{"id":73,"date":"2017-05-16T15:12:55","date_gmt":"2017-05-16T19:12:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/spirochete-lab\/?page_id=73"},"modified":"2026-03-12T14:47:51","modified_gmt":"2026-03-12T18:47:51","slug":"syphilis-team","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/spirochete-lab\/syphilis-research\/syphilis-team\/","title":{"rendered":"Syphilis Research Team"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"in-page-tabs\"><ul id=\"menu-syphilis-research\" class=\"menu nav nav-tabs\"><li id=\"menu-item-126\" class=\"menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page\"><a href=\"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/spirochete-lab\/syphilis-research\/syphilis-research\/\">Syphilis Research<\/a><\/li><li id=\"menu-item-123\" class=\"menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page\"><a href=\"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/spirochete-lab\/syphilis-research\/syphilis-team\/\">Syphilis Research Team<\/a><\/li><li id=\"menu-item-124\" class=\"menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page\"><a href=\"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/spirochete-lab\/syphilis-research\/syphilis-collaborations\/\">Syphilis Collaborations<\/a><\/li><li id=\"menu-item-125\" class=\"menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page\"><a href=\"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/spirochete-lab\/syphilis-research\/publications\/\">Syphilis Publications<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/div><div id=\"pl-73\"  class=\"panel-layout\" ><div id=\"pg-73-0\"  class=\"panel-grid panel-no-style\" ><div id=\"pgc-73-0-0\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-73-0-0-0\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_black-studio-tinymce widget_black_studio_tinymce panel-first-child panel-last-child\" data-index=\"0\" ><div class=\"textwidget\"><h5>Syphilis Research<\/h5>\n<h1>Syphilis Research Team<\/h1>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"pg-73-1\"  class=\"panel-grid panel-no-style\" ><div id=\"pgc-73-1-0\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-73-1-0-0\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_widget_sp_image widget_sp_image panel-first-child panel-last-child\" data-index=\"1\" ><div class=\"panel-widget-style panel-widget-style-for-73-1-0-0\" ><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"100\" height=\"125\" alt=\"Justin Radolf, MD\" class=\"attachment-full\" style=\"max-width: 100%;\" src=\"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/spirochete-lab\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/133\/2017\/05\/photo_radolf.jpg\" \/><\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"pgc-73-1-1\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-73-1-1-0\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_black-studio-tinymce widget_black_studio_tinymce panel-first-child panel-last-child\" data-index=\"2\" ><div class=\"textwidget\"><h2>Justin Radolf, M.D., Professor of Medicine, Pediatrics, Molecular Biology and Biophysics, Genetics and Genome Sciences, and Immunology<\/h2>\n<p><span>Justin Radolf received his B.S. degree in biology from Yale University in 1975. He attended medical school at the University of California, San Francisco, graduating in 1979. He was a resident in internal medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania from 1979 to 1982. As a fellow in infectious diseases at UCLA (1982-1986), he began his research career in spirochetology, specifically studying <\/span><em>Treponema pallidum<\/em><span>, the cause of syphilis, a sexually transmitted disease. His efforts to use recombinant DNA to identify outer membrane proteins of <\/span><em>T. pallidum<\/em><span> led to the discovery of the unique protein-deficient outer membrane of <\/span><em>T. pallidum<\/em><span>. Following fellowship, he continued his spirochete research as a faculty member at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. In the late 1980s, as Lyme disease began to emerge as an important public health problem, Radolf expanded his research program to include <\/span><em>Borrelia burgdorferi<\/em><span>, the cause of Lyme disease, the most prevalent arthropod-borne pathogen in the United States. In 1999, he relocated to UConn Health where he is currently professor of medicine, pediatrics, and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/genetics\/\">genetics and developmental biology<\/a><span>. He is an author or co-author on more than 150 peer-reviewed publications and more than 30 chapters or review. His spirochete research has been continuously funded by the NIH since 1988.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/facultydirectory.uchc.edu\/profile?profileId=Radolf-Justin\">Faculty Profile<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"pg-73-2\"  class=\"panel-grid panel-no-style\" ><div id=\"pgc-73-2-0\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-73-2-0-0\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_widget_sp_image widget_sp_image panel-first-child panel-last-child\" data-index=\"3\" ><div class=\"panel-widget-style panel-widget-style-for-73-2-0-0\" ><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"100\" height=\"125\" alt=\"Melissa Caimano, PhD\" class=\"attachment-full\" style=\"max-width: 100%;\" src=\"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/spirochete-lab\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/133\/2019\/02\/caimano-melissa-20181114-encarnacion-8253.jpg\" \/><\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"pgc-73-2-1\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-73-2-1-0\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_black-studio-tinymce