Lab Members
David Leib - PI
David grew up in London, England, within shouting distance of the famed Wembley Stadium, the home of football (the flavor played with the feet). He developed a fascination with microbiology at an early age while watching Paramecium and amoebae crawl around in pond water under his toy microscope. David attended The University of Birmingham for his BSc in biological sciences, and then went up to Liverpool University for his PhD working on the pathogenesis of non-human primate herpesviruses. David then spent 3 years in the late Priscilla Schaffer's lab at Harvard before taking a faculty position at Washington University in St. Louis. After 19 wonderful years in St Louis David moved the lab to Dartmouth in the fall of 2009. When not in lab, David can be found enjoying his family, hiking, playing soccer, watching soccer, and never stops hoping that England will win the World Cup again.
Audra Charron - Research associate
Audra is a NH native who recently returned to the Northeast after many years marooned in the Midwest. She received her PhD in Cell Biology from Northwestern University in Chicago, and did her postdoctoral work at Washington University in St. Louis. Never one to shy away from that great leveler of the intellect, "the learning curve", Audra has focused on the cell and molecular bases of such varied fields as human kidney disease, host-parasite interactions, and drought resistance in plants. She is excited to spearhead a new research pursuit in the Leib lab: cell-intrinsic immunity and pathogenesis in Yellow Fever. If not for the call of science Audra would surely be a woman of leisure: her favorite pastimes are yoga, horseback riding, kayaking, and cooking.
Sarah Katzenell - Graduate Student
Sarah was born and raised in Israel, and earned her MSc in Hematology from the Technion. She is pleased - and somewhat surprised - to find herself in a virology lab. Sarah's project will focus on autophagy in HSV-1 infected neurons. She also plans on poking CD8 cells. Outside the lab Sarah enjoys cooking, eating and making a mess with her son. One day, when she's all grown up, Sarah wants to be her mom.
Yike Jiang - Graduate Student
Yike is a Chinese-born Canadian with a vagabonding history that she will happily recite to you upon request. After graduating from the University of Maryland with double BS degrees, she couldn't quite decide what to do with her life so she decided to stay in school forever as an MD-PhD student. She found her academic passion in cancer and immunology, but the siren call of autophagy drew her into this virology lab. Backpacking Southeast Asia and Senegal were easily the best decisions she has made, and she hopes to travel tons in the future, but in the meanwhile, here in the quiet Upper Valley, she'll settle for some badminton, drawing webcomics, and spending time with her ridiculously cute bunny.
Jesse Mehrbach - Technician
Jesse is a graduate of the University of Chicago and has studied biotechnology and music. He was born in Boston and grew up in the Upper Valley area. In his 8th grade yearbook he predicted that he would be a virologist, so he's very excited to be working with HSV. He enjoys fencing and board games, and his favorite animal is the cuttlefish.
Zach Parker - Graduate Student
Zach grew up in the mountains of northern Virginia, spending most of his youth roaming the woods, where he became enthralled with the natural world. After a brief stint in Florida, he was able to move back to the mountains, this time at Appalachian State University in North Carolina. He completed a BS and MS in Biology at ASU, where he studied biofilm formation in gram-negative bacteria Vibrio cholerae. While studying microbiology, Zach became interested in virology, which led him to the Leib lab at Dartmouth, where he now studies the innate immune response to HSV1. When Zach isn't in lab or commuting via mountain bike, cross country ski, snowshoe, or trail running shoe, he can be found exploring the back roads of New England on his road bike and drinking the finest teas along a ridge of the Presidentials.
Pamela Rosato - Graduate Student
Pam was born and raised in the small town of Harvard, MA (no relation to the college). She discovered the joys of immunology, and science in general, at the College of William and Mary while working with rainbow trout. After a year at an HIV lab in the great city of Boston, she returned to school to continue work with viruses at Dartmouth. Her initials, PCR, destine her for great success in all molecular biology endeavors. Likes: mac&cheese, evolution, squirrels. Life goals: work in a BSL4.