Principal Investigator

Megan Cooper, MD, PhD

Megan Cooper, MD, PhD

Professor of Pediatrics, Rheumatology & Immunology
Division Director, Rheumatology & Immunology

Megan (she/her) grew up in Pittsburgh, PA and completed her MD, PhD training at The Ohio State University. She is a Pediatric Rheumatologist and Immunologist and is the Director of the Clinical Immunology program and The Jeffrey Modell Diagnostic and Research Center for Primary Immunodeficiencies at St. Louis Children’s Hospital. Outside the lab she enjoys spending time with her family, cooking, and traveling to beach destinations (or at least dreaming about doing so!).

Personnel

Faculty

Erica Schmitt, MD, PhD

Erica Schmitt, MD, PhD

Instructor in Pediatrics, Rheumatology and Immunology

Erica grew up in Wisconsin where she obtained her undergraduate degree at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and then completed her MD, PhD training at the Medical College of Wisconsin. During her graduate studies at MCW she studied the role of induced regulatory T cells in mucosal tolerance. She then entered the Physician Scientist Training Program at Washington University where she completed her pediatric residency training at St. Louis Children’s Hospital and then entered the Pediatric Rheumatology Fellowship Program. Erica is interested in studying immune deficiency and immune dysregulation. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her family, baking, and outdoor activities.

Staff

Rachel Bielecki

Rachel Bielecki

Research Technician II

Rachel grew up in O’Fallon, Missouri and received her Bachelors of Science in Biology from the University of Missouri St. Louis. Outside of work, she enjoys spending time cooking with her husband, who is also a self-proclaimed foodie, or cuddling with her pitbull Buddy and her two cats. She also enjoys hobbies such as crocheting, playing board games, watching anything thriller or mystery related, and attending Friday night commander at her local game store.

Kelsey Kelly Trammel, BS

Kelsey Kelly Trammel, BS

Research Technician II

Kelsey (they/them) grew up in Kansas City, MO, and earned their Bachelors of Science in Animal Science at the University of Missouri. They always had an interest in science and a passion for animal care and welfare, and they have been working in the field since they were an undergrad. Outside of work, Kelsey loves spending time with their partner and friends, caring for their pets and volunteering with SQSH, a local nonprofit dedicated to providing resources and assistance to the queer community in STL and beyond. Kelsey is a huge Halsey fan, a Dungeons and Dragons enthusiast, an amateur fiction writer and an avid crafter.

Ana Kolicheski, PhD

Ana Kolicheski, PhD

Staff Scientist

Ana Kolicheski was born and raised in Curitiba, Brazil, where she got her bachelors in Veterinary Medicine. Her love for science and genetics made her study abroad for her Masters in Animal Breeding and Genetics through the EMABG Master’s scholarship in the Netherlands and Sweden. She completed her PhD training in veterinary pathobiology at the University of Missouri where she analyzed whole genome sequences of dogs and identified disease causing mutations in different breeds. She transitioned to human genetics and studied the genetics of Early Onset Parkinson’s disease and healthy neurological aging during her post doctoral training at Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida. She is now working to identify genomic mutations that cause rare pediatric immune diseases and assisting on the bioinformatics analysis of the lab’s projects. Kolicheski is a huge heavy metal fan, singer, animal lover, gamer and overall “nerd”.

Jennifer Laurent

Jennifer Laurent

Research Lab Supervisor

Jennifer has always resided in the St. Louis, Missouri area. She obtained her B.A. in Mathematics and BS in Biology at Saint Louis University. Jennifer has worked in labs on the Washington University School of Medicine campus since 1996.  Outside of the lab, she enjoys spending time with her husband and twin sons. In addition, Jennifer volunteers as a coach for a local youth team and works with other nonprofit organizations on both the state and national levels.

Kristen McDaniels

Kristen McDaniels

Clinical Research Coordinator II

Kristen McDaniels grew up in Grand Rapids, MI and completed her BS in Biology at Michigan State University. She has had quite a few twists and turns in her career path, beginning with working in the pharmaceutical industry at Pfizer after college, a 15 year Dental Hygiene career, followed by a transition to clinical research at Wash U. Prior to joining the Peds immunology and rheumatology group, Kristen spent 4 years as a CRC with medical oncology, working on many treatment trials for lymphoma patients. Kristen enjoys traveling and spending time outdoors with her husband Chas, watching her 14 yr old son Henry play lots of sports, shopping and cooking with her 12 yr old daughter Julia, and spoiling her cockapoo Bo.