widget_black_studio_tinymce panel-first-child panel-last-child\" data-index=\"4\" ><div class=\"textwidget\"><h2>Melissa Caimano, Ph.D.,\u00a0 Professor of Medicine, Pediatrics, and Molecular Biology and Biophysics<\/h2>\n<p><span>Melissa Caimano received a B.S. degree from the University of Rhode Island in 1989. She attended graduate school at the University of Alabama at Birmingham doing her thesis work on the genetic elements involved in <\/span><em>Streptococcus pneumoniae<\/em><span> capsule biosynthesis. In 1996, Caimano began a postdoctoral fellowship with Dr. Justin Radolf at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, relocating to the University of Connecticut in 1999. Her work has focused primarily on the regulatory pathways and molecular mechanisms underlying mammalian host adaptation and maintenance of <\/span><em>Borrelia burgdorferi <\/em><span>within its natural enzootic cycle. Most notably, these studies have led to the discovery that the alternate sigma factor RpoS plays a critical role in the down-regulation, as well as up-regulation, of borrelial genes specifically in response to mammalian host signals. She has published more than 46 peer-reviewed articles on microbial pathogenesis and related areas in high impact journals. Her work examining the interaction between the Lyme disease spirochete and its arthropod vector is supported by grants awarded to her by the National Research Fund for Tick-Borne Diseases (NRFTD) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH\/NIAID). Caimano currently is an associate professor in the UConn Health Department of Medicine. She also has served on the Editorial Board of Infection and Immunity since 2006.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/facultydirectory.uchc.edu\/profile?profileId=Caimano-Melissa\">Faculty Profile<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"pg-73-3\"  class=\"panel-grid panel-no-style\" ><div id=\"pgc-73-3-0\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-73-3-0-0\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_widget_sp_image widget_sp_image panel-first-child panel-last-child\" data-index=\"5\" ><div class=\"panel-widget-style panel-widget-style-for-73-3-0-0\" ><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1707\" height=\"2560\" alt=\"Kelly L. Hawley, Ph.D.\" class=\"attachment-full\" style=\"max-width: 100%;\" srcset=\"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/spirochete-lab\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/133\/2025\/09\/Kelly-Hawley-photo-scaled.jpg 1707w, https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/spirochete-lab\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/133\/2025\/09\/Kelly-Hawley-photo-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/spirochete-lab\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/133\/2025\/09\/Kelly-Hawley-photo-683x1024.jpg 683w, https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/spirochete-lab\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/133\/2025\/09\/Kelly-Hawley-photo-768x1152.jpg 768w, https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/spirochete-lab\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/133\/2025\/09\/Kelly-Hawley-photo-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/spirochete-lab\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/133\/2025\/09\/Kelly-Hawley-photo-1365x2048.jpg 1365w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1707px) 100vw, 1707px\" src=\"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/spirochete-lab\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/133\/2025\/09\/Kelly-Hawley-photo-scaled.jpg\" \/><\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"pgc-73-3-1\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-73-3-1-0\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_black-studio-tinymce widget_black_studio_tinymce panel-first-child panel-last-child\" data-index=\"6\" ><div class=\"textwidget\"><h2>Kelly L. Hawley, Ph.D., \u00a0Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Medicine, and Immunology<\/h2>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Dr. Hawley is the Associate Director of the Division of Research at Connecticut Children\u2019s and an Assistant Professor in the Departments of Pediatrics, Medicine, and Immunology at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine. She earned her PhD in Animal Biotechnologies and Biomedical Sciences from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where she developed a lasting interest in microbial pathogenesis and host\u2013pathogen interactions. Her research centers on the immunobiology and pathogenesis of <em>Treponema pallidum<\/em>, the causative agent of syphilis. Her laboratory works to characterize outer membrane proteins as potential vaccine candidates and to investigate the mechanisms that shape host immune responses to infection. She is particularly focused on developing novel immunologic assays and animal models to dissect the bacterium\u2019s pathogenic features and identify correlates of protection that can inform syphilis vaccine development. In addition to collaborating on an NIH-funded syphilis vaccine study and clinical biorepository, Dr. Hawley serves as Principal Investigator on two vaccine development projects supported by Open Philanthropy and the Gates Foundation.