Katrina Velle, PhD
Katrina Velle is a cell biologist interested in cytoskeleton-driven phenotypes and pathogenic microbes. She is investigating the contributions of actin networks to cell migration, cell division, and osmoregulation in Naegleria, including the “brain-eating amoeba.” She received her PhD in Molecular and Cell Biology from UConn in 2018, and worked with Dr. Fritz-Laylin at UMass Amherst for her postdoctoral research. She is now an Assistant Professor of Integrative Biology at UMass Dartmouth. Her work has been supported by an NIH F32 fellowship (NIAID), an NIH K99/R00 Award (NIGMS), and Amazing Aven's Quest for Amoeba Awareness.
Tania Martín Pérez, PhD
Tania Martín Pérez is a parasitologist interested in the pathogenic mechanisms of free-living amoeba, free-living amoeba-host interactions, drug targets and drug screening. She received her PhD in Health Science from University of Alcalá (Spain) in 2020. After her PhD, she was awarded a Lise Meitner grant funded by the Austrian Science Fund. This award enables highly qualified post-doctoral researchers from abroad to work at research institutions in Austria. In Austria, Tania worked with Dr. Walochnik and Dr. Leitsch at Medical Unviersity of Vienna. She joined the Velle lab in June 2024 to investigate the contributions of actin networks to cell migration in Naegleria fowleri and N. gruberi.
Samantha Jacques
Samantha Jacques is an undergraduate honors biology student at UMass Dartmouth. She is interested in biomedical science and plans to pursue an MD. She is also an avid reader and enjoys fantasy books.
Teodoro Tapia Carrasco
Teodoro Tapia Carrasco is an undergraduate at UMass Dartmouth, who aims to study microbiology and immunology, and has an interest in biochemistry! He is aiming for a Masters or PhD. He loves to hike, spend time in nature, and used to draw professionally!