We are a diverse group of folks that care about understanding molecular mechanisms in normal and disease states
D'Orso Lab is associated with the Molecular Microbiology and Biochemistry and Cellular and Molecular Biology graduate programs. We are located in the Department of Microbiology and are associated with the Molecular Microbiology and Biochemistry / Cellular and Molecular Biology graduate programs. Our team is comprised of graduate students, postdocs, and research assistants. For more details please see Lab Projects or directly contact the Principal Investigator.
Meet the Principal Investigator
Ivan D'Orso, Ph.D.
The major theme of Dr. D'Orso's work is to characterize the mechanisms of HIV transcriptional regulation, and the molecular and structural basis of cellular reprogramming by viral transcription factors. His current work is focused on using cell biological, biochemical, and genetic studies to elaborate the contribution of these host co-factors to the establishment of latency and efforts for HIV eradication. Dr. D’Orso’s research program is supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health, The Welch Foundation, and an Institutional grant from the American Cancer Society.
Current Lab Members
Ashwini Challa
Research Assistant
(2017 – Present)
Ashwini is working towards completing a global comparative analysis of RNA polymerase II elongation complexes in eukaryotic cells.
Usman Hyder
Graduate Student I Genetics, Development & Disease Ph.D. Program
(2019 – Present)
Usman is working towards determining how the transcription elongation factor KAP1 recognizes chromatin at target gene promoters to exert transcription activation.
Nora-Guadalupe Ramirez
Graduate Student I Molecular Microbiology
(2014 – Present)
Nora is interested in defining new pathways that control the establishment and maintenance of HIV proviral latency in CD4 T cells using an unbiased gain-of-function approach with human cDNAs.
Jinli Wang, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow
(2017 – Present)
Jinli is interested in elucidating how the ARF tumor suppressor cooperates with transcription elongation factors to control cell fate and prevent cancer development.
Former Lab Members
Youn-Tae Kwak, Ph.D.
Research Associate
(2011-2013)
Current Position: Research Scientist, UT Southwestern
Swapna Aravind, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Researcher
(2012-2014)
Current Position: Postdoctoral Researcher, Huntsman Cancer Center, Salt Lake City, Utah
Jennifer McCann
Lab Technician
(2012-2014)
Current Position: Graduate Student, University of Minnesota
Jonathan Reeder
Green Fellow, Research Associate
(2013-2015)
Current Position: Medical School, UT Southwestern
Ryan McNamara, Ph.D.
Graduate Student, Molecular Microbiology
(2011-2015)
Current Position: Postdoctoral Fellow in Dirk Dittmer's lab, UNC Chapel Hill
Sonali Pandhe
Postdoctoral Researcher
(2014-2016)
Current Position: Research Associate
Emily Morton
Research Assistant
(2014-2016)
Current Position: Research Associate, Peloton Therapeutics, Inc (Dallas, Texas)
Victor Fung
Research Technician
(2015-2017)
Carlos Guzman
Research Assistant
(2015-2017)
Current Position: Graduate Student, Bioinformatics & Systems Biology, UC San Diego
Chi Pak
Research Associate
(2016-2018)
Current Position: Data Analyst, TXU (Dallas, TX)
Curtis Bacon
Graduate Student, Biological Chemistry
(2015-2020)
Current Position: Postdoctoral Fellow in Julia Zeitlinger’s lab at Stowers Institute, Kansas City
Zheng Ma. Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Researcher
(2015-2020)
Lab Alumni
2010 Ryan McNamara, Graduate Student, Molecular Microbiology
2011 Terry Ng, Undergraduate Student, STARS Program
2011 Amparo Estrada, Graduate Student, Molecular Microbiology
2011 Evan Stevens, Graduate Student, MSTP
2012 Kelly Vollbracht, Undergraduate Student, SURF Program
2012 Sureka Gattu, Graduate Student, Molecular Microbiology
2012 Blake Richardson, Graduate Student, Molecular Microbiology
2012 Shreya Endapally, Graduate Student, Molecular Microbiology
2013 Nicholas Rinkenberger, Graduate Student, Molecular Microbiology
2014 Azucena Briones, Undergraduate Student, STARS Program
2014 Jonathan Reeder, Undergraduate Student, Green Fellow
2014 Jonathan Reeder, Undergraduate Student, SURF Program
2014 Victor Fung, Undergraduate Student, SURF Program
2014 Alicia Stars, High School Teacher, STARS Program
2014 Nora-Guadalupe Ramirez, Graduate Student, Molecular Microbiology
2015 Curtis Bacon, Graduate Student, Biological Chemistry
2015 Matthew Deng, Undergraduate Student, Green Fellow
2015 Addison White, Undergraduate Student, SURF Program
2015 Zane Gibbs, Graduate Student, Cellular and Molecular Biology
2016 Addison White, Undergraduate Student, SURF Program
2016 Jordan Driskill, Graduate Student, MSTP
2016 Michelle Ramirez, Undergraduate Student, STARS Program
2016 Mikal Woods, Graduate Student, Molecular Microbiology
2017 Matthew Lanahan, Graduate Student, Molecular Microbiology
2017 Usman Hyder, Undergraduate Student, Green Fellow
2017 Darien Nguyen, Undergraduate Student, STARS Program
2017 Joy Nesbitt, Physician Scientist Training Program participant
2017 Anne Devlin, Graduate Student, Biological Chemistry
2018 Francisco Bautista, Undergraduate Student, SURF Program
2018 Victor Nunez, High-School Student, STARS Program
2018 Brittany Stewart, Graduate Student, Molecular Microbiology
2018 Cameron Torres, Postponed graduate school training for 2019
2018 Juliana Herbeck, Graduate Student, Genetics, Development & Disease
2020 Valerie Rodriguez Irizarry, Graduate Student, Molecular Microbiology
2020 Landon Nguyen, Graduate Student, Molecular Microbiology