The Team
Una O'Doherty MD, PhD
Principal Investigator
I have been interested in probing how treatment-resistant reservoirs are formed and maintained in HIV infected individuals on antiviral therapy. I am also an apheresis physician: thus, the majority of our studies are conducted on banked T cells that were collected by apheresis over time. This resource enables my group to do longitudinal studies to characterize the HIV reservoir over time and to perform ex vivo as well as in vitro studies to model HIV reservoir dynamics. We study cohorts with variable immune control. Among these are elite controllers who are capable of controlling the virus without antiretroviral therapy. We are finding important differences between elite controllers and other individuals infected with HIV. More recently, my laboratory has began to investigate the dynamics of white blood cell subsets in individuals with sickle cell disease.
Ashley Ginda, PharmD
"I am a translational clinician scientist interested in investigating white blood cell dynamics in clinical cohorts. Specifically, my research is focused on longitudinally studying individuals living with HIV who have varying degrees of immune control. I want to understand the critical difference between reservoirs of individuals who control HIV without antiretroviral therapy and other HIV infected individuals. I am also interested in applying the techniques we use to study clonal dynamics in HIV reservoirs to study white blood cell turnover in individuals with Sickle Cell Disease."
.png)
Alfonso Oceguera, PhD
"I received a PhD in science from the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico. I have experience working with RNA viruses and my interests lie in the intersection between basic and clinical science. As a postdoctoral fellow in Una’s Lab I’m using tools of Molecular Biology, Sequencing and Bioinformatics to study the dynamics of the viral reservoir of HIV during ART."
D. Jake VanBelzen, PhD
"I received my PhD from Northwestern University studying transcription regulation. I am interested in harnessing single cell sequencing technology to study CD4+ T cell differentiation pathways at baseline and in the setting of HIV infection"
Julie Bashirian, MPH
"I am a scientist with a background in public health. In the O’Doherty lab, I plan to study longitudinal cohorts of individuals living with HIV and Sickle Cell Disease."
Flor Salgado, BA
"My role in the O'Doherty Lab is to generate and guarantee the implementation of the quality management system in accordance
with the requirements established in federal regulations, as well as carry out inspections to determine if all studies are carried out in accordance with these Principles of Good Laboratory Practice and the required confidentiality."
Hang "Ricky" Dang, BS
"I hold a bachelor's degree in Science, majoring in Cell & Molecular Biology, with a focus on molecular biology and laboratory benchwork. I enjoy problem-solving during experiments and have a strong interest in pathology and virology. Joining O'Doherty Lab provides valuable learning opportunities, and I plan to pursue a master's degree in a similar area while collaborating with experienced scientists."
Junia I. Alsinawi
"I am an undergraduate student, studying Biological Chemistry. My interest in HIV and my plan to pursue an MD-PhD led me to join the O’Doherty lab. I want to investigate reservoir dynamics using both traditional and computational techniques, and have become interested in the development of programming tools to better understand the role of clonal expansion in these reservoir dynamics."
Rashmitha Anil Kumar, MA
"I joined the O'Doherty lab as a research assistant to study the role of Naive T cells in HIV infection. I plan to pursue a Ph.D. in Immunology to further study viral-host interactions"
​
Diego Aguilar Ortmans
Visiting Scholar
"I am a PhD student from the University of Leige under the supervision of Dr. Gil Darcis. I am interested in drug resistance mutations and how they change over time using longitudinal proviral sequences"
Alexandra Flegle
"I am a PhD student in the Cancer Biology Graduate Group at Emory University. I have a strong interest in "bench to bedside"research. In the O'Doherty laboratory, I mainly focus on understanding and perturbing PBMC dynamics in individuals living with Sickle Cell Disease to better understand their risk of leukemia "
This Could Be You!
Join our Team!
The O'Doherty Lab is hiring talented postdoctoral fellows, research specialists, post-baccalaureate trainees, and technicians.
​
​
