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Research Group

Vaccine Group 2014
Front row (from left): Balaji Narasimhan, Julia Vela-Ramirez, Danielle Wagner, Rebecca Cademartiri, and Michael Wannemuehler
Back row (from left): Bryan Bellaire, Joseph Cicchese, Paul Lueth, Andrea Binnebose, Jonathan Goodman, Ross Darling, Shannon Haughney, Tim Brenza, Kathleen Ross, and Qun Wang
Not pictured: Paola Boggiatto, Lucas Dunshee, Colin Lock, Stephanie Nguengoue, and Akash Mitra.

Principal Investigators

Balaji Narasimhan, PhD    /    E-mail: nbalaji@iastate.edu    •   Lab Location: 2035 Sweeney Hall
Hi! My name is Balaji Narasimhan and I am the Vlasta Klima Balloun Professor in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at Iowa State. I received my PhD from Purdue University and my BTech from the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, both in Chemical Engineering. I performed postdoctoral research at MIT. My current research interests are in engineered biomaterials for controlled delivery of drugs, peptides, and vaccines, nanoscale manipulation of multiphase polymeric materials, bio-inspired materials, nanoparticles, and combinatorial materials science.
Michael Wannemuehler, PhDMichael Wannemuehler, PhD    /    E-mail: mjwannem@iastate.edu    •   Lab Location: 2178 Vet Med
Hi! My name is Michael Wannemuehler and I am a Professor and Chair in the Department of Veterinary Microbiology and Preventive Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine at Iowa State. I received my PhD in Microbiology and Immunology from the University of Louisville, my MS in Microbiology was from Idaho State University, and my Bachelor’s degree in Microbiology was received from Purdue University. I completed my postdoctoral research at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. My current research interests include the study of T and B cell responses induced using novel nanoparticle vaccine formulations including the induction of long-lived immunity (using mice and livestock species), and understanding the interactions between the intestinal microbiota and the host as it relates to gastrointestinal inflammation, immune responsiveness, gut-brain axis, and behavior.  These studies utilize both gnotobiotic (i.e., defined microbiota) and conventional mice.
Bryan Bellaire, PhDBryan Belliare, PhD    /    E-mail: bbella@iastate.edu    •   Lab Location: 1136 Vet Med
Hi! My name is Bryan Bellaire and I am an Associate Professor in the Department of Veterinary Microbiology and Preventive Medicine at Iowa State and serve as the Director for the Biosafety Level 3 Laboratory in the College of Veterinary Medicine. I received my Bachelors degree in Microbiology from Northern Arizona University and my PhD from Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center – Shreveport in Microbiology studying virulence mechanisms of bacterial pathogens. I then went outside my discipline to study host responses to pathogens also at LSUHSC. My current research interests are in developing improved vaccines and therapeutics against highly infectious and chronic bacterial pathogens using nanomaterials developed in collaboration with Balaji’s lab.
Rebecca CademartiriRebecca Cademartiri, PhD    /    E-mail: rcademar@iastate.edu    •   Lab Location: 1031 Sweeney Hall
Hi! My name is Rebecca Cademartiri and I am an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Departments of Chemical and Biological Engineering and Materials Science and Engineering at Iowa State. I received my PhD in Physical Chemistry from the University of Potsdam and my Diploma from the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, in Organic Chemistry. I performed postdoctoral research at McMaster University, Tufts University and Harvard University. My current research interests are in interactions of biological entities, especially bacteriophages, with materials for detection of bacteria, protection of plants, animals and humans from bacterial infections; and treatment of bacterial infections in animals and humans.
Qun Wang, PhD    /    E-mail: qunwang@iastate.edu    •   Lab Location: 2114 Sweeney Hall
Hi! My name is Qun Wang and I am an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Departments of Chemical and Biological Engineering and Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering at Iowa State. I received PhDs in Chemical Engineering from the University of Kansas and in Environmental Science and Engineering from Wuhan University. I also received MS and BS degrees in Environmental Engineering from Wuhan and Zhejiang University, respectively. I was a Jorge Heller Postdoctoral Fellow at the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology. My current research interests are focused on integrating materials science, stem cells, microfabrication, and pharmaceutical chemistry to address ago develop functional materials for biomedicine.

