MEET THE CREW
Dinglasan Lab Team
Dr. Rhoel Dinglasan
PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
Dr. Dinglasan is a professor at the University of Florida, Associate Chair of Research in Department of Infectious Diseases & Immunology and the Director, CDC Southeastern Center of Excellence for Vector Borne Diseases
Luis A. Alonso-Palomares
POSTDOCTORAL ASSOCIATE
Luis A. Alonso Palomares, hails from Mexico. He is a biologist by profession, and completed his master’s and PhD degrees in immunology. His virologist soul is interested in public health, particularly in the arbovirus field. He investigates virus-vector relationships, from researching comparative immunology, molecular mechanisms, to completing surveillance and developing vaccines. He likes to exercise outdoors, play volleyball, go to the movies, and spend time outside with a good beer.
Natalie Broussard
UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT RESEARCHER
Natalie Broussard is a fourth-year undergraduate student majoring in Animal Sciences planning to graduate in December 2022. She’s been in the Dinglasan lab for the past year working on mosquito-borne viruses and vaccine evaluation. She intends on pursuing a career in veterinary medicine and spends her free time reading and taking her dog swimming.
Borja López-Gutiérrez
POSTDOCTORAL ASSOCIATE
Borja completed his PhD at the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), where he studied the glycobiology of the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum. Currently, he makes use of reverse genetics approaches and CRISPR-based genetic tools to improve our understanding of the gametocyte biology, the only parasite stage that can be transmitted to the mosquito host and thus an attractive target for transmission-blocking strategies.
Nicole Nazario
PHD STUDENT
Nicole is a doctoral student in the Dinglasan Laboratory and a T32 predoctoral fellow at the University of Florida. From: Puerto Rico. Her research interests are focused on mosquito-borne diseases. For her thesis, she is working with mosquito-associated viruses in Aedes aegypti. In her free time, she enjoys cooking, restaurant hopping, and riding her bike around town.
Jeff Gruntmeir
POSTDOCTORAL ASSOCIATE
Jeff Gruntmeir (MSc, PhD) is a postdoctoral associate at the SECVBD focusing in tick surveillance and tick-borne disease in the Dinglasan lab. He has a diverse background of training and experience in biological and chemical detection, microbiology, and completed his master’s and PhD focusing on Veterinary Biomedical Sciences and Veterinary Parasitology. Jeff has broad One Health interests in zoonotic parasites, emerging and neglected vector borne diseases. When not in the lab, Jeff enjoys exploring Florida’s state parks beaches with his wife Kaylynn, and his 2 daughters.
Alaina Keith
MSC STUDENT
Alaina Keith is pursuing a Master’s in Infectious Diseases and Immunology. She hopes to launch a career surveying infectious diseases in canine shelter populations. In her free time, she can be found with one of my numerous rescue animals or somewhere exploring outside.
Latifeh Dahmash
PROGRAM COORDINATOR - AFRICA
Latifeh (Tiff) is a consultant in the Dinglasan lab. She holds an MSc in Public Health, alongside additional training in applied and infectious disease epidemiology, and is the program coordinator for the Serological Insight into Covid-19 Transmission in Africa (SICA) study in Nigeria and Cameroon, as well as the First-In-Human study for the AnAPN1 malaria transmission-blocking vaccine in Gabon.
Kassidy Caride
PROGRAM COORDINATOR - US & CARIBBEAN
Kassidy Caride has her Master of Public Health degree and her interests lie in project coordination and vector-borne diseases. She is new to the Dinglasan lab and delighted to join the team. In her free time, she enjoys walking the beach with her dog.
Sai Lata De
RESEARCH ASSISTANT PROFESSOR
Sai Lata De is a Research Assistant Professor who recently joined our team. She is an immunoparasitologist with a vision to develop platforms that thoroughly enable our understanding of host-pathogen interactions, develop pre-clinical models for infectious diseases, and self-adjuvanting vaccines. Her area of research is malaria with a specific interest in vaccine development as she has extensively worked with both whole parasitic vaccines and subunit vaccines.
Hunter J. Martin
INSECTARY SUPPORT TECHNICIAN
Hunter is a new insectary support technician who recently graduated with his Bachelor’s in Entomology. He is interested in the biology and control of disease-vectoring arthropods. In the future, he plans to pursue graduate schooling and become a Navy Entomologist.
John “Jack” F. Williams
INSECTARY SUPPORT TECHNICIAN
John is a new insectary support technician currently completing his undergraduate degree in entomology. His focus is on medical entomology, particularly mosquito vector-borne diseases. In his free time, he enjoys hiking through nature preserves throughout Florida and playing water polo.
Contact Us
Learn more about the research in the Dinglasan Laboratory.
Latest News
STAY UP TO DATE WITH OUR LATEST NEWS. LEARN ABOUT NEW DEVELOPMENTS, TREATMENTS, VACCINES, OUR LAB & MUCH MORE!
UF Professor of Infectious Diseases, Dr. Rhoel Dinglasan, discusses the new saliva COVID tests
- Posted OnAugust 20, 2021
- By epiadmin
Watch WCJB TV20 video here.
Read More
First in human clinical trials of the AnAPN1 malaria transmission-blocking vaccine
- Posted OnMarch 31, 2021
- By epiadmin
Former director of the PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative, Christian Loucq, M.D., says it is exciting to see Dinglasan’s concept moving toward a clinical trial. “There
Read More
Clustered rapid induction of apoptosis limits ZIKV and DENV-2 proliferation in the midguts of Aedes aegypti
- Posted OnJanuary 15, 2021
- By epiadmin
Jasmine’s 1st first-author paper (Yay Jasmine!) that dissects very early innate immune defense mechanisms of mosquito vectors following infection with flaviviruses. Inter-host transmission of pathogenic
Read More