Current lab members

Leon Grayfer, PhD
Leon received his BSc, specializing in immunology and infection, from the University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. He went on to conduct his PhD research at the University of Alberta, Department of Biological Sciences, during which time he studied the roles of cytokines in the regulation of fish macrophage antimicrobial responses against Mycobacterium marinum. Leon's doctoral work was awarded the Governor General's Gold Medal. Leon performed his postdoctoral research at the University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, USA, where he espoused the Xenopus laevis frog model towards the study of amphibian macrophage biology. Leon is currently an Assistant Professor at the Department of Biological Sciences, George Washington University, Washington DC, where he and his research team are investigating many different faces of amphibian immune development and functionality.

Milan Popovic, PhD
Dr. Popovic received his MSc in Molecular Biology and Physiology, at the University of Belgrade, Faculty of Biology, Department of Molecular Biology and Physiology, Belgrade, Serbia. He went on to receive his doctorate at the Department of Pharmacology of Natural Products and Clinical Pharmacology, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany. His first postdoctoral tenure was within Reproductive Immunology Group at the Institute of Medical Immunology, Charité, Medical University of Berlin, Germany. After spending two years of research in his native country of Serbia, at the Department for Radiobiology and Molecular Genetics, Institute “Vinča” in Belgrade, he traveled to the US to study kidney immunology at Center for Clinical and Translational Research, the Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Columbus, OH. Subsequently, he investigated the immune interactions between T effector cells and antigen presenting cells at the Department of Microbiology & Immunology, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY. Dr. Popovic has been an integral member of the Grayfer lab since 2017, studying amphibian granulocyte and macrophage responses to viral and mycobacterial pathogens.

Amulya Yaparla, PhD candidate
Upon finishing her college education in South India, Amulya moved to the United States for her post secondary studies. She received her MSc degree in Microbiology from Georgetown University, where she developed an inclination towards research and which led her to pursue a PhD program here at George Washington University. Amulya is interested in studying frog innate immune responses against various pathogens that are known to be contributing towards their declines. Her main research focus is on macrophage biology, specifically in understanding how these cells orchestrate antimicrobial immune responses in frogs, using Xenopus laevis as a model. Outside of the lab (if she's ever seen not doing research), Amulya enjoys experimenting in the kitchen as well, trying out different recipes. All of us in the Grayfer lab can attest to her incredible cooking skills! Amulya also loves dancing to Bollywood tunes and hopes to be able to sing 'Miami' by Will Smith in its entirety before defending her thesis.

Daphne V. Koubourli
​Daphne is beginning her junior year of undergraduate studies at the George Washington University. She has been a member of the Grayfer lab since 2016 and has already published two first author manuscripts. Daphne is particularly interested in defining the roles of granulocyte lineage cells in the frog health and disease. When not in the lab or in class, Daphne loves to rowing on the Potomac river, exploring used bookstores and reading. She is also actively involved in an online collaborative digitization projects, which involves thousands of volunteers across the globe to digitize texts, preserving everything from novels to car repair manuals to old scientific journals.  ​

​Julia Singer
Julia is entering her junior year of undergraduate studies at the George Washington University. She has joined the Grayfer lab in the summer of 2018 and has focusing her research in our lab on defining the roles of amphibian interferon cytokines during the tadpole and adult frog immune responses to the Frog Virus 3 ranavirus. Aside from her research and scholarly studies at GWU, Julia is learning to play the guitar and enjoys outdoor activities, whether it is a beach, a mountain, a city, or a landmark. She is also a Chapter Officer of Sigma Alpha Lambda and participates in Club Frisbee and Club Gymnastics.

​Andreja Radević
Andreja is beginning his junior year of undergraduate studies at the George Washington University. He joined the Grayfer research team in the summer of 2018 and is currently investigating the transcriptional and functional differences between different frog macrophage subsets. In addition to his research and scholarly studies, Andreja has also been actively involved in a number of medical health-related volunteer activities. He also sports an impressive (some might say extensive!) collection of baseball hats. ​

Phillip Reeves
Phillip joined our lab in the summer of 2018 and will continue his research with us as part of his internship with the local Thomas Jefferson high school. Phillip has mastered many different molecular techniques and is now diving deep into his research project, which focuses on the determinants of frog macrophage susceptibility to viral, mycobacterial and fungal pathogens. Phillip is a master builder and is an aspiring and a quiet successful herpetologist. He designs his own reptile and amphibian housing tanks and has an impressive collection of cold blooded vertebrate pets.
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​Past lab members

Emily S. Wendel
While working towards her BSc at the George Washington University, Emily conducted undergraduate research in our lab. During her tenure with us, Emily discovered that tadpole and adult frogs mount distinct antiviral interferon cytokine responses within different tissues of Frog Virus 3 infection. Emily also demonstrated that tadpoles and adult frogs rely on distinct interferon cytokines during responses to distinct pathogenic challenges. Emily's work has culminated in two first author publications and represents a substantial contribution to our field. Emily is presently stationed with the Peace Corps in Botswana, working with the local communities on projects related to bettering their education and public health. Emily knows all of the lyrics to, and can sing 'Ice, Ice Baby' at a moment's notice!

Aashish Batheja
Aashish conducted research in the Grafer lab during the summers of 2016 and 2017, when on break from his studies at the Thomas Jefferson high school. During his time in our lab, Aashish mastered molecular techniques such as RNA isolation, cDNA synthesis, conventional and quantitative gene expression analyses. Aashish then made significant contributions to defining the differences in the pathogen recognition capacities of distinct frog macrophage populations. We are in the final stages of preparing a manuscript describing some of this research. Aashish graduated high school in 2018 and is beginning his undergraduate studies at the University of Virginia.

Hannah Docter-Loeb
Hannah conducted research in our lab during the summer of 2017 and as part of the School Without Walls high school internship program. After mastering an array of molecular techniques, Hannah focused her research in our lab on studying the expression of distinct pathogen pattern recognition receptors by different frog macrophage subsets and the capacities of these immune cell subsets to detect different pathogen associated molecular patterns. Hannah presented her research and the GWU Research Days as well at the DC STEM Fair, where she received 1st place for her poster presentation! Hannah's findings are part of a manuscript, which is in final stages of preparation. ​

​Mattie L. S. Melnyk
Mattie conducted research in our lab as part of the School Without Walls high school internship program in the fall of 2017 and the spring of 2018. While with us, Mattie learned how to isolate RNA from cells and tissues, how to generate cDNA libraries and how to perform conventional and quantitative analyses of immune and viral gene expression and how to quantify viruses in tissue samples. After mastering these molecular approaches, Mattie helped examine the gene expression of macrophage pathogen patter recognition receptors and the consequences of frog macrophage stimulation with different pathogenic components on their proinflammatory and antiviral responses. Mattie also helped to define the gene expression of pathogen recognition receptors in various tadpole and adult frog tissue sites of FV3 entry. Mattie's contributions are represented in a manuscript that has been accepted for publication and an additional article, which is in final stages of preparation. ​