The Team

Principal Investigator

Zandrea received her BA in Zoology and Pre-medicine at Ohio Wesleyan University and her PhD in Pathobiology at the University of Washington. She conducted her postdoctoral fellowship in the HIV Drug Resistance Program at the National Cancer Institute. She joined the faculty at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine in 2007.

Laboratory Manager

Chris received his BA in Anthropology at Pennsylvania State University. He joined the Ambrose Laboratory in 2010 and his expertise is in molecular biology, including cloning, quantitative RT-PCR/PCR, and next-generation sequencing. Chris also keeps the lab running smoothly.

Staff Scientist

Chandra received his MBBS and MSc at Dhaka University and his PhD at Tohoku University. He is studying the effects of pre-exposure prophylaxis and drug resistance on mucosal HIV-1 transmission, antiretroviral therapy, and viral persistence in humanized mouse models of HIV-1/AIDS.

Postdoctoral Scholar

Hannah obtained her BA in Physics at Bridgewater College, her MS in Computer Science at James Madison University, and her PhD in Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Pittsburgh. She has studied HIV-1 capsid uncoating and HIV-host protein interactions, using genetic, cellular virology, and imaging techniques. Currently Hannah performs SARS-CoV-2 studies in the lab.

Postdoctoral Associate

Priya obtained her MS and PhD in Molecular Medicine at the Universiti Sains Malaysia, which included a research opportunity at the University of Guelph in Canada. Prior to coming to the University of Pittsburgh, Priya did postdoctoral work at Northwestern University in Chicago. She performs SARS-CoV-2 biology studies in the lab.

PhD Student

Zac is a PhD student in the Program in Microbiology and Immunology. He received his BS and MS from Missouri State University. He came to the lab with HIV-1 imaging experience and is studying the role of host cell proteins in early post-entry HIV-1 infection events.

MD/PhD Student (Co-Mentored with Ling Lin)

Jessica received her undergraduate degree at the University of Florida and then she moved north to perform research at the NIH. Moving further north, Jessica is now a MSTP student at the University of Pittsburgh. She spends her time between the Lin and Ambrose labs, studying co-infection of HIV and Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

MS Student

Ella is from Croatia and she is currently in the accelerated bachelor’s/master’s program in which she will receive her BS in Microbiology and her MS in Infectious Diseases and Microbiology at the University of Pittsburgh. Her project is studying HIV-1 capsid mutations and drug resistance.

Undergraduate Researcher

Meriem is a sophomore from Murrysville, PA. She transferred from California University (which is in PA, not California the state!) and is now studying Biology and Statistics at the University of Pittsburgh. She is a MIDS Scholar and is the newest member of the lab.

Chris Aiken, PhD - Vanderbilt University

Velpandi Ayyavoo, PhD - University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health

James Conway, PhD - University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine

Mackenzie Cottrell, PharmD - University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Jishnu Das, PhD - University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine

W. Paul Duprex, PhD - University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine

Alan Engelman, PhD - Dana Farber Cancer Center

Barbie Ganser-Pornillos - University of Utah

Angela Gronenborn, PhD - University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine

Rahm Gummuluru, PhD - Boston University School of Medicine

Smita Iyer, PhD - University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine

Melissa Kane, PhD - University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine

Angela Kashuba, PharmD - University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Ling Lin, MD - University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine

Frank Maldarelli, MD, PhD - National Cancer Institute

Josh Mattila, PhD - University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health

Kevin McCarthy, PhD - University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine

Pleuni Pennings, PhD - San Francisco State University

Juan Perilla, PhD - University of Delaware

Tatyana Polenova, PhD - University of Delaware

Björn Reinhard, PhD - Boston University

Tom Smithgall, PhD - University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine

Simon Watkins, PhD - University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine

Yong Xiong, PhD - Yale University

Masa Yamashita, PhD - Columbia University

Peijun Zhang, PhD - University of Oxford