Weinman Lab December 2010 from left to right (back row): Jie Zhao, Kellyann Jones, Ann Wozniak, Sarah Zeng,
(front row): Liz Zeller-Last, Roosevelt Campbell, Steven Weinman, Gaurav Chaturvedi, Jinyu Ren

Lab Members

Kellyann Jones, B.S.
Graduate Student
B.S. Biology, Duke University

I have been a member of the Weinman lab since Spring 2010 as a graduate student in the Microbiology, Molecular Genetics, and Immunology department. My current project in the lab focuses on the mechanisms by which HCV modulates autophagy and what role this could play in the pathogenesis of liver injury. We are interested in which viral proteins are involved in autophagy, specifically the role of the viral ion channel p7. Since our lab has demonstrated that p7 modulates lysosomal pH, we are interested in exploring whether alteration in lysosomal pH or proteolytic function play a role HCV-induced changes in autophagy.

Jinyu Ren, M.D., M.Sc., Ph.D.
Research Assistant Professor
M.D., Lanzhou University School of Medicine, China
M.Sc., Xian Jiaotong University School of Medicine, China
Ph.D., Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Pharmacology, China

Ann Wozniak, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow
B.S. Biology, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Ph.D. Cell Biology, University of Texas-Medical Branch

Currently I am interested in how the regulation of luminal pH within endocytic and secretory vesicles plays a role in the life cycle of HCV.  Intravesicular pH control is critical to the lifecycle of Hepatitis C virus and the HCV protein, p7, has been suggested to function as a proton channel, specifically required for assembly of viral particles.  I am currently examining the possibility that p7 functions as an intracellular ion channel, preventing pH gradients from developing inside the cells as well as how the p7 protein regulates the events necessary for viral entry, fusion, and infectious particle formation.

 

 

Former Lab Members

Roosevelt Campbell, Ph.D.
Lecturer, Department of Biology, University of Texas-Pan American

Garuav Chaturvedi, Ph.D.
Research Assistant Professor
M.Sc. & Ph.D. Panjab University, Chandigarh, India

Batbayar Tumurbaatar, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Texas Medical Branch