
Doug Kwon
Principal Investigator - dkwon@mgh.harvard.edu

Seth Bloom
Postdoctoral Fellow - smbloom@mgh.harvard.edu

Upasana Das Adhikari
Postdoctoral Fellow - udasadhikari@mgh.harvard.edu
Upasana joined the Kwon Lab as a postdoctoral fellow in December 2018. Before moving to Boston, she was a Signgene Fellow doing her Ph.D. in a collaborative project between the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Max Delbruck Centre of Molecular Medicine in Berlin. During her Ph.D., she studied the gut epithelial stem cell regeneration addressing the crosstalk between reserve and active stem cells. This led her to become fascinated by the three amigos of the gut: the epithelium, Gut Associated Lymphoid Tissue, and the microbiome. In the Kwon Lab, Upasana will study the cause of the misbalance of these interactions during HIV progression to halt the viral replication in the gut reservoir. In her free time, she loves to dance salsa and bachata!

Matt Hayward
Postdoctoral Fellow - mhayward2@mgh.harvard.edu
Matt proudly joined the Kwon lab as a Research Fellow in October 2017 to investigate the interplay between commensal microbes and tissues of the vagina in relation to HIV acquisition. From studying enteric pathogen, Salmonella enterica for his PhD, to elucidating the role of microbial communities in human health and disease for his first postdoc, Matt has maintained a focus on the microscopic. With extensive experience in both the wet-lab and dry-lab environments he has developed both pipetter’s shoulder and programmer’s slouch. In 2015, Matt was the lucky recipient of a Marie Curie Fellowship to pursue a project at EMBL Heidelberg with Prof Peer Bork on the relationship between the commensal microbes of the human gastrointestinal tract and colorectal cancer development. In his free time Matt can be found either pumping iron in the gym or with his nose stuck in a musty old book.

Fatima Hussain
Postdoctoral Fellow - fhussain3@mgh.harvard.edu
Fatima joined the Kwon Lab as a Research Fellow in May 2020 to study the female genital tract microbiome from an evolutionary ecology perspective. For her PhD, she studied bacteriophage-driven evolution of marine microbes with Martin Polz at MIT. Her previous work focused on near-term resistance evolution to lytic phages in bacteria of the genus Vibrio, and the role of lysogenic phages in shaping Vibrio genomic diversity. She applies the same framework in her postdoctoral work to determine how ecological interactions, both phage-bacteria and bacteria-bacteria, drive the intra-species evolutionary dynamics of Lactobacillus populations in the vagina. Ultimately, she aims to use her research to design ecologically-informed microbial therapeutics for women’s health. Prior to becoming a microbiologist, Fatima studied Environmental Engineering and Women’s and Gender Studies at MIT and Stanford. In her free time, she enjoys hosting dinner parties, culturing sourdough, yoga, and gardening.

Joshua Gammon
Postdoctoral Fellow - jgammon1@mgh.harvard.edu

Benjamin Read
Postdoctoral Fellow - bread1@mgh.harvard.edu
Ben joined the Kwon lab as a postdoctoral fellow in July 2021. He completed his Ph.D. in medical engineering at MIT, where his research focused on engineering nanoparticle antigens to enable innate immune recognition and directed accumulation within draining lymph nodes to improve immune responses. In the Kwon Lab, Ben works to elucidate the immunological changes that occur in the female genital tract following HIV infection and how these changes evolve over time. He aims to utilize his research to inform the development of the next generation of interventions to prevent and treat HIV infection. In his free time, Ben enjoys running, reading, and playing board games with friends.

Elizabeth Byrne
Graduate Student - ebyrne2@partners.org

Jiawu Xu
Lab Manager - jxu25@mgh.harvard.edu

Leah Froehle, MPH
Research Specialist - lfroehle@mgh.harvard.edu
Leah graduated from Colorado School of Mines with a degree in Chemistry. After graduation, she served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Mozambique, where she was a high school science teacher.
Leah completed her MPH at Johns Hopkins where she focused on biostatistics and epidemiologic methods with emphasis in maternal and child health. Her research interests in the Kwon Lab include the epidemiologic and immunologic determinants of HIV acquisition in adolescent girls and young women.
In her free time, you can find her playing volleyball or cooking for friends.

Blythe Gulley
Project Coordinator - bbgulley@mgh.harvard.edu
Blythe Gulley joined the Kwon Lab as Staff Assistant in July 2020. She received her B.A. in English & Comparative Literature from UNC-Chapel Hill, where she was involved with The Carolina Quarterly and the UNC Institute of Politics. In 2018, she co-curated an exhibition for her research seminar: “Reconstructing Frankenstein’s Monster: Mary Shelley’s World in Print.” When she’s not at the lab, Blythe can be found wandering around museums, reading a good book, or cheering on UNC’s basketball team!

Ashley Sango
Research Technician - asango@mgh.harvard.edu
Ashley Sango joined the Kwon Lab as a Research Technician in July 2021.

Tess Brunner
Research Technician - tbrunner@mgh.harvard.edu
Tess Brunner joined the Kwon Lab as a Research Technician in June 2021.

Aaron Abai
Undergraduate Researcher - aaronabai@college.harvard.edu

Suuba Demby
Undergraduate Researcher - suubademby@college.harvard.edu
Suuba joined the Kwon Lab in October of 2020. She is currently studying Molecular and Cellular Biology at Harvard College, with a minor in Energy and Environment. Prior to joining the lab, Suuba spent five years living overseas in Malawi and has worked on public health and policy-based projects in Sierra Leone for the past two years. In the Kwon Lab, Suuba is studying the female genital tract microbiome from an evolutionary ecology perspective under the mentorship of Dr. Fatima Hussain. Outside of the lab, Suuba enjoys photography, biking, and working as an EMT.

Eleanor Xiao
Undergraduate Researcher - eleanorx@mit.edu
Eleanor joined the Kwon Lab in February of 2021. Eleanor is an undergrad at MIT majoring in Biological Engineering and minoring in International Development. Previously, Eleanor worked in the Tsai Lab at the MIT Picower Institute, where she studied the role of the APOE gene in Alzheimer’s disease. Eleanor works with Dr. Fatima Hussain researching the microbiome of the female genital tract. In her free time, she enjoys dancing, eating vegan food, and running with her dog.

Palak Shah
Undergraduate Researcher - palak.shah@college.harvard.edu
Palak joined the Kwon Lab in February of 2021.

Erin Yuan
Undergraduate Researcher - erinyuan@college.harvard.edu
Erin joined the Kwon Lab in February of 2021.

Sinaye Ngcapu
Postdoctoral Fellow - sinaye.ngcapu@caprisa.org

Nondumiso Xulu
Research Technician - nxulu@mgh.harvard.edu

Boomer
Honorary Kwon Lab Member - boomer@kwonlab.org























