James Martinez is a Research Assistant II in iCore at the Vanderbilt Vaccine Center. He completed a B.S. in Cell Biology from the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor and an M.S. from Lipscomb University. His graduate research at Lipscomb University focused on Necrotizing Enterocolitis and the involvement of the Unfolded Protein Response pathway.
Dr. Ravera received her M.Sc. in Pharmaceutical Chemistry from the University of Turin, Italy, and her Ph.D. in Physiology from the University of Zurich, Switzerland. During this time, she learned a great deal about the structure and function of membrane proteins to investigate the mechanism, localization, and regulation of phosphate transporters in the kidney. During her post-doctoral training in the laboratory of Dr. Gary Rudnick in the Department of Pharmacology at Yale, she gained experience with bacterial transporters and developed skills in the purification and reconstitution of membrane proteins such as LeuT. In 2012, she became a member of the laboratory of Dr. Nancy Carrasco in the Department of Cellular and Molecular Physiology at Yale to work on the Na+/I- symporter (NIS), a protein of significant physiological and medical relevance. She studied the optimization of a viral vector for gene therapy using NIS as a reporter gene. She characterized NIS's binding, expression, and purification for structural studies and ultimately determined the 3D structure by cryo-EM.
Lynn joined the Crowe lab in 2022. Previously, she spent sixteen years in the Roden lab at VUMC studying differences in cardiac ion channel expression and function using transgenic mice and cardiomyocytes induced from pluripotent stem cells. Lynn received her bachelor’s degree from Stanford University.
Gabriel Herndon is an application developer in the VVC. Gabriel has worked in the film and technology industry. He uses his creative and technological outlook to create computer and mobile applications to make people’s lives and workflow easier and more efficient. He is interested in design, machine-learning, and in-depth comprehension of users’ interactions.
Ty Sornberger is a graduate student in the Department of Pathology, Microbiology, and Immunology at Vanderbilt University, mentored by Dr. James E. Crowe, Jr. He graduated from Pennsylvania State University in 2020 with a B.S. in Immunology & Infectious Disease and a B.S. in Pharmacology & Toxicology. His undergraduate research compared the pathology of a novel influenza D virus to established human influenza A, B, and C viruses in human lung cells. Upon graduation, Ty worked in the Pennsylvania State University COVID-19 Testing and Surveillance Center (TASC), running clinical diagnostic tests for SARS-CoV-2 and assisting with research projects involving SARS-CoV-2 and High-Pathogenicity Avian Influenza (HPAI). Ty entered Vanderbilt University through the Interdisciplinary Graduate Program (IGP) in Fall 2021 and joined the Crowe Lab in Spring 2022. His current research focuses on isolating and characterizing human antibodies against influenza viruses.
Dr. Buchman graduated from Marshall University in his hometown of Huntington, WV in 2011. While there he earned his B.S. in Biochemistry, was a John Marshall scholar, and was awarded Outstanding Graduating Chemist. He then moved to Indianapolis, IN where he completed his doctorate in Biochemistry & Molecular Biology in 2016 under the guidance of Dr. Thomas Hurley at the Indiana University School of Medicine. His dissertation was focused on discovering, characterizing, and optimizing isozyme-selective inhibitors of the aldehyde dehydrogenase family using X-ray crystallography and biochemical techniques. In 2017 he accepted a post-doctoral training position at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital where he initiated the structural biology program in the lab of Dr. Taosheng Chen.
Dr. Buchman joined the Crowe Lab as a staff scientist in 2021 where he studies the structure of antibodies, antigens, and the interactions between them.
Stacey earned her masters degree in Biotechnology at Stephen F. Austin State University. She comes to us from the Vanderbilt Antibody and Protein Resource. She has extensive training in protein expression, purification, molecular biology, and structural biology. She also trained with Borden Lacy and Ben Spiller. Stacey will transition into the iCore team leader.
Janee started her career with Vanderbilt in 2013 as a Patient Service Representative and quickly moved to Pre-Appointment Coordinator then a Senior Access Coordinator all in the department of Pediatrics Otolaryngology. In 2018 she then moved to Liver Transplant and Hepatobiliary Surgery as a Senior Administrative Assistant. She enjoys traveling, watching movies and spending time with my family.
Laura is a graduate student trainee in the IGP program. She received a B.E. in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering from Vanderbilt University in Spring 2021. Her previous experience includes a lab technician role in a pharmaceutical company in Honduras, a Research and Development internship at a Biofermentation laboratory at Estee Lauder, and a Research and Development internship at SmileDirectClub. She previously supported the Crowe Lab as a member of the iCore team focused on protein expression.
Heather is originally from Lindenhurst, Illinois – about halfway between Chicago, IL and Milwaukee, WI. She graduated from University of Wisconsin Parkside, where she earned her Bachelors degree in Biology with a minor in Chemistry. She started her research career at Vanderbilt in 2009 as a research assistant in the Center for Structural Biology Megalab. In 2015, Heather joined the laboratory of Prof. Jens Meiler as laboratory manager then Manager of Research Programs. She contributed to research projects on the structural characterization of HoxA11 and structure determination of DsbB using paramagnetic restraints. She joined the Crowe Lab in April 2021 as Sr. Program Manager
Although research was the foundation of her training, she took an interest in the administrative side of research. To improve her skill set, Heather regularly attends conferences offered by both NCURA and SRAi where she has received certificates in Fundamentals of Sponsored Project Administration, Departmental Research Administration, Leadership, Financial Management, Research Integrity, and Research Law. She holds a PMP certification and is a current Project Management Institute (PMI) and Society of Research Administrators International (SRAi) member. Heather was named an SRAi 'Future of the Field' honoree in 2022.