Our Team

David C Schultz

Technical Director

David C. Schultz is the Technical Director of the High-throughput Screening Core at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.  He obtained his BS in Biochemistry from Albright College and then his PhD with Andrew K. Godwin in Chemistry from Lehigh University, where he studied the molecular genetics of hereditary and sporadic breast and ovarian cancer.  He then completed post-doctoral training in the laboratory of Frank J. Rauscher, III where he defined molecular mechanisms of transcriptional repression and epigenetic silencing of gene expression by the superfamily of KRAB-zinc finger proteins.  Since 2006, Dr. Schultz has managed shared resource core facilities, including 8 years directing high-throughput screening and protein expression cores at the Wistar Institute and Penn (since 2014).  During this time, he has collaborated with numerous investigators to perform high throughput screens, including target-based biochemical screens and phenotypic screens in diverse cell types, including immortalized cancer cell lines, primary leukemia cells from patients, fibroblasts, differentiated iPS cells, endothelial cells, B-lymphocytes, and HSPCs. As Technical Director of the High-throughput Screening Core (HTSC) he works collaboratively with investigators to design, optimize, and validate miniaturized assays for high-throughput genetic and chemical screening; oversees high-throughput screening campaigns, data analysis, and annotation; and design post-screening validation experiments for project progression. Since starting at Penn, he has been working with >60 investigators to develop novel, biochemical and cell-based screening assays to identify genes or small molecule inhibitors of diverse biology to further interrogate poorly understood biology and identify potential new treatment strategies for unmet medical need.  One example of this effort is highlighted by the new pipeline Dr. Schultz has developed through the Precision Medicine Program in Chemogenomic Discovery a pipeline to directly screen primary AML patient tumor cells for sensitivities to FDA-approved drugs which will be used to direct new therapeutic approaches.  This initial work in Acute Myelogenous Leukemia is moving into a clinical trial and this discovery platform is expanding to additional leukemias and solid tumors.

Dr. Schultz has also performed collaborative, large-scale screens for antiviral small molecules against SAR-CoV-2.  From this screening, we found that pharmacological activation of STING may represent a promising therapeutic strategy to control SARS-CoV-2, and combining nucleoside biogenesis inhibitors and nucleoside analogs can synergistically block SARS-CoV-2 infection in vitro and in vivo. We are continuing to screen drug libraries for additional antiviral activities against a large number of emerging RNA viruses.

Sara Cherry

Scientific Director

Sara Cherry is an Associate Professor in the Department of Microbiology at the University of Pennsylvania, Scientific Director of the High-throughput Screening Core and Director of Chemogenomic Discovery in the School of Medicine. She obtained her BS with Dr. Peter Schultz at Berkeley synthesizing new biopolymers for drug scaffolds, and then her PhD with Dr. David Baltimore at MIT studying early B cell development. Next, she completed her postdoctoral fellowship with Dr. Norbert Perrimon where she developed high-throughput RNAi screening to study virus-host interactions. She started her laboratory at Penn in 2006 where she has applied RNAi technology and other cell-based screening approaches to discover mechanisms by which diverse viral pathogens hijack cellular machinery while evading defenses. Her pioneering screening platform has opened up new avenues of discovery. While her laboratory continues to explore the interface of viruses, including globally important emerging pathogens, with host cells, she has expanded her interests to cancer. Through the Precision Medicine Program in Chemogenomic Discovery she has developed a new pipeline to directly screen patient tumor cells for responsiveness to available and experimental treatments, which will be used to direct new therapeutic approaches. Her initial work in Acute Myelogenous Leukemia is moving into human trials, and this discovery platform is expanding to additional leukemias and cancers.

Hongzhuang Peng

Research Specialist D

Hongzhuang Peng received her Ph. D. from Temple University prior to completing a post-doctoral fellowship in the laboratory of Frank J. Rauscher, III at the Wistar Institute, where she studied the biochemistry of numerous transcription factor complexes. Peng has >30years of laboratory experience and has extensive experience in molecular biology, protein biochemistry and cell-based assays.  She is responsible for cell culture and executing high-throughput cell and biochemical assays in the HTSC.

Yongqing Zhu

Research Specialist D

Yongqing obtained his PhD from Chinese Academy of Sciences where he studied molecular mechanisms in plant development.  He completed his postdoctoral training in plant molecular genetics in Dr. Anthony Cashmore’s lab at the University of Pennsylvania. He then worked on neurodegenerative diseases in fly models with Dr. Nancy Bonini at the University of Pennsylvania. Yongqing has >20 years of laboratory experience and extensive expertise in molecular biology, biochemistry, and cell biology and he is responsible for executing high-throughput cell and biochemical assays in the HTSC.

Christina Freeman

Research Specialist B

Christina is primarily responsible for the Baculovirus Expression Vector System (BEVS) services provided by the core, which involve tissue culture, molecular biology, and protein purification. Christina graduated from Saint Joseph’s University in 2016 with an honors degree in Biology, then spent two years as a post-baccalaureate fellow at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, MD. Her previous research experience was in molecular biophysics and computational biochemistry.

David Nguyen

Research Specialist B

David graduated from Drexel University in 2005 with a degree in Chemistry. Previous experience includes mass spectrometry, lipid-protein interaction studies, and statistical analysis. David has over 20 years of laboratory experience with extensive experience in molecular biology and protein biochemistry techniques and is responsible for executing high-throughput cell and biochemical assays in the HTSC.

Michelle Vanella-Kudenko

Research Specialist D

Michelle graduated from Temple University with a B.S. in Biology and a concentration in Molecular Biology and Genetics. Over the years she has worked in both academia and industry. Michelle began her career in academia, pursuing Pediatric Cancer and HIV research. She later moved to industry, where she created hybridomas, cell lines and monoclonal antibodies in a GMP environment.  She then went to work for a local Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization (CTDMO).  It was there that she developed processes and assays to help clients bring their vaccines, gene and cell therapy products to market.  Michelle is very happy to join the HTSC, where she can continue to use her skill and experience to help others explore their research’s potential.

Nathan Levine

Research Specialist B

Nate Levine graduated from the University of Illinois in 1995 with a degree in biology and from Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine arts in 2022 with a Masters of fine art. His research focus has been primarily in Parkinson’s disease with a pit stop in sepsis. Various technical skills include neuronal culturing, 3D neuronal reconstruction, microscopy and laboratory histology.