Principle Investigator

Tim grew up in Toronto where he went to college at UofT. He followed this up with a PhD at Yale and a post-doctoral fellowship at the NIH. Tim is an avid reader, occasional runner and amateur bartender.

Graduate Student

Darryl is a fifth year graduate student working to understand the role of breastmilk in early immune interactions between the microbiome and the infant intestine. She grew up in Connecticut and went to college at the University of Maine. After graduation she moved to Chicago where she honed her skills on Flow Cytometry as well as attending music festivals and eating her way around the city. In her free time she is an obsessive dog mom to Lemon and a passionate maker and consumer of food.

daa102@pitt.edu

Graduate Student

Emmanuel is a third-year graduate student in the lab studying how queues from the small intestine shape CD4+ Tissue Resident Memory T Cell responses after oral vaccination and their consequent roles in pathogen clearance upon reencounter. He grew up in the beautiful island of Puerto Rico where he did his undergraduate degree in Biomedical Sciences at the University of Puerto Rico at Ponce. Upon completing his degree, he went straight to the University of Pittsburgh to pursue his Ph.D.in the Microbiology and Immunology. Outside of science, Emmanuel loves to cook and is always learning how to make new recipes, is a bassist at his local church, and loves to go out and visit new places.

Eml150@pitt.edu

Research Technician

Ali is a research technician, helping with organization around the lab as well as various experiments that his lab mates carry out. His plan is to eventually pursue a postgraduate degree and further his studies in the biomedical sciences, specifically in the field of genetics and how they relate to various diseases. Ali was born and raised in Morgantown, WV, just an hour and a half south of Pittsburgh. He attended college at West Virginia University, where he received his Bachelor’s of Science in Biomedical Engineering in 2022. In his free time, Ali loves to cook, constantly learning new recipes, and trying to perfect older ones, as well as travel, with the goal of seeing as much of the world as he can.

atr52@pitt.edu

MD/PhD Student

Christine is a third year graduate student studying the role of maternal IgA in development of the infant microbiome and how these interactions contribute to necrotizing enterocolitis. She grew up in the Northern Virginia/DC area and completed her undergraduate studies at Virginia Tech. After graduating, she conducted research on norovirus replication for three years at the NIH prior to joining the Medical Scientist Training Program at Pittsburgh. Christine spends her free time with her pug Elvis Pugsley, trying new foods with friends, and trying new foods with the pug.

Neonatology Fellow

Darren is a neonatology fellow at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, studying the antibacterial reactivity of breastmilk derived IgA. He grew up in Trinidad and Tobago and completed his medical degree at the University of the West Indies. Prior to his arrival in Pittsburgh, Darren completed his pediatric residency at SUNY Brooklyn. In his spare time, he spends it with his wife Alicia (an avid Yelp reviewer) and son, going to parks or exploring Western PA.

Research Technician

Kacey is a research technician primarily studying the protective effect of IgA in necrotizing enterocolitis infection, but also helps with other projects in the lab. She grew up in the suburbs just south of Pittsburgh, and attended the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown where she played NCAA Division II soccer and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology. She then moved across the Atlantic to attend Trinity College Dublin, where she earned her Master of Science degree in Immunology. In the future, she hopes to attend medical school to pursue an MD/PhD degree. In her spare time, Kacey enjoys doing Peloton, reading, and googling random things to prepare for future trivia nights.

Postdoctoral Fellow

Tiffany is a post-doctoral fellow working on understanding how interactions between pathogens and the host immune system regulate disease outcomes. She grew up on the island of Jamaica and in New York City. She completed her undergraduate training at SUNY Oneonta and post-baccalaureate research at the University of Missouri. She graduated from the University of Pittsburgh Program in Microbiology and Immunology. Outside the lab, Tiffany enjoys traveling, hiking, trying new foods, and hanging out with friends and family.