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/facultydirectory.uchc.edu\/profile?profileId=Hawley-Kelly\">Faculty Profile<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"pg-73-4\"  class=\"panel-grid panel-no-style\" ><div id=\"pgc-73-4-0\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-73-4-0-0\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_widget_sp_image widget_sp_image panel-first-child panel-last-child\" data-index=\"7\" ><div class=\"panel-widget-style panel-widget-style-for-73-4-0-0\" ><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"593\" height=\"703\" alt=\"Andre Grassmann, PhD\" class=\"attachment-full\" style=\"max-width: 100%;\" srcset=\"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/spirochete-lab\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/133\/2021\/09\/Unknown.jpg 593w, https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/spirochete-lab\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/133\/2021\/09\/Unknown-253x300.jpg 253w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 593px) 100vw, 593px\" src=\"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/spirochete-lab\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/133\/2021\/09\/Unknown.jpg\" \/><\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"pgc-73-4-1\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-73-4-1-0\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_black-studio-tinymce widget_black_studio_tinymce panel-first-child panel-last-child\" data-index=\"8\" ><div class=\"textwidget\"><h2>Andr\u00e9 A. Grassmann, Ph.D., \u00a0Assistant Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics<\/h2>\n<p data-start=\"140\" data-end=\"1318\">Andr\u00e9 received his B.S. degree in Biological Sciences in 2009 from the Federal University of Pelotas (UFPel), Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil. Since his undergraduate research, Andr\u00e9 has studied pathogenic <em data-start=\"378\" data-end=\"390\">Leptospira<\/em> and leptospirosis. He received his M.S. degree in 2011 and his Ph.D. in 2015, both from UFPel Biotechnology School. In 2013, he was awarded a one-year Science without Borders fellowship from the Brazilian government and joined Drs. Caimano and Radolf to investigate differential gene expression by <em data-start=\"689\" data-end=\"713\">Leptospira interrogans<\/em> within the mammalian host to identify potential novel vaccine targets. After two years of postdoctoral research in Brazil, he returned to the Radolf and Caimano lab in 2017 to continue studying gene regulation in <em data-start=\"927\" data-end=\"939\">Leptospira<\/em> during host infection. In 2019, Andr\u00e9 expanded his research to <em data-start=\"1003\" data-end=\"1025\" data-is-only-node=\"\">Borrelia burgdorferi<\/em>, focusing on gene regulation in response to host- and vector-specific cues, particularly the convergence of c-di-GMP\u2013 and PlzA-dependent signaling with the RpoS pathway. In 2022, he was promoted to Instructor, and since 2024 he has been an Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine.\u00a0His current research focuses on the molecular mechanisms of <em data-start=\"1380\" data-end=\"1396\">B. burgdorferi<\/em> gene regulation during the tick\u2013mammal infectious cycle, which represents his major area of investigation. In addition, his research addresses pathogenesis and vaccine development against <em data-start=\"1585\" data-end=\"1605\">Treponema pallidum<\/em> (syphilis) and <em data-start=\"1621\" data-end=\"1645\">Leptospira interrogans<\/em> (leptospirosis).<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"140\" data-end=\"1318\"><a href=\"https:\/\/facultydirectory.uchc.edu\/profile?profileId=Grassmann-Andre\">Faculty Profile<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"pg-73-5\"  class=\"panel-grid panel-no-style\" ><div id=\"pgc-73-5-0\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-73-5-0-0\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_widget_sp_image widget_sp_image panel-first-child panel-last-child\" data-index=\"9\" ><div class=\"panel-widget-style panel-widget-style-for-73-5-0-0\" ><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1052\" height=\"1315\" alt=\"Dr. Everton Bettin\" class=\"attachment-full\" style=\"max-width: 100%;\" srcset=\"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/spirochete-lab\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/133\/2022\/05\/Tom-picture-for-website.jpeg 1052w, https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/spirochete-lab\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/133\/2022\/05\/Tom-picture-for-website-240x300.jpeg 240w, https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/spirochete-lab\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/133\/2022\/05\/Tom-picture-for-website-819x1024.jpeg 819w, https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/spirochete-lab\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/133\/2022\/05\/Tom-picture-for-website-768x960.jpeg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1052px) 100vw, 1052px\" src=\"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/spirochete-lab\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/133\/2022\/05\/Tom-picture-for-website.jpeg\" \/><\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"pgc-73-5-1\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-73-5-1-0\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_black-studio-tinymce widget_black_studio_tinymce panel-first-child panel-last-child\" data-index=\"10\" ><div class=\"textwidget\"><h2>Everton B. Bettin, Ph.D., Post-doctoral fellow<\/h2>\n<div><span>Everton obtained his PhD degree in Biotechnology from the Federal University of Pelotas (UFPel), Brazil in 2022. The major focus of his thesis was the development of vaccines against Leptospirosis. In 2019, he was granted a one-year fellowship from the Brazilian government to join Drs. Grassmann and Caimano to study the unique leptospiral Omp85 proteins. After finishing his PhD in 2022, he returned to the Spirochete Research Labs as post-doctoral fellow to work on he development of a vaccine against infection by <em>Treponema pallidum<\/em>.