Jonathan Tedesco
Lab Manager & Research Lab Specialist I
B.S., Biology, Seton Hall University
I am the lab manager of the Vella Lab within the department of infectious diseases at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Before coming to the world of research, I was part of a clinical laboratory that performed diagnostic testing at an industry level. I learned translatable skills such as sample management, communication, and organization. In the Vella lab, I have discovered a passion for immunology. I value honest communication, friendliness, and put an emphasis on laboratory safety. It has been truly fulfilling to be with the lab since we were only three members and watch our team flourish into a team of over ten. In the lab, I assist in day-to-day operations, but have specialized in spectral flow cytometry. Ask me about traveling, soccer, or Philly’s food scene.
Kingsley Kumashie
Postdoctoral Fellow
Ph.D., Immunology, Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research, Germany
I received my PhD from the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research in Germany. In 2022, I joined the lab as a postdoctoral fellow at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. My research focuses on how adaptive immune cells reconstitute following adult hematopoietic cell transplantation. Using single-cell and multi-omic approaches together with immune repertoire analysis, I investigate the cellular and molecular mechanisms that shape immune recovery after transplantation, with the goal of informing strategies to improve patient outcomes. Outside the lab, I am an avid football (soccer) fan, and since moving to the United States I have also developed a growing interest in basketball.
Monica Manglani
CHOP Resident Physician
MD/Ph.D., Medicine, Penn State UniversityB.S., Neuroscience, Lafayette College
I am a current PGY-3 resident physician at CHOP. I obtained my MD/PhD at the Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine and completed my undergraduate degree at Lafayette College. My PhD focused on endothelial cell cross-presentation and CD8 T cell dynamics during cerebral malaria. I joined the Vella lab in 2023 and reacquainted myself with science after a prolonged period in clinical training. I am currently studying immune reconstitution following ALL therapy. As a Rheumatology fellow, I hope to study immune dysregulation following infection.
Ben Philipson
CHOP Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Fellow
Ph.D., Cell and Molecular Biology, University of PennsylvaniaMD, Medicine, Perelman School of MedicineB.A., Chemical and Physical Biology, Harvard University
I am a physician-scientist and pediatric hematology/oncology fellow at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia interested in developing, deploying, and improving upon novel curative cell and gene therapies for sickle cell disease and other bone marrow transplant indications. I conducted my PhD research on CAR T cell therapies to treat human cancers.
Leena Babiker
Penn Immunology Graduate Student
Bachelors, Molecular Genetics and Genomics, Michigan State
I am PhD candidate in Immunology at the University of Pennsylvania with a research project focused on immune reconstitution in the context of hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT). My research focuses on understanding how alloreactivity influences the immune landscape as well as the structural and functional integrity of lymph nodes post-HCT. Under the joint mentorship of Drs. Ivan Maillard and Laura Vella, I combine and integrate mouse models with human data to investigate the impact of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) on immune cell reconstitution within lymph nodes.
Sam Barnett Dubensky
Penn MD-PhD Student
Bachelors, Biological Sciences, University of Chicago
I am a Penn MD/PhD candidate in the Immunology Graduate Group co-mentored by Derek Oldridge and Laura Vella at CHOP. Our collaborative project aims to delineate gene regulatory programs that control Tfh activation and function within human lymphoid tissues. We employ single-cell multiomics, spatial transcriptomics, and spectral flow cytometry among other high-dimensional approaches to directly study human immunity.
Yi Qi
Penn Bioengineering Graduate Student
B.S., Computational & Applied Mathematics & Statistics (Mathematical Biology Track), William & Mary
I am a PhD candidate in Bioengineering at Penn. I graduated from William & Mary with a Bachelor of Science degree in computational biology. Since joining the Vella Lab in summer 2023, I’ve been applying single cell technology to study HIV-1 reservoir persistence. My research focuses on developing a platform capable of detecting virological features in infected cells, such as proviral integration sites and viral transcripts, and investigating how the cellular phenotypes are affected by those features. Outside of the lab, I am a board member of the Penn Biotech Group and a fellow at Penn Center for Innovation. I enjoy cooking, playing tennis, and cycling.
Katie Premo
Penn Immunology Graduate Student
Bachelors, Biology, Loyola University Chicago
I am a PhD candidate in the Immunology Graduate Group. I grew up in the Bay Area, but have fully assimilated into east coast culture. I am currently studying how G protein γ subunits may be contributing to T follicular helper biology. Outside of the lab, I enjoy film photography and reading. My loyalties lie forever with the San Francisco Giants.
Kaila Powell
Penn Immunology Graduate Student (ROTATION)
Bachelors, Chemistry, Boston University
I am a first year PhD student in the Immunology Graduate Group currently rotating in the Vella lab. My rotation project is focused on understanding how G protein γ subunit expression may be associated with different cell cycle phases in T cell biology. Outside of lab, I enjoy finding new cafes/restaurants to try and reading.
Tianyu Lu
Bioinformatician
M.S., Computational Biology, Carnegie Mellon UniversityBachelors, Molecular and Cell Biology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
I am a bioinformatician from the Viral Molecular High-Density Sequencing Core at the Perelman School of Medicine. In collaboration with the Vella Lab, I assist with computational tasks, including multi-modality single-cell sequencing analysis, viral integration site identification, and the development of reproducible pipelines for biologists.
