Lionakis Research Group

Dr. Lionakis obtained his M.D. and Sc.D. from the University of Crete in Greece. In 2002, he came to the United States and worked as a research fellow at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (MDACC) under the mentorship of Dimitrios Kontoyiannis. At MDACC, Dr. Lionakis did clinical research on risk factors, diagnosis, and management of opportunistic fungal infections in cancer patients and bench research focusing on pharmacology and microbial factors in mouse and Drosophila models of invasive aspergillosis, fusariosis, and candidiasis.

Princess comes to FPS with a clinical background working in cardiology, oncology, infectious diseases, and management. As a case manager in FPS, she provides care coordination and protocol implementation on the section’s natural history and interventional studies on human fungal infections and autoimmunity.

Lucas did his postdoctoral research fellowship with Bruce Klein, where he focused on the development of fungal vaccines and mechanisms of T-cell-mediated antifungal immunity. He has accumulated more than 10 years of research experience in fungal immunology, as evidenced by 20 manuscripts and more than 300 citations. At NIAID, he is focused on various projects related to AIRE-dependent mechanisms...

Eliezer obtained a bachelor’s degree in biology from Yeshiva University. In his undergraduate studies, he researched IPLA2-6A-associated neurodegeneration in Drosophila melanogaster and gained experience in confocal microscopy and image analysis, and fruit fly-associated assays. He joined FPS as a postbaccalaureate research fellow, where his work will focus on translational research aspects of the...

Iivo completed his Ph.D. under the mentorship of Petteri Arstila and Eliisa Kekäläinen, focusing on adaptive immune responses in inborn errors of immunity, including autoimmune polyendocrinopathy-candidiasis-ectodermal dystrophy (APECED). At FPS, Iivo's research centers on uncovering the mechanisms underlying immune dysregulation in APECED and how they can be remedied with immunomodulatory drugs.

Shen-Huang (Stacy) completed her Ph.D. under the mentorship of Richard Bennett, specializing in fungal genetics and pathogenesis in Candida albicans. In the FPS, Stacy will be investigating the regulatory roles of lipid mediators during systemic candidiasis.

Ashira worked as a research associate at Rockefeller University in the lab of Ralph Steinman. She obtained her Ph.D. and M.D. from NYU, where she studied the pathogenesis of pore forming leukocidins from Staphylococcus aureus in the lab of Dr. Victor Torres. Her research at FPS focuses on the relationship between excessive type 1 inflammation and mucosal candidiasis. She is interested in defining...

Jessie completed her Ph.D. in the lab of Dr. Leah Cowen at the University of Toronto, where she identified a small molecule secreted by commensal bacteria that inhibits fungal pathogenesis. In FPS, her work is focused on characterizing vaginal immune response in the context of both health and fungal disease in the setting of diabetes mellitus.

Heather comes to FPS with a clinical, research, and public health systems background and was previously a study coordinator with the Laboratory of Immune System Biology. She manages and coordinates our natural history and interventional studies on human fungal infections and autoimmunity.

Joe joins FPS with an interest in clinical research and in elucidating host factors driving susceptibility to fungal infection to learn how to better manage patients with complex fungal infections, especially in the context of immune dysregulation.  

Brendan studied the immune response to pulmonary Aspergillus infections and evaluating novel therapeutics against microbial biofilms during his doctoral research. At FPS, Brendan will be investigating the neuroinflammatory responses against fungal meningoencephalitis.

Taura comes to FPS with a clinical background, working with genitourinary cancers and, more recently, nephrology consultation service with the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, focusing on nephrological complications from varying underlying disorders. Her work will focus on the clinical care of patients with inherited and acquired susceptibilities to fungal disease...

Andrew focused his educational studies on secreted biomarkers in cancer. He then moved to the United States, where he worked as a research technician in the Oudin Lab at Tufts University, investigating drivers of breast cancer metastasis. During the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, Andrew worked as a clinical genomic technologist at the Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine, where he...

Yan Xin obtained his Ph.D. from the Chinese Academy of Sciences. He then performed postdoctoral research on fungal immunology at Tsinghua University under the mentorship of Dr. Xin Lin. In the FPS, Yan Xin will study the molecular mechanisms of host susceptibility to invasive candidiasis and chromoblastomycosis.

Huihui Zhang completed her Ph.D. at Shanghai Jiao Tong University under the supervision of Dr. Qian Feng at the School of Pharmacy. During her Ph.D., her research focused on delineating the immune regulatory mechanisms of macrophages in asthma. In FPS, Huihui is studying the molecular mechanisms of phagocyte-dependent defense against Aspergillus during pulmonary infection.

Lu Zhang received her M.D. from Peking University under the supervision of Dr. Ruoyu Li, where she focused her research on investigating the host immune mechanisms underlying susceptibility to phaeohyphomycosis in CARD9 deficiency. At FPS, she will study the CARD9-dependent mechanisms of protection against fungal infection in the skin including against refractory chromoblastomycosis.