Rachel Ehrlich is a bioinformatics programmer who focuses on the assembly, annotation and comparison of bacterial genomes. She graduated from Carnegie Mellon University with a BS in biological sciences and an MS in computational biology.

Research Technician
  jocelyn.hammond@drexelmed.edu

Lyn is a research assistant for Garth Ehrlich and Josh Mell. She has a master's degree in zoology from University of Florida. During her studies at UF, she became interested in wildlife conservation and chose a thesis project reflecting this interest. During this project, she observed a free-ranging troop of rhesus monkeys living in Florida to determine whether there were social and sexual behavioral differences between sterilized and nonsterilized females. After graduation, she worked with Dr. Robin Preston in the Department of Pharmacology and Physiology at Drexel University College of Medicine, examining the role of magnesium in cells using paramecia as her model. Lyn worked in that laboratory for almost 12 years. She then obtained a second master's degree in science communication from Drexel University. Lyn took a break from research for a few years to work as a medical editor and science writer but came back "home" to the College of Medicine to resume performing research.

Currently, she works on several projects: (1) association between bacteria in the brain and Alzheimer's disease; (2) comparison of Haemophilus influenzae strains between patients with otitis media and healthy individuals; and (3) characterization and evolution of mutator strains (strains with much higher mutation rates than normal) in Haemophilus influenzae.

Administrative Manager
   215.762.2959
  carol.hope@drexelmed.edu

Carol Hope, MBA, executive assistant, joined the Center for Advanced Microbial Processing in December 2013 and provides administrative support to the director and its members. Have a problem or need an answer? Carol is your go-to person.

Laboratory Manager, Microbiology and Molecular Biology
   215.762.1735
  jaroslaw.krol@drexelmed.edu

Dr. Krol obtained a master of science in biotechnology and PhD in biological sciences from UMCS Lublin, Poland. He was a postdoctoral fellow at UMCS (Lublin, Poland), University of Idaho (Moscow, Idaho), University of Florida (Gainesville) and Kansas University Medical School (Kansas City). Dr. Krol is experienced in molecular microbiology, genetic engineering and bioinformatics, microbial genetics, bacterial plasmids and biofilms. At CAMI he works mainly on bacterial genomics, the human microbiome, bacterial identification and localization and anti-biofilm drug development. He manages the CAMI labs.

Lab Manager
  bhaswati.sen@drexelmed.edu

Bhaswati completed her PhD in 2008 from National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases, Kolkata, India, on "Molecular characterization of Salmonella enterica serotype Typhi isolated from patients of typhoid fever in Kolkata, India." She came to the United States for postdoctoral studies in 2009 at the University of Virginia on "Iron Uptake mechanism of Francisella tularensis, a type A select agent." In 2011, she joined Drexel and now works to understand the molecular basis of bacterial pathogenesis and antibiotic resistance in Acinetobacter baumannii, Streptococcus pneumoniae, and Haemophilus influenzae, among other bacteria.

Originally from southern New Jersey, Laura moved to Philadelphia in 2006 to attend Temple University where she earned her bachelor of science in biology. In 2010, she began the Interdisciplinary Health Science program at Drexel University College of Medicine and completed her master of science with a concentration in biochemical and pharmacologic principles in 2012. Her project focused on the role of extracellular signal related kinases and beta-catenin signaling in the Tsk2/+ mouse. She left Drexel for a short time to work as a biotechnician in Merck's Manufacturing Division of the Varicella zoster virus vaccine. She then worked as a research biologist for Dynamis Therapeutics, where she studied the effects of a variety of natural cell stimulants and inhibitors. She joined the CAMP team in 2014 and studied Haemophilus influenza alongside Dr. Benjamin Janto.

Archana is a bioinformatician. Her area of interest is microbiomics and analyses of large datasets from current generation sequencing technology. While at Drexel, Archana spent most of her time programming software for developing new custom analyses pipelines and creating visualizations to summarize and illustrate results of these analyses.

Ariel Gonzalez was a technician in the laboratory of Dr. Joshua Chang Mell while studying the environmental and evolutionary mechanisms responsible for genetic recombination in Haemophilus influenzae. His project focused on studying the transformation frequencies of wild type and mutant H. influenzae when introduced to DNA from donors of increasing divergence within the genus Haemophilus. Prior to arriving at Drexel, Ariel spent the last three and a half years working in the pharmaceutical industry, optimizing procedures for a viral potency assay designed to test the efficacy of shingles and chickenpox vaccines. Ariel graduated with a bachelor of science in molecular and cell biology, and ecology and evolutionary biology from the University of Connecticut, where his undergraduate research thesis focused on the mechanisms of stem cell lineages involved in early mouse embryogenesis.

In his spare time, Ariel participates in philanthropic charity projects through his fraternity, Lodge No. 2 of the Free & Accepted Masons of Pennsylvania.

Eric was an MD/PhD candidate in biomedical engineering who was advised by Drs. Garth Ehrlich and Ming Xiao. Eric studied biomedical engineering at Rutgers University and spent some time working in the biotechnology industry before coming to Drexel's MD/PhD program. His research included characterizing occult orthopaedic biofilm infections and developing optical genome mapping technologies.

Steven holds a bachelor of science in biology with microbiology concentration from West Chester University of Pennsylvania. As a research assistant at WCU, Steven performed experiments investigating the behavioral effects of various compounds in planarians. Before joining Drexel, Steven worked in the biopharmaceutical industry producing monoclonal antibodies. As a research assistant for the Genomics Core Facility, Steven performed nucleic acid quantitation, library construction and next-generation sequencing in coordination with the Center for Advanced Microbial Processing. In his free time, Steven enjoys playing the drum kit and listening to music.

BS, Medical Technology, University of Delaware (2008)
PhD, Microbiology & Immunology, Drexel University (2020)

After graduating from the University of Delaware, Kevin obtained his certification as a medical laboratory scientist with expertise in the fields of clinical chemistry, hematology, transfusion medicine and clinical microbiology. He then worked in an infectious disease laboratory for three years in the bacteriology, virology, mycology and parasitology departments. During this time, he found his passion for the field of microbiology and immunology. Kevin then took a job at the Center for Neurodegenerative Disease Research (CNDR) at the University of Pennsylvania. At CNDR, he learned the skills and techniques that are required to perform basic research.

The primary focus of Kevin's research at Drexel was the identification and characterization of virulence factors in the bacteria Haemophilus influenzae in an ear infection (otitis media) model. H. influenzae is an opportunistic pathogen of the upper respiratory tract and is the cause of considerable morbidly globally, primarily in children. Using both phenotypic selection assays along with statistical genetics, he aimed to gain a better mechanistic understanding how H. influenzae causes otitis media infections.