Lisa Wagar, PhD is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Physiology and Biophysics at the University of California, Irvine where her lab studies human vaccine responses and develops tools to investigate human adaptive immunity. Lisa is passionate about translational human immunology and collaborative efforts to improve and accelerate vaccine design for infectious diseases of global concern. UC Irvine is uniquely situated for multidisciplinary and collaborative efforts in vaccine immunology, with abundant interactions between the Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Institute for Immunology, Center for Virus Research, and the Vaccine R&D Center. The mission of the Wagar lab is to accelerate vaccine design and immunotherapies to ultimately understand, treat, and prevent human disease. Dr. Wagar received her PhD in Immunology (2013) at the University of Toronto under the mentorship of Dr. Tania Watts. During her doctoral work, Lisa completed projects related to human T cell responses against influenza and developed vaccination strategies to promote long-term protection against influenza. She then went on to a postdoctoral fellowship in Dr. Mark Davis’s lab at Stanford University, where she developed immune organoid technologies for investigating human adaptive immune responses to infectious diseases and vaccines in vitro.

Mahina Mitul grew up in Rangpur, a small town in Bangladesh. She completed a bachelors and a masters degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh. Following her research passion, Mahina moved to the Netherlands and completed a masters degree in Infection & Immunity from Erasmus University Rotterdam. During her masters research, she explored how the functions of innate immune cells are modulated by micronutrients, the tissue microenvironment, and histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors. She determined how these factors direct the effector immune response in the contexts of infectious diseases and in autoimmune conditions. Aside from research, Mahina is passionate about teaching. She taught Biochemistry and Biotechnology undergraduate students at the Independent University Bangladesh for several years. Mahina is performing her doctoral research in the Wagar lab and is studying sex-based differences in the human vaccine response.

Zach Wagoner is a SoCal native born and raised in Lakewood, California. He graduated from California State University Long Beach (CSULB) in 2016 with a bachelors in general biology where he studied complement protein 1q and its ability to modulate immune cell function in atherosclerosis. Following graduation, he was accepted to the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine Bridges to Stem Cell Research & Therapy Program, which brought Zach to UCI. During this time, he investigated how epigenetic modifications influence the stable expression of multi-gene constructs in vivo. Zach was admitted to the CMB Graduate Program and is now pursuing his PhD in the Wagar lab. His interests lie in utilizing tonsil organoids to better understand how vaccines elicit protective responses and using this information to guide new vaccine design. Outside of the lab, Zach enjoys gaming with friends, trying out new food and beer, and hiking and camping in the great outdoors.

Suhas Sureshchandra, PhD joined the Wagar lab in Autumn 2021 as a postdoctoral fellow. He received his engineering in biotechnology degree in Bangalore, India, and holds a master’s degree in bioinformatics from Indiana University, Bloomington, and a Ph.D. (2020) inImmunology from UC Irvine. His doctoral work under Dr. Ilhem Messaoudi focused on elucidating maternal and fetal myeloid cell adaptations with pregravid obesity. In the Wagar lab, Suhas is interested in leveraging the tonsil organoid system to study the contribution of T cells in the development of a durable humoral response to vaccines and pathogens. He is passionate about using an integrative systems approach that combines molecular, immunological, and clinical readouts to identify correlates of protection under different vaccine modalities. Outside of work, Suhas is an avid traveler and loves exploring the California coast on the weekends. He is also a huge fan of history and food documentaries.

Erika Joloya is a long-time anteater and graduated from UC Irvine with a B.S in Developmental & Cell Biology in 2021. Before grad school, she studied how endocrine disrupting chemicals resulted in predisposition to obesity. Now a PhD student in the Wagar lab, Erika’s research interests include studying cross-reactive flu antibodies and differential host responses to vaccines. Erika is passionate about outreach and scientific literacy. Outside of lab, Erika loves to read, crochet, eat at Shabu Shabu, and spend time with her dog and family.

Timothy Yates, PhD is a bioinformatics programmer in the Wagar laboratory. He completed his PhD at the University of Tennessee and Oak Ridge National Laboratory in the lab of Dr. Wellington Muchero. During graduate school, he studied genome evolution in bioenergy crops and had side projects in human genomics. He is passionate about applying bioinformatics methods to multi-omics data to derive biological insight. Outside of lab, Tim enjoys spending time with friends and family, hiking, camping, and playing beach volleyball.

