People
People
Bree Aldridge
Professor, Molecular Biology and Microbiology, Tufts University School of Medicine
& Biomedical Engineering, Tufts University School of Engineering
Postdoctoral Training: Harvard School of Public Health
Ph.D.: MIT, Biological Engineering, 2008
B.S.: University of Arizona, Computer Engineering & Molecular and Cellular Biology, 2002
Research Assistant Professor
Trever Smith, PhD
ORCID | Tufts GSBS
I use a combination of fluorescence microscopy, omics style data, and machine learning to understand how environmental signals influence the essentially of different biochemical pathways in Mtb. Using antibacterials to inhibit specific cellular processes, I am investigating how perturbations to one or more pathways contribute to Mtb cell death across different physiological states.
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Husain Poonawala, MBBS, MD
Tufts Medical Center
I am an Infectious Diseases physician and Clinical Microbiologist at Tufts Medical Center. My research interests are in tuberculosis and non-tuberculous mycobacteria, and my work is focused on developing and integrating novel diagnostic methods into clinical care and public health interventions to improve outcomes from these infections. In 2023, I received a Translational Science Career Development (K12) Award through the Tufts CTSI . My work in the Aldridge Lab will aim to adapt the DiaMOND assay to develop a novel combination antimicrobial susceptibility testing method for Mycobacterium abscessus that can be used in clinical microbiology laboratories. This will allow the design individualized treatment regimens for this multidrug resistant pathogen that is often described as an “antibiotic nightmare.”
Levy CIMAR Senior Scientist
Kathleen Davis, PhD
I collaborating with members of the Levy CIMAR and Tufts Medical Center to develop a method of in-vitro testing of drug regimens on bacterial pathogen clinical isolates from hospital patients with severe infections. The goal is to design in-vitro testing methodology to help choose more effective regimens for serious infections. My other work includes a multi-institution collaborative effort to identify small molecules that can be used in combination with antibiotics to restore or improve the activity of those antibiotics against community- and hospital-acquired bacterial infections.
Postdocs
Emmanuel Ogbonna, PhD
LinkedIn
I am a joint postdoctoral fellow in the Aldridge Lab at TUSM and the Laboratory for Systems Pharmacology at HMS working with Dr. Peter Sorger. My research is on the pathogen Mycobacterium tuberculosis. I had previously studied putative targets for novel TB drugs, including essential cellular proteases. I am currently studying the relationship between granuloma heterogeneity and host immune response – elicited upon tuberculosis infection – using tissue cyclic immunofluorescence or t-CyCIF. CyCIF is used with a wide array of antibody markers to phenotype all the different cell types associated with the granuloma stages, especially their spatial relationships to one another. With these cell-cell associations assessed, it is then possible to understand physiological and immunological outcomes in the TB granuloma microenvironment.
Students
Tim Fitzgerald, Molecular Microbiology PhD Candidate
LinkedIn | Tufts GSBS
The goal of my research is to define the molecular mechanism of anti-TB drugs by measuring subpopulation responses to treatment, using machine learning approaches
Joshua Whiteley, Biomedical Engineering PhD Candidate
LinkedIn
I am researching the morphological changes that occur when treating tuberculosis with antibiotics in different growth conditions to better understand drug mechanism of action.
Ali Bootwala, PhD Student in Immunology
ORCID | LinkedIn | Tufts GSBS
My work aims to utilize efficiently generated, feature-rich, in vitro datasets to build predictive models of in vivo drug regimen efficacy while identifying aspects of disease immunobiology that are critical for successful clinical translation of preclinical experiments.
Morgan McPartland, PhD Student in Molecular Microbiology (MERGE-ID Track)
I am just beginning my thesis research in the Aldridge Lab.
Research Associates
Tobias Hildebrandt
Tracy Washington, PhD
LinkedIn
I work with the drug combination team to analyze drug combination data for tuberculosis, with the goal of designing improved therapies.
Research Technicians
Myles Kenny
Hidetomi Nitta
Mariana Pereira Moraes
LinkedIn
Mycobacterium tuberculosis has the ability to persist within lesion with different stressors present. These stressors are thought to be responsible for Mtb survival and drug tolerance. We aim to develop in vitro models using lesion-specific stressors to determine how different lesion niches influence Mtb response to specific drug regimens.
Project Administrator
Hope D’Erasmo
I coordinate data and research for the Aldridge Lab’s drug combination team, which aims to develop improved therapies for tuberculosis.
Project Coordinator
Hanna Clutterbuck-Cook, MA
My primary role is to coordinate grant operations for Dr. Aldridge and the Aldridge Lab.
Alumni
Ares Alivisatos, Research Technician
Sofia Aubrey, Undergraduate in Biopsychology and Chemistry (Pre-Health)
Meriem Bahira, Research Technician
Sheika Belizaire, Undergraduate Research Assistant
Owen Bennion, Research Technician
Christopher Chou, Undergraduate Research Assistant
Murat Cokol, Visiting Scholar
Basira Daqiq, Senior Research Technician
Yonatan Degefu, Research Technician
Aonkon Dey, Undergraduate Research Assistant
Kaydine Edwards, Undergraduate Research Assistant
Iyob Gebremariam, Analyst
Geoffrey Gonzalez, Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Shellyhan Gordon, Undergraduate Research Assistant
Alexander Histed, Graduate Student
Sophia Hu, REU Undergraduate Research Assistant
Joey Jabbour, Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Maliwan Kamkaew, Research Assistant
Jonah Larkins-Ford, Graduate Student
Michelle Logsdon, Graduate Student
Morgan McNellis, Research Technician
Andrew Min, Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Amy Moody, Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Sesheta Mwanza, Research Technician
Michaela Olson, Research Technician
Julia Parker, Undergraduate Research Assistant
Brandon Phan, PREP Scholar
Christopher Polleys, REU Undergraduate Research Assistant
Kirsta Pullen, Research Technician
Ditshego Ralefeta, PhD, Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Ian Richardson, High School Research Assistant
Kirill Richardson, Graduate Student & Research Technician
Daniel Rubin, Undergraduate Research Assistant
Nhi Van, Research Assistant
Jullian Willett, Medical Student Research Assistant
Dan Zhang, PhD, Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Talia Greenstein, Graduate Student
Eun Seon Chung (Christin Chung), PhD, Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Michelle Yoon, Research Technician
William Johnson, Graduate Student
Minh Le, Graduate Student