Current Lab Members
Stacy Horner, PhD – Principal Investigator
Stacy grew up in Minnesota, and she received her BA in Biochemistry and Chemistry from Gustavus Adolphus College. She received her Ph.D. in 2007 from Yale University, where she studied human papillomaviruses with Dr. Daniel DiMaio. Her postdoctoral research, sponsored by Irvington Institute Fellowship Program of the Cancer Research Institute, was with Dr. Michael Gale at the University of Washington, and focused on hepatitis C virus regulation of antiviral innate immunity. Stacy opened her lab at Duke in 2013. She is currently an Associate Professor in the Departments of Integrative ImmunoBiology and Medicine, and also the Director of the Duke Center for RNA Biology. Stacy teaches several graduate courses at Duke. Her favorite things to do in the lab are molecular cloning and learning about “hot off the press” results!
Google Scholar: bit.ly/3v8TNGR
Moonhee Park, BS – Research Technician and Lab Manager
Moonhee was born in Hongsung, South Korea and received her degree in Library and Information Science from Soong Eui Women’s College in Seoul. After emigrating to the United States, Moonhee obtained a BS in Chemistry from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She worked as a research technician for ten years at the UNC Department of Dermatology. In 2017, she joined Dr. Horner’s lab at Duke University as a research technician and lab manager. Her first paper was published in 2010 with subsequent papers in 2015 and 2017. Moonhee supports the lab’s never ending need for research material inventories and helping graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. She is interested in generating CRISPR knockout cell lines. Outside the lab, Moonhee enjoys painting, reading, cooking Korean food and gardening. She has seven thriving Orchids and an indoor hydroponic garden. She dreams of killing all mosquitoes with fire.
Matthew Thompson, PhD - Postdoctoral Fellow
Matthew grew up in Ohio and received his BS in Biotechnology from Kent State University (2013). He then moved to Philadelphia, PA where he completed a PhD in biochemistry and molecular biophysics at the University of Pennsylvania in Kristen Lynch’s lab (2019). Matthew’s doctoral work focused on alternative splicing regulation of both host and viral transcripts during influenza A infection. During his work in the Lynch lab, Matthew became interested in the mechanisms that cause mis-regulation of RNA binding proteins during infection and/or immune response. In Stacy’s lab he is exploring his interest by studying how the proteins that regulate post-transcriptional modification of RNA are functionally altered during infection with viruses from the Flaviviridae family. Outside the lab, Matthew is an avid Cleveland sports fan (including watching the Browns lose every week at local fan clubs) and enjoys playing music and video games.
Hannah Schmidt, BS - Graduate student (MGM)
Hannah grew up in Florida and received her BS in Bioengineering from the University of Florida. While at UF, Hannah worked in the lab of Dr. Eric McLamore, assisting with the development of electrochemical sensors for detecting mercury in water. After graduating, Hannah spent a year as a post-baccalaureate fellow at the NIDDK in the lab of Dr. Kai Ge, where she worked on characterizing the role of NSD2 in the epigenetic regulation of adipogenesis. Hannah arrived at Duke in 2019 and joined the Horner lab where she is interested in studying how the innate immune response to positive-sense RNA viruses is regulated. Outside of lab, Hannah enjoys hiking, baking, and playing video games.
Vanessa Gutierrez, PhD - Postdoctoral Fellow
Vanessa was born in California and raised in Nicaragua. She obtained her PhD in Cell and Molecular Biology in Cyprian Rossetto’s lab in 2021 at the University of Nevada, Reno. Vanessa’s doctoral work focused on characterizing viral factors involved in KSHV replication. After her PhD she became interested in virus-host interactions and the innate immune response to viral infections. In Stacy’s lab she is interested in studying virus-host interactions of the flavivirdae family and the role of post-translational modifications in innate immunity. Outside of lab Vanessa enjoys hiking, rock hounding, playing video games, and watching movies.
Caroline Aufgebauer, BS - Graduate student (CMB/MGM)
Caroline was born in Germany and raised in Florida. She received a BS in Biology and minors in Chemistry and Hispanic studies from UNC-Chapel Hill. At UNC, Caroline studied kidney development in Dr. Lori O’Brien’s lab, characterizing the role of the SIX2 Q177R mutation in Wilms’ tumor. After graduating, Caroline took a gap year as a research technician in Dr. Chad Pecot’s lab at UNC, where she collaborated with Dr. Kevin Weeks’ lab to study the secondary structure of circular RNAs. Caroline arrived at Duke in 2021 and joined the Horner lab, where she is interested in studying the role of m6A in regulating viral infection. Outside of lab, Caroline enjoys skiing, hiking, baking, and watching cringe reality TV shows with her dog.
Kate Bland, BS - Graduate student (CMB/MGM)
Kate grew up in West Virginia and received her B.S. in Biology from James Madison University in 2020. While at JMU, Kate worked under Dr. George Vidal studying how autism spectrum disorder genetic risk factors correlate with dysfunctional development of the cerebral cortex. After arriving at Duke University in 2021, Kate joined the Horner lab where she studies the mechanisms involved in the addition of N6-Methyladensine (m6A) to hepatitis C viral RNA by the methyltransferase complex. In her free time Kate enjoys hiking with her dog, visiting local breweries, and binging Netflix shows.
Lauren Sar – Duke Undergraduate, Class of 2025
Lauren S. grew up in North Carolina and started at Duke in the fall of 2021. She is planning on majoring in Biology with a concentration in Genetics and minoring in Chemistry. She joined the Horner Lab in May of 2022 where she is working with Vanessa Guitierrez on examining the protein-protein interactions that regulate initiation of antiviral innate immunity. She is also in the Duke Chorale and enjoys biking, listening to music, and baking.
Grace Sorensen – Duke Undergraduate, Class of 2024
Grace grew up in Northern California and started at Duke in the fall of 2020. She is majoring in Biology with a concentration in Cell & Molecular Biology and minoring in Chemistry and German. She joined the Horner Lab in January of 2021 where she is working with Hannah Schmidt on examining the role of post-translational modifications on viral proteins in viral replication. She is also on the Duke club swim team and enjoys hiking, skiing, and photography.
Jordan Reaves – Duke Undergