The PI

Elsa Bou Ghanem, PhD

Elsa is an Associate Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the University at Buffalo (UB). She is originally from Lebanon where she received her bachelor’s degree in medical lab science and master’s degree in immunology at the American University of Beirut. She then moved to the United States to continue her studies. She received her Ph.D. in microbiology and immunology at the University of Kentucky where she performed her thesis work on Listeria monocytogenes developing natural feeding models to more closely mimic human intestinal infections in the laboratory of Dr. Sarah D’Orazio. She then moved up to the lungs to work on Streptococcus pneumoniae infections where she did her postdoctoral training with Dr. John Leong at Tufts University. In 2018 she enthusiastically stared her own lab at UB exploring immunesenescence, inflammation and infection. Her work has been recognized through The Life Science Research Foundation Award, K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award and Excellence in Leukocyte Biology Early Career Award. Her lab has been funded by grants from several foundations and the National Institute of Health. Her favorite immune cells are neutrophils and she is very dedicated to mentoring the next generation of scientists.

The Team

The lab consists of a group of bright scientists from all over the world focused on discovering host pathways that control the age-driven susceptibility to bacterial pneumonia.

Current Members

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Senior Scientist

Manmeet Bhalla, PhD

Manmeet is a Research Scientist currently studying a novel anti-pneumococcal vaccine formulation, with the overall goal of increasing the protection in older adults against infections. He also enjoys mentoring in the lab and teaching undergraduate courses. Apart from research, his weekly schedule consists of jogging, gym, cooking, and Church service. In his free time, he enjoys reading old scriptures, writing blogs, and making cartoons. He enjoys finding science in ancient teachings.

Postdoctoral Scholar

Michael Battaglia, PhD

Michael is a postdoc that works on age driven changes in metabolic responses of PMNs to infection. In his spare time Michael likes to bake and build models.

PhD Student

Alexsandra Lenhard

Alexsandra (Alex) is a PhD student in the lab studying how PMN responses change during IAV/S. pneumoniae co-infection. Her overall goal is to work in industry and teach at a community college. In her free time, Alex loves to check out coffee shops and read books!

PhD Student

Anagha Betadpur

Anagha is a PhD student. She is working on the role of neutrophils in pneumococcal vaccines. She is also an ambassador team leader for the graduate program and secretary of the Biomedical Graduate Student Government. Apart from her love for research, she loves to travel and explore new places, catch sunsets, play badminton, do nature photography, watch Bollywood movies, and cook fun recipes.

PhD student

Shaunna Simmons

Shaunna is a PhD candidate that studies how the neutrophil responses to S. pneumoniae infection changes with host aging and the signaling pathways that control these responses in naive and vaccinated hosts. Her goal is to pursue science writing after her PhD.

Undergraduate student

Miles Stefko

Miles is an undergraduate biomedical sciences student working on characterizing the immune response induced by the novel LEPS pneumococcal vaccine. His goal is to attend medical school and ultimately work at the crossroads of inpatient care and public health.

Undergraduate student

Chloe Picciano

Chloe is a biochemistry undergrad working on how IAV changes PMN antibacterial functions. Her goal is to go to grad school to pursue her PhD.

Former Members

PhD Students

Essi Tchalla, Phd. Essi graduated in 2024 and is now persuing her postdoctoral training.

Sidney Herring, PhD. Sydney graduated in 2023 and is now a Medical Science Liaison at AbbVie

Master Students

Sovathiro Mao, Medical Science Liaison, DKSH, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Vijay Raaj Ravi, Research technician in the Shenoy laboratory at the University of Michigan

Andrew Khalil, PhD student Arizona Biological/Biomedical Sciences program

Annabel Rivera

Megha Raghu

Undergraduate Students

Other Scholars

Lauren Heinzinger, PhD student University of Michigan

Rania Hassan, PhD, visiting Fulbright scholar 2024

Emily Smith, medical student, summer researcher 2021

Emilie Harley, medical student, summer researcher 2024

Jun Yeoh Hui, junior technician, 2018-2019