Alex Paul

Alex Paul

Bioinformatics

Nermina Saucier, MS

Nermina Saucier, MS

Senior Research Technician

Nermina Saucier joined the Cooper lab in the summer of 2010 as a research technician. She received her B.A. and M.S. in Biology from Saint Louis University. Outside of lab, she enjoys rock climbing, camping, hiking and spending time with her husband Jon and daughter Lydia.

Kelsey Toth, PhD

Kelsey Toth, PhD

Postdoctoral fellow

Kelsey Toth is a PhD student. She received her undergraduate degree from Washington University and worked as a research assistant for several years before entering the Immunology program. Her current focus in the lab is the role of STAT3 mutations in autoimmunity and inflammatory bowel disease. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, camping, and pointing out cute dogs while walking in Tower Grove Park.

Yongjun Wang, PhD

Yongjun Wang, PhD

Senior Scientist

Yongjun grew up in Hebei province, China and obtained his Ph.D. in Plant Genetics and Breeding. He transitioned to biomedical research after joining Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Louisiana State University. He has previously worked at The Scripps Research Institute, Scripps Florida, and Saint Louis University. Before joining the Cooper lab, he was a Research Assistant Professor at Department of Nutrition and Health Sciences and The Director of Biomedical and Obesity Research Core at University of Nebraska-Lincoln. In his spare time, he enjoys watching TV shows and playing tennis with his teenage son.

PhD students

Elizabeth Schmitz

Elizabeth Schmitz

MSTP student

Elizabeth Schmitz is an MSTP student in the immunology program. She grew up in Minnetonka, Minnesota. She received her bachelor’s degree in bioinformatics from the University of Pittsburgh where she did research on transcriptional repressors in T-cells. Subsequently, she did post-baccalaureate research at the NIH where she studied genetic causes of systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis. In the Cooper Lab, she is currently working on understanding somatic causes of immune dysregulation. In her free time, she enjoys cuddling babies in the SLCH NICU, baking, and crafting with friends.

Stacey Sohn, MS

Stacey Sohn, MS

PhD Student, Immunology Program

Stacey Sohn is a PhD student. She received her Bachelor’s and Master’s degree from Sogang University in South Korea. Her current research focus is about NK cell metabolism. In her spare time, she enjoys watching movie and cooking.

Josh Tobin, BA

Josh Tobin, BA

MSTP Student

Josh Tobin is an MSTP student in the immunology program. He grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and received his Bachelor of Science from Georgetown University where he studied metabolic regulation in the opportunistic fungal pathogen, Candida albicans. Josh then worked as a technician at the University of Pittsburgh studying the immune response to Influenza-Aspergillus superinfections. Currently, he is studying B-cell immunodeficiencies in the Cooper Laboratory. In his spare time, Josh enjoys running in Forest Park, exploring St. Louis, and spending time with his new puppy, Oliver.

Undergraduate/Visiting students

Matthew Du

Matthew Du

Undergraduate Student

Matthew Du grew up in Minneapolis, Minnesota and is an undergraduate student at Washington University studying Biochemistry with a minor in Human-Computer Interaction. At WashU, Matthew is involved in promoting global healthy equity through an on-campus organization, choreographing traditional Chinese lion dance performances, and assisting an introductory computer science course as a teaching assistant. In his free time, Matthew enjoys doing digital art, playing violin, and spending time with family and friends.

Past personnel

Showing: All results

Jahnavi Aluri, PhD

Postdoctoral Fellow

Miriam Ben Abdallah, BA

Undergraduate Lab Assistant

Maria Cimpean

PhD Student, Immunology Program

M. Tyler Harmon

Undergraduate assistant

Diana He

Undergraduate Research Student

Molly P. Keppel, MS

Lab Supervisor

Charles Mackin, MS

Research Technician

Annelise Mah-Som, BS

MD, PhD Student

Emily Moore

Subsequent Position: MSTP Student Columbia University

Jalalah Muhammad

Undergraduate researcher

Katherine Owens

Research Lab Supervisor

Sammy Risma

Research Technician

Michelle Ritter, RN, BSN

Research Nurse Coordinator

Nathan Schedler

SLU Undergraduate Student

James Tarbox, MD

Fellow, Allergy/Immunology

Subrat Thanapati, PhD

Postdoctoral Fellow

Tiphanie Vogel, MD, PhD

Fellow, Pediatric and Adult Rheumatology