Meet the team

Diana-K-Morales

Diana K. Morales, Ph.D.

Principal Investigator

Assistant Professor of Microbiology and Immunology

Current Members

Wiam A.M. Madani

PhD Student, IMP Graduate Program

Reditha Yousafo

High School Senior Student

Haoyu Zheng

Research Technician

Chen Tan, Ph.D.

Research Specialist and Lab Manager

Former Members

Kylie Huber.

Period: June – August 2024

Position/Site: Undergraduate student, Cornell University.

Project: Investigating the Mechanisms of Gut Barrier Translocation by Enterococcus faecalis.

Yusibeska Ramos, Ph.D.

Period: 2017 – April 2024

Position/Site: Postdoctoral Fellow and Research Associate

Project: Molecular programs driving surface invasion by Enterococcal multicellular communities.

Ashley Llenas.

Period: June 2023

Position/Site: Traveller Research Fellow

Project: Investigating the Mechanisms of Gut Barrier Translocation by Enterococcus faecalis.

Stephanie Sansone, M.D.

Period: January 2021 – June 2023

Position/Site: Urology Clinical Fellow

Project: Tissue penetration and invasion by Enterococci: Implications for the female reproductive tract.

Recipient of the June Allyson Memorial Fund Research Award Grant

Current Position: Urologist at the Hackensack Meridian Health.

Melanie Collana

Period: June 2019 – September 2019

Position/Site: High School Summer Research Program

Project:  Exopolysaccharides as drivers of surface penetration by Enterococcus faecalis.

Current Position: Undergraduate student at Stony Brook University.