Lab Members

Angel has always been curious about infectious diseases and host-pathogen interactions. She obtained her Ph.D. at University of California, Merced. There, as a member of the Jensen lab, she studied the interactions between Toxoplasma gondii parasite and naïve CD8 T cells, and discovered a unique pathway required for CD8 T cell activation and interferon-gamma production in response to T. gondii infections. As a postdoctoral scholar in the Egan lab, joined in 2021, she is exploring the role of erythrocyte factor CD44 and its involvement in Plasmodium falciparum invasion.

Chhaminder joined the lab in January 2023. She completed her PhD in Prof. Swati Patankar’s Lab at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, where she worked towards understanding the intricacies of the protein synthesis process amidst multiple upstream open reading frames in Plasmodium falciparum. During her time at the Patankar lab, she also studied another apicomplexan parasite Toxoplasma gondii focusing on translation regulation of bradyzoite differentiation. As a postdoctoral scholar in Egan lab, Chhaminder is interested in exploring the host cell responses to P. falciparum infection of erythroid progenitor cells, including the role played by the parasite effector proteins. 

Daniel is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology. He earned his bachelor's degree in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from Princeton University in 2019. There, he did his undergraduate thesis research on the within-host biological rhythms of Human African Trypanosomiasis. Daniel’s interest in parasitic infectious diseases brought him to the Egan Lab. Here, Daniel is investigating how specific inhibitors against red blood cell proteins have anti-parasitic properties. He hopes to understand critical pathways for P.falciparum invasion as potential host-directed antimalarial targets. Outside of the lab, Daniel likes going to beaches, long-boarding, and spending time with local family and friends.