Principal Investigator
Melissa Mavers, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Hematology and Oncology
- Phone: 314-273-6405
- Email: mmmavers@nospam.wustl.edu
Melissa Mavers grew up in St. Louis, Missouri and completed her undergraduate degree in Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Miami. She then entered MD/PhD training at Saint Louis University where she completed her graduate studies in the laboratory of Harris Perlman, PhD. For her thesis research, she demonstrated a novel role for the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p21 in suppressing macrophage activation and inflammation. Following Pediatrics residency at UCLA and Pediatric Hematology/Oncology fellowship at Stanford, she completed post-doctoral research in the laboratory of Robert Negrin, MD, at Stanford. In this work, she demonstrated that expansion and activation of regulatory T cells through death receptor 3 leads to a reduction in acute graft-versus-host disease in murine preclinical models. In 2022, Mavers joined the Department of Pediatrics at Washington University where she continues to focus her research on immune regulation of graft-versus-host disease. Outside of the lab, she enjoys supporting the Cardinals, going to festivals, and traveling.
Personnel
Emily Landy, PhD
Postdoc Research Associate
Emily Landy is a Postdoc Associate working on the engineering of invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cells to enhance suppression of graft-versus-host disease. She recently got her PhD in Immunology and Microbiology from the University of Pittsburgh. She hopes to use the knowledge gained in her PhD career focused on cytotoxic cells to help create the ultimate engineered iNKT cell therapy. In her free time, she likes to play with her two cats, garden, cook/bake, mountain bike and spend time with her family.
Nathan Schedler
Research Technician II
Nathan moved to Saint Louis from Chicago and recently graduated from Saint Louis University with a degree in Biology and Health Sciences. He is greatly involved within the Saint Louis community through his volunteering at the Saint Louis Juvenile Detention Center, Barnes Jewish Hospital, and Forest Park Conservancy. During his off-time, Nathan enjoys hiking with friends, reading and taking care of his houseplants.
Sam Signorelli
Research Technician II
Sam recently graduated from Wake Forest University with a degree in Chemistry focusing on Medicinal Chemistry and Drug Discovery. His scientific interests are to better understand the chemical inner workings of biological processes to help make discoveries that will ultimately promote human health. Outside of work, he enjoys learning and speaking French, travelling, cooking, and being outdoors.
Arnav Mohindra
Undergraduate researcher
Arnav is an undergraduate student at Washington University in St. Louis studying linguistics on the pre-med track. He is on the executive board of the Congress of the South 40, Washington University’s residential housing association, and is a member of GlobeMed. Arnav hopes to go to medical school and is interested in the field of public health. For fun, he likes to go on hikes, be out in nature and read books.
Joanne Sung
Undergraduate researcher
Joanne is an undergraduate student at Washington University studying computer science on the pre-med track. On campus, she is a part of Armour fashion magazine, the Prison Education Project, and Leaders in Interpersonal Violence Education. She hopes to eventually work as a doctor but also work to improve equity in healthcare access as well. In her free time, she enjoys trying new food places, painting, and going to small concerts.
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Past personnel
Larissa Harszy
Research Technician II
Pawan Upadhyay, PhD
Senior Scientist