Our People
Our People
EPIC Faculty
The EPIC faculty is a team of dedicated researchers with interests that range from understanding mechanisms of drug resistance in fungal pathogens to fatty acid metabolism in kinetoplastid parasites. We are united in our focus on some of the world’s most troubling and neglected disease-causing organisms.
Biological Sciences
The overarching goal of the Dhingra lab is to understand the molecular mechanisms associated with pathogenesis and azole drug tolerance in invasive pulmonary aspergillosis. We use molecular, biochemical and cellular approaches as well as murine models to understand the role of ncRNAs in pathobiology and azole drug tolerance of Aspergillus fumigatus.
Genetics and Biochemistry
I study microbial interactions in human infections, specifically complex communities formed by multiple species, resulting in polymicrobial infections. My primary research focus is on respiratory infections in individuals with cystic fibrosis (CF), where the abnormal mucus makes them susceptible to various bacterial, viral, and fungal pathogens. Instead of studying a single model organism, I intentionally pursued broad training on multiple co-infecting human pathogens (notably Aspergillus and Pseudomonas). This comprehensive, multisystem approach allows us to unravel the intricate mechanisms of communication between microbes during infection.
Biological Sciences
My research focuses on proteolytic mechanisms during infection by the obligate intracellular parasite Toxoplasma gondii.
Genetics and Biochemistry
The overall goal of my research is to provide a better understanding of energy metabolism in the pathogenic protist Entamoeba histolytica.
Genetics and Biochemistry
We study a human fungal pathogen Cryptococcus neoformans to understand the mechanistic cellular processes used by pathogenic microorganisms to allow survival in the infected host.
Mechanical Engineering
Our group researches the effect of electric fields on different organisms towards optimizing their lysis, separation, enrichment, and detection in automated sample preparation and point of use diagnostics devices. Our current emphasis is the study of Candida cells. Keywords include microfluidics, dielectrophoresis, microelectrodes, and lab-on-a-chip.
Genetics and Biochemistry
In the search for new therapeutics, we investigate essential parasite-specific processes, believing that understanding these processes will enable us to specifically target the parasite during treatments while leaving the host relatively unaffected.
Genetics and Biochemistry
Our group is interested in elucidating the molecular mechanisms employed by the African trypanosome to detect glucose availability with a particular focus on identifying unique components for targeting for therapeutics.
Genetics and Biochemistry
My group is interested in the regulation of fatty acid metabolism in the African trypanosome.
Biological Sciences
My lab focuses on understanding host-pathogen interactions, using the larval zebrafish as a model host. We are currently studying how innate immune mechanisms control infections with the fungus Aspergillus fumigatus.
Biological Sciences
Genetics and Biochemistry
My laboratory strives to understand the mechanism of homology-directed repair of DNA double-strand breaks mediated by RAD51 and DMC1 in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Entamoeba histolytica and humans.
Genetics and Biochemistry
My group is interested in the acetate metabolism in the fungal pathogen Cryptococcus.
Food, Nutrition, and Packaging Sciences
Biological Sciences
We seek to understand the virulence functions of secretion, phagocytosis and parasite-host interactions in Entamoeba histolytica.
Chemistry
EPIC-related projects in the Whitehead lab focus on the synthesis of small molecules and conjugates for the development of therapeutic and drug delivery strategies for treating eukaryotic pathogen infections.
Staff and Research Associates
The staff and research associates make EPIC tick. They keep the labs working and push their own projects forward while serving as mentors to the many students that fill EPIC’s research space.
Postdoc, Seekatz Lab
COBRE project coordinator
Postdoc, Stamatikos Lab
Postdoc, Dou Lab
Postdoc
Postdoc, J. Morris Lab
Lab Technician, Rosowski Lab
Grant and Contract Associate
Professor and Graduate Dean Emeritus
Postdoc, Rosowski Lab
Lab Manager, J. Morris Lab
Lab Manager, Temesvari Lab
Students
Students, both graduate and undergraduate, tackle experiments necessary to solve the tough questions that exist in the field of eukaryotic pathogens research. They are the driving force in the Center.
Graduate Student, Whitehead Lab
Graduate Student, K. Smith Lab
Graduate Student, Whitehead Lab
Graduate Student, Sehorn Lab
Graduate Student, K. Smith Lab
Graduate Student, Ingram-Smith Lab
Graduate Student, Sehorn Lab
Graduate Student, Seekatz Lab
Graduate Student, Rosowski Lab
Graduate Student, Ingram-Smith Lab
Graduate Student, Rosowski Lab
Graduate Student, Stamatikos Lab
Graduate Student, Whitehead Lab
Graduate Student, Dou Lab
Graduate Student, Dou Lab
Graduate Student, K. Smith Lab
Graduate Student, Whitehead Lab
Graduate Student, Whitehead Lab
Graduate Student, Kozubowski Lab
Graduate Student, Rosowski Lab
Graduate Student, Seektaz Lab
Graduate Student, Whitehead Lab
Graduate Student, Whitehead Lab
Graduate Student, Stamatikos Lab
Graduate Student, Sehorn Lab
Graduate Student, Temesvari Lab
Graduate Student, Whitehead Lab
Graduate Student, Paul Lab
Graduate Student, Morris Labs
Graduate Student, J. Morris Lab
Graduate Student, Paul Lab
Graduate Student, K. Smith Lab
Graduate Student, Ingram-Smith Lab
Graduate Student, Martinez-Duarte Lab
Graduate Student, Seekatz Lab