Fink Lab
Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research (Cambridge, MA)
Candida albicans, the most frequently isolated human fungal pathogen, has developed several mechanisms to evade immune detection and killing. First, Candida is able to mask immunogens in its cell wall. Second, upon phagocytosis by macrophages, Candida is able to undergo hyphal morphogenesis. These filamentous cells are able to pierce through the macrophage and release the fungus to infect other tissues. I am using knockout and shRNA libraries to identify mutants of both the fungus and the host which alter this interaction.
2008-present Co-Chairman, Whitehead Institute Postdoctoral Association
2005-2007 Co-Director, Whitehead Forum
1997 Biochemist, Merck Research Labs
1996 Merck Research Labs
1995 Schering Plough Research Institute
2007-2010 Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award
2006 Herman and Margaret Sokol Postdoctoral Fellowship
2004 Dissertation with Distinction (Ph.D.), Columbia University
1993-1996 AFL-CIO Scholar
1993-1996 Robert C. Byrd Scholar
1993-1996 NHS Scholar
1993 Panasonic Creative Design Competition, 2nd Place
1993 Valedictorian, West Orange High School, West Orange, NJ

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Phagocytosis of Candida by human macrophages or monocytes (A) induces filamentation, whereas phagocytosis by neutrophils (B) does not. From Rubin-Bejerano, et al. http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/ful...