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PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
Kenneth Kaye, MD

Professor of Medicine | Harvard Medical School
Senior Physician | Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Member | Harvard University Program in Virology
Associate Member | Broad Institute

LAB MEMBERS
SHIJUN LI
Shijun Li, PhD
Instructor

PhD degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

My PhD study in Dr. Marion Greaser’s lab focused on muscle biology with an emphasis on titin alternative splicing. Titin is the largest single polypeptide in muscle cells and in nature, with a molecular size exceeding 3 million Daltons. Titin is elastic, and a single molecule of titin spans half of the sarcomere length (~1 μm) in a myofibril. The giant size and its specialized structure enable titin to play a mechanical role in maintaining sarcomere structure integrity: it accounts for most of the passive tension of striated muscles to restore the sarcomere to normal length after stretch. Due to alternative splicing, titin undergoes developmental isoform transition from large to small in both cardiac and skeletal muscles. Titin alternative splicing has been intensively studied since the 1990s, but the underlying mechanism previously was unknown. My work identified RBM20 as the splicing repressor that controls titin alternative splicing. This was the first mechanistic description of Rbm20 and also the first regarding the mechanism of titin alternative splicing.

Outside interests: Shijun used to play basketball and soccer with friends, but now spends most of his leisure time playing with his two children at the playground.

AGNIESZKA SZYMULA
Agnieszka Szymula, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow

PhD in Virology, Imperial College London, London, UK

My thesis research focused on genetic analysis of Epstein-Barr virus nuclear antigen leader protein (EBNA-LP) and its role in B cell transformation.

Outside interests: Movies, travelling, abstract painting using acrylics

NICHOLAS VAN SCIVER
Nicholas Van Sciver, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow

PhD in Cellular and Molecular Pathology, University of Wisconsin-Madison.

My thesis research focused on transcription factors that regulate EBV lytic reactivation in epithelial cells.

Outside interests: When not exercising, biking, or exploring Boston, Nick’s usual habitat is a coffee shop. He is a big fan of the podcast This Week in Virology.

ATHIRA GEORGE
Athira George, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow

PhD from the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California San Diego.

My thesis research investigated the role of the disordered N-terminus in regulating CLK1, a splicing regulating kinase.

Outside interests: Travel, hiking

AKSHAYA T. RAMACHANDRAN
Akshaya T. Ramachandran, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow

PhD from Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science

My thesis research investigated the mechanism of regulation of NLRP3 inflammasome and lipid metabolism in Hepatitis C virus. Specifically, understanding the role of post-translational modification of NLRP3 inflammasome activation as well role of NLRP3 inflammasome in regulating the lipid metabolism in HCV infected cells.

Outside interests: Movies, TV shows, reading and travelling

VINAYAK S. TUMULURI
Vinayak S. Tumuluri, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow

MS-PhD in Biology from the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Pune.

My thesis research unveiled the biochemical and structural properties of SauUSI, a major barrier to horizontal gene transfer in S.aureus.

Outside interests: Distance running, honing my culinary skills.

ALUMNI

Postdoctoral Fellows

2017-2019 Ángel L. Álvarez, PhD
Position in lab: Postdoctoral Fellow
Current position: Assistant Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Oveido (Spain)
2013-2014 Sanam Pournaki, MD
Position in lab: Postdoctoral Fellow
Current position: Internal Medicine Physician, UConn Health, Hartford, CT
2012-2018 Franceline Juillard, PhD
Position in lab: Postdoctoral Fellow
Current position: Postdoctoral Fellow in laboratory of Patrick Lomonte, University of Lyon, France
2012-2018 Min Tan, PhD
Position in lab: Postdoctoral Fellow
Current position: Senior Scientist, Alnylam Pharmaceuticals
2011-2012 Kambez Benam, PhD
Position in lab: Postdoctoral Fellow
Current position: Assistant Professor, University of Colorado, Aurora, Colorado
2010-2014 Qiming Sun, PhD
Position in lab: Postdoctoral Fellow
Current position: Professor, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou City, China
2008-2013 Chantal Beauchemin, PhD
Position in lab: Postdoctoral Fellow
Current position: Senior Scientist, Takeda, Somerville, MA
2007-2011 Horng-Shen Chen, PhD
Position in lab: Postdoctoral Fellow
Current position: Senior Manager, Translational Research Center, TTY Biopharm Company Limited, Taipei City, Taiwan
2002-2008 Viswanathan Srinivasan, PhD
Position in lab: Postdoctoral Fellow
Current position: Director, Assay Development, Hologic, San Diego, CA
1998-2001 Takashi Komatsu, PhD
Position in lab: Postdoctoral Fellow
Current position: Clinical Virology Reviewer, US Food and Drug Administration, Washington, D.C.
1998-2000 Li Ni, PhD
Position in lab: Postdoctoral Fellow
1997-2003 Murli Narayan, PhD
Position in lab: Postdoctoral Fellow
Current position: Operational Excellence Manager, Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics, Norwood, MA
1997-2003 Mary E. Ballestas, PhD
Position in lab: Postdoctoral Fellow
Current position: Assistant Professor, University of Alabama, Birmingham, Alabama
1997-1998 Hong Li, MD
Position in lab: Postdoctoral Fellow
Current position: Director, Obstetrics and Gynecology Research; First Affiliated Hospital of Suzhou Medical College, Suzhou, China
1997-1998 Linghua Wang, MD
Position in lab: Postdoctoral Fellow
Current position: Internal medicine physician, Boston, MA
1997 Andrew Ullmann, MD
Position in lab: Postdoctoral Fellow
Current position: Professor and Chief, Infectious Diseases, Julius-Maximilians-University, Germany