<\/span><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"pg-73-6\"  class=\"panel-grid panel-no-style\" ><div id=\"pgc-73-6-0\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-73-6-0-0\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_widget_sp_image widget_sp_image panel-first-child panel-last-child\" data-index=\"11\" ><div class=\"panel-widget-style panel-widget-style-for-73-6-0-0\" ><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1462\" height=\"1533\" alt=\"Dr. Victor Fraile \u00c1greda\" class=\"attachment-full\" style=\"max-width: 100%;\" srcset=\"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/spirochete-lab\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/133\/2026\/03\/Fraile-agreda-victor_UCH_2023-01-04_2729-1-1.jpg 1462w, https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/spirochete-lab\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/133\/2026\/03\/Fraile-agreda-victor_UCH_2023-01-04_2729-1-1-286x300.jpg 286w, https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/spirochete-lab\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/133\/2026\/03\/Fraile-agreda-victor_UCH_2023-01-04_2729-1-1-977x1024.jpg 977w, https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/spirochete-lab\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/133\/2026\/03\/Fraile-agreda-victor_UCH_2023-01-04_2729-1-1-768x805.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1462px) 100vw, 1462px\" src=\"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/spirochete-lab\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/133\/2026\/03\/Fraile-agreda-victor_UCH_2023-01-04_2729-1-1.jpg\" \/><\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"pgc-73-6-1\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-73-6-1-0\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_black-studio-tinymce widget_black_studio_tinymce panel-first-child panel-last-child\" data-index=\"12\" ><div class=\"textwidget\"><h2><span data-markjs=\"true\" class=\"outlook-search-highlight\">Victor<\/span><span> <\/span><span data-markjs=\"true\" class=\"outlook-search-highlight\">Fraile<\/span><span> <\/span><span data-markjs=\"true\" class=\"outlook-search-highlight\">\u00c1greda<\/span>, Ph.D., Post-doctoral fellow<\/h2>\n<div><span>Dr. <span data-markjs=\"true\" class=\"outlook-search-highlight\">Victor<\/span> <span data-markjs=\"true\" class=\"outlook-search-highlight\">Fraile<\/span> <span data-markjs=\"true\" class=\"outlook-search-highlight\">\u00c1greda<\/span> earned his Ph.D. in Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, and Biomedicine from the Complutense University of Madrid (<\/span><span><i>cum laude<\/i><\/span><span>, 2021), where he focused on pulmonary innate immunity, antimicrobial host defenses, and bacterial infection models. At UConn Health, he works as a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Hawley Lab investigating <\/span><span><i>Treponema pallidum<\/i><\/span><span>\u00a0outer membrane proteins (OMPs) to support syphilis vaccine development, applying structural, biochemical, and immunological approaches to identify vaccine-relevant OMP regions. Prior to joining the Spirochete Research Labs, <span data-markjs=\"true\" class=\"outlook-search-highlight\">V\u00edctor<\/span> conducted postdoctoral research with Prof. Dr. Ignacio Rubio (Universit\u00e4tsklinikum Jena) and Prof. Dr. Vijay Rathinam (UConn Health) within the German Cluster of Excellence \u201cBalance of the Microverse\u201d. Throughout his career, he has developed broad expertise in innate immune signaling, host\u2013pathogen interactions, inflammatory cell death, and extracellular vesicle biology.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"pg-73-7\"  class=\"panel-grid panel-no-style\" ><div id=\"pgc-73-7-0\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-73-7-0-0\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_widget_sp_image widget_sp_image panel-first-child panel-last-child\" data-index=\"13\" ><div class=\"panel-widget-style panel-widget-style-for-73-7-0-0\" ><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"650\" height=\"650\" alt=\"Mason M.\" class=\"attachment-full\" style=\"max-width: 100%;\" srcset=\"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/spirochete-lab\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/133\/2025\/09\/mason.jpeg 650w, https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/spirochete-lab\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/133\/2025\/09\/mason-300x300.