People

			Elodie Ghedin, PhD Principal Investigator Professor of Biology and Global Public Health Director, Center for Genomics and Systems Biology Dr. Ghedin is a member of the Center for Genomics and Systems Biology, and the College of Global Public Health. She has a broad interest in infectious diseases and in using genomics tools to explore host-pathogen interactions in filarial worms (River Blindness and Lymphatic Filariasis) and in influenza infections, microbial and viral population structures in infected hosts, and the association of lung diseases with the microbial diversity (bacterial, viral, fungal) found in the respiratory tract. She is a MacArthur Fellow (2011), a Kavli Frontier of Science Fellow (2012), and an American Academy of Microbiology Fellow (2017).
			Bin Zhou, PhD Senior Research Scientist In seeking answers to some of the most difficult questions in influenza research, Dr. Zhou has developed techniques for influenza virus genomic sequencing and reverse genetics, now used in labs worldwide. He has also discovered and characterized pathogenic determinants of avian and human influenza viruses; designed and evaluated novel live attenuated influenza vaccines; and rapidly generated viruses and vaccine seeds using synthetic genome technology.
			Lauren Lashua Laboratory Manager & FluDyNeMo Project Manager In addition to her principal duties as project manager of the FluDyNeMo Systems Biology program, collaborating between and coordinating with six data-generating sites. Lauren also pursues her interest in how nutrition influences the gut microbiome.
			Tao Ding, PhD Senior Research Scientist Tao’s primary interest in influenza pathogenesis is reflected in his current research on microbiome dynamics, bacterial co-infection, and the differential expression of the transcriptome, especially the non-coding RNAs (microRNAs and long-non-coding RNAs) in influenza-infected subjects.
			Adam Geber Research Scientist Adam works primarily on the FluDyNeMo project, helping to generate the transcriptomic, metatranscriptomic, and metagenomic datasets that enable modeling of disease outcomes in influenza infections. He also studies the co-evolution of microbes and their hosts, the relevance of the virome to human health, the cultural histories of infectious disease and epidemiology, and radical approaches to translational medicine.
			Tim Song Bioinfomatics Analyst Using next-generation sequencing data, Tim models the transmission dynamics of the influenza virus.
			Alexandra Grote PhD Student, Biology Alexandra researches the endosymbiotic relationship between filarial worms and the Wolbachia bacteria, as well as the molecular basis for the adaptation of parasitic worms to niches in their human hosts.
			Kristen Gulino PhD Student, Biology Kristen’s current research focus is on viral interactions in respiratory infections.
			Joseph Koussa PhD Student
			Chang Wang PhD Student
			Lingdi Zhang PhD Student
			Tracy Chou Master’s Student
			Yixuan Ma Master’s Student
			Boya Zhao Master’s Student
			Kevin Coppa Undergraduate Student
			Hana Husic Undergraduate Student Junior, Biochemistry Hana researches how viral evolution and host respiratory tract microbiota affect disease severity throughout the course of influenza infection.
			Nick Vulpescu Undergraduate Student

ALUMNI

	Gabrielle Gussin Master’s, Biology As a Master’s student, Gabby used genomic approaches to study antibiotic resistance and bacterial co-infection with influenza. Now, at UC Irvine, Gabby is involved in several clinical studies aimed at reducing the emergence and spread of multi-drug resistant organisms in healthcare settings.
	Guy Mason Master’s, Biology BSc Nottingham University Guy completed his Master’s on production of high yield influenza vaccines via CRISPR-mediated knockouts of cellular antiviral factors. He also worked on identifying key viral pathways in cells.
	Laura Tipton PhD, Computational Biology Carnegie Mellon-University of Pittsburgh Combining methods from ecology, machine learning, molecular biology and statistics, Laura researched the respiratory microbiome to determine the relationships among bacteria, fungi, and the host.
	Alan Twaddle Bioinformatics Analyst While in charge of managing all high-throughput sequencing data generated in the lab, Alan also pursued his passion for metagenomics, specifically viral metagenomes. His goal was to improve de novo assembly to uncover known and novel viruses, and features that could not be identified via traditional methods.
	Sam Ahmad Undergraduate Student Sam worked on the comparative genomic analysis of myxoma virus (MYXV) strains.
	Min Lee Undergraduate Student The focus of Min’s research was on Human Rhinovirus (HRV) replication. Viruses under examination included HRV14 and HRV16.
	Tzvi Pollock Undergraduate Student Tzvi worked on developing bioinformatic approaches to analyze the viral content of microbiomes. His other academic interests include host-pathogen interaction, evolutionary relationships between humans and microbes, and mechanisms of virulence. Tzvi started his PhD at the University of Pennsylvania in September 2015.
	Graciela Riera Master’s, Biology 2013-2015 Fulbright Scholar Graciela completed her Master’s in the Ghedin lab, investigating neuraminidase deletions in the emergence of drug-resistant Influenza A viruses.
	Michelle Volk Undergraduate Student, Biology As part of a larger project that looks at how host cell expression affects the severity of infection, Michelle focused her research on influenza evolution, specifically how influenza A and B mutate over a period of infection.