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Anice Lowen

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

I am a Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at Emory University and Principal Investigator of the Emory Center of Excellence for Influenza Research and Response (CEIRR). I have a BSc in Biochemistry from the University of Alberta and a PhD in Virology from the University of Glasgow. I did my PhD with Richard Elliott, on Bunyamwera virus. My post-doctoral training was with Peter Palese at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City and centered on influenza A virus transmission. My current research focuses on mechanisms of influenza A virus evolution, with an emphasis on reassortment and collective interactions.

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Shamika Danzy Bedoya

RESEARCH SPECIALIST, SENIOR

Shamika is our lab manager and an excellent bench scientist.

Ketaki Ganti

ASSOCIATE SCIENTIST

Ketaki did her PhD on human papillomavirus in the laboratory of Lawrence Banks in Trieste, Italy and spent one year as a post-doc in the Subbarao lab at NIH before moving to Emory as a post-doctoral scientist. Ketaki is working to understand the features of influenza virus biology that drive high levels of co-infection and reassortment and has developed a semi-independent project on virion independent spread of infection via tunneling nanotubes.

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Kate Holmes

PHD STUDENT

Kate is a PhD student in the Microbiology and Molecular Genetics graduate program. She received her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Kate is working on the spatial dynamics of viral genetic diversity, including an examination of viral diversity in influenza virus infected patients.

Camden Bair

POST-DOCTORAL RESEARCHER

Camden received his PhD from University of New Mexico under the mentorship of Dr. Adriana Kajon. In collaboration with Dr. Graeme Conn (Emory Dept of Biochemistry), Camden is working on the molecular determinants of OAS1 and OAS3 activation by dsRNA, and viral evasion of the OAS/RNaseL pathway.

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Dave VanInsberghe

INSTRUCTOR

Dave received his PhD from Massachusetts Institute of Technology under the mentorship of Martin Polz and worked as a post-doc in both the Lowen and Koelle labs, focusing on viral evolution. He brings an invaluable computational skill set to the group and shares this expertise through mentorship of team members in bioinformatics and quantitative analyses and through the development of novel computational tools.

Lucas Ferreri

INSTRUCTOR

Lucas received his PhD from Universidad Nacional de Buenos Aires under the mentorship of Dr. Ariel Pereda. He then moved to University of Georgia to work with Dr. Daniel Perez. He is working on the role of spatial structure in shaping influenza virus evolution within and between hosts.

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Meher Sethi

PHD STUDENT

Meher is a student in the Microbiology and Molecular Genetics graduate program. Meher’s project focuses on the implications of viral coinfection and genome segmentation for evolutionary dynamics of mammalian orthoreovirus.

Nahara Vargas Maldonado

PHD STUDENT

Nahara is a PhD student in the Immunology and Molecular Pathogenesis graduate program. She is working with collaborators in the MITIGATE Flu program to elucidate modes of influenza virus transmission and evaluate the extent to which viral diversity is transferred between hosts.

Vedhika Raghunathan

PHD STUDENT

Vedhika is a student in the Microbiology and Molecular Genetics graduate program. Her project investigates how within-host viral population dynamics shape selection of influenza A viruses in pre-immune hosts.

Kayle Patatanian

RESEARCH SPECIALIST

As a research specialist, Kayle contributes to multiple projects and is helping to advance understanding of influenza A virus reassortment and spatial structure within hosts.

Megan Martinez

PHD STUDENT

Megan is a student in the Microbiology and Molecular Genetics graduate program. Their project investigates the interplay between cellular co-infection and mutational fitness effects in influenza A virus.

Christina Leyson

ASSOCIATE SCIENTIST

Christina received her PhD from the University of Georgia under the mentorship of Dr. Mark Jackwood and then trained at USDA with Dr. Mary Pantin-Jackwood, studying influenza A viruses in poultry hosts. Her project in the Lowen Lab focused on the efficiency of within-host selection in the context of pre-existing immunity to IAV.

Lucia Ortiz Batsche

POST-DOCTORAL RESEARCHER

Lucia received her PhD from the University of Georgia under the mentorship of Dr. Daniel Perez, working on avian influenza. Her project in the Lowen lab uses barcoded viruses to monitor viral spatio-temporal dynamics within hosts, asking how these dynamics vary with host species.

Elizabeth Fowler

RESEARCH SPECIALIST

Elizabeth contributes to multiple projects and is helping to advance understanding of influenza A virus reassortment and spatial structure within hosts.

Letitia Carelock

ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT

Letitia joined the team to provide administrative support for Dr. Lowen and the lab.

Alumni

Gabrielle Delima

PHD STUDENT

Gaby graduated from the Microbiology and Molecular Genetics program in Fall of 2022. Gaby’s project focused on virus-virus interactions playing out during cellular coinfection.

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Jessica Shartouny

PHD STUDENT

Jessica graduated from the Immunology and Molecular Pathogenesis graduate program in Spring of 2022. She investigated the molecular determinants that underly influenza A virus reliance on multiple infection.

Chung-Young Lee

POST-DOCTORAL RESEARCHER

Young obtained his PhD and DVM degrees from Seoul National University. As a PhD student under the mentorship of Prof. Jae-Hong Kim, Young studied mechanisms of influenza A virus host adaptation. While in the Lowen Lab, Young worked to evaluate the potential for IAV to escape broadly neutralizing antibodies.

Lisa Bono

POST-DOCTORAL RESEARCHER

Lisa was recruited to Texas Tech University as an Assistant Professor in 2021. While in the Lowen Lab, Lisa investigated the features of viral dynamics that modulate the potency of selection. This work was in collaboration with Dr. Katia Koelle (Emory Dept of Biology).

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Meg Hockman

PHD STUDENT

Meg graduated from the Microbiology and Molecular Genetics program in the fall of 2021. Her thesis focused on reassortment of mammalian orthoreovirus.

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Courtney Steger

POST-DOCTORAL RESEARCHER

While in the Lowen Lab, Courtney led a project on the role of RNA packaging signals in directing outcomes of influenza A virus reassortment. She moved on to a position as Program Manager of Scientific and Community Engagement at Additional Ventures.

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Maria White

PHD STUDENT

Maria graduated from the Immunology and Molecular Pathogenesis graduate program in 2019. Her thesis focused on the role of RNA packaging signals in IAV reassortment.

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Nate Jacobs

PHD STUDENT

Nate graduated from the Population Biology, Ecology and Evolution graduate program in 2019. His thesis examined the implications of incomplete viral genomes for viral fitness.

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Kara Phipps

PHD STUDENT

Kara graduated from the Microbiology and Molecular Genetics graduate program in 2019. Kara’s research in the lab examined strain and host differences in influenza A virus reliance on multiple infection.

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Baptiste Elie

Visiting Student

Baptiste spent the 2018/2019 academic year in the lab, as part of his Masters degree program at Ecole Normale Supérieure Paris-Saclay. In a collaborative project with Katia Koelle (Emory University Dept. of Biology), Baptiste worked to understand the implications of spatially structured viral spread for population genetics and diversity.

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Jill Seladi-Schulman

PhD Student

Jill graduated from the Microbiology and Molecular Genetics graduate program in 2014. Her thesis examined the fitness implications of influenza A virus vision morphology.

Nicolle Marshall Baird

PhD Student

Nicolle graduated from the Microbiology and Molecular Genetics graduate program in 2015. Her dissertation addressed the efficiency of influenza A virus reassortment and determinants of this efficiency.