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/spirochete-lab\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/133\/2025\/09\/mason-150x150.jpeg 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 650px) 100vw, 650px\" src=\"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/spirochete-lab\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/133\/2025\/09\/mason.jpeg\" \/><\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"pgc-73-7-1\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-73-7-1-0\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_black-studio-tinymce widget_black_studio_tinymce panel-first-child panel-last-child\" data-index=\"14\" ><div class=\"textwidget\"><h2>Mason Marosvari, Ph.D. student<\/h2>\n<p><span>Mason received his B.S. in Cellular, Molecular, and Biomedical Biology from Boise State University in 2021. He then worked for two years as a research technician and post-baccalaureate scholar in the McElrath Laboratory at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center before joining the Biomedical Sciences Ph.D. program at the University of Connecticut Health Center. He is now a Ph.D. student in the Spirochete Research Labs, where his research focuses on host\u2013pathogen interactions and the development of vaccines against <\/span><i>Treponema pallidum<\/i><span>.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"pg-73-8\"  class=\"panel-grid panel-no-style\" ><div id=\"pgc-73-8-0\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-73-8-0-0\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_widget_sp_image widget_sp_image panel-first-child panel-last-child\" data-index=\"15\" ><div class=\"panel-widget-style panel-widget-style-for-73-8-0-0\" ><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Dillon Vannest\" class=\"attachment-full\" style=\"max-width: 100%;\" src=\"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/spirochete-lab\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/133\/2026\/03\/Dillon_image.tif\" \/><\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"pgc-73-8-1\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-73-8-1-0\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_black-studio-tinymce widget_black_studio_tinymce panel-first-child panel-last-child\" data-index=\"16\" ><div class=\"textwidget\"><h2>B. Dillon Vannest, Ph.D. student<\/h2>\n<p><span>Dillon received his B.S. in Biochemistry from Central Michigan University in 2019. While there, he worked in the lab of Dr. Benjamin M. Swarts where he assisted in evaluating fluorescent glycolipid analogues designed to report on <\/span><i>Mycobacteria<\/i><span>-specific outer membrane remodeling esterases. He then worked for a few years at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in the lab of Dr. Matthew A. Coleman, where he assisted in the production of nanolipoprotein particles for varied uses, such as in experimental vaccine formulations against organisms such as <\/span><i>Chlamydia trachomatis<\/i><span>. He then joined the Biomedical Sciences Ph.D. program at UConn Health, where he now works in the Spirochete Research Labs helping to characterize the outer membrane proteins of <\/span><i>Treponema pallidum<\/i><span>.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"pg-73-9\"  class=\"panel-grid panel-no-style\" ><div id=\"pgc-73-9-0\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-73-9-0-0\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_widget_sp_image widget_sp_image panel-first-child panel-last-child\" data-index=\"17\" ><div class=\"panel-widget-style panel-widget-style-for-73-9-0-0\" ><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"119\" height=\"150\" alt=\"Carson Karanian\" class=\"attachment-full\" style=\"max-width: 100%;\" src=\"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/spirochete-lab\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/133\/2018\/05\/carson.jpg\" \/><\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"pgc-73-9-1\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-73-9-1-0\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_black-studio-tinymce widget_black_studio_tinymce panel-first-child panel-last-child\" data-index=\"18\" ><div class=\"textwidget\"><h2>Carson Karanian, <span>Research Assistant II<\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Ms. Karanian obtained a bachelor's degree in general science with an environmental studies track in 1995 from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia. She previously worked as a laboratory assistant at Pfizer in New London, Connecticut. Since 2003, she has worked as a research assistant II\/lab manager in the Spirochete Research Laboratories. She is an expert in <em>T. pallidium<\/em> rabbit passaging, <em>Borrelia burgdorferi<\/em> culture, human and murine flow cytometry, epifluorescent and confocal microscopy, human monocyte and murine macrophage <em>ex vivo <\/em>stimulation techniques and a variety of molecular techniques.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"pg-73-10\"  class=\"panel-grid panel-no-style\" ><div id=\"pgc-73-10-0\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-73-10-0-0\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_widget_sp_image widget_sp_image panel-first-child panel-last-child\" data-index=\"19\" ><div class=\"panel-widget-style panel-widget-style-for-73-10-0-0\" ><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"100\" height=\"125\" alt=\"Dr. Caitlin Moss\" class=\"attachment-full\" style=\"max-width: 100%;\" src=\"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/spirochete-lab\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/133\/2017\/05\/photo_ledoyt.jpg\" \/><\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"pgc-73-10-1\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-73-10-1-0\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_black-studio-tinymce widget_black_studio_tinymce panel-first-child panel-last-child\" data-index=\"20\" ><div class=\"textwidget\"><h2>MORGAN LEDOYT, LABORATORY ASSISTANT II<\/h2>\n<p><span>Morgan is a laboratory technician II in the SRL working on <\/span><em data-start=\"135\" data-end=\"155\">Treponema pallidum <\/em><span>pathogenesis and vaccine-development projects. She supports the team through protein expression and purification, coordination of animal immunizations, and a wide range of molecular biology and immunology assays. Morgan\u2019s work keeps SRL projects moving efficiently and reproducibly.