New Member Mini-Bios

Mariana Kaplan, M.D. is NIH Distinguished Investigator, Chief of the Systemic Autoimmunity Branch and Deputy Scientific Director at the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, National Institutes of Health. She is a rheumatologist whose research has focused on identifying mechanisms of immune dysregulation, organ damage, and premature vascular disease in systemic autoimmunity. Specifically, she investigates how innate immunity (in particular, type I interferons and myeloid cells) promotes autoimmune responses and end-organ damage in systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis, and other systemic autoimmune diseases. [READ MORE]

Celia Nuovo, M.Sc. CIRI ENS de Lyon Lyon, France X: @NuovoCelia6409 FranceI received my master’s degree in Infectiology, speciality immunology and virology at Université Lyon 1 in Lyon, France. There I have been mentored under Dr. Marlène Dreux and studied the role of plasmacytoid dendritic cells against different respiratory viruses. [READ MORE]

Brian G. Morreale, M.Sc. (They/Them) Pre-Doctoral Candidate, Laboratory of Scott Abrams, PhD., Dept. of Immunology Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, Buffalo, USA @MorrealeBrian After graduating Daemen College in Amherst, NY, Mr. Morreale received his master’s degree in Cancer Sciences at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, Buffalo, NY. There he was [READ MORE]

Dr. Samuel Evans Adunyah received his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky, USA  in 1987. Dr. Adunyah is currently a Distinguished Chairman and Tenured Professor of the Department of Biochemistry, Cancer Biology, Neuroscience and Pharmacology at the Meharry Medical College, Nashville, TN. USA, where he has [READ MORE]

Research within Dr. Banerjee’s laboratory focuses on three main themes that are inspired by the One Health ideology, (1) virus-host interactions in wildlife reservoir species, such as bats, (2) virus-host interactions in spillover species, such as humans, and (3) viral vaccine development. Dr. Banerjee’s laboratory is a member of Canada’s Coronavirus Variants Rapid Response Network (CoVaRR-Net), and as part of this network, his laboratory investigates emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants. Research within Dr. Banerjee’s laboratory is funded by NIAID/NIH, CIHR, NSERC, SHRF and CoVaRR-Net. [READ MORE]

Ana Ramón, PhD
Post-Doctoral Researcher in Immunology
APC Microbiome Ireland
Cork, Ireland [READ MORE]

Maria Salagianni, PhD
Postdoctoral Researcher
Center for Clinical, Experimental Surgery, & Translational Research Biomedical Research Foundation Academy of Athens, Greece [READ MORE]

Esta Sterneck , National Cancer Institute. Dr. Esta Sterneck received her Ph.D. from the University of Heidelberg following training at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) and the Center for Molecular Biology Heidelberg (ZMBH) in Germany. Her thesis work investigated oncogene cooperation in leukemia cells and revealed their coordinate induction of an essential autocrine growth factor. During her postdoctoral training at the Advanced BioScience Laboratories-Basic Research Program in Frederick, MD, USA, Dr. Sterneck began to study the functions of C/EBP transcription factors through genetically engineered mice. Dr. Sterneck began her independent research with an National Cancer Institute Scholar grant before being recruited as a Principal Investigator to the NCI in 2003. Her laboratory conducts basic research on the molecular biology of breast cancer development and progression with C/EBP transcription factors as pivots for mechanistic studies. Recent investigations involve the contributions of myeloid cell plasticity and tumor-induced myelopoiesis. [READ MORE]