I am a non-tenure track Instructor in the Department of Microbiology at UMass Chan Medical School.  My long-term goal is to understand the molecular mechanisms of viral entry and antibody neutralization, to inform the development of novel vaccines and therapeutics.  My research focus is on RNA viruses which are a major threat to human health, including HIV-1, Ebola virus, Influenza virus and Dengue virus. 

I am a virologist by training with additional expertise in immunology and biophysics.  During my PhD and initial post-doctoral training at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (2009-2016) under Dr. Benjamin Chen and Dr. Talia Swartz, respectively, I developed functional virology and immunology assays with pseudovirus and fully infectious HIV-1 in mammalian cell lines, primary human cells and human tonsil explants.  I continued my postdoctoral training in the Munro lab at Tufts University (2016-2018), where I developed biophysical approaches such as single-molecule Förster resonance energy transfer (smFRET) imaging to define novel conformational dynamics of Ebola virus envelope glycoprotein on pseudovirions under viral entry-relevant conditions.  Following the completion of my post-doctoral training, I characterized rare patient-derived broadly neutralizing antibodies against Dengue Virus as a Scientist at the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub San Francisco.  Since joining UMass Chan in 2019, I have continued to refine my unique experimental skill set to probe viral protein conformations where traditional approaches have been challenging.  Collectively, I have defined the single-molecule dynamics of the Ebola virus (Class I) glycoprotein on retroviral pseudoparticles, generated flavivirus (Class II) pseudoparticles and performed in vitro neutralization, infectivity and other functional assays with viruses of both classes.  My skills and experience are ideally suited to the development and use of (i) advanced biophysical approaches to probe the mechanisms of viral entry, (ii) virus-based tools compatible with novel detection platforms, (iii) functional cell-based viral entry assays to validate cell-free observations and (iv) novel anti-viral therapeutics and vaccine antigens. 

The dynamics of Class II viral fusogens is one focus area of my independent research.  Dengue virus (DENV) is responsible for the most human arbovirus infections world-wide, with approximately 4 billion people currently residing in endemic areas.  Existing studies on DENV E do not provide information on single-protein (i.e. non-averaged) time-resolved movements of E in a virus population.  Studies are underway to identify these conformations, as well as those stabilized by broadly neutralizing DENV Abs, informing the design of antigens to elicit broadly protective Abs with minimal serotype-specific pathogenic responses. Our approach is relevant and adaptable to other Class II viral fusogens which share structural and mechanistic features with DENV E. As such, our initial studies on DENV E will lay the groundwork for longer-term projects on other aspects of DENV entry and immunity, and other Class II fusogens from viruses with pandemic potential.