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"pg-73-11\"  class=\"panel-grid panel-no-style\" ><div id=\"pgc-73-11-0\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-73-11-0-0\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_widget_sp_image widget_sp_image panel-first-child panel-last-child\" data-index=\"21\" ><div class=\"panel-widget-style panel-widget-style-for-73-11-0-0\" ><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1920\" height=\"2560\" alt=\"Renee\" class=\"attachment-full\" style=\"max-width: 100%;\" srcset=\"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/spirochete-lab\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/133\/2025\/09\/me-scaled.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/spirochete-lab\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/133\/2025\/09\/me-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/spirochete-lab\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/133\/2025\/09\/me-768x1024.jpg 768w, https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/spirochete-lab\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/133\/2025\/09\/me-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/spirochete-lab\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/133\/2025\/09\/me-1536x2048.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\" src=\"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/spirochete-lab\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/133\/2025\/09\/me-scaled.jpg\" \/><\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"pgc-73-11-1\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-73-11-1-0\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_black-studio-tinymce widget_black_studio_tinymce panel-first-child panel-last-child\" data-index=\"22\" ><div class=\"textwidget\"><h2>Renee E. Pontbriant, Research Assistant I<\/h2>\n<p><span>Renee received her bachelor's degree in biomedical sciences from Quinnipiac University in 2022. She received her Master's Degree in Science (MS) in 2023 with a thesis focused on the effect of certain vacuolar proteins on the pH inside <\/span><i>Coxiella burnetii<\/i><span>-containing vacuoles. She joined the Spirochete Research Labs in Fall of 2023 with an initial focus in protein production, purification, and testing in the mouse model, but has since shifted toward rabbit work and <\/span><i>in vitro<\/i><span>\u00a0cultivation of <\/span><i>T. pallidum<\/i><span>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"pg-73-12\"  class=\"panel-grid panel-no-style\" ><div id=\"pgc-73-12-0\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-73-12-0-0\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_widget_sp_image widget_sp_image panel-first-child panel-last-child\" data-index=\"23\" ><div class=\"panel-widget-style panel-widget-style-for-73-12-0-0\" ><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1920\" height=\"2560\" alt=\"Crystal\" class=\"attachment-full\" style=\"max-width: 100%;\" srcset=\"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/spirochete-lab\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/133\/2025\/09\/Crystal_Vicente_photo-scaled.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/spirochete-lab\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/133\/2025\/09\/Crystal_Vicente_photo-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/spirochete-lab\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/133\/2025\/09\/Crystal_Vicente_photo-768x1024.jpg 768w, https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/spirochete-lab\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/133\/2025\/09\/Crystal_Vicente_photo-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/spirochete-lab\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/133\/2025\/09\/Crystal_Vicente_photo-1536x2048.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\" src=\"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/spirochete-lab\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/133\/2025\/09\/Crystal_Vicente_photo-scaled.jpg\" \/><\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"pgc-73-12-1\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-73-12-1-0\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_black-studio-tinymce widget_black_studio_tinymce panel-first-child panel-last-child\" data-index=\"24\" ><div class=\"textwidget\"><h2>Crystal Vicente, RESEARCH ASSISTANT I<\/h2>\n<p><span>Crystal Vicente\u00a0earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Biochemistry, with a minor in Genetic Counseling, from Eastern Connecticut State University in 2020. Crystal joined the Spirochete Research Laboratories in 2023 as a Research Assistant where she specializes in <\/span><i>in vitro<\/i><span>\u00a0cultivation of <\/span><i>Treponema pallidum<\/i><span>\u00a0with a range of other techniques including flow cytometry, confocal microscopy, and opsonophagocytosis.