Valery Z. Grdzelishvili, Ph.D. (Professor, Principal Investigator). I was born in Baku, Azerbaijan (former USSR), grew up in Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia (former USSR), and studied towards all my degrees (B.S., M.S. and Ph.D.) at the M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University, a flagship USSR/Russian research institution. In November 1998, just days after defending my dissertation, I moved to University of Florida where I worked as a postdoctoral fellow under the mentorship of Dr. William O. Dawson (to study molecular mechanisms of gene expression in RNA viruses). Two years later, I moved to University of Wisconsin-Madison where I continued to work with positive-strand RNA viruses as a Howard Hughes Postdoctoral Fellow in the laboratory of Dr. Paul Ahlquist (host factors of virus replication). In 2004, I moved back to University of Florida as a Research Assistant Professor in the laboratory of Dr. Sue Moyer and switched my research focus from positive-strand to negative-strand RNA viruses (the order Mononegavirales). In 2006 I started my own laboratory at the UNC Charlotte Department of Biology. Our laboratory is focused on molecular biology and various applications of nonsegmented negative-strand RNA viruses [vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) in particular].
Valery Grdzelishvili (and Yoshi the Sheltie):
_____________________________________________________________________________
Dakota Goad (Ph.D. student). I am from Boone, N.C. I obtained my B.S. in Cellular/Molecular Biology (2014) and M.S. in Biology (2017) from Appalachian State University, where I investigated the effects of oncolytic vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) against cancer cell invasion processes. I look forward to continuing my work with VSV in the Grdzelishvili laboratory in pursuit of a Ph.D.
_____________________________________________________________________________
Cassandra (Cassie) Catacalos. I was born in New Jersey but grew up in Mooresville, NC where just down the road, I received my B.S. from The University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNCC) in Biology with a concentration in cell and molecular biology. I pursued undergraduate and graduate research studying post-transcriptional gene regulation in the malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum. During this time, I developed an interest in the RNA modification, m6A. Currently, I am particularly interested in exploring viral RNA regulatory pathways during my doctoral studies in the Grdzelishvili lab. Outside of the lab, I enjoy disc golfing, backpacking, and running marathons.
_____________________________________________________________________________
Chloe Dolin (undergraduate research). I was born in Denver, Colorado but raised here in Charlotte, North Carolina. I am a biology major with minors in Chemistry and Spanish at UNCC. My goal is to go to graduate school in order to earn my Ph.D. That way I can become a biology professor at a university. Before starting college my goal was to go to medical school, but I have realized over the course of my studies that I would enjoy research and teaching more.
_____________________________________________________________________________
Dan Langdon (undergraduate research). I was born and raised in Cary, NC and I am currently an undergraduate student here at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. I am working towards my Biology major and a minor in cognitive science. My goal for the future is to go to graduate school and work in the neurology field, looking at different brain diseases and how they can be remedied. I look forward to working with Dr. Grdzelishvili and his work with VSV-based oncolytic virotherapy.
_____________________________________________________________________________
David Khakhutashvili (undergraduate research). I was born in Charlotte NC and have lived here all my life. I am currently pursuing my B.S. in Biology with a minor in Chemistry and Public Health. I have hopes of attending Medical School and becoming a surgeon with interest in cardiothoracic surgery. I look forward to working with Dr. Grdzelishvili and learning from his research.
_____________________________________________________________________________
Jacob Hawkins (undergraduate research). I am from Denver, North Carolina, and am presently an undergraduate student in Biology Major. It is my goal to work in the research field with topics concerning medicine and treating chronic illnesses. Genetic engineering and its overlap with virology have always been of interest to me so I am very happy to now be working with recombinant viruses for clinical purposes.