Current members
Dr. Laty A. Cahoon (she/her)
Laty grew up in the Los Angeles San Fernando Valley. She attended UCLA for undergrad and earned a BS in Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics with a minor in Latin American Studies. She earned her Ph.D. at Northwestern University in Chicago with Dr. Hank Seifert studying pilin antigenic variation in the Gram-negative bacteria Neisseria gonorrhoeae. She performed her postdoctoral research at the University of Illinois at Chicago with Dr. Nancy Freitag, studying Gram-positive bacterial secretion mechanisms in Listeria monocytogenes and Streptococcus pneumoniae. Fun facts: when not actively spending time with her kids, Laty enjoys embroidery, vegetable gardening, watching scary movies, and reading horror novels! She also loves animals and has 3 cats and a dog.
Laty grew up in the Los Angeles San Fernando Valley. She attended UCLA for undergrad and earned a BS in Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics with a minor in Latin American Studies. She earned her Ph.D. at Northwestern University in Chicago with Dr. Hank Seifert studying pilin antigenic variation in the Gram-negative bacteria Neisseria gonorrhoeae. She performed her postdoctoral research at the University of Illinois at Chicago with Dr. Nancy Freitag, studying Gram-positive bacterial secretion mechanisms in Listeria monocytogenes and Streptococcus pneumoniae. Fun facts: when not actively spending time with her kids, Laty enjoys embroidery, vegetable gardening, watching scary movies, and reading horror novels! She also loves animals and has 3 cats and a dog.
Jada George (she/her)
Jada completed her undergraduate degree in Biology at Brandeis University where she also worked as an undergraduate researcher in the lab of Dr. Sue Paradis. Her work focuses on investigating the client proteins of Gram-positive secretion chaperones involved in host cell adhesion. In her free time, Jada likes to read, bake, watch 2000's romcoms and paint.
Charles Agbavor (he/him)
Charles comes from Ghana, West Africa. He acquired his B.S in Medical Lab. Technology/Biomedical science at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, KNUST-Kumasi. In 2018, he moved to the USA and completed his MS in Biology in Dr. Wait’s lab at the Missouri State University. He joined the Cahoon lab in April 2021 and he’s actively working to elucidate the mechanism and regulation of cyclophilin-like interaction and interactome of client proteins in streptococci species. Charles likes jogging, running, and lifting weights. When he is not actively performing any experiments, he enjoys watching soccer, horror movies, and animations. Fun fact: Charles likes to read books and keep tabs on books that he reads all year round.
Charles comes from Ghana, West Africa. He acquired his B.S in Medical Lab. Technology/Biomedical science at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, KNUST-Kumasi. In 2018, he moved to the USA and completed his MS in Biology in Dr. Wait’s lab at the Missouri State University. He joined the Cahoon lab in April 2021 and he’s actively working to elucidate the mechanism and regulation of cyclophilin-like interaction and interactome of client proteins in streptococci species. Charles likes jogging, running, and lifting weights. When he is not actively performing any experiments, he enjoys watching soccer, horror movies, and animations. Fun fact: Charles likes to read books and keep tabs on books that he reads all year round.
Allison Kumar (she/her)
Allison is from Northern Virginia and graduated from the University of Virginia in 2022. She completed her degree in Biology and performed undergrad research in Dr. Sean Moore’s lab and also participated in iGEM. Allison joined the Cahoon lab in Spring 2023, where she’s investigating the mechanisms underlying the serine-rich tail of PrsA2, an important secretion chaperone. Other than science, Allison enjoys watching and playing soccer (go City!) and basketball, going on walks/hiking, and finding new places to eat.
Allison is from Northern Virginia and graduated from the University of Virginia in 2022. She completed her degree in Biology and performed undergrad research in Dr. Sean Moore’s lab and also participated in iGEM. Allison joined the Cahoon lab in Spring 2023, where she’s investigating the mechanisms underlying the serine-rich tail of PrsA2, an important secretion chaperone. Other than science, Allison enjoys watching and playing soccer (go City!) and basketball, going on walks/hiking, and finding new places to eat.
Past members
Madeline Torres M.S. (she/her)
Madeline's project focused on the interactions between PrsA, a molecular chaperone in Gram-positive bacteria, with other secreted virulence factors and how that relationship shapes bacterial virulence. Prior to her Hot Metal Bridge Post-Baccalaureate program at UPitt, she attended the University of Delaware where she studied Pre-Veterinary Medicine. Outside of research, she enjoys the arts, video games and hanging out with her chonky cat, Asiago. She is an avid coffee drinker (and former barista), loves listening to music and experimenting with new cooking and baking recipes.
Emily Graves - Undergraduate