Lab Members

Postdocs

Camille Holmes PhD.

Postdoctoral Associate

My research centers on the antiviral immune response to respiratory pathogens that impact human and animal health, with a particular emphasis on mucosal and adaptive immunity. I am especially interested in the humoral immune response, including the development of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) as antiviral therapeutics and diagnostic tools. Additionally, I investigate the cellular immune response, focusing on the characterization of mucosal and systemic T cell populations to better understand their roles in protective immunity.

Viraj Upadhye PhD.

Postdoctoral Associate

My research focuses on structural viology for applications towards basic and translational sciences. Primary research focuses include cryo-electron microscopy (cryoEM) and cryo-electron tomography (cryoET) with subtomogram averaging (STA) to elucidate the protein:protein and protein:membrane complexes used by pathogenic enveloped RNA viruses for viral entry and assembly.

Moises Lopez Gonzalez PhD.

Research Associate Ph.D.

My research interest focuses on the innate immune response against viruses and the development of vaccines and antivirals against different viruses, mainly emerging viruses.

David Buchholz PhD.

Postdoctoral Associate Ph.D.

My research involves studying novel vaccination techniques for Nipah and influenza viruses. Specifically, I observe how the presentation of native proteins on virus-like particles impact the immune response to enable more effective forms of vaccination.

Graduate Students

Madeleine Dumas

Graduate Student

My research focuses on the pairing of biochemical and cell biology tools with cryo-electron microscopy to examine the processes leading to particle formation of enveloped RNA viruses. I'm specifically interested in examining higher order protein assemblies in viral particles through the use of cryo-electron tomography and sub-tomogram averaging. My biochemical interests center on the interplay among viral and host proteins and membranes required for assembly and budding.

Stephanie Uzordinma Awuzie

Rotation Graduate Student

My current projects in the Aguilar-Carreno Lab are centered around understanding the molecular interactions between structural proteins within the Nipah virion. I’ve been exposed to advanced techniques such as Flow Virometry and Cryo-EM, using them to study the detection and morphology of Nipah Virus-like particles.

Vinh Pham

Graduate Student

I am BMCB student. I attend the Aguilar lab to explore the field of virology which is very new to me. I am very excited to be in the lab and working with experts in this area. I would like to gain novel knowledge and skills in Virology and Vaccination research.