Postdoctoral Scientists

Kathleen Ross Kathleen Ross, PhD    /    E-mail: kaross09@iastate.edu    •   Lab Location: 2114 Sweeney Hall
Hi! My name is Kathleen Ross and I am a postdoc in Chemical Engineering. I received my PhD in Chemical Engineering from Iowa State and a BS in Biomedical Engineering from Michigan Tech. I am currently working on designing vaccines against viruses that affect shrimp. My research interests are in the areas of nanovaccine development against influenza and other viruses and in understanding T cell function upon immunization with nanovaccines.

Doctoral Students

Andrea BinneboseAndrea Binnebose    /    E-mail: ambinne@iastate.edu    •   Lab Location: 2178 Vet Med
Hi! I am Andrea Binnebose and I am a doctoral student in Veterinary Microbiology, working together with Bryan and Balaji. I received my BS degree in Biology from Marian University and I am part of the microbiology program at Iowa State. My PhD thesis is focused on the development of nanoparticle-based therapeutics against filarial disease.
Ross DarlingRoss Darling    /    E-mail: rdarling@iastate.edu    •   Lab Location: 1138 Vet Med
Hi! I am Ross Darling and I am a doctoral student in Veterinary Microbiology, working together with Mike and Balaji. I received my BS degree in Biology from Iowa State University and I am part of the immunobiology graduate program at Iowa State. My doctoral thesis is focused on the development of nanovaccine-based therapies against cancer.
Sean KellySean Kelly    /    E-mail: smkelly@iastate.edu    •   Lab Location: 2114 Sweeney Hall
Hi! I am Sean Kelly and I am a doctoral student in Chemical Engineering, working with Balaji and Mike. I received my BS in Chemical Engineering from Colorado State University and am completing a minor in immunobiology at Iowa State. My doctoral thesis is focused on designing combination nanovaccines against bacterial infections of the lungs.
Adam Mullis    /    E-mail: asmullis@iastate.edu    •   Lab Location: 2114 Sweeney Hall
Hi! I am Adam Mullis and I am a doctoral student in Chemical Engineering, working with Balaji and Bryan. I received my BS in Chemical Engineering from North Carolina State University and am completing a minor in immunobiology at Iowa State. My doctoral thesis is focused on designing nanotherapeutics against tropical diseases, especially antimicrobial resistant strains of bacteria.
Ben Schlichtmann    /    E-mail: bws@iastate.edu    •   Lab Location: 2114 Sweeney Hall
Hi! I am Ben Schlichtmann and I am a graduate student in Chemical
Engineering, working with Surya and Balaji. I received my BS in Biomedical Enginering from Penn State. I am working on designing functionalized nanoparticles that can carry payloads across the blood brain barrier to address neurotoxicity, neuroinflammation, and oxidative stress caused by neurodegenerative conditions such as Parkinson’s Disease.
Sujata SenapatiSujata Senapati   /   E-mail: sujata@iastate.edu   •   Lab Location:2114 Sweeney Hall
Hi! I am Sujata Senapati and I am a doctoral student in Chemical Engineering, working with Balaji, Surya, Mike, ad Marian. I received a BE from Jadavpur University and a MTech from IIT Kanpur, both in India and am part of the immunobiology program at Iowa State. My PhD thesis is on the molecular design of combination nanovaccines against influenza, particularly for the aged.
Danielle WagnerDanielle Wagner    /    E-mail: dawagner@iastate.edu    •   Lab Location: 2178 Vet Med
Hi! I am Danielle Wagner and I am a doctoral student in Veterinary Microbiology, working with Mike and Balaji. I received my BS in Zoology from Missouri Western State University and I am part of the immunobiology program at Iowa State. My PhD thesis is focused on characterizing the B cell response elicited by immunization with nanovaccines.

 Undergraduate Students

Akash MitraAkash Mitra    /    E-mail: akash@iastate.edu
Hi! My name is Akash Mitra and I am an undergraduate student in Chemical Engineering. I am working with Sean on combination nanovaccines.

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Balaji Narasimhan
2035 Sweeney Hall, Ames, Iowa 50011-2230
E-mail: nbalaji@iastate.edu
Office: 515-294-8019 • Fax: 515-294-2689
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