Research Staff
Dilip Rao, SR Research Support Specialist
Dilip joined Dr. Perl's laboratory in 2022. He graduated with a MS in genetics from the University of Rochester in 2009 and worked at the University of Rochester and Rochester General Hospital Research Institute previously.
Thomas Winans, Post-Doctoral Associate
Thomas is a recent graduate of the Perl laboratory with a Ph.D. in biochemistry. The focus of his research is on the effects of oxidative stress caused by Rab4A overactivation in systemic lupus erythematosus.
Joshua Lewis, Senior Research Support Specialist
Josh joined Dr. Perl’s laboratory as a Research Technician in 2018. He graduated with a B.S. in Neuroscience from Binghamton University in 2014 and subsequently worked as a Laboratory Assistant at the Hunter James Kelly Research Institute in downtown Buffalo from 2015 to 2018.
Akshay Patel, MD/PhD Student
MD/PhD student. Graduated from Villanova with a BS in Biology in 2015 and an MS in Biology in 2017. Currently studying hepatic dysfunction and inflammation in the context of autoimmunity and oxidative stress.
Joy (Seonghee) Park, PhD student
PhD student. Graduated from Hunter with a BA in Biochemistry in 2017, worked as a Research Associate at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in NYC from 2015 to 2019.
Bryan Blaker, Clinical Research Associate
Bryan graduated from Binghamton University with a B.S. in Biology, Genetics, and a B.A. in Social Sciences, Environment and Evolution. He is a Nationally Registered Emergency Medical Technician joining Dr. Perl’s laboratory to further explore his passion in the medical field from a clinical research perspective.
Aparna Godavarthy, Research Associate
Working in NAC clinical trial study of Immune cells of Control and SLE patients, mainly focusing on the influence of increased levels of HRES-1/Rab4 on gene expression studies and this also includes studying the Molecular basis of increased levels of HRES-1/Rab4 in SLE patients.
Xiaojing Wang, Senior Research Support Specialist
Xiaojing joined Dr. Perl’s laboratory in 2022. She graduated with a M.D. from Tianjin Medical University in 1988, then immediately she practiced as an Oral Maxillofacial surgeon from 1988 to 2000. Thereafter, she has more than 20 years of experience in biomedical research, including working in Penn State College of Medicine and Upstate Medical University. Her past research focused on metabolism and function of poly amine in cancer progression and application of nanotechnology in anti-inflammation . Currently her research focus is to deep understanding the developments of systemic lupus erythematosus using various animal models. She is also a part of the Rheumatology Clinical Trials team.
Jessica Nolan, Senior Research Support Specialist
Jessica joined Dr. Perl’s Laboratory in 2022. She graduated with a B.S./M.S. in Chemistry with a concentration in Biology from the University at Albany, SUNY in 2021. There she worked as a Research Assistant in an Analytical Chemistry laboratory. In Dr. Perl’s laboratory, Jessica focuses on metabolomics utilizing Liquid Chromatography – Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS).