OUR TEAM
YUANJIU ABBY LEI, M.S.
Ph.D. Student
Abby earned her B.S. degree in Biotechnology from Shandong University. She continued her research training at Shandong University, focusing on signal transduction in non-small cell lung cancer for her M.S. degree. She is now a graduate student in the TAMHSC Medical Science Ph.D. program, and her thesis project focuses on how mitochondria regulate type I interferon responses in mouse models of human disease.
SYLVIA TORRES-ODIO, M.S.
Ph.D. Student
Sylvia earned a B.S. in Biochemistry and a M.S. in Molecular Biology from the University of Havanna. Her M.S. thesis examined links between HLA alleles and autoimmune diseases. As a TAMHSC Medical Science Ph.D. student in the West Lab, she is characterizing the role of two novel mitochondrial proteins in innate immune signaling and antiviral immunity.
SAEED MENISSY
Undergraduate Researcher
Saeed is an undergraduate student at Texas A&M majoring in Molecular and Cellular Biology and is planning to pursue medical school or a graduate degree following graduation. He is responsible for lab upkeep and performs computational image analysis for several ongoing projects in the lab.
SERENA KANG
Undergraduate Researcher
Serena Kang is an undergraduate in Texas A&M University majoring in Biomedical Sciences. She plans on going to graduate school after graduation. She assists with ongoing lab experiments and techniques.
To inquire about joining our team as a postdoctoral associate, graduate student, or undergraduate researcher please:
A. PHILLIP WEST, PH.D.
Principal Investigator
Phillip received dual B.S. degrees in Biology and Science Education in from North Carolina State University. He earned his Ph.D. in Immunobiology from Yale School of Medicine under the mentorship of Sankar Ghosh. He then completed an American Cancer Society postdoctoral fellowship with Gerald Shadel in the Department of Pathology at Yale, and moved to Texas A&M in 2016.
LAURA CIACCIA WEST, PH.D.
Co-Principal Investigator
Laura received a B.A. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Boston University. She earned a Ph.D. in the lab of Peter Cresswell and performed postdoctoral research with Albert Bothwell, both in the Department of Immunobiology at Yale School of Medicine. In addition to co-managing the lab, Laura is a member of the pre-clerkship curricular team in the College of Medicine.
CHRISTINE BIRDWELL, PH.D.
Postdoctoral Associate
Christine graduated from the University of North Texas with a B.A. in Chemistry and went on to acquire her Ph.D. in Microbiology from Louisiana State University Health Science Center-Shreveport. Her Ph.D. work focused on the epigenetic consequences of Epstein-Barr virus infection. Continuing her focus on herpesviruses, she now studies viral modulation of mitochondria and the innate immune system in the West Lab.
JOSHUA BRYANT, PH.D.
Postdoctoral Associate
Josh graduated from Hardin-Simmons University with a B.S. in Chemistry, then earned his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Texas at Austin. His Ph.D. thesis focused on mitochondrial folate-mediated one-carbon metabolism and its role in the etiology of neural tube defects. As a postdoctoral associate in the West Lab, he is investigating mitochondrial dysfunction as a trigger of the innate immune system and how this contributes to the progression of Gulf War Illness and other diseases.