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.
Shamika Danzy Bedoya
RESEARCH SPECIALIST, SENIOR
Shamika is our lab manager and an excellent bench scientist.
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
ASSOCIATE SCIENTIST
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.
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.
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.
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.
Grace Quirk
POST-DOCTORAL RESEARCHER
Grace received her PhD from the University of Arizona, working with Drs. Michael Worobey and Deepta Bhattacharya. Here at Emory, Grace is a member of both the Lowen and Lakdawala labs. She is working to advance influenza pandemic risk assessment, with reassortment, vaccines and H5N1 viral tropism as focus areas.
Madaline Schmidt
PHD STUDENT
Madaline is a student in the Microbiology and Molecular Genetics graduate program. Her research investigates the differences across host species of influenza A virus population dynamics within the host.
Matthew Gaddy
RESEARCH SPECIALIST, LEAD
Matt contributes to multiple projects, helping to advance understanding of influenza A virus transmission, reassortment and spatial structure within hosts.
Alumni
Ketaki Ganti
POST-DOC and ASSOCIATE SCIENTIST
Ketaki was recruited to Stony Brook University as an Assistant Professor in 2024. While in the Lowen lab, Ketaki examined influenza virus reassortment dynamics in distinct host species and advanced mechanistic understanding of virion-independent spread of infection between cells.
Kayle Patatanian
RESEARCH SPECIALIST, LEAD
As a research specialist, Kayle contributed to multiple projects, helping to advance understanding of influenza A virus transmission in humans and spatial structure within hosts. He moved to a new position at Kansas State University.
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.
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 joined the faculty of Kyungpook National University, South Korea, in 2022. While in the Lowen Lab, Young worked on the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 and worked to evaluate the potential for influenza A viruses 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).
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.