Amy received her BA in Chemistry from Amherst College and her MD from Harvard Medical School. She spent two years during medical school as an HHMI Research Scholar in the Barry lab at the NIH studying mycobacterial genetics. She completed residency in Internal Medicine at MGH and Infectious Disease Fellowship in the MGH/BWH program. In her post-doctoral training, she studied TB pathogenesis in the Hung lab at the Broad Institute and the Rubin lab at HSPH. She is an Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and attends on the inpatient ID consult service at MGH. In her free time she enjoys reading and traveling with her family.

Julie received her chemical engineering MS from Ecole Nationale Superieure de Chimie de Lille (France) before receiving her Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of Toledo. She completed post-doctoral training in HIV immunology with a focus on antigen processing and presentation before taking on the formidable task of establishing SARS-CoV-2 work as a BSL3 staff scientist. In her free time, she used to enjoy cycling on a stationary bike in a dark room while getting yelled at by an instructor and going to the movie theater, and now tries to spend more time outside taking pictures.

Eliane received her B.S. in geology from the American University of Beirut (Lebanon) in 2017. Afterwards, she worked as a geology research assistant and later in a hospital pharmacy. In 2020, because of the ongoing economic crisis in Lebanon, she moved to Massachusetts where she has been working as a Research Animal Technician since. Although she initially studied geosciences, working with animals in a research laboratory, along with other factors, made her realize that she wants to continue working in the field, so she is glad to be working in the BSL3 lab at the Ragon Institute. In her spare time, she likes to run outdoors, exercise in the gym, go for long walks, listen to music, sing, do fine arts, occasionally read, and solve puzzles like sudoku.

Pooja received her MS in Immunology from the Friedrich-Alexander-University, Erlangen (Germany) before joining the lab as a graduate student. She completed her master's thesis in the field of basic immunological research. In joining the Barczak lab, she is hoping to expand her knowledge of immunological pathways and the field of infectious disease. When not in the lab, Pooja can be found reading, hiking or exploring new places.

Triet is an undergraduate researcher studying Molecular and Cellular Biology with a secondary in Microbial Sciences Initiative at Harvard University. He first discovered his passion in infectious diseases through a microbiology class offered during his high school experience, and has been chasing this passion through various immunology and microbiology classes and experiences throughout his college career. Now, he is focusing on studying the host-pathogen associations of tuberculosis and how it affects macrophages in the lab. In his free time, Triet loves sing and play the guitar, watch movies, and play video games.

Neha received her Master’s in Bioinformatics (India) where she first came across the microbial world during her projects on microbial genomics. Since then, microbial pathogenesis, host-pathogen interaction, and developing therapeutic strategies has always excited her. She followed her passion in microbial therapeutics and pursued a PhD from the Indian Institute of Technology (Indore, India) under the supervision of Prof. Amit Kumar. During this, she worked on developing novel therapeutic approaches against human pathogenic bacteria. In the Barczak Lab, she wishes to further polish up her knowledge in microbial pathogenesis and explore how pathogens survive in and benefit from host cells. When not in the lab, you can find her in the kitchen or playing/storytelling to her daughter at home.

Zach is an undergraduate researcher studying Bioengineering at Harvard University. Growing up in Cape Town, South Africa, with incredibly high rates of tuberculosis infection and HIV, he has always been particularly drawn to the importance of work done in the infectious diseases space. In the lab, he hopes to learn more about host-pathogen interactions and the field of infectious diseases more broadly. During the school year, he works as an EMT at Harvard-affiliated campus events and in his free time, Zach loves to play squash, practice piano, hike, and read.

Owen graduated from Bates College with a BA in biology and minors in chemistry and German. In his senior year he was introduced to the field of viral replication and studied the Rotavirus infection and replication pathway which encouraged him to pursue microbiology research. Owen is excited to work on projects relating to SARS-CoV-2 in an effort to understand more about the pathogenesis of the virus while also learning fundamental microbiological techniques. A former track and field athlete, Owen now spends his free time hiking, rock climbing, surfing, and biking across New England.

Jennie received her B.S. in Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology at the University of California Santa Cruz. She then received her Ph.D. in Cellular and Molecular Medicine at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine under the supervision of Dr. Petros C. Karakousis. In her dissertation, she investigated pharmacological inhibitors to target host macrophage heme-oxygenase 1 and triglyceride synthesis pathways as host-directed therapies (HDTs) against M tuberculosis. In the Barczak lab she will help establish a mouse model of TB-associated fibrosis and investigate HDTs that help address post-TB lung disease to help improve lung health for TB patients. When not in the lab, she enjoys napping, cooking, hiking and hanging out with friends.

Staff Assistant

Karen is enthusiastic and professional, experienced staff assistant with training in wide range of office administration tasks. Dedicated and focused Administrator with 5+ years of experience. On her off time she enjoys traveling, spending time with family, friends and her dog Max.