Dr. Nahed Ismail. (Joshua Clark/University of Illinois Chicago)

Nahed Ismail, MD
Principal Investigator

Dr. Ismail graduated from School of Medicine, Tanta University, Tanta, Egypt in 1988. After 1 year of rotational internship at Tanta University Hospital, Egypt, she joined the Department of Medical Microbiology, Turku University, Turku, Finland in 1990, where she started her research training in the area of infectious diseases and molecular microbiology. In Finland, she worked on the pathogenesis of gastroenteritis caused by Gram negative Yersinia entercolitica. She started her Master degree studies in 1993 at the University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada, studying the role of HLA-B27 in the pathogenesis of reactive arthritis following gastrointestinal infection with Yersinia enterocolitica, under supervision of renowned rheumatologist Robert Inman which she completed successfully in 1995. In 1996, she started her PhD degree studies at the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada, analyzing the immune mechanisms that are responsible for induction of Th1 and Th2 responses during infection under supervision of renowned immunologist, Dr. Peter Bretscher. After obtaining her PhD degree in 2000, she started a CPEP-accredited clinical microbiology fellowship at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB), Galveston, Texas which was successfully completed in 2002. From 2003-2005, she joined the Laboratory of David Walker, Chair of Pathology at UTMB and national and international renowned rickettsiologist, where she started her research program focused on the understanding of immunity and pathogenesis of tick-borne rickettsial diseases. Dr. Ismail held various faculty positions at University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas, Meharry Medical College, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh. She also served as an Assistant and then an Associate Director of the Clinical Microbiology Laboratory at UTMB and U. Pittsburgh Medical Centers. Dr. Ismail has been recruited to University of Illinois/Chicago (UIC) as Professor of Pathology and Director of Clinical Microbiology laboratory.

Aditya Kumar Sharma
Post-Doctoral Fellow

I received my PhD from India. I joined Dr. Ismail lab in 2021, as post-doctoral research associate. My research interests include -Understand Inflammasome activation, inflammation, and liver injury, identify role of various PAMPs and DAMPs during bacterial infection, investigate the regulation of autophagy and mitophagy. I have also contributed on various COVID-19 projects in the lab.

Laith Ali
Research Specialist

Investigating the Wnt/b-catenin pathway during IOE & EM infection.

Selena Canuto
Clinical Research Coordinator

I am the Research Study Coordinator for the RADx-UP (Rapid Acceleration in Diagnostics in Underserved Populations) project at UIC, which investigates if providing information about COVID-19 and providing them with access to a painless COVID-19 diagnostic test will lead to higher rates of COVID-19 testing in Chicago’s Cook County and Suburban Cook County. I graduated with a B.S. in Biology in 2021 from Purdue University Northwest and have since been working in the field of research.