Lab Members

Principal Investigator

Scheherazade Sadegh-Nasseri, Ph.D.

Originally from Iran, Scheherazade completed her B.Sc. at Pahlavi University, her Ph.D. with Dr. Eli Sercarz at UCLA, CA. She was a Postdoctoral Scholar in Chemistry Department at Stanford University, CA, working with Dr. Harden McConnell, and then became a Sr. Staff Fellow working with Dr. Ronald Germain in Laboratory of Immunology at NIAID/NIH.  She joined the Johns Hopkins Department of Pathology in 1996 where her lab has focused on understanding mechanisms of MHC-II antigen processing and presentation, peptide editing as mediated by HLA-DM and HLA-DO, and the role for antigen processing in determining distinct CD4 T cell fates and function.

Scheherazade has been a very active participating faculty in Graduate Program in Immunology serving as the

Director to Graduate Immunology Course for 13 years, teaching several advanced courses in Immunology, running the Immunology Forum seminar series, and as of 2018, she was elected as the Assistant Director of the program. Scheherazade loves classical music and ballet, traveling, and teaching her students!

Lab Members

Nianbin (Nelson) Song Nelson hails from Wuhan, China. He studies the markers that define long-term memory CD4 T cells in mice. He is also currently investigating the role of the antigen processing chaperone HLA-DO in shaping the self-peptide repertoire. He loves cookies, free lunches, and all things UT Austin.

Robin Welsh Robin is a New Yorker through and through. She is characterizing the role of HLA-DO in the formation of autoreactive CD4+T cells and the effect of this molecule on autoimmune diseases like MS. She loves science communication, cooking, a good beer, and having fun with her puppy Mila.

Srona Sengupta Srona is from Chicago, but after spending 10 years in Baltimore, now considers herself nearly a local. She is attempting to characterize the role of HLA-DR on human CD4+T cells and whether this molecule allows for presentation of peptides from viruses like HIV that naturally infect CD4+T cells. She loves spicy foods, ballroom dancing, and discovering new parks and hikes in Maryland.

Madison Reed Madison hails from Maryland and is an undergraduate Molecular/Cellular Biology major at Johns Hopkins. She is helping Srona to define MHC-II epitopes of HIV and to determine whether HIV peptides can be presented on CD4+ T cells. Madison loves coffee, baking, and volunteering with APO in the community.

Jeanna Yu Jeanna comes to us from Michigan and is an undergraduate Molecular/Cellular Biology major at Johns Hopkins. She is also helping Srona to define MHC-II epitopes of HIV and to determine whether HIV peptides can be presented on CD4+ T cells. Jeanna figure skates, gives college campus tours, and choreographs slick dance moves for her JHU dance troupe.