns Hopkins University in 2020. She is leading a scoping review examining ethical guidelines and considerations for use of GLP-1 for pediatric obesity management.

Former lab members:

Rutha Chivate

Rutha joined ORBIT while she was a medical student at the University of Pittsburgh (graduated 2026; pediatric residency at Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital in Cleveland, OH). She is originally from Cranbury, NJ, and graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with a Bachelor of Science degree in Emergency Medicine and minors in Neuroscience and Chemistry in 2022. Outside of school, Rutha loves running and spending time outdoors, crafts like knitting and crocheting, reading mystery books, and exploring Pittsburgh with friends. For her 2023 summer research project with the ORBIT Lab, she investigated primary care pediatrician perspectives about use of weight loss pharmacotherapy in adolescents with obesity (now published in Pediatric Obesity). She also led a narrative review examining disordered eating behaviors and eating disorders in the setting of pediatric type 2 diabetes.

Sarah Apte

Sarah joined ORBIT while she was a medical student at Northeast Ohio Medical University (graduation: 2027). She participated in several projects with the ORBIT Lab, including investigating the role of adverse childhood experiences in relation to diabetes risk, as well as evaluating perceptions of weight-loss medications by adolescents and young adults. For her ACES study, Sarah worked closely with her fellow NEOMED student Harvey Tucker to complete data analysis.

Vaishnavi Peyyety

Vaishnavi was a member of ORBIT during her undergraduate years at Washington and Jefferson College, where she was also a Temple Medical Scholar. She joined Temple University as a medical student in 2025. She worked with Dr. Vajravelu on several projects, including preparation of text messages for the BEAM Trial, a qualitative study investigating perspectives on use of CGM among youth with T2D, a NHANES-based study examining the association between social determinants of health and prediabetes risk in youth, and a qualitative study evaluating perspectives of adolescents on the use of weight-loss medications. In her free time, Vaishnavi enjoys singing and listening to music, planning cultural events, and trying new foods. She aspires to work in Pediatrics in the future.

Margaret Jankowski

Margaret was a member of ORBIT for a year between undergraduate and medical school. She graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 2024 with a major in Health & Societies with a concentration in Public Health, as well as a minor in Chemistry. She previously served as a research assistant at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia while completing her undergraduate degree. She joined the ORBIT Lab in June 2024 as a research assistant and supported several projects, resulting in a first-author publication in the Journal of Physical Activity and Health. She joined the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine as a first-year medical student in 2025.

Rawan Elrajabi

Dr. Elrajabi completed her pediatric endocrinology fellowship at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, during which time she was a member of the ORBIT Lab. Upon completion of fellowship, she began her U.S. pediatrics residency at the University of Toledo. For her clinical research project with the ORBIT Lab, she completed a retrospective cohort study to describe the clinical characteristics of youth with variants of uncertain significance in monogenic obesity-associated genes and helped design a qualitative project to examine decision-making in the setting of anti-obesity medication by youth.

Ryan Ross

Ryan joined the ORBIT lab as an undergraduate student at the University of Pittsburgh. He assisted Dr. Elrajabi in a project characterizing youth with variants of uncertain significance in monogenic obesity-associated genes. He presented this work at the Pediatric Endocrine Society annual conference in 2024.

BRIANNA HEWITT

Brianna attended Slippery Rock University, where she earned a Bachelor's degree in Exercise Science and a Master of Public Health. In her free time, Brianna enjoys cooking, traveling, attending Pitt football games, and spending time with friends and family. Brianna served as the primary study coordinator for the BEAM trial and the CGM for T2D Risk Study from 2021-2024.

Caleb Harrison

Caleb graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biological Sciences and minors in Chemistry and Exercise Science in 2022. Caleb now attends the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine (class of 2028). He was an active contributor to the ORBIT Lab during his time as a research assistant from 2023-2024, supporting data analysis and manuscript preparation, resulting in several first- and co-authored publications.

Adriana Rodriguez Gonzalez

Dr. Rodriguez Gonzalez was a member of the ORBIT Lab during her pediatric endocrinology fellowship at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, from which she graduated in 2024. She was awarded an Endocrine Fellows Foundation grant to support her work related to use of CGM for Type 2 Diabetes risk evaluation in youth. Following her fellowship, she joined UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh as an attending pediatric endocrinologist. She enjoys quality time with friends, dancing, learning new cooking recipes and during the winter season continuing to improve her snowboarding skills. In the future she would like to continue working with her Latin population and bridging the gap between health inequities that the minority population have in the medical field.