Our Team
Nduka Amankulor, M.D.
Principal Investigator
Nduka.Amankulor@pennmedicine.upenn.edu
Dr. Amankulor earned his Doctor of Medicine at Yale University and completed neurosurgery residency at Yale New Haven Hospital. He completed a both a Post-Doctoral fellowship in Cancer Genetics and Biology, as well as a Neurosurgical Oncology Fellowship in brain and spine oncology at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. Dr. Amankulor served for 9 years as an Assistant Professor in Neurosurgery at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, where he also acted as Director of Neurosurgical Oncology, attending neurosurgeon, and principal investigator and has received numerous awards for his work. He now serves as Chief of Neurosurgical Oncology and Director of the Penn Brain Tumor Center at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine.
Read more about Dr. Amankulor's work here.
Dr. Amankulor is on Twitter.
Yalda Fazlali, Ph.D.
Senior Research Investigator
yalda.fazlali@pennmedicine.upenn.edu
Ali Ghamari, M.Sc, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow
Ali.ghamari@pennmedicine.upenn.edu
Ali earned his Ph.D. in Cell and Molecular Biology from IAU in Iran. His Ph.D. research focused on the CAR-T cell therapy for acute myeloid leukemia (AML). His expertise is in cell therapy, immunotherapy, cancer therapeutics and regenerative medicine. Presently, Ali is investigating the tumor immune microenvironment associated with IDH-mutant glioma and developing novel immuno-therapeutic approaches against the disease. He is eager to do translational science and take his research from bench to bedside!
Apart from research, Ali loves traveling, exploring new places and listening to music, especially Pink Floyd.
Emily Xu, B.S.
Medical Student Scientist
Emily.Xu1@pennmedicine.upenn.edu
Emily is a medical student at the Perelman SOM. She received her undergraduate degree from Yale University, where she studied nanoparticle delivery of chemotherapeutics. Currently, she is interested in understanding mechanisms of immunosuppression in brain tumors. In her free time, she enjoys running, doing the NYT crosswords, and trying new restaurants in Philly.
Abhishek Das, B.S.
Research Specialist
abhishek.das@pennmedicine.upenn.edu
Abhi received his undergraduate degree in Neuroscience from Johns Hopkins University, where he studied sympathetic innervation of cervical ganglia. He is interested in understanding the mechanisms of immunosuppression in brain tumors. Outside of the lab, he enjoys playing basketball and weightlifting.
Lab Alumni
Katharine Krueger, M.Sc.
Lab Manager and Research Specialist
kkrueger82152@gmail.com
Jonathan Patterson, M.S.E.
Research Specialist and Bioinformatician
jonpatt@alumni.upenn.edu
Zel Zhang, M.D.
Resident Physician Scientist
zhangx15@upmc.edu