Current Lab Members
Evan Snitkin - PI
Evan received his PhD in Bioinformatics and Systems Bioogy from Boston University, where in addition to gaining expertise in the analysis of multi-omic data sets, he identified his passion for understanding the function and evolution of microbial systems. During his postdoc, Evan developed deep interests in the application of genomics to study healthcare associated infections, and his newly formed lab aims to continue this line of research which bridges basic and clinical realms.
When not in the lab Evan decompresses by keeping tabs on his beloved New York sports teams. For the sake of Ann Arbor's sanity, he hopes that his poor sports luck does not doom the Wolverines.
Ali Pirani - Computational Biologist
Ali graduated from Georgia Institute of Technology with an M.S Bioinformatics and used to be a software engineer in his previous life, with specific interest in web application development. In the Snitkin lab Ali works on developing analysis pipelines for studying the epidemiology and evolution of drug-resistant microbes. Ali's research interests lie in exploiting the power of Bioinformatics and sequencing data and developing analysis strategies to study microbial evolution.
Ali is a traveller, movie buff and enjoys cooking. To maintain his zen-like state he relies on his mantra: "keep calm and do Bioinformatics"
Stephanie Thiede - PhD student, Microbiology and Immunology
Ryan Crawford - PhD student, Bioinformatics
Ryan received his Bachelor’s degree in Microbiology from Indiana University and his MPH in Hospital and Molecular Epidemiology from the University of Michigan School of Public Health. His research interests involve the development and application of bioinformatics approaches to study genome evolution. Ryan's PhD is focused on the development and application of software to track the transfer of antibiotic resistance genes among bacteria colonizing patients in healthcare settings.
Outside of the lab, Ryan enjoys playing guitar, running, and cooking.
Emily Maggioncalda, Postdoctoral fellow
Emily received her PhD in Pathobiology from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine where she studied bacterial genetics and mouse pulmonary infection modeling of Mycobacteroides abscessus. In the Snitkin lab her project focuses on determining bacterial genetic predictors of patient immune response to Clostridium difficile infection. Emily is an alumna of University of Michigan, BS Microbiology, and is excited to be back in Ann Arbor.
Outside of the lab Emily enjoys rock climbing, hiking, baking and cooking.
Timi Adediran, Postdoctoral fellow
Timi received her PhD in Epidemiology and Human Genetics from University of Maryland, Baltimore, studying transmission of MRSA from patient-to-patient via healthcare personnel vector using traditional epidemiological methods and comparative genomic techniques . In the Snitkin lab, Timi aims to elucidate the interplay of the community and congregate facilities to drive transmission of multidrug-resistant organisms.
Outside of nerding out on science, Timi enjoys traveling, reading including comics, cooking/eating, and crafting.
Kyle Gontjes, PhD student, Microbiology & Immunology
Kyle received his Bachelor’s degree in Biology from Calvin College and his MPH in Hospital and Molecular Epidemiology from the University of Michigan School of Public Health. His current project seeks to integrate clinical, epidemiological, and genomic data to better understand the drivers of antibiotic resistance in long-term acute care hospitals.
Outside of the lab, Kyle enjoys listening to music, discussing philosophy, and keeping tabs on his favorite sports teams
Stuart Castaneda, PhD student, Bioinformatics
Stuart received his Bachelors in Physiology and Masters in Cell and Molecular biology from San Francisco State University. His current research project utilizes genomic and epidemiological data to study the transmission and evolution of CRE within a hospital environment.
Outside of the lab, Stuart enjoys walking his dog, video gaming, reading manga, and cooking Korean BBQ.
Genevieve Chiara, MPH student, Hospital and Molecular Epidemiology
Genevieve graduated from Hillsdale College with a BS in Biology and a minor in Biochemistry. She is currently a masters student studying Hospital and Molecular Epidemiology at the School of Public Health.
Her project in the Snitkin lab uses genomic methods to profile populations of C. difficile from patient samples to understand strain diversity within hosts and apply these findings to hospital transmission studies.
She enjoys running Ann Arbor’s trails, learning Italian, horseback riding, and spending lots of time with family.
Sophie Hoffman - MS student, Bioinformatics
Sophie received her BS in Life Science Informatics from the University of Michigan and is currently a masters student studying Bioinformatics at U of M. Her current project is developing an open source R package for studying regional pathogen transmission dynamics using genomic data.
When she’s not in the lab, Sophie enjoys making pottery, playing scrabble and spending time outdoors.
Alison Naif, Undergraduate student, Public Health
Alison is an undergraduate student at the University of Michigan, working towards a BS in Public Health Sciences and a minor in Spanish. Her project in the lab involves analyzing the molecular and clinical characteristics of pediatric Clostridioides difficile cases in the UM hospital system.
Outside of the lab, Alison enjoys reading, baking, and playing with her dog, Cosmo.
Alumni
Zena Lapp -PhD student, Bioinformatics
Zena graduated from the College of Wooster with a degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. Zena's PhD has focused on the integration of genomic with clinical and epidemiologic data to understand the drivers and pathways of Klebsiella pneumoniae transmission and evolution across regional healthcare networks.
When Zena’s not in lab, you’ll most likely find her swimming in the pool, riding her bike, or running in the park!
After leaving the lab Zena accepted a postdoctoral fellowship at Duke University studying evolution and transmission of malaria parasites.
