BTW...In case you were wondering...yes that is an inflatable dolphin wearing a pirate hat in the background. It is courtesy of our neighbors in the lab of David Fox. The meaning...if any...has never been shared with us...

Lucien van der Vlugt joined the lab as a post-doctoral fellow in January 2016. She grew up in Ter Aar, The Netherlands, and earned her Master's degree in Biomedical Sciences from the University of Leiden, The Netherlands in Dec. 2008. She performed her Ph.D. thesis work under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Maria Yazdanbakhsh and Dr. Hermelijn Smits in the Dept. of Parasitology at the University of Leiden. Her thesis research project was part of a program aimed at understanding the interactions between the host and helminth worms, and their subsequent role in protection from allergic disorders. Her work focused primarily on understanding the induction of IL-10-producing regulatory B cells in worm infected mice and humans. After completing her thesis research, Lucien joined the lab of Prof. Dr. Peter Hiemstra in the Dept. of Pulmonology at the Leiden University Medical Center where she investigated how farm living can protect against childhood asthma. She studied the effects of farm dust on airway epithelial cell functions. Her post-doctoral fellowship research in the Lundy Lab was focused on studying B cell-derived killer exosomes in mice. The fellowship concluded in Dec. 2017 and she is now working as a Medical Liaison for AstraZeneca in the Netherlands.

graduate students

Sophina Taitano

Sophina Taitano joined the lab in 2015 as a predoctoral candidate in the UM Graduate Training Program in Immunology. She grew up in Yigo, Guam and earned her bachelor's degree in Forensic Science from Chaminade University in Honolulu, Hawaii in 2013. While working in the lab, she was the recipient of a Rackham Merit Fellowship and was supported by a Career Development Award from the American Association of Immunologists. She successfully defended her thesis in April 2018 and is currently a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Colorado in Denver.

Ryan Gentil was an undergraduate student majoring in Microbiology who worked the lab from 2015-2017. He is originally from Taylor, Michigan and is now pursuing a Masters Degree in Public Health at Columbia University in New York City.

Brian Alzua graduated with his Bachelors in Biochemistry in the Spring of 2014. He joined the lab as a freshman in the Fall of 2010 as part of the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program and stayed through his senior year. He is a native of New Providence, New Jersey and is currently a lab technician at American Preclinical Services in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Brian was awarded a 2012 Summer Internship to work in the lab from the UM UROP program. 

Vinny Lizzio graduated with a degree in Biochemistry from the University of Michigan in the spring of 2013. As an undergraduate student, he joined the lab in the Fall of 2011. He is originally from Canton, Michigan and went on to earn a medical degree at the Wayne State University School of Medicine. He is currently a medical resident working in the Detroit Area. Vinny was awarded a 2012 Summer Internship Fellowship to work in the lab from the UM Biochemistry Program.

Campbell Shaw joined the lab in the Fall of 2007 as a freshman in the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP). He worked in the lab every semester until his graduation in December 2011 with dual degrees in both Chemical Engineering and Mathematics. Campbell is a native of Ann Arbor and is currently working for a computer analytics firm in the New York City area.

Amanda Fobare joined the laboratory in the Fall of 2008 as a sophomore in the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP). She worked in the lab for three consecutive years before graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in Immunology and Microbiology. Amanda is a native of Kalamazoo, Michigan and went on to pursue a medical degree at Boston University Medical School. She is currently finishing her General Surgery residency at Emory University where she intends to pursue a fellowship in Vascular Surgery.

Lauren Wooley was an undergraduate student in the lab from 2005-2007. Upon graduation in 2007, she attended the University of Maryland School of Medicine where she earned recognition and was elected to the Alpha Omega Alpha Honors Medical Society. Lauren graduated with her M.D. in 2011 and has recently completed her residency at the University of California, San Francisco. She is now practicing in Emergency Medicine in the San Francisco Bay area.