People
Current and Former Lab Members
Natalie C. Steinel
Associate Professor
Department of Biological Sciences
Associate Director for Training
Center for Pathogen Research and Training
My research interests lie in understanding the complex cellular and molecular interactions that occur between a parasite and its host. I am particularly interested in developing threespine stickleback into a model organism for the study of vertebrate adaptive immunity.
The University of Texas at Austin
Postdoctoral Advisor: Dr. Daniel Bolnick
The University of Pennsylvania
Doctor of Philosophy in Immunology
Advisor: Dr. Craig Bassing
The University of Texas at Austin
Bachelor of Science, Cell and Molecular Biology
Bachelor of Arts, French
Sefan Keller
Applied Biology PhD Student
Stefan studies stickleback intestinal mucosal immunity, specifically on how intestinal morphology, cellular composition, and immune cell populations vary between stickleback population and during parasitic infection. He is also interested in developing an intestinal cell line for modeling host-parasite and microbiome interactions in vitro. He has a tortoise named Sheldon!
University of Missouri
Doctor of Veterinary Medicine
University of Missouri
Masters of Public Health
Towson University
Bachelors of Science, Biology
Annie Cary
Biology MS Project
Annie currently studies pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokine expression in threespine stickleback, and how expression of these cytokines changes during parasite infection.
University of Massachusetts Lowell
Bachelor of Science, Biological Sciences
Honors Thesis
Stacia Szafran-Lally
Biology MS Project
Stacia uses histological and immunofluorescent techniques to study the anatomy of the helminth, Schistocephalus solidus.
University of Massachusetts Lowell
Bachelor of Science, Biological Sciences
Honors Thesis
Ahsan Raza
Biology MS Project
Ahsan uses multi-omic approaches to examine how parasite infection shapes gene expression networks in the gut microbiome.
Beyza Akbulut
Biological Sciences Undergraduate
Honors Thesis
University of Massachusetts Lowell
Bachelor of Science, Biological Sciences
Honors Thesis
Darya Mehrabani
Darya studies behavioral fever in stickleback and how infection/immune activation may affect temperature preference. She also studies the role of the head and trunk kidney in the immune response of the threespine stickleback. She hopes to work in drug discovery for diseases like diabetes, hypertension, or neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimers and dementia.
Carrigan MacLeod
Biological Sciences Undergraduate
Research Assistant
Fish Care Technician
Carrigan studies the role of the head and trunk kidney in the immune response of the threespine stickleback. She is interested in pursuing a career in research focusing on infectious disease.
Northern Essex Community College
Associate in Science, Biology
Josiah Liang
Josiah studies behavioral fever in stickleback and how infection/immune activation may affect temperature preference. Josiah loves animals and would like to attend veterinary school after finishing his undergraduate education.
Eshal Hussain
Eshal is performing a histologic overview of the stickleback thymus. She is on a pre-med track, and would like to attend medical school after completing her degree at UML.
Shreya Kumar
Biological Science
Undergraduate
Minor: Spanish
Research Assistant
Mahsa Naeem
Biological Science
Undergraduate
Research Assistant
Shreya’s examining the role of goblet cells, specifically characterizing stickleback stomach anatomy and mucosal immunology. She intends to pursue a career in medicine, with a particular interest in gastroenterology.
Mahsa’s research focuses on the gills of threespine stickleback. She is on a pre-dental track, and would like to attend dental school after completing her degree at UML. When not in the lab she enjoy playing volleyball and spending time with family and friends.
Former Lab members
Undergraduate Honors Thesis/Project: Ainsley Skinner, Annie Cary, Stacia Szafran-Lally, Daniel Spencer, Andrea Albano, Kelli Burke, Elsa Diffo Tiyao, Maeve Moynihan, Princess Paul, Gordon Sears,
Undergraduate Research Assistants: Firosa Mao, Yael Gomez, Melissa Snyder, Mary Tibbetts, Jayden Knuthia, Trevor Cordwell
Undergraduate Immersive Scholar: Sarah Kimball, Jared Gorma, Kaleigh Brule, Sonia Shah
Fish Care Technicians: Meagan Carroll, Parker Schaufus, Maria Baez Calderon, Erica Giuffrida, Tanmai Velicheti
Postdoctoral Research Associates: Abdo Nouri, Ahmed Attaya
Applied BIology PhD: Saraswathy Vaidyanathan, Alexandra Collias
Biological Sciences MS Thesis: Alex Gouvin-Moffatt
Biological Sciences MS Project: Vidhi Desai, Alice Thornton
Public Health MS Practicum: Olivia Smith
Lab Tehnician: Ilayda Frilar
Undergrad, masters, PhD, and postdoctoral trainees are encouraged to contact Dr. Steinel.
List of current projects available in the Steinel lab
The Steinel Lab provides equal opportunities for all regardless of age, disability, sexual orientation, race, country of origin, language, gender, gender expression, military service, or religion.