Kevin Alby

I am currently doing research in Dr. Bennett's lab. My research interest is in defining the roles that the mating cycle of the human fungal pathogen Candida albicans play in the pathogenesis of the organism.

Cindy Banh

I work in Prof. Brossay's lab. My research interest is defining mechanisms to de-mystify diseases.

Awards/Grants

1. Charles A. Janeway Memorial Award, Best Poster, New England Immunology Conference (2008)
2. June Rockwell Levy Pre-doctoral Travel Award (2009)
3. NIH NRSA Fellowship Award

Publications

1. 1. Liu Y, Dargusch R, Banh C, Miller CA, and Schubert D. Detecting bioactive amyloid beta peptide species in Alzheimer's disease. J Neurochem. 2004 Nov;91(3):648-56.
2. Pasquetto V, Bui HH, Giannino R, Banh C, Mirza F, Sidney J, Oseroff C, Tscharke DC, Irvine K, Bennink JR, Peters B, Southwood S, Cerundolo V, Grey H, Yewdell JW, and Sette A. HLA-A*0201, HLA-A*1101, and HLA-B*0702 transgenic mice recognize numerous poxvirus determinants from a wide variety of viral gene products. J Immunol. 2005 Oct 15;175(8):5504-15.
3. Cao L, Yu K, Banh C, Nguyen V, Ritz A, Raphael BJ, Kawakami Y, Kawakami T, and Salomon AR. Quantitative time-resolved phosphoproteomic analysis of mast cell signaling. J Immunol. 2007 Nov 1;179(9):5864-76.
4. Banh C and Brossay L. Immune Receptors, Cadherins, and their Interactions. Current Immunology Reviews, 2009 Feb, 5, 2-9.

Meredith Crane

I am a third year student in the lab of Dr. Thais Salazar-Mather. I use murine cytomegalovirus (MCMV) as a model to understand how chemokine signaling networks coordinate innate immune cell trafficking during early infection. Specifically, I have been studying how chemokines regulate monocyte movement into the circulation from their site of development in the bone marrow. Other projects aim to understand which microbial sensing molecules recognize MCMV in the liver, a major site of infection.
Funded in part by the Nicole Rosenthal Harnett '91 Graduate Fellowship

Pamela Gaddi

My current research interest is to investigate the role of interleukin (IL)-10 in the regulation of immune responses to acute murine cytomegalovirus (MCMV) infection. More specifically, I am primarily focusing on the characterization of IL-10's effects on NK cells and CD8 T cell antiviral effector responses in the liver, a key site for early viral replication during acute MCMV infection.

Awards/ Funding

1. NRSA Predoctoral Fellowship (2008-)
2. Brown University Frederic Poole Gorham Endowed Fellowship (2006-07)

Publication

• Gaddi PJ, Yap GS. Cytokine regulation of immunopathology in toxoplasmosis. Immunol Cell Biol.2007 Feb-Mar;85(2):155-9.

Tania Nevers

I am a PhD candidate in the laboratory of Dr. Thais Salazar-Mather. My current research focus is to decipher the roles of the chemokines, CXCL9 and CXCL10, in modulating CD8 T cell effector functions.

Emma Reilly

I am a member of the Brossay lab and my primary research interests relate to the innate immune responses to viruses, specifically non-classical responses.

Awards/Funding

• I am currently supported by the Department of Education GAANN training grant.

Racquel "Kim" Sherwood

I completed my undergraduate education at the University of Connecticut in 2001. Currently, I am a 4th year Ph.D candidate of the Molecular Biology, Cell Biology and Biochemistry (MCB) program. My research interests include understanding the molecular mechanisms of ploidy reduction in C. albicans and C. lusitaniae.

• NIH/NIAID F31 Fellowship award "Identification of a Cryptic Meiosis in the Fungal Pathogen C. albicans".

Leon Toussaint

I come from Jamaica, Queens, NY, but am originally from the Island of Dominica in the Caribbean. I am happy to be part of Dr. Laurent Brossay's lab here at the MMI department as a graduate student in the pathobiology program. I am currently having fun working on a challenging project dealing with the intricacies of iNKT cell development.

Awards/Grants

• AAI Minority Scientist Travel Award