Principal Investigator | william.jacobs@einsteinmed.edu

Administrator | stephanie.velasquez@einsteinmed.edu

Lab Manager | torin.weisbrod@einsteinmed.edu

I have worked with Bill Jacobs for over 20 years, and currently act as the manager of his lab. I oversee and facilitate all the daily research-oriented activities of the Jacobs group. I am also responsible for coordinating the import/export of scientific materials that support our work. I run occasional targeted experiments for Dr. Jacobs. Acquiring and maintaining the supplies and equipment necessary for our studies is another key part of my role.

Associate | anna.deoliveira@einsteinmed.edu

Viral vectors are promising agents used as vehicles for vaccine delivery, such as some of the recently developed COVID-19 and Ebola vaccines.  In the Jacob’s lab, the successful generation of an attenuated recombinant HSV-2 has shown great protection against HSV-2 in immunized mice and guinea pigs models of HSV disease. The further optimization of this HSV-2 vaccine and its use as a platform for the development of vaccines against different infectious diseases has been the focus of my work.  

Research Assistant Professor | catherine.vilcheze@einsteinmed.edu

My research area involves the study of the mechanisms of resistance to the first-line antituberculosis drugs such as isoniazid and pyrazinamide, as well as the identification and testing of new inhibitors against M. tuberculosis. We have shown that the main target of isoniazid is the enoyl-ACP reductase InhA, an essential gene of the fatty acid synthase type II system, deciphered the mechanisms of resistance to isoniazid caused by mutations in ndh encoding the NADH dehydrogenase, and identified a novel mechanism of INH and ETH resistance in M. tuberculosis (mutations in the mycothiol biosynthesis pathway). Screening of a commercially available chemical library led to the identification of 2 new compounds that are cidal against drug-susceptible and drug-resistant M. tuberculosis.

Research Fellow | lahari.das@einsteinmed.edu

I am working on M. tuberculosis and M. leprae. I am involved in the TB vaccine project. Using mycobacteriophages as a tool I am generating Mtb knockout strains for cutinases in order to study their importance in Mtb pathobiology. I am working towards genetically engineering M. leprae to make it grow on synthetic media which will help in developing and screening of novel drug candidates.

Associate | saranathan.rajagopalan@einsteinmed.edu

My research interests are human pathogens, their drug resistance mechanisms and pathogenesis. I have been working on developing Next-Generation Sequencing diagnostics pipeline for human pathogens to provide results in a time frame that would impact patient care. Additionally, I work on a project to make a point of care drug susceptibility test for Mycobacterium tuberculosis and other human pathogens using next-generation luciferase reporter phages.

Director of BSL-3 Lab | bing.chen@einsteinmed.edu

I focus on new TB vaccine research and novel anti-tuberculosis agent development, use of animal models to investigate infections and pathogen-host interactions. I am responsible for the safe use of our Bio-Safety Level 3 facility at Einstein, including training and testing post-docs and students according to their own research projects. I also chair the regular meetings of the TB Research Group internal Biosafety Committee for TB research projects and coordinate protocols and resources for BSL3 experiments.

Research Technician I mei.chen@einsteinmed.edu

I am a technician assisting students and post-docs with their animal experiments in BSL3 and meanwhile maintaining 13 mouse colonies for Mtb and HSV research.

Research Technician | john.kim@einsteinmed.edu

My primary responsibilities as a Research/Animal Technician is to assist students and post-docs with their invivo experimentations.  The duties require me to be fairly proficient with numerous animal experimentation techniques, such as retro-orbital bleeding and oral gavage feeding.  I also monitor the mice after experimentation noting any phenotypical reactions.  In my spare time, I do an inventory check of our supplies in the BSL3 and request reordering of supplies and equipment as needed.  Filling out the rest of my time, I am willing to perform any related work duties as needed.

Research Technician | annie.dai@einsteinmed.edu |

I’m a technician in the lab, providing technical support for PhD students, post-docs, and other lab staff. I mainly work on molecular cloning, phage packaging and high-titer phage preparation for specific gene deletions. Also, I carry out some routine laboratory tasks such as preparing specific agar plates which are commonly and largely used in the lab.

Research Technician | regy.lukose@einsteinmed.edu

I have been involved in the research using recombinant BCG expressing antigens of Malaria, Tuberculosis, HIV, Flu, and Plague. I am currently working to develop the Herpes virus as a vaccine candidate and a platform to express various antigens of Tuberculosis and Flu.