Building a great research team
Björn F.C. Kafsack, Ph.D. (Principal Investigator)
Björn joined Weill Cornell Medical College in 2015 as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology. He received his doctoral training at Johns Hopkins University and the University of Michigan investigating how proteins secreted by the intracellular parasite Toxoplasma gondii allow it enter and exit host cells.
As a postdoctoral fellow at Princeton University, Björn explored the molecular underpinnings of how malaria parasites initiate the development of its sexual stages, a process critical for their transmission to the mosquito. He was a student in the Biology of Parasitism course in 2004.
Photo Credit: Howard Tu, 2015
Riward Campelo, Ph.D. (Staff Scientist)
Riward hails from Caracas, Venezuela where he completed his Ph.D. at the Central University of Venezuela in 2015. His graduate research under Dr. José Luis Ramirez focussed on biochemical characterization of kinetoplasmid telomerases. Riward has been the recipient of a number of awards including selection in the Novartis Next Generation Scientist Program. When he's not in the lab, Riward is enjoys old-school video games and is a big sneakerhead.
Wahida Tabassum, PhD (Postdoctoral Fellow)
Wahida completed her PhD with Prof. Mrinal Kanti Bhattacharyya at University of Hyderabad, India.
Her research focused on unravelling the canonical and non-canonical functions of Hsp90 in Plasmodium chromatin biology. Wahida enjoys reading novels and gardening.
You ?
We currently have open technician and post-doc positions. See here.
Past Members:
2024 Hermela Samuel (ACCESS Summer Student, currently Junior at Carlton College)
2023/24 Fiona Zhu (Summer Research Fellowship for Science Teachers), NYC High School Teacher)
2022 Darlene Malave-Ramos (ACCESS Summer student, currently Ph.D. student, U. of Virginia)
2020-2023 Gaëlle Neveu, PhD (currently research scientist at MUMilk)
2016-2022 Chantal Harris, PhD (Graduate Student, currently Post-doc at Genentech)
2019-2022 Kit Kennedy, PhD (Post-doc, currently Research Scientist at Vow Biotech)
2016-2022 Christopher Nötzel, PhD (Graduate Student, currently Post-doc in Boris Striepen’s group at UPenn Vet)
2020-2021 Divya Beri, PhD, (Post-doc, currently Post-doc at NY Blood Center)
2018-2020 Leen Vanheer, MD (Research Fellow, currently Ph.D. student at London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
2019 Idri Abdullah (ACCESS Summer Student, currently college student at University of Maryland)
2015-2018 Xinran Tong (Technician, Post-doc at Memorial Sloan Kettering)
2018 Gabrielle Paniccia (ACCESS Summer Student, currently Ph.D. student at Rockefeller University)
2017-2018 Nusrat Tabassum (Bronx High School of Science Summer student, currently Pharmacy student at St. Johns University)
2017 Victor Vazquez Marrero (ACCESS Summer Student, currently Ph.D. student at University of Pennsylvania)
2017 Scott Segura (ACCESS Summer Student, currently Ph.D. student at University of Texas, Medical Branch)
2016 Randy Coupet (Visiting Medical Student, currently completing residency in France)