Research Technicians

2002-2004 Katherine Newcomb-Slain, DO
Position in lab: Research Technician, later Master’s student
Current position: Assistant Professor, Pediatric Critical Care Fellowship director, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine
1996-1997 Erin Williams, MD
Position in lab: Research Technician
Current position: Physician
1996 Josephine Harada, PhD, MBA
Position in lab: Research Technician
Current position: Associate Director of Alliances, Illumina, Inc., San Diego, CA

Students

2020, 2021 Gabriel Romero
Position in lab: Harvard Medical School Summer Honors Undergraduate Research Program (SHURP) summer student
Current position: Undergraduate, University of Puerto Rico, Cayey, Puerto Rico
2017 Nikita Narayan
Position in lab: High school summer student
Current position: Undergraduate student, Northeastern University
2013-2014 Utthara Nayar, PhD
Position in lab: Graduate student of Ethel Cesarman at Cornell who finished PhD thesis research in Kaye laboratory
Current position: Assistant Professor, Johns Hopkins University
2013 Joshua M. Jones, PhD
Position in lab: Harvard Medical School Summer Honors Undergraduate Research Program (SHURP) summer student
Current position: Postdoctoral fellow, Boston University
2012 Joseph L. Timpona, PhD
Position in lab: Rotation graduate student
Current Position: Scientist II, Molecular Virology, Stealth NewCo, Boston, MA
2012 Gabrielle Ransford, MD
Position in lab: Undergraduate student
Current position: Emergency Medicine physician, Eastern Virginia Medical School
2012 Tyshia Gwin-Wellman, PhD
Position in lab: Rotation graduate student
Current Position: Lecturer, Johns Hopkins Advanced Academic Programs
2012, 2013 Andrew Yee
Position in lab: High school summer student, high school internship student
Current Position: Medical Scribe, Scribe America
2011 Michka Sharpe, PhD
Position in lab: Harvard Medical School Summer Honors Undergraduate Research Program (SHURP) summer student
Current position: Associate at Flagship Pioneering, Cambridge, MA
2010 Sara Conwell, PhD
Position in lab: Rotation graduate student
Current position: Associate Director, Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical, Boston, MA
2010 Raul Caso, MD
Position in lab: Harvard Medical School Summer Honors Undergraduate Research Program (SHURP) summer student
Current position: Surgical resident, Georgetown University Hospital
2009 Philip Cox, PhD
Position in lab: Harvard Medical School Summer Honors Undergraduate Research Program (SHURP) summer student
Current position: Associate Professor, Dept. of Biology and Chemistry, AZUSA Pacific University, Azusa, CA
2009 Chia-Cheng Li, DDS
Position in lab: Exchange graduate student, Institute of Oral Biology, Yang-Ming University, Taiwan
Current position: Senior Clinical Scientist, Curis, Boston, MA
2009-2011 Rosa Yoon, PhD
Position in lab: Graduate student
Current position: New Products Lead, Takeda, Boston, MA
2008 Elina Shrestha, PhD
Position in lab: Harvard Medical School Summer Honors Undergraduate Research Program (SHURP) summer student
Current position: Senior Scientist, Hemogenyx Pharmaceuticals, NY, NY
2008 Marciela DeGrace, PhD
Position in lab: Rotation graduate student
Current position: Program Officer, NIAID, NIH
2007, 2008 Sarah Chen
Position in lab: High school summer student
Current position: School Psychologist, El Segundo Unified School District, Los Angeles, CA
2006, 2007 Elizabeth Chen, PhD, MPH
Position in lab: High school summer student
Current position: Assistant Professor, UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health
2006, 2007 Alan Yee, DDS
Position in lab: High school summer student
Current position: Orthodontics resident Roseman University of Health Sciences, Las Vegas, NV
2006-2011 Aline Habison, PhD
Position in lab: Graduate student
Current position: MVZ Stein and Colleagues, Cologne, Germany
2005-2006 Jill E. Nagashima-Chan
Position in lab: Student, technician
Current position: Accountant, Kirkland, WA
2004-2013 Erika DeLeon Vazquez, PhD
Position in lab: Graduate student, postdoctoral fellow
Current position: Quality Assurance Specialist, Amgen, Juncos, Puerto Rico
2005 Lindsey Silva, PhD
Position in lab: Rotation graduate student
Current position: Director, Microbiology Global QC Technology, Genentech
2005 Leigh-Ann Cruz
Position in lab: Harvard Medical School Summer Honors Undergraduate Research Program (SHURP) summer student
Current position: High school science teacher, Indianapolis Classical Schools
2004 Orlando Zepeda, MD
Position in lab: Harvard Medical School Summer Honors Undergraduate Research Program (SHURP) summer student
Current position: Internal Medicine physician, San Francisco Mission Bay Medical Offices
2003 Te-Ana Harris, MD
Position in lab: Project Success high school summer student
Current position: Chief Resident, Lewisgale Regional Health System, Stoughton, MA
2003, 2007 Mia Kazanjian, MD
Position in lab: High school, undergraduate summer student
Current position: Radiologist, Norwalk Radiology Consultants, Stamford, CT
2003 Jessica K. Lee, MD
Position in lab: High school summer student
Current position:  Assistant Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences, University of Maryland Medical System
2002-2006 Brenna Kelly-Clarke, PhD
Position in lab: Graduate student
Current position: Senior Director, Applied Virology, Seattle, WA
2001-2005 Andrew Barbera, PhD
Position in lab: Graduate student
Current position: Senior Director, Scientific Strategy at E Squared Communications
1996-7 Susannah Barbee, PhD
Position in lab: Undergraduate student
Current position: Director, Immuno-Oncology Research at Five Prime Therapeutics, Inc, San Francisco, CA
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