Team

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Dr. Agnieszka Apple | Principal Investigator

Agnieszka (Aga) was appointed Assistant Professor in the Department of Immunology and Microbiology in 2016. Her research unravels complex links between viruses, bacteria and the host immune environment. As part of her scientific accomplishments, she received the prestigious Parker B. Francis Fellowship for Pulmonary Research that supports her research. Aga is also actively involved in science mentoring and outreach, through partnership with the Blackfeet Community College in Browning, MT.

Email: agnieszka.rynda@montana.edu


Monica_Hall1.JPG (Photo by Glenn Asakawa/University of Colorado)

Monica Hall, Ph.D. | Research Associate

Monica joined the Apple Lab March of 2020. She has a Ph.D. in Genetics and Molecular Biology from Emory University and B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Louisville. At the University of Colorado, her postdoctoral work uncovered defects in muscle stem cell proliferation in aged mice by combining cellular barcoding with high-throughput sequencing to quantify cell divisions in vivo during muscle repair. Monica has many research interests, but her overarching philosophy is to “follow the science.” Outside the lab, she enjoys skiing and hanging out with her 60 lb Asian Water Monitor, the second largest lizard by weight after the Komodo Dragon.

Email: monica.hall@montana.edu

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/monicanicolehall


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Evelyn Benson, B.A. | Research Associate

Evelyn is a Research Associate who joined the Apple Lab in November of 2018.  She has an AAS in Animal Health Technology from Colorado Mountain College and a B.A. in Environmental Biology from University of Colorado Boulder.  She has worked in various environments including as a certified Veterinary Technician, certified Laboratory Animal Technician, Research Assistant for biotech companies, and Research Associate for pharmaceutical companies.  Her most recent work has been at the bench performing various assays including ELISA’s, qRT-PCR and Bacterial Killing Assays.

Currently, she is working with the Apple Lab team on optimizing and validating several types of immune assays for bat samples.

Email: evelyn.benson1@montana.edu


Abby Luu

Abby Luu, B.S. | Graduate Student

Abby is a graduate student who joined the Apple Laboratory in August of 2019. She received her B.S. in Biomedical Sciences from Colorado State University in 2015. Prior to joining the Apple Lab, she worked in the AgriGenomics industry performing SNP analysis. She aims to understand the role that cellular metabolism plays in viral infection and subsequent regulation of Type I Interferons.

Email: abby.luu@student.montana.edu


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Emma Dardenne-Ankringa | Undergraduate Student

Emma is an undergraduate student working with Monica studying IFNAR signaling in mice and the innate immunity of Jamaican fruit bats.
 

Ella

Ella Horgan | Undergraduate Student

Ella is working with Monica and graduate students Dan Crowley and Caylee Falvo of the Plowright Laboratory. She is studying Bartonella in the Australian Black Flying Fox.


Luke

Luke Conway | Undergraduate Student

Luke is working with Monica and graduate students Dan Crowley and Caylee Falvo of the Plowright Laboratory. He is studying Bartonella in the Australian Black Flying Fox.


Cruz Allies | Undergraduate Student

Cruz is currently performing general laboratory duties to support ongoing research and assisting lab members with experiments.


Lab Alumni

Brooklyn Hunt | Undergraduate Student

Amelia Graves | Undergraduate Student

Kelly Shepardson | Postdoctoral Researcher

Madison Hebner | Graduate Student

Erika Anderson | Undergraduate Student

Julia Roemer | Undergraduate Student

Clyde Schulein | Undergraduate Student

Gabby Rizzo | Undergraduate Student

Sophia Springfield | Undergraduate Student

Ema Robinson | Graduate Student

Alexis Hatton | Graduate Student

Emiliano Hernandez | Undergraduate Student

Julia Wellham | Undergraduate Student

Logan Johns | Research Associate

Kyle Larson | Research Associate

Libby Fones | Graduate Rotation Student

Rebecca Orlando| Graduate Rotation Student (Spring 2018)

Gary Dunn | Graduate Rotation Student (Spring 2019)

Lillie Watson | Undergraduate Student

Hanbyul (Hannah) Cho | Undergraduate INBRE Scholar

Coy Harwood | Undergraduate INBRE Scholar

Kayla Stanek | Undergraduate Student

Lilianna Bento | Undergraduate Student

Kendra Bertrand | Undergraduate Student