Meet the Taabazuing lab

Principal Investigator

Dr. Taabazuing earned his B.S in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and his Ph.D. in Biological Chemistry at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where he investigated the chemistry of the enzymes that sense and regulate the adaptive response to hypoxia. After completing a postdoc at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Dr. Taabazuing is excited to explore his passion for all things cell death alongside his desire to improve diversity and equity in STEM.

Lab Director

Dr. Discher obtained her Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Oregon Health Sciences University studying the properties of pulmonary lung surfactant with the goal to develop alternative treatment for premature babies. She earned the title “The Mother of Polymersomes” during her postdoctoral training at the University of Pennsylvania School of Engineering and Applied Science, where she assembled and characterized the first water-soluble membranes from diblock copolymers. As a member of the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics at Penn for over two decades, she is excited to be part of the Taabazuing lab, extending her expertise into immunology and cancertherapy. In her free time, Bohdana enjoys riding her bike on the Schuylkillriver trail, taking Orange Theory Fitness classes, and going on skiing and hiking trips with her family.

PhD Candidate; Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics

Pat earned his B.A. in Chemistry with a Biochemistry concentration at the College of the Holy Cross., where he studied the mechanistic enzymology and fitness cost of inteins in Dr. Kenneth Mills’ lab. After graduating, he took two years off to work as a research technician at Harvard Medical School in Dr. Keith Joung’s Lab. There, he worked on developing CRISPR-based tools and platforms for therapeutic purposes. As a graduate student in Dr. Cornelius Taabazuing’s Lab, he continues his interest in developing technology for therapeutic applications while exploring his new interest in innate immunity. Pat advocates for inclusivity in his personal, religious, and scientific spaces. He is passionate about using his second chance at life, his privileges, and his gifts to impact not only the advancement of medicine but also to be a leader in his community and inspire those around him.

Undergraduate Summer Student

William is a current sophomore undergraduate student at the University of Pennsylvania planning to major in Health and Societies. He is from New Jersey and has an interest in immunology, biochemistry, and cell biology and their application to inflammatory diseases. In his free time, William likes to play the cello and soccer.

Postdoctoral Fellow

Dr. Christopher Bourne grew up in South Brunswick, NJ and attended Swarthmore college for undergrad, double majoring in Biology and Spanish. He obtained his PhD from Weill Cornell Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences in the Immunology and Microbial Pathogenesis program. Under the guidance of Dr. David Scheinberg, he examined novel combination treatment strategies of immunotherapies and small-molecules. Chris joins the Taabazuing lab in July 2023 as a Penn Provost and Burroughs Wellcome PDEP fellow, and will leverage pyroptosis to treat cancer.

Postdoctoral Fellow

Madhura Kulkarni received her undergraduate degree from University of Massachusetts Amherst and majored in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. She received her doctoral degree from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in the Molecular Microbiology and Immunology program. Madhura joins the Taabazuing lab at UPenn interested in studying host cell death responses to intracellular infection.

Robbie's research journey began at Fairleigh Dickinson University, where his thesis focused on the development of nisin-encapsulated chitosan nanoparticles with antimicrobial properties. After graduating during the pandemic, he worked directly with COVID-19 patients, inspiring his pursuit of an M.S. in Infectious Disease and Global Health at the Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine. His capstone research proposed a novel bispecific antibody against HTLV-1 infections. In Dan Barouch’s lab at the Harvard Medical School's Center for Virology and Vaccine Research, Robbie became the mRNA team’s technical manager and leader for small animal studies. His projects included the development and assessment of a neoantigen-encoded Adenoviral vector cancer vaccine and the lab's first self-amplifying RNA-lipid nanoparticle vaccine. His contributions, including the analysis of neutralization escape data from SARS-CoV-2 variants for the White House’s Office of Pandemic Preparedness, led to publications in journals such as the New England Journal of Medicine. As a rotation student in the Taabazuing lab, Robbie is exploring the interplay between cell death pathways and RNA binding proteins and their impact on innate immunity.

Teni is currently an intern from the Black in Cancer Mentoring Program.

Matilda is currently a junior at The Peddie School in Hightstown New Jersey.