Marta M. Gaglia (PI)

Marta grew up in Torino, Italy, and lived in Trieste, Italy and London, UK, before moving across the pond (and a continent) to do her graduate studies with Cynthia Kenyon at UCSF and her postdoctoral training with Britt Glaunsinger at UC Berkeley. After ~11 years in California, she moved to Boston to start her own lab at Tufts University School of Medicine in 2014. In her free time, she reads fantasy and mystery novels, plays board games, does yoga and goes on snorkeling holidays.

email: Marta.Gaglia@tufts.edu

Timothy Bond (Graduate student, MS in Biomedical Sciences program)

Timothy grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and graduated from the University of California, San Diego with a BS in Microbiology and a BA in Linguistics. Prior to starting the MS in Biomedical Sciences program at Tufts, Timothy worked in public health in San Diego, providing HIV testing and counseling. In the Gaglia lab, Timothy is studying how Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus interacts with caspases to downregulate host cell antiviral responses. In his free time, Timothy enjoys baking, reading, and attempting to teach his dog new tricks.

Rae Daly (Graduate student, Cellular, Developmental and Molecular Biology graduate program)

Léa Gaucherand (Graduate student, Molecular Microbiology graduate program)

Lea grew up in France, where she obtained her Master’s degree in Bioengineering in 2013. After 3 years as a technician in Seattle where she learned about extracellular matrix in Dr. Tom Wight’s lab, and Influenza and Ebola viruses in Dr. Adam Lacy-Hulbert’s lab, she joined the Molecular Microbiology PhD program at Tufts in 2017. Following her passion for viruses, she joined the lab to work on the influenza-encoded ribonuclease PA-X, trying to characterize further the RNA specificity of PA-X cleavage. In her free time, Lea enjoys reading, playing volleyball and doing puzzles.

Amrita Iyer (undergraduate student, Tufts University)

Amrita is from Newton, MA and a junior at Tufts University, majoring in Biopsychology on the pre-med track. She first joined the lab through the Tufts University Summer Scholars Program. In her free time, she loves exploring new restaurants in Boston, playing soccer, and watching crime shows.

Rachel Lent (Graduate student, Molecular Microbiology graduate program)

Rachel grew up in Maryland where she graduated from Towson University in 2018 where she graduated with a BS in molecular biology and a minor in chemistry. During her undergraduate years, she worked in the lab of Dr. Mara Shainheit studying the host pathogen interactions between Streptococcus pneumoniae and neutrophils. Following her passion for studying host pathogen interactions and her new interest in viruses, she joined the Gaglia Lab to study how the oncogenic herpesvirus KSHV activates host caspases in order to suppress host innate immune responses. In her free time she enjoys hiking, traveling, and cooking.

Claudia Mañán Mejías (Post-baccalaureate scholar, PREP program)

Alessandra Setaro (Graduate student, Immunology graduate program)

Ali grew up in Connecticut and obtained a BA in biology with a minor in public health from Boston University. During college, Ali studied the pathway of maternal serotonin to the embryo and fetus under Dr. Harvey Kliman in the Reproductive and Placental Research Unit. After graduating from college, Ali was a research assistant in Dr. Michael Seaman’s lab in the Center for Virology and Vaccine Research, working on clinical trials for HIV/AIDS vaccines and therapies, as well as COVID-19 vaccines. Pursuing an interest in viruses and host pathogen interactions, Ali joined the Gaglia Lab to explore the role of the influenza protein PA-X on the host innate immune response. In their free time, Ali enjoys visiting botanical gardens, going to museums, and learning new recipes.