Research Specialists
Amie Albertus, B.S.
Research Specialist
Amie Albertus received her B.S. in Biology with a minor in Mathematics from Drexel University in 2016. Her professional experience includes High-Throughput Epitope Mapping at Integral Molecular and Flow Cytometry Analysis and Cell Sorting at the Flow Cytometry Core at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Since joining the Weissman Lab in 2023, Amie has been working with Dr. Edward Kreider to apply the mRNA-LNP platform to HIV vaccine development and HIV cure efforts.
Sydni Berkihiser, M.S., C.V.T.
Research Specialist
Sydni graduated from Wilson College with a bachelor's degree in Veterinary Medical Technology and continued her education at Manchester University, earning a master’s degree in Pharmacogenomics. During her time at Wilson College, she participated in a partnership with the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, engaging in multiple wildlife conservation research efforts, which ignited her interest in a career in research. Following her master's degree, she relocated to University of Pennsylvania where she worked with the Gene Therapy Program as a veterinary technician where she aided in development and commercialization of transformative genetic-based therapeutics. Driven by her passion for research and a desire to further her education, Sydni joined the Dr. Weissman’s Lab at the University of Pennsylvania in 2024 under the supervision of Dr. Elena Atochina-Vasserman where she assists in mRNA vaccine research and the development of novel mRNA delivery systems.
Valeria Bornacelli Pabon, M.S.
Research Specialist
Valeria obtained her Bachelor of Science in Biology from the University of Florida in 2019 and subsequently completed a Master’s degree in Infectious Diseases from Drexel University in 2022. During her internship at Dr. Navas-Martin's laboratory, Valeria's research focused on understanding the role of Toll-like receptors (TLRs) in the antiviral and inflammatory responses to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and beta coronavirus (β-CoV) infection in microglia. In 2023, Valeria joined Dr. Weissman's Lab, where she has been working with the direction of Dr. Xiomara Mercado-Lopez on developing vaccines for a variety of flaviviruses.
Benjamin Davis, Ph.D.
Research Specialist
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Dr. Benjamin Davis received his B.S. from Rutgers University in 2011 and his Ph.D. in microbiology and immunology from Thomas Jefferson University in 2019, in the laboratory of Dr. Matthias Schnell. His thesis work focused on innate immunity to neurotropic virus infections, particularly rabies virus. This line of research explored a novel hypothesis concerning the recognition of viral RNA by an interferon-stimulated gene of unknown function. In early 2021, Dr. Davis joined the laboratory of Dr. Drew Weissman at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine as a research specialist. With the direction of Drs. Mohamad-Gabriel Alameh and Istvan Tombacz, Dr. Davis oversees the production of the lab’s mRNA-LNP platform, assists in the development of mRNA vaccines to SARS-CoV-2 variants, and continues to seek safer and more effective interventions for diseases caused by SARS-CoV-2 and other viruses.
Michael Kegel, B.S.E.
Research Specialist
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Michael Kegel received his B.S.E. in Bioengineering from Temple University in 2023. There he worked in a mechanobiology lab investigating the role of pH in chronic wounds on fibronectin matrix formation. Michael joined Dr. Weissman’s Lab at the University of Pennsylvania in 2023 under the supervision of Dr. Jilian Melamed in the development of targeting lipid nanoparticles for mRNA delivery.
Emily McMillan, B.S.
Research Specialist
Emily McMillan received a B.S. in Neuroscience: Cellular & Molecular and a B.A. in Psychology in 2020 from Temple University. During the summers of 2016-2018, she worked in David Lynch's lab at CHOP and helped Yina Dong research how overexpression of GRP75, a mitochondrial molecular chaperone, could provide a potential therapeutic target for Friedreich's ataxia. At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic she worked at a 24-hour turnaround time COVID-19 testing laboratory, DDL, where she became a General Supervisor and tested patients for various respiratory pathogens in addition to ensuring compliance with COLA and CAP. In fall 2023 she joined Dr. Drew Weissman's laboratory as a research specialist, where she's currently working under Dr. Garima Dwivedi and Dr. Benjamin Davis.
Brieyanna McWilliams, B.S., M.B.S.
Research Specialist
Brieyanna McWilliams graduated from Pennsylvania State University in 2016 with a B.S. in Science with a Health Policy and Administration background. In 2018, she received her Masters degree in Biomedical Sciences at Rowan University, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. There she worked in a couple molecular biology labs investigating how the translation of mitochondrial mRNAs are controlled by nuclear genes, and how mitochondrially encoded proteins are assembled with nuclear-encoded proteins into the respiratory chain complexes using yeast models. Brieyanna also got to work with HeLa cell lines and studied metabolic stress effects on apoptosis, and how organelles, specifically the mitochondria and cytoskeleton, communicate during the cell death process. In 2019, Brieyanna worked as a Research Intern at Mt. Sinai, Icahn School of Medicine, in New York, NY in the department of Environmental Medicine and Public Health. She investigated possible health-related adverse effects of chronic exposure to low-level glyphosate, alone and Roundup® from in utero period to early adulthood of Sprague Dawley (SD) rats’ liver. She took a deeper focus on hepatic gene expressions like Cyp7a1 and Srebf1 during exposure. In 2020, Brieyanna worked as a Research Technician at Thomas Jefferson University, in Philadelphia, PA. She worked in the Department of Hematology known as The Cardeza Foundation. In this lab, she studied interactions of platelets on E. coli strains. More mainly, Brieyanna investigated the pathology of Heparin-induced Thrombocytopenia and Thrombosis (HITT) as well as assess its potential therapeutics using in-vivo and in-vitro models. In 2021, Brieyanna transferred to the University of Pennsylvania where she did research in the Immunology Core at the Gene Therapy Program (GTP). There, she passaged and seed HEK293 cells to perform in-vitro assays such as neutralizing antibodies (NAbs), ELISAs and IFN-γ ELISPOTs to evaluate humoral and cellular immune responses to adeno-associated virus (AAV) capsid and to transgene product using lymphocytes, isolated from small and large animals. In July of 2023, Brieyanna joined the Weissman Laboratory of Infectious Disease under the supervision and mentorship of Dr. Edward Kreider. Here, she assists with establishing HIV vaccines but mainly performs LNP-formulated m1Ψ-modified mRNA antibody delivery of HSV I/II, HIV, COVID-19, norovirus, flu and other infectious pathogens to in-vivo and in-vitro models. She then assesses the effectiveness of the antibody levels for potential treatments and therapies for the diseases mentioned.
