Meet the Team

Principal Investigator

Dr. Laura Vella

Laura Vella, MD, PhD, is an attending physician in the Division of Infectious Diseases at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

Medical School
MD - University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA

Residency
Pediatrics - University of Chicago, Chicago, IL

Fellowship
Pediatric Infectious Diseases - Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA

Board Certification
Pediatric Infectious Diseases
Pediatrics

Graduate Degree
PhD - University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA
Masters in Translational Research - University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA

Google Scholar

Lab Members

Jonathan Tedesco

Lab Manager & Research Lab Specialist I

Bachelors in Biology at Seton Hall University

Kingsley Kumashie

Postdoctoral Fellow

Ph.D. at Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research, Germany
MSc in Molecular Medicine, Norwegian University of Science and Technology
BSc in Biochemistry, University of Ghana

Leena Babiker

UPenn Immunology Graduate Student

Bachelors in Molecular Genetics and Genomics at Michigan State

Yi Qi

UPenn Bioengineering Graduate Student

William & Mary, B.S. in Computational & Applied Mathematics & Statistics, Mathematical Biology Track

Molly Gallagher

Research Technician III

Bachelors in Biochemistry at Temple University

Nina de luna

UPenn Immunology Graduate Student

Bachelors in Immunology and Infectious Disease at Penn State

Hunter Courtney

UPenn Undergraduate Researcher

Candidate for B.A in Biochemistry and Chemistry, Class of 2024

Tianyu Lu

Bioinformatician

MS- Computational Biology, Carnegie Mellon University, Bachelors in Molecular and Cell Biology, University of Illinois Urbana

Sam Barnett Dubensky

UPenn MD-PhD Student

Bachelors in Biological Sciences at University of Chicago

Student Volunteers

Gavin John

Coding Guru Extraordinaire

High School Student
Mentors and assists in coding and statistical analyses

Austin Courtney

Brown Undergraduate Student

Candidate for Sc.B. in Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Class of 2026

Considering a Rotation?

Meet our Former Rotation Students!

Julia Eberhard

UPenn Immunology Graduate Student

Bachelors in Biology at Stanford University

Austin Kriews

UPenn Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics Graduate Student

Bachelors in Biochemistry at Syracuse University

Nicolai Apenes

UPenn Immunology Graduate Student

Bachelors in Biochemistry and Mathematics at University of Portland

Oishi Bardhan

UPenn Immunology Graduate Student

Bachelors in Chemistry at Haverford University

Katie PRemo

UPenn Immunology Graduate Student

Bachelors in Biology at Loyola University Chicago

Former Lab Members

Meet our Former Laboratory members!

Shane Kammerman

Research Technician III

Bachelors in Biology at University of Florida

Josef Novacek

Research Technician II

Bachelors in Biology and Neuroscience at Ursinus College

Officers of Morale

Mishka & Arlo kammerman

Promise Gallagher

Andy

Major Undecided at Penn Vet Working Dog Center

Bella & Eli Courtney