Anna Huttenlocher, MD
Principal Investigator
David Bennin
Laboratory Manager
Julie Rindy, MSc
Zebrafish Facility Manager
Veronika Miskolci, PhD
Postdoctoral Associate
Adam Horn, PhD
Postdoctoral Associate
Ashley Peterson
Comparative Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program
Neutrophils must integrate various signals in order to efficiently navigate through various physiological environments. I’m interested studying the migratory behavior of neutrophils in the inflammatory microenvironment and how they are able to integrate such complex signaling cues.
Taylor Schoen, MSc
Comparative Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program
Lucas Klemm
Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology Graduate Program
Innate immune cells, such as neutrophils and macrophages, are important regulators of inflammation. Inflammatory stimuli like wounding and infection activate signaling pathways that orchestrate complex cellular responses. My research utilizes human induced-pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) to model phosphatase signaling and patient mutations resulting in innate immune system defects. I am genetically engineering iPSCs to be better at fighting microbes and promoting wound healing for development of future cell-based therapies.
Morgan Giese
Cellular and Molecular Biology Graduate Program
Neutrophils can have both pro- and anti-tumor effects. I am interested in studying neutrophil interactions with other innate immune cells, such as macrophages, to determine if these relationships modulate their response in the tumor microenvironment.
Nicholas Raffa,
Microbiology Doctoral Training Program
From essential antibiotics to deadly toxins, secondary metabolites produced by fungi comprise some of the most medically important compounds known. The genus Aspergillus contains many of these fungi, including the opportunistic human pathogen Aspergillus fumigatus. My research involves studying the various secondary metabolites produced by A. fumigatus, analyzing how they affect pathogenesis and immune system dynamics using the zebrafish model.
Benjamin Korte
Cancer Biology Graduate Program
Innate immune cells in the tumor microenvironment are correlated with poor prognosis. Additionally, these cells have the capacity to promote tumor growth and survival, seemingly as a consequence of their role in wound healing. I’m interested in the mechanism behind how innate immune cells arrive at a nascent tumor and how these immune cells influence tumor development.
Ruth Houseright, DVM, DACVP
Comparative Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program
She is interested in the interplay of the innate immune system and cancer, and is currently studying the effects of myeloid derived growth factor (MyDGF) on leukocyte behavior.
Jayne Squirrell, PhD
LOCI collaborator
With my optical imaging expertise in my home laboratory, the Laboratory for Optical and Computational Instrumentation (LOCI), I collaborate with members of the Huttenlocher lab to push forward the application of cutting edge imaging resources to the study of inflammation in the zebrafish embryo. Although I am interested imaging a variety of aspects of the inflammatory response, with my background in embryology and regenerative biology, I am particularly enthusiastic about imaging collagen reorganization during wound healing and tissue re-growth.
Gayathri Ramakrishnan, MS
Cancer Biology Graduate Program
Neutrophils can have differential states of activation/differentiation in the tumor and they can be pro or anti-tumorigenic depending on the microenvironment. I am specifically interested in studying how neutrophils influence the growth and survival of transformed hepatocytes and the response of other immune cells in the liver using zebrafish models of Hepatocellular carcinoma.
Simone Shen
Molecular & Cellular Pharmacology Graduate Program
I am interested in host pathogen interaction and how this interaction affects wound repair in the host. My research focuses on the complex networks involved in wound healing in the context of bacterial infection. Specifically, I’m studying the crosstalk between inflammation and tissue regeneration using zebrafish and Listeria monocytogenes as my model.
Undergraduate Students
Landon Zimmerman – Spanish & Biology
Stella Ma – Biochemistry
Amelia Hansen – Microbiology and German
Madalene Halley – Genetics & Genomics
Oscar Mulvaney
Former Lab Members
Amit Bhatt, MD, PhD, Radiation Oncology Consultants of West County, St Louis, MO
Keefe Chan, PhD, Scientist, Cancer Center, University of Melbourne, Australia
Kate Cooper, PhD, Associate Professor (tenure), Loras College, Iowa
Christa Cortesio, PhD, Scientist, Amgen, San Francisco, CA
Abbi Cox, PhD, Assistant Professor, SUNY-Geneseo (on leave)
Ashley Doan, PhD, Adjunct Assistant Professor, Bryant and Stratton College, Milwaukee
Santos Franco, PhD, Assistant Professor, University of Colorado, CO
Beth Harvie, PhD, Science editor, Research Square, Durham, NC
Penny Lam, PhD, Postdoctoral fellow, Harvard University
Katie Mladinich, PhD/J.D., Attorney
Paul Nuzzi, PhD, Patent officer, Choate Hall and Stewart LLP, Boston MA
Ben Perrin, PhD, Assistant Professor, Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis (IUPUI)
Taylor Starnes, MD/PhD, resident, Illinois Eye and Ear
Will Simonson, MD/PhD, Pathology resident, University of Washington-Seattle
Kevin Walters, PhD, Scientist, Southern Research Institute, Alabama
Sarah Wernimont, MD/PhD, OB/Gyn resident, University of Iowa
Sa kan Yoo, PhD, Associate Chief Scientist RIKEN, Kobe, Japan
Lindsy Boateng PhD, Instructor, University of Baltimore
Peter Cavnar, PhD, Associate Professor, University of West Florida
Qing Deng, PhD, Assistant Professor, Purdue University
Laura Dziadzio, MD, Assistant Professor, Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine
Christina Freisinger, PhD, Scientist, Promega, Madison, WI
Jonathan Mathias, PhD, Science writer, Boston, MA
Tim Piazza, PhD, Scientist BioSentinel Pharmaceuticals, Madison WI
Miriam Shelef, MD/PhD. Assistant Professor, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Sebastien Tauzin, PhD, Assistant Professor, Utah Valley University
Andrew Wiemer, PhD, Associate Professor, University of Connecticut
Danny LeBert, PhD, Assistant Professor, Shenandoah University, Virginia
William J.B. Vincent, PhD, Biology/Science Educator, Saint Johnsbury School, Vermont
Benjamin Knox, PhD, Scientist, Zymergen, California
Davalyn Powell, PhD, Science writer, Buck Institute, California
James Muse Davis, PhD, Assistant Professor, University of Iowa
Emily Rosowski, PhD, Assistant Professor, Clemson University
Sofia DeOliveira, PhD, Assistant professor, Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Francisco Barros, PhD, Postdoctoral fellow, University of Washington
Netta Golenberg, PhD, Genomic Scientist, University of Pennsylvania
Laurel Hind, PhD, Assistant Professor, University of Colorado Boulder
Russell Burke, PhD, Sales Representative, Takara Bio USA