“It is an honor to join the Weissman Lab and to be working with like-minded scientists who want to make a difference. Years from now, I want my legacy to be that I set the bar above the class ceiling in an attempt to make the world much healthier through science!” -Brieyanna McWilliams
Jenna Muscat-Rivera, B.S.
Research Specialist
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Jenna Muscat-Rivera received her B.S. in Biology from the University of Delaware in 2021. Prior to joining the Weissman Lab, she worked at Drexel University for the Biology Department's Teaching Laboratory and under Dr. Dino Giussani at the University of Cambridge researching fetal hypoxia and maternal obesity in sheep models. Jenna has recently enrolled at the University of Pennsylvania to obtain her M.S. in Bioengineering. Since joining the Weissman Lab in May 2023, Jenna currently works under Dr. Jilian Melamed on projects involving targeted lipid nanoparticles for mRNA delivery.
Nathan Ona, B.S.
Research Specialist
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Nathan Ona graduated Drexel University in 2022, with a B.S. in Biomedical Sciences and Engineering and a minor in Information Systems. Through Drexel’s Cooperative Education program, he got to work for a small medical device company, Moberg ICU Solutions. In that position, Nathan assisted in the development of software updates for several of the company’s software products involving patient care for the Intensive Care Unit. Coming from that experience, Nathan desired to shift from the technical aspects of biomedical engineering and experience the world of biochemistry. Nathan joined Dr. Weissman’s Lab at the University of Pennsylvania in 2020 under the supervision of Dr. Elena Atochina-Vasserman and assists her in mRNA vaccine research and in the development of novel mRNA delivery system. Nathan plans to attend graduate school in the future to expand his academic background.
Natalia Perez Devia, B.S.
Research Specialist
Natalia graduated from the University of Florida in 2023 with a major in Microbiology and Cell Science and a Minor in Pathogenesis. Her undergraduate research focus in the Jones lab focused on understanding the impact of norovirus infection and its interaction with commensal bacteria, specifically on phenotypes regarding bacterial extracellular vesicle production. She was a Penn Post-baccalaureate Research Education Program (PREP) Scholar from 2023-2024. During this time, she worked in Dr. Michela Locci's lab to elucidate factors contributing to T Follicular Helper (Tfh) cell differentiation, focusing on the noncanonical T regulatory (Treg) cell to Tfh cell conversion in the gut-draining lymph nodes. She joined the Weissman Lab in July 2024 working under the supervision of Dr. Edward Kreider on the development of mRNA immunogens to be used for an HIV vaccine.
Ruiqi Shi, B.S.
Research Specialist
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Ruiqi Shi received his B.S. in Neuroscience with a minor in Chemistry from the University of Pittsburgh in 2018. During his time as an undergraduate student, his main interests focused on neuroplasticity, as well as neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s Disease.
He joined the Weissman Lab in 2019 under the supervision of Dr. Qin Li and has been helping produce mRNA as well as assisting in other projects. In the future, he hopes to further explore clinical research or other healthcare related fields.
Justin Su, B.A.
Research Specialist
Justin Su graduated from Amherst College in 2023, majoring in English and the Biochemistry & Biophysics program. At Amherst, he worked in Professor Jeeyon Jeong's lab on plant chromatin remodeling and iron homeostasis. He was a Center for AIDS/HIV Research (CFAR) Scholar through the Summer Undergraduate Internship Program (SUIP) at Penn in 2022, mentored by Dr. Edward Kreider, and returned as a summer student in 2023. He is continuing in the Weissman Lab as a research specialist.
Srikar Yelamarthy, B.S.
Research Specialist
Srikar Yelamarthy received his B.A. in Neuroscience with minors in Chemistry and Healthcare Management from the University of Pennsylvania in 2024. As an undergraduate student, he worked on research with Lampson Lab and later with Dr. April Ancheta and Dr. Farouk Dako through the SUMR program.
He joined Weissman Lab in 2024 as a research specialist, where he is currently working under Dr. Edward Kreider.
Yan Zhao, M.S.
Research Specialist
Yan graduated from the China Pharmaceutical University in June 2022 with a B.S. in Chinese Pharmacy and continued his education at Johns Hopkins University, earning a master’s degree in Molecular Microbiology and Immunology. While at Johns Hopkins, Yan worked in the laboratory of Dr. Andy Pekosz, where his work focused on investigating the effect of N-linked glycosylation in Influenza A virus H6N2 neuraminidase. After graduation, Yan joined Dr. Scott Hensley’s lab at University of Pennsylvania as a research specialist working on antibody responses against Influenza and Sars-CoV-2.
He joined Weissman Lab in 2024 as a research specialist, where he is currently working under the supervision of Dr. Qin Li.