Current Students

Tim Johnston

Advisor: TBD

Education

BS in Biology, University of Minnesota

Background

Tim Johnston graduated from the University of Minnesota with a B.S. degree in Biology. He began his research journey in the Schmidt-Dannert laboratory where he utilized self-assembling protein scaffolds to improve enzymatic cascade efficiency.  In his senior year, Tim joined David Masopust ‘s laboratory to investigate anti-viral T cell responses, specifically the role of tissue-resident memory T cells (TRM) in providing barrier immunity to influenza infections.

For the past three years, Tim has been a postbaccalaureate IRTA in the Human Immunology Section, led by Dr. Daniel Douek, at the Vaccine Research Center. At NIH, Tim developed a method for rapid, high-throughput monoclonal antibody discovery and isolated neutralizing antibodies against SARS-CoV2, influenza, HIV, norovirus, and Zika. As an NIH-Penn immunology graduate student, Tim would like to continue studying humoral responses following vaccination/infection and antigenic evolution. 

Ivanna Molina-Lopez

Advisor: TBD

Education

BS in Microbiology, University of Puerto Rico, Humacao

Background

Ivanna Molina-Lopez graduated from the University of Puerto Rico-Humacao with a B.S. degree in Microbiology. Her first research experience began in an organic chemistry lab, where she investigated the chemical and antimicrobial properties of native and endemic plants of Puerto Rico. She identified that terpenoids from a native tree had potent antimicrobial activities against Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Ivanna is currently a postbaccalaureate PREP student in Kate Fitzgerald’s lab at the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School. In the Fitzgerald’s lab, Ivanna is studying the role of the NLRP1 inflammasome in sensing nucleic acids in human keratinocytes.

As an NIH-Penn immunology graduate student, Ivanna would like to study innate immune system, molecular pathogenesis, and host-pathogen interactions.

Caleb Ng

Advisor: Rachel Caspi, PhD
 

Education

2005 – 2009 California Institute of Technology, BS Chemistry

2013 – present, University of Pennsylvania, PhD Immunology

Kyle Rekedal

Advisor: TBD

Education

BS in Biological Sciences, UC Merced

Background

Kyle Rekedal graduated with a B.S. degree in Biological Sciences from the University of California, Merced in 2021. As an undergraduate fellow, Kyle joined Dr. Chris Amemiya’s laboratory at UC Merced, and initiated project on variable lymphocyte receptors in a basal vertebrate system (Lampetra hubbsi), for which he was awarded a prestigious UROC Scholar award from UC Merced (2019 and 2020) and published a first-author, peer-reviewed manuscript in Developmental and Comparative Immunology (2021). After graduation, Kyle received a NIH postbaccalaureate IRTA for his work in Dr. Gisela Storz laboratory (NICHD) using transposon insertion mutagenesis sequencing (Tn-Seq) to identify genes of small proteins under 50 amino acids that affect Escherichia coli fitness.

Because Kyle is very passionate about host interactions with viruses and emerging infectious diseases, Kyle decided to conduct a summer rotation in the lab of Dr. Nancy Sullivan, where he worked to generate an i53-50 nanoparticle system against Zaire and Sudan Ebolavirus.

As a graduate student, Kyle would like to continue his work on viral host-pathogen interactions as well as pioneering potential therapies against future emerging infectious diseases.

Indira Rao

Advisor: Yasmine Belkaid, PhD

Education

2003 – 2006 University of Mumbai, India, BSc Chemistry

2007 – 2008 Heriot-Watt University, United Kingdom, MSc Forensic Materials

2018 – present University of Pennsylvania, Immunology PhD Candidate

Current Research

Host-microbe interactions at dynamic barrier tissues, like the skin, mediate context-specific immune responses to commensal & pathogenic bacteria. Staphylococcus aureus can asymptomatically colonize the skin or cause recurrent opportunistic infections with limited protective immunity. Since colonization precedes the majority of S. aureus infections where protection is limited, understanding steady-state immune sensing and the quality of response to colonization can expand the currently sparse knowledge regarding mechanisms underlying immunity to this furtive microbe.

My thesis research in the Belkaid Lab focuses on investigating immune response to S. aureus skin colonization, about which little is known. In the mouse model, using microbial genetics, immunophenotyping, imaging and next-generation sequencing methods, I aim to (1) investigate microbial determinants of steady-state immune sensing, (2) examine the quality of steady-state immune response to S. aureus skin colonization, and (3) determine whether steady-state immunity represents an anticipatory response for protection during infection. These studies can inform development of immunotherapies for bolstering response to S. aureus infections.

Future Plans

Fundamental and Translational Immunology Research

Awards

2017 – 2018 NCI Cancer Research Training Award

Lillian (Lily) Sun

Advisor: Yasmine Belkaid, PhD

Education

BS in Biological Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park

2019 – present University of Pennsylvania, Immunology MD/PhD Candidate

Research Plan

How does the maternal immune system tolerate fetal antigen and at the same time provide protection against pathogens? In my current project, I am working to understand how the immune system is re-wired during pregnancy to meet these seemingly opposing constraints.

Future Plan

I currently in training to pursue a research career as a physician scientist.

Awards

Barry Goldwater Scholarship

Publications

An Y, Jeon J, Sun L, Derakhshan A, Chen J, Carlson S, Cheng H, Silvin C, Yang X, Van Waes C, Chen Z. Death agonist antibody against TRAILR2/DR5/TNFRSF10B enhances birinapant anti-tumor activity in HPV-positive head and neck squamous cell carcinomas. Scientific Reports 2021 11(1):6392. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-85589-5

Friedman J, Moore EC, Zolkind P, Robbins Y, Clavijo PE, Sun L, Greene S, Morisada MV, Mydlarz WK, Schmitt N, Hodge JW, Schreiber H, Van Waes C, Uppaluri R, Allen C. Neoadjuvant PD-1 immune checkpoint blockade reverses functional immunodominance among tumor antigen-specific T cells. Clinical Cancer Research 2020 26(3):679-689. doi: 10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-19-2209.

Harrison Wang

Advisor: TBD

Education

BS in Physics & Biology, UCSD

Background

Harrison Wang graduated from UCSD with a double major in Physics and Biology.  In his first research experience in Dr. Gene Yeo's laboratory, he identified mis-splicing in D-amino acid oxidase (DAO) to be a contributing factor to the pathogenesis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and also supported groundbreaking proof-of-concept work that demonstrated the use of catalytically dead Cas9 (dCas9) in targeting RNA for imaging and potential therapies. In 2017, Harrison joined an industry position at True North Therapeutics, where he researched the structure and function of TNT009, a monoclonal antibody to treat a rare autoimmune disease known as cold-agglutinin disease. TNT009 (Sutimlimab) was granted FDA approval on February 5, 2022.

In 2019, Harrison completed a data science bootcamp that focused on machine learning and database management and pivoted to dry lab roles. As Data Scientist at Invitae, a leading medical genetic testing company, Harrison analyzed NGS data from customer complaints and built Tableau dashboards for assay monitoring. In his most recent position at Thermo-Fisher Scientific, he built large-scale data pipelines for the epidemiological surveillance of COVID-19 variants. With his strong computational biology background and wet-bench experience, Harrison would like to study how epigenetic events can lead to the development of autoimmunity and how to suppress or reverse autoimmune diseases after they arise.