Silvia N J Moreno, Professor, Principal Investigator of the group Silvia obtained her Ph.D. from the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina. She was a post-doc fellow at the National Institutes of Environmental Health Science, North Carolina where she learnt electron spin resonance spectroscopy to characterize nitro anion radicals. She was Visiting Assistant Professor at the Rockefeller University where she learnt to work with Trypanosoma brucei. She joined the faculty of the Department of Pathobiology at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign and in 2005 moved to the University of Georgia and became Professor of the Department of Cellular Biology. Silvia is presently Distinguished Research Professor of Cellular Biology and she is a member of the Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases (CTEGD) at the University of Georgia (UGA). Zhu Hong Li, Associate Research Scientist, CTEGD Zhu-Hong received his bachelor’s degree from Wuhan University in China and a Master and PhD degree from the Chinese Academy of Medical College and Peking Union Medical College. He did post-doctoral training at the Dept of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at UGA. Zhu-Hong is a trained biochemist and molecular biologist with extensive experience in lab animal work. His Master work was studying Multidrug resistance and p53 gene in cancer cells. His doctoral work was about targeted gene therapy. During his postdoctoral work he worked on the characterization of mammalian telomerases and snoRNAs. Since 2006 he has been working at the CTEGD in projects involving drug targets of trypanosomatids and apicomplexan parasites and more specifically with drugs that inhibit the isoprenoid pathway. He has published more than 40 papers in peer reviewed journals. His present project is on the role of the SERCA Calcium ATPase in the lytic cycle of Toxoplasma. Andrea Hortua Triana, Assistant Research Scientist, CTEGD Andrea received her Bachelor in Biological Sciences from Francisco José de Caldas University, and her Master in Parasitology and a Ph.D. in Biological Science from Los Andes University in Colombia. Andrea worked on diagnostic tools for the congenital detection of T. gondii in the amniotic fluid and studied seroprevalence of T. gondii in pregnant women in a public hospital in Bogota, Colombia. She later focused her work on the novo pyrimidine biosynthesis of T. gondii for the identification of new drug targets. She did post-doctoral work at the Geisel School of Medicine, Dartmouth where she also acted as accountant of the Post-Doctoral Association. She joined UGA and the CTEGD in 2014 to study calcium signaling and the lytic cycle of T. gondii. Recently she became interested in the characterization of the inositol polyphosphate pathway, an unexplored pathway in T. gondii. In the lab she is in charge of the production of antibodies in mice and guinea pigs, and biosafety rule implementations and trainings. In her free time, Andrea volunteers for MIRAUSA a non-profit organization that promotes the social integration of immigrants in the US. She also, participates in the American Red Cross program: Saving lives. Andrea is also a proud German Shepperd mom! Melissa Sleda, PhD Candidate, Cellular Biology Melissa received a Bachelor degree from Lawrence Technological University (LTU), where she graduated as the top female student and was awarded the Ed Donley Distinguished Graduate. She was accepted by the UGA ILS program Fall 2018. During her time at UGA, Melissa acted as the President of the CTEGD grad student association (CTEGD GSA) and treasurer of the Cell Biology grad student association (CBGSA). She is presently working on discovering new drugs for future treatment of the Toxoplasma chronic infection. Her focus is on mitochondrial targets including enzymes of the ubiquinone synthesis pathway. She presented her work for the International Conference on Toxoplasmosis, 2022 and the Molecular Parasitology Meeting, 2021. Katherine Moen, Graduate Student, Cellular Biology Katie received her bachelor's degree in Biology from Georgia College and State University in December 2018. She was accepted into the Cellular Biology Master’s program at the University of Georgia, fall 2019 and changed her graduate program to Ph.D. in 2021. During her time at UGA, Katie acted as treasurer of the CTEGD grad student association (CTEGD GSA) and treasurer of the cellular biology grad student association (CBGSA). She studies Calcium signaling in Toxoplasma gondii and her interest is in the characterization of Calcium binding proteins and protein disulfide isomerases of the Endoplasmic Reticulum. She was recently appointed to the Training grant on Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases. She presented her work for the Annual Molecular Parasitology and Vector Biology Symposium, 2022. Baihetiya Baierna, PhD Candidate, Cellular Biology Barna received a bachelor of science majoring in Biochemistry from the University of Maryland Baltimore County. She joined the Master’s program of Cellular Biology fall 2020 and changed her graduate program to Ph.D. in 2021. She is working on the synthesis of ubiquinone of Toxoplasma gondii with focus on finding targets for future chemotherapeutic approaches for Toxoplasmosis and other apicomplexan parasites. She presented her work for the Annual Molecular Parasitology and Vector Biology Symposium, 2022 and the Cellular Biology of Eukaryotic Pathogens conference, 2022 and the Molecular Parasitology Meeting, 2022. Juan Camilo Arenas Garcia, Graduate Student, Cellular Biology Juan Camilo received his bachelor of science in biology from the University of Quindío in Colombia March 2017. During his undergraduate training he did in silico research on the identification and characterization of adhesion molecules of Eimeria tenella, Sarcocystis neurona and Hammondia hammondi. He later obtained a Master in Biomedical Sciences from the University of Quindío in Colombia. For his master thesis, he worked in the in silico prediction and in vitro evaluation of Toxoplasma gondii ROP5 kinase inhibitory peptides as a potential anti-toxoplasma strategy. He was accepted by the University of Georgia ILS program Fall 2021 and joined the Ph.D. in Cellular Biology Spring 2022. He is working on the role of polyphosphates in the T. gondii infection with a focus on the characterization of the vacuolar transporter chaperone proteins VTC2 and VTC4. Abdul Malik Hussein, Graduate Student, Cellular Biology Malik obtained his bachelor of applied Biology from the University for development Studies, in Tamale, Northern Ghana. He was accepted into the Cellular Biology graduate program at UGA Fall 2022 and joined the Moreno lab Spring 2023. Justin Berry, Lab Technician
