Originally from Gilmanton, New Hampshire, I pursued my undergraduate education at Saint Michael’s College. After graduating, I joined the Barouch lab at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center as a research assistant, contributing to vaccine development for COVID-19 and HIV. Seeking new challenges, I transitioned to Laronde Therapeutics, a growing biotech company, where I focused on vaccine development using a circular RNA platform. My research at Laronde sparked a keen interest in RNA engineering and stability mechanisms, motivating me to pursue a PhD mentored by Dr. Daniel Cifuentes. In my doctoral studies, I investigate RNA-protein interactions, microRNA dynamics during embryogenesis, and develops tools to advance understanding in these areas.
Representative Publications
- Collier, A.Y., McMahan, K., Yu, J., Tostanoski, L.H., Aguayo, R., Ansel, J., Chandrashekar, A., Patel, S., Apraku Bondzie, E., Sellers, D., Barrett, J., Sanborn, O., Wan, H., Chang, A., Anioke, T., Nkolola, J., Bradshaw, C., Jacob-Dolan, C., Feldman, J., Gebre, M., Borducchi, E.N., Liu, J., Schmidt, A.G., Suscovich, T., Linde, C., Alter, G., Hacker, M.R., Barouch, D.H. Immunogenicity of COVID-19 mRNA Vaccines in Pregnant and Lactating Women. JAMA. (2021)
- Yu, J., Tostanoski, L.H., Mercado, N.B., McMahan, K., Liu, J., Jacob-Dolan, C., Chandrashekar, A., Atyeo, C., Martinez, D.R., Anioke, T., Bondzie, E.A., Chang, A., Gardner, S., Giffin, V.M., Hope, D.L., Nampanya, F., Nkolola, J., Patel, S., Sanborn, O., Sellers, D., Wan, H., Hayes, T., Bauer, K., Pessaint, L., Valentin, D., Flinchbaugh, Z., Brown, R., Cook, A., Bueno-Wilkerson, D., Teow, E., Andersen, H., Lewis, M.G., Martinot, A.J., Baric, R.S., Alter, G., Wegmann, F., Zahn, R., Schuitemaker, H., Barouch, D.H. Protective efficacy of Ad26.COV2.S against SARS-CoV-2 B.1.351 in macaques. Nature. (2021)
- Chandrashekar, A., Liu, J., Yu, J., McMahan, K., Tostanoski, L.H., Jacob-Dolan, C., Mercado, N.B., Anioke, T., Chang, A., Gardner, S., Giffin, V.M., Hope, D.L., Nampanya, F., Patel, S., Sanborn, O., Sellers, D., Wan, H., Pessaint, L, Valentin, D., Espina, B., Wattay, L., Ferrari, M.G., Brown, R., Cook, A., Bueno-Wilkerson, D., Teow, E., Andersen, H., Lewis, M.G., Barouch, D.H. Prior Infection with SARS-CoV-2 WA1/2020 Partially Protects Rhesus Macaques Against Re-Infection with B.1.1.7 and B.1.351 Variants. Science Translational Medicine (2021)
- Gebre, M., Rauch, S., Roth, N., Yu, J., Chandrashekar, A., Mercado, N.B., He, X., Liu, J., McMahan, K., Martinot, A., Giffin, T., Hope, D., Patel, S., Sellers, D., Sanborn, O., Barrett, J., Liu, X., Cole, A.C., Pessaint, L., Valentin, D., Flinchbaugh, Z., Yalley-Ogunro, J., Muench, J., Brown, R., Cook, A., Teow, E., Andersen, H., Lewis, M.G., Mueller, S.O., Petsch, B., Barouch, D.H. Optimization of Non-Coding Regions Improves Protective Efficacy of an mRNA SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine in Nonhuman Primates. Nature. (2021)
- Tostanoski, L.H., Chandrashekar, A., Patel, S., Yu, J., Jacob-Dolan, C., Chang, A., Powers, O.C., Sellers, D., Gardner, S., Barrett, J., Sanborn, O., Stephenson, K.E., Ansel, J.L., Jaegle, K., Seaman, M.S., Porto, M., Lok, M.,Spence, B., Cayer, K., Nase, D., Holman, S., Bradette, H., Kar, S. Andersen, H., Lewis, M.G., Cox, F.,Tolboom, J. T. B. M., Marit de Groot, A., Heerwegh, D., Gars, M.L., Sadoff, J., Wegmann, F., Zahn, R.C., Schuitemaker, H., Barouch D.H. Passive Transfer of Ad26.COV2.S-Elicited IgG from Humans Attenuates SARS-CoV-2 Disease in Hamster. NPJ Vaccines. (2021)