Katie Saund - PhD student, Microbiology & Immunology
Katie received her undergraduate degree in Biology from Caltech and spent the next several years studying the interplay of cancer and the immune system at Seattle Children's Research Institute. Her current project addresses how genetic variation in the healthcare-associated pathogen Clostridium difficile impacts human disease.
Most evenings you'll find Katie playing roller derby under the moniker Jammasaurus Rex.
After leaving the lab Katie accepted a position as a computational biologist at Denali Therapeutics.
Shawn Hawken - PhD student, Microbiology & Immunology
Shawn completed her undergraduate at the University of Washington and an MPH in Hospital and Molecular Epidemiology at the University of Michigan School of Public Health. Her current projects focus on developing methods to integrate clinical and epidemiological data with microbial genomics to study the spread of healthcare associated infection. A goal of her work is develop study designs where findings can translate into actionable infection control interventions.
Outside of lab, Shawn enjoys finding excuses to bake treats, cross-country skiing and yoga.
After leaving the lab Shawn went on to do a clinical microbiology fellowship at the University of North Carolina. Now, she is a clinical metagenomics scientist at Invitae.
Joyce Wang - Postdoctoral fellow
Joyce received her PhD in Microbiology and Immunology from McGill University (Montreal, Canada), studying the contribution of horizontal gene transfer in mycobacterial pathogenesis. In the Snitkin lab Joyce aims to elucidate the drivers of antibiotic resistance proliferation in long-term care facilities to close a major knowledge gap between bacterial resistance evolution and infection control.
Having spent years in Taiwan, Vancouver, and Montreal, Joyce is always looking for good food, drinks, and books.
After leaving the lab Joyce accepted a position as a computational biologist at LanzaTech.
Arianna Miles-Jay - Postdoctoral fellow
Arianna received her PhD and MPH in Epidemiology from the University of Washington, where she studied the epidemiology of antimicrobial resistant gram-negative pathogens in adult bone marrow transplant recipients as well as in children. Her current project is focused on defining how the population genomics of Clostridium difficile lineages can inform our understanding of the epidemiology of Clostridium difficile infections. Arianna is also an alumna of the University of Michigan — receiving her BS in Microbiology — and is a lifelong Michigan sports fan.
Outside of science, Arianna likes to practice yoga, ride horses, and hang out with her dog, Loki.
After leaving the lab Arianna accepted a position as a genomic epidemiologist for the Michign Deparatment of Public Health.
Awanti Sambarey - Postdoctoral fellow
Awanti completed her PhD in Systems Biology from the Indian Institute of Science (Bangalore, India), where she analyzed molecular networks of human immune responses in pulmonary tuberculosis to comprehend host-pathogen interactions and gain mechanistic insights into infection. Her work in the Snitkin lab focused on the study of horizontal gene transfer in C. difficile.
In her free time, she enjoys cooking, is an avid reader, and loves all things Harry Potter. She is always up for endless conversation over a good cup of coffee!
Awanti went on to a postdoctoral position in the lab of Sriram Chandrasekaran.
Hannah Steinberg - MS student, Hospital and Molecular Epidemiology
Hannah received her undergraduate degree from Wesleyan University in Middletown Connecticut, and is in the Hospital and Molecular Epidemiology MPH program at the University of Michigan School of Public Health. Hannah's projects in the lab included the development targeted sequencing approaches to more accurately type Clostridium difficile strains and studies of homologous recombination in Clostridium difficile.
Hannah's hobbies include crossword puzzles, rugby, and playing with her puppy.
After leaving the Snitkin lab Hannah went on to a prestigious CSTE fellowship working with the Cook County Department of Public Health.
Daniel Harris - UROP student
Daniel studies microbiology and applied statistics (programming and statistics) at the University of Michigan. Clinical applications fascinate Daniel. His research project entailed incorporating bioinformatics tools available into user-friendly pipelines for microbial resistance analysis.
Daniel is one of three brothers all in love with medicine and research. Of course with brotherhood comes a competitive spirit which has spawned a drive for staying fit, playing (and winning) video games, and keeping up with the happenings of the internet.
After leaving the Snitkin lab Daniel entered the MD/PhD program at Case Western Reserve University.
Emily Benedict, Undergraduate student, Public Health
Emily received her undergraduate degree in Public Health Sciences from the University of Michigan. Her undergraduate work in the Snitkin Lab investigated antibiotic resistance patterns in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in collaboration with Rush University Medical Center, Cook County Health, and the Cook County Jail. After graduation, she continued in the Snitkin Lab to characterize the early introduction of SARS-CoV-2 to Chicago, again in collaboration with Rush University Medical Center.
Other than science, Emily loves baking, movies, and spending time with friends.
Currently, Emily is pursuing her PhD in Computational and Systems Biology at Washington University in St. Louis.
Bailey Garb, Undergraduate student, Microbiology
Bailey received her undergraduate degree in Microbiology with a minor in Statistics from the University of Michigan, where she completed an honors thesis studying how genetic variation Clostridium difficile impacts human disease. She is now starting her Ph.D in Bioinformatics at UofM.
Outside of lab work, she loved to listen to podcasts, go for walks, and read.
After leaving the lab Bailey stayed at UM and entered the PhD program in bioinformatics.