Chris Brooke, PhD
Principal Investigator
From Beaumont, TX. Kids, cooking, music, and cycling in his spare time.
B.A. Biology from Washington University, Ph.D. Microbiology & Immunology from University of North Carolina, Postdoc training at NIH
bluesky: @christopherbrooke.bsky.social
Elizabeth Rowland, PhD
Postdoc
Elizabeth spends her scientific efforts contextualizing virus-host interactions over time and space. In her PhD, she studied acidothermophilic archaeal viruses and their hosts before pivoting to eukaryotic systems. Currently, her primary focus is investigating the spatial dynamics of viral dissemination and innate immune activation. When not chasing scientific pursuits, she spends her time raising little humans, mountain biking, and lifting heavy…weights.
Joel Rivera Cardona
PhD Student
Joel received his B.S. in Industrial Microbiology from the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez in 2019 and joined the lab in January 2020. He is working on understanding the factors that influence the lack of immune activation during influenza infection. He is also characterizing the effects of viral evolution in shaping the immune antagonism potential of recent influenza strains. Joel is a coffee addict who spends his free time listening to music, cooking, and watching TV shows.
Mireille Farjo
PhD Student
Mireille is from Ann Arbor, Michigan. She graduated from the University of Chicago with a B.S. in Biology in 2020 and joined the lab in January of 2021, where she will be studying co-infection and superinfection dynamics in flu viruses. She is a fan of creative writing and being outside.
Liz Thayer
PhD Student
Liz is originally from a small town near Kansas City, MO(!!). She left MO to get her bachelor’s degree from Purdue University, which she finished at the start of the 2020 pandemic. Then she joined the Brooke lab in December of 2020 as a Ph.D. student. Now Liz is studying host antiviral response to influenza to see why some cell populations are more susceptible to infection than others. She spends her free time playing with her dog, Rosie, and two cats, Pablo and Luna.
Gabi Shipman
PhD Student
Gabi comes from Lenexa, KS. She received her bachelor's degree from Kansas State University before joining UIUC for grad school. She joined the Brooke lab in December of 2023 as a Ph.D. student. Her love for coffee, good friends, reading, and video games occupy her time outside of the lab.
Kyle Heimburger
PhD Student
Originally from Wheaton IL, Kyle obtained his bachelor’s in Molecular and Cellular Biology and Psychology at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in May 2023. Kyle just couldn’t get enough of UIUC, beginning his PhD journey in the Brooke Lab in December 2023. He is excited to explore the constraints that influence how influenza virus can mutate and evolve. Outside of the lab, Kyle enjoys running, cooking, and jamming out on his guitar.
Zach Davis
PhD student
Though his hometown is Cleveland TN, Zach completed his B.S. in chemistry and biology at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, after which he worked as a post-bac at a biotech startup in Huntsville. In July 2024, he joined the lab and plans to study how IAV populations disseminate and mix within hosts. When he’s not in the lab, you can find Zach reading, playing instruments, or baking a new recipe.
Lorenzo D’Alessio
Research Technician
Lorenzo is from the suburbs of Chicago and obtained his B.S. and M.S. in the PEEC program at UIUC while working on the phylogenetics of feather lice. He joined the Brooke lab in late 2023. Outside lab, he enjoys cooking, reading, and traveling.
Neeha Kakuturu
Undergraduate Student
Neeha is from Schaumburg, Illinois, and is working towards obtaining a B.S. in Molecular and Cellular Biology. She plans to use her degree to become a physician, specifically a clinician educator. After joining Brooke lab in August of 2022, Neeha works on studying reassortment in recent human influenza viruses. Outside of the lab, she enjoys painting, watching/playing basketball, and spending time outdoors.
Maher Fatima
Undergraduate Student
Maher is from Schaumburg, Illinois. She is pursuing a degree in Molecular and Cellular Biology with minors in Chemistry and Spanish. Maher hopes to use her degree to work toward her goal of becoming a physician. In the lab, Maher works on coinfection and superinfection exclusion dynamics in influenza. Outside of the lab, she enjoys reading, crocheting, and spending time with friends.
Hania Ziny
Undergraduate Student
Hania is from Peoria, Illinois, and is currently working on a BS in Biochemistry. She plans to use her degree to continue her research in medicine and hopes to establish her own research as a physician. Hania studies the host factors contributing to variability in the innate immune response to influenza virus. Outside of the lab, she enjoys baking, studying nutrition, and going to the gym.
Lab alumni:
Jiayi Sun, Ph.D. - Postdoc with Patrick Wilson at Weill Cornell
Meghan Diefenbacher, Ph.D. - Postdoc with Tim Sheahan at UNC
Tongyu “Tony” Liu, PhD. - Postdoc with Tijana Ivanovic at NIH
Fadi Alnaji, Ph.D. - Staff scientist with Marco Vignuzzi at A*STAR in Singapore
Brigitte Martin, PhD. - Assistant Professor at University of Mississippi Medical Center
Morgan Samanic - Student, UIC College of Medicine
Izabella Lach - Student, Creighton University School of Medicine
Keely Mannoochahr - Student, Kansas City University - College of Osteopathic Medicine
Joanna Droppo - IRTA postbac. fellow at NIAID
Will Reiser - MD student, UIC-Rockford