Samuel Kim is a SoCal native and obtained his B.S. in Microbiology and Immunology from UC Irvine. He is currently preparing to apply to graduate school. His prior research experience was in Dr. Melissa Lodoen’s lab, where Sam studied the cellular and molecular interactions between the protozoan pathogen Toxoplasma gondii and the host immune system. His research interests include innate adaptive immune interactions, host pathogen interactions, and genetic engineering. He previously worked as a medical assistant and phlebotomist, and administered vaccines during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Outside of work, Sam enjoys listening to music, hanging out with friends, and gardening.

Siyuan (Lily) Cheng, PhD was born and raised in China. She received her BS in Biology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She then completed her PhD in Genetics in Dr. Stefania Nicoli’s lab at Yale University, where she studied vascular smooth muscle cell differentiation. Lily examined development of vertebrate brain arteries using confocal fluorescence microscopy in the zebrafish model. Lily joined the Wagar Lab in December 2023 as a postdoctoral scholar; she is investigating the development and source of anti-drug antibody responses. She is excited about translational immunology and improving human health. Outside of the lab, she enjoys time with family and friends, Duolingo, and classical Chinese literature.

Jenna Kastenschmidt, PhD is an immunologist and research specialist in the Wagar laboratory. She completed her BS in Human Biology in 2010 at Minnesota State University, Mankato and holds a PhD (2020) in Immunology from the University for California, Irvine. Jenna completed her dissertation under the mentorship of Dr. Armando Villalta, where her work focused on understanding the immune regulation of tissue repair and regeneration, specifically in the context of muscular dystrophy. In addition to all things immunology, Jenna is passionate about tool development and research commercialization, as well as the business side of science. She is excited about translational research and contributing to the future of human health. When not in the lab, she enjoys spending time with family and friends, cooking, and yoga. Jenna left the lab in November 2023 for a Senior Scientist position at Roche in Basel, Switzerland.

Andrew Sorn is a SoCal native that recently completed a B.S. in Biological Sciences at UC Irvine and is preparing for a career in medicine. Andrew has previously done research under Dr. Brad Hughes in K-12 educational development and under Dr. Armando Villalta in muscle immunology. His life science research interests include immunology, exercise physiology, and bioinformatics. His clinical research interests include rural and underserved health, physician burnout, trauma/acute care medicine, and precision medicine. Andrew previously worked in healthcare as an EMT and as an EKG technician. His ultimate goal is to become an academic physician focused in trauma care or emergency medicine. Outside of school, Andrew enjoys photography, cinematography, and cars as hobbies and enjoys Olympic weightlifting and good food. Andrew left the lab in June 2023 to train in a postbac program that will lead to a career in medicine.

Kyle Batucal is a Computer Science undergraduate student in the lab. Specializing in artificial intelligence and minoring in both Statistics and Bioinformatics, Kyle is interested in applying his knowledge in characterizing the TCR repertoires of different tissues and understanding inter-individual differences in the function and phenotypes of T cells. Kyle plans to pursue a PhD in Computer Science and continue applying his skills to other biological fields. When he is not busy at the lab, Kyle enjoys sim-racing, playing chess, and practicing at the archery range. Kyle completed his undergraduate studies in 2023 and received his Bachelors of Computer Science.

Aviv Benchorin is a San Francisco Bay Area native and a Computer Scientist. Aviv has previously done bioinformatics work under Dr. J.J. Emerson at UC Irvine and Dr. Minoree Kohwi at Columbia University, where he primarily helped perform DNA-Seq and RNA-Seq analyses on Drosophila Melanogaster. Aviv is interested in applying his knowledge in machine learning to the study of immunogenicity in human tonsil organoids, with the goal of building predictive models for vaccine efficacy. Aviv did critical work on establishing an analysis pipeline for single-cell RNAseq and repertoire data and completed his undergraduate honors thesis in the Wagar lab. Aviv graduated from UCI with an honors Bachelors degree in Computer Science in June 2022.