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"pg-73-13\"  class=\"panel-grid panel-no-style\" ><div id=\"pgc-73-13-0\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-73-13-0-0\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_black-studio-tinymce widget_black_studio_tinymce panel-first-child panel-last-child\" data-index=\"25\" ><div class=\"textwidget\"><h1>CIDEIM Laboratory Members<\/h1>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"pg-73-14\"  class=\"panel-grid panel-no-style\" ><div id=\"pgc-73-14-0\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-73-14-0-0\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_media_image panel-first-child panel-last-child\" data-index=\"26\" ><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" src=\"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/spirochete-lab\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/133\/2018\/09\/JonnyGarci\u0301a-225x300.jpg\" class=\"image wp-image-363  attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"\" style=\"max-width: 100%; height: auto;\" srcset=\"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/spirochete-lab\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/133\/2018\/09\/JonnyGarci\u0301a-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/spirochete-lab\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/133\/2018\/09\/JonnyGarci\u0301a-768x1024.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\" \/><\/div><\/div><div id=\"pgc-73-14-1\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-73-14-1-0\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_black-studio-tinymce widget_black_studio_tinymce panel-first-child panel-last-child\" data-index=\"27\" ><div class=\"textwidget\"><h2>Jonny Alejandro Garcia, M.D.,<\/h2>\n<p>Jonny Garcia obtained his medical degree from Universidad del Valle in 2017 and he was selected as a fellow of CIDEIM\u2019s Clinical Research training program in November of 2017 based on his conviction to pursue a research career and outstanding academic record. His responsibilities include providing support in the development of research protocols, project management of clinical studies in human subjects and running of clinical studies.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"pg-73-15\"  class=\"panel-grid panel-no-style\" ><div id=\"pgc-73-15-0\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-73-15-0-0\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_media_image panel-first-child panel-last-child\" data-index=\"28\" ><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"200\" height=\"300\" src=\"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/spirochete-lab\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/133\/2018\/09\/ladyramirez-200x300.jpg\" class=\"image wp-image-365  attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"\" style=\"max-width: 100%; height: auto;\" srcset=\"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/spirochete-lab\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/133\/2018\/09\/ladyramirez-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/spirochete-lab\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/133\/2018\/09\/ladyramirez.jpg 249w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/div><\/div><div id=\"pgc-73-15-1\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-73-15-1-0\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_black-studio-tinymce widget_black_studio_tinymce panel-first-child panel-last-child\" data-index=\"29\" ><div class=\"textwidget\"><h2>Lady Giovanna Ramirez, B.Sc., M.Sc.<\/h2>\n<p>Lady Ramirez is a microbiologist, she received her M.Sc degree in Biomedical Science from Universidad del Valle in 2012. Her thesis was focused on the relationship between innate immune responses and the pathogenesis of secondary syphilis. She has eleven years of experience in flow cytometry as well as cell and molecular biology methods applied to the understanding of the host-pathogen relationship of infectious diseases. She leads the laboratory of immunology at CIDEIM and provides extensive support in the writing of research proposals, development of scientific publications and training of graduate and undergraduate students.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Syphilis Research Syphilis Research Team Justin Radolf, M.D., Professor of Medicine, Pediatrics, Molecular Biology and Biophysics, Genetics and Genome Sciences, and Immunology Justin Radolf received his B.S. degree in biology from Yale University in 1975. He attended medical school at the University of California, San Francisco, graduating in 1979. He was a resident in internal [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":38,"featured_media":0,"parent":25,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-blank.php","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-06 21:26:31","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/spirochete-lab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/73"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/spirochete-lab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/spirochete-lab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/spirochete-lab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/38"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/spirochete-lab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=73"}],"version-history":[{"count":84,"href":"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/spirochete-lab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/73\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":647,"href":"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/spirochete-lab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/73\/revisions\/647"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/spirochete-lab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/25"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/spirochete-lab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=73"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}