Presentations by ID Path T-32 Fellows

Presentations by ID Path T-32 Fellows: Drs. Thomas Holowka, Martin Hsu, Allaura Cone and Farhang Aghakhanian.

Allaura Cone, PhD
Title: CD81 Fusion Alters SARS-CoV-2 Spike Trafficking

Bio: Allure Cone received a bachelor’s in biology in 2016 from Florida State University. She then pursued a PhD in Biomedical Sciences at the School of Medicine at FSU and graduated in 2021. Her thesis was focused on the role of extracellular vesicles, or EVs, in disease, in addition to EVs being used as a potential therapeutic. She has continued this work at UNC as a postdoctoral researcher in Dr. Dirk Dittmer’s lab in Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Thomas Holowka, MD, PhD
Title: Protein Malnutrition Promotes Microbiota-dependent Intestinal Colonization by Carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae

Bio: Thomas Holowka is an Infectious Diseases Fellow at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill currently performing research on intestinal colonization with multidrug-resistant bacteria in susceptible hosts. Prior to beginning his clinical training, Dr. Holowka performed basic research first at the University of Pennsylvania and subsequently as a doctoral student at Yale University investigating host phagocytes and T cells and how they are manipulated by parasitic pathogens. This work inspired Dr. Holowka to pursue a career as a physician-scientist, and he subsequently completed his medical degree at Stony Brook University and his residency training in Internal Medicine at Yale University. While fulfilling his medical training he continued to perform clinical and translational research on opportunistic healthcare-associated infections including fungal pathogens and multidrug-resistant bacteria.

Dr. Holowka completed his clinical training in Infectious Diseases in 2023 and is currently conducting post-doctoral research in the laboratory of Dr. Luther Bartelt. His clinical experience influenced his decision to pursue basic and translational studies aimed at disrupting intestinal colonization and transmission of multidrug-resistant Enterobacterales that afflict millions of patients around the globe, including those he sees in his own practice on a regular basis.

Farhang Aghakhanian, PhD
Title: Genomic analysis of global Treponema pallidum strains and implications in syphilis vaccine design

Bio: Farhang completed his PhD at Monash University in Australia, where his research delved into unraveling the genetic history and diversity of indigenous groups in Malaysia. Transitioning into postdoctoral roles at Monash University, he investigated the gut and oral microbiome in both indigenous and urban Malaysian populations, seeking to illuminate the impacts of urbanization on digestive system-microbial interaction.

Subsequently, Farhang embarked on a position at the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, where he spearheaded genome-wide association studies in Sjogren’s disease. Currently, he serves as a postdoctoral researcher at IDEEL, UNC, where his focus lies in exploring the global genomic diversity of Treponema pallidum pallidum. His endeavors hold promise for advancing our understanding of this pathogen and its potential implications for vaccine development.