Cianciotto Lab - Department of Microbiology-Immunology, Northwestern University

Nick Cianciotto

Principal Investigator

e-mail:

n-cianciotto@northwestern.edu

Nick Cianciotto received his BS degree in biological sciences from the University of California, Irvine, and his PhD degree in microbiology from the University of Washington. Following post-doctoral training at the University of Michigan, Dr. Cianciotto joined Northwestern as an assistant professor of microbiology-immunology in 1990.

Sara Karaba

MD/PhD Graduate Student

email:

s-karaba@fsm.northwestern.edu

Sara Karaba grew up in Maryland, and received her B.S. from the University of Maryland, College Park in Microbiology. Her thesis work focuses on identifying virulence factors in the emerging opportunistic bacterial pathogen, Stenotrophomonas maltophilia. Following graduate school, she will complete her medical school coursework and continue on to residency training.

Jessica Schmitt

MPH/PhD Graduate Student

email:

JessicaSchmitt2014@u.northwestern.edu

Jessica Schmitt received her BS in Biology from The George Washington University in DC. She joined the DGP program at Northwestern in 2008 and joined Dr. Nicholas Cianciotto’s lab shortly after. Her work focuses on investigating novel type II secreted effectors of Legionella pneumophila. She is specifically interested in the role of these effectors in promoting growth in amoebae. She also is working towards completing her Master’s in Public Health.

Denise Burnside

PhD Graduate Student

email:

deniseburnside@u.northwestern.edu

Denise grew up in Fort Wayne, Indiana and received her B. S. degree in biological sciences from Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne.  Her thesis work focuses on understanding the molecular mechanisms of siderophore-mediated iron acquisition in Legionella pneumophila.

Celeste Mallama

MPH/PhD Graduate Student

email: celestemallama2016@u.northwestern.edu

Celeste grew up in Maryland and received her BA degree in biological sciences from Wellesley College. A graduate student in the Cianciotto lab, Celeste studies the interaction between Legionella pneumophila and the host innate immune system.

Richard White

MPH/PhD Graduate Student

e-mail:

richard.white@u.northwestern.edu

Felizza Gunderson

Postdoctoral Fellow

e-mail:

f-gunderson@northwestern.edu

Felizza grew up in Southern California and received her BS degree in Microbiology from San Diego State University and her PhD degree in Molecular Biology from the University of California, San Diego. Felizza came to the Cianciotto lab in 2010 and is examining the transcription of Legionella pneumophila type II apparatus and its secreted effectors. After her postdoc, Felizza plans to move back to California and pursue a career in industry.

Huaixin Zheng

Postdoctoral Fellow

e-mail:

huaixin-zheng@northwestern.edu

Huaixin Zheng received his B. S. degree from the University of Science and Technology of China and his PhD degree from the Stony Brook University in molecular and cellular biology. He studied the role of iron uptake pathways of Francisella tularensis on intracellular replication for his graduate study. He is now working on the role of HGA-melanin of Lpn on iron uptake and growth.

Paloma Vargas

Postdoctoral Fellow

email:

paloma.vargas@northwestern.edu

Paloma received her B.S. from the University of Texas at El Paso in 2005 and her M.S./Ph.D. from the Sackler Institute of Graduate Biomedical Sciences at the New York University School of Medicine in December 2009. Prior to joining the Cianciotto lab in September 2011, she taught both at the college and high school levels in El Paso, TX. As a post doctoral scholar in the NIH/IRACDA funded NU-START program She divides her time between the bench and a visiting faculty position at Norhteastern Illinois University. Her research currently focuses on the interaction between Legionella and its protozoan hosts, including the role of the type two secretion system in these interactions.

If you are interested in learning more about post doctoral positions that combine research and teaching please visit the IRACDA website or contact her directly.

Harry Christman

Postdoctoral Fellow

e-mail:

harry.christman@northwestern.edu

Harry received his B.S. degree in Microbiology from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and his Ph.D. from the University of California, Davis. His current research involves Type II Secretion in Legionella pneumophila. He is interested in localization of effectors secreted within the host cell by L. pneumophila during the course of infection

Brendan Mulhern

Research Technician

e-mail:

b-mulhern@northwestern.edu

Brendan received his B.S. degree in Molecular and Cellular Biology from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Brendan joined the lab in July 2010 and his current reseach focuses on iron acquisition in Legionella pneumophila.