Miller Laboratory Research Team

Dr. Brandon A. Miller is Associate Professor of Pediatric Neurosurgery at Medical University of South Carolina. His undergraduate research was focused on cerebral ischemia and preconditioning in the laboratory of Dr. Jeff Gidday and Dr. T.S. Park at Washington University in St. Louis. He obtained his MD and PhD at The Ohio State University where we worked with Dr. Jacqueline Bresnahan and Dr. Michael Beattie studying white matter injury in the context of spinal cord injury. During his residency at Emory University, Dr. Miller received an NIH fellowship to study inflammation after subarachnoid hemorrhage and then returned to Washington University for his pediatric neurosurgery fellowship where he developed an interest in intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) and hydrocephalus. Dr. Miller’s independent research career has focused on the microglial response to IVH, and strategies to modify microglial activation state to improve IVH outcomes. Dr. Miller takes great pride in supporting the career development of students and junior faculty members.

Dr. Miriam Zamorano earned her PhD degree at the Neurobiology Research Institute of the National University of Mexico (UNAM) and completed her postdoctoral fellowship at MD Anderson Cancer Center. She has been working alongside Dr. Miller creating models of intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) to test treatments for neonatal brain injury. Dr. Zamorano's research is focused on investigating the cellular components that underlie the inflammatory process after IVH and how brain circuity is affected by IVH.

Kiara Umpornpun is a Research Specialist I in the Miller Laboratory at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC), where she serves as a key contributor to the lab’s experimental design and day-to-day research operations. She earned her undergraduate degree in Biology from Clemson University and went on to build her research career at MUSC, developing broad expertise in molecular, cellular, and translational laboratory techniques.

Kiara independently conducts and coordinates both in vivo and in vitro studies, with extensive experience in primary cell and tissue culture, confocal microscopy, ELISA cytokine analysis, protein extraction, Western blotting, immunohistochemistry, animal dissections, behavioral testing, flow cytometry preparation and analysis, and cryosectioning. She is frequently responsible for troubleshooting experiments and optimizing protocols to improve reliability and reproducibility across projects. She supports multiple concurrent studies across the laboratory and leads her own independent project, designing experiments, analyzing data, and driving progress from conception to completion.

Through her technical precision, organization, and attention to detail, Kiara consistently generates high-quality, reproducible data that advance the lab’s efforts to translate cellular findings into clinically meaningful outcomes.

With her free time, Kiara enjoys taking advantage of Charleston’s beautiful weather by going on new adventures with her nephews and niece.

Braden Oldham is a Neuroscience graduate student in the MD/PhD program at the Medical University of South Carolina. His research focuses on the molecular and metabolic mechanisms of neurologic injury, with particular interest in neuron–astrocyte–microglial interactions and the translation of laboratory findings into clinical treatments.

He graduated summa cum laude from Creighton University in 2020, double majoring in Neuroscience and Classical & Near Eastern Studies. As an undergraduate, he spent three years in Dr. Anna Dunaevsky’s lab studying astrocyte biology in Fragile X syndrome using mouse, human iPSC, and chimeric models. He later completed a post-baccalaureate fellowship at the National Institute on Aging at the NIH in the laboratory of Dr. Huaibin Cai, where he studied neural circuit function in Parkinson’s disease dementia.

In the Miller Lab, Braden uses animal models, primary rat cells, and human iPSC-derived systems to investigate the cellular responses to neurologic injury. He aims to pursue a career as a neurosurgeon-scientist focused on developing treatments that improve long-term outcomes after neurotrauma.

Outside the lab, he leads a medical student neurosurgery research group, volunteers at the MUSC Cares clinic, and enjoys traveling, running, baking, singing, and spending time with his wife.

Winnie received her undergraduate degree in Neuroscience with a Computer Science minor from Wellesley College. As an undergraduate researcher in the Marshall lab, she investigated the relationship between CK2 and extrasynaptic NR2B in Alzheimer's Disease, evaluating in vivo tau pathology models to recapitulate findings from in vitro studies

Driven by her passion for bridging healthcare and technology, Winnie has pursued diverse research experiences at the intersection of these fields. She worked as a software engineering intern at Orbita, a healthcare technology company, where she developed a full-stack application integrated within their chat box engine. In Dr. Flanigan's lab at MUSC, she supported ongoing projects focused on machine learning approaches to quantifying behavioral data.

In the Miller lab, Winnie conducts cellular and molecular research including western blots, DNA isolation, mitochondrial assays to further understand the mechanisms underlying intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH). Her work contributes to the lab's mission of advancing translational IVH research.

Outside of the lab she enjoys reading, long walks, and spending time with friends and family. She plans to apply to MD/PhD programs next year.