Dr. Danillo Augusto, Principal Investigator
Email: danillo.augusto@charlotte.edu
Dr. Verónica Calonga Solís, Post-Doctoral Researcher
Verónica Calonga Solís obtained her bachelor’s degree in Genetics at the National University of Misiones in Argentina. She finished her master’s and doctoral studies in Genetics at the Federal University of Paraná in Brazil; and afterwards, she held a postdoctoral position at the University of Lübeck in Germany.
Throughout her career she investigated the genetic diversity of human populations, and the genetic causes underlying multifactorial and monogenic diseases. At Augusto Lab, she is continuing her research on the molecular bases of complex diseases and phenotypes, and on human population genetics. She has experience in Immunogenetics, Population Genetics, Molecular Genetics and Bioinformatics.
Email: vcalonga@charlotte.edu
Dr. Ticiana Farias, Post-Doctoral Researcher
Ticiana obtained her bachelor’s degree in Biology Sciences and Master’s degree in Cell and Developmental Biology at the Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (Florianópolis, Brazil). She obtained her PhD in Genetics at the Universidade do Paraná (Curitiba, Brazil), with an internship at Universität zu Lübeck, Germany. Previously, she was a post-doctoral fellow at the Fiocruz Parana Institute, and the University of Colorado (Aurora, USA).
She has focused on researching polymorphisms and differential expression levels of leukocyte receptors complex (LRC) region and HLA genes in human populations and complex diseases susceptibility, such as autoimmunity, cancer, and infectious diseases. In addition, she has developed research with focus on variability of non-RNA coding (miRNA, lncRNA) genes in complex diseases.
Email: Ticiana.farias@charlotte.edu
Dr. Ivan Rodrigo Wolf, Post-Doctoral Researcher
Ivan is a Bioinformatician with a Bachelor’s degree in Biology and PhD in Biotechnology at State University of São Paulo, Brazil. He has experience in the use and development of bioinformatics tools to better understands biological systems and complex phenotypes. His research interests include Genomics, RNA-Seq, and Pattern Recognition using Machine learning.
Email: iwolf@charlotte.edu
Jonathan Beaumont, Ph.D. Student
Jonathan received his Bachelor’s Degree in Biology from Charlotte in 2023 and started his Ph.D. shortly thereafter. He has experience in both molecular biology and bioinformatics and seeks to integrate both in his research. His interests center on bioinformatics, genomics, and immunology, with a focus on the NKC and HLA regions of the genome. In his free time, he enjoys spending time outside, reading, cars, and trying new restaurants and food.
Email: jbeaumo1@charlotte.edu
Javier Avalos Núñez, Ph.D. Student
Javier received his Bachelor’s Degree in biology with a minor in biotechnology, and a concentration in microbiology from Charlotte. He began his PhD journey in Dr. Augusto’s lab in 2023 due to his interests in genomics, immunology, and molecular biology. He’s particularly interested in NK cell biology, and how these cells are activated and regulated through their receptome, especially in the context of complex autoimmune diseases like Pemphigus foliaceus. Javier’s research project involves the sequencing of genomic regions encoding NK cell receptors, and the application of cellular and molecular biology techniques to functionally validate novel associations between variants and interesting aspects of disease mechanism and NK cell biology. In his free time, he enjoys reading, playing video games, and watching TV.
Email: javalosn@charlotte.edu
Savannah Poston, Masters Student
Savannah is a majored in Biology and Chemistry for her Bacherlors degree and now is pursuing a Masters degree in Biology. She is specialized in Genetics and Molecular Biology.
Email: sposton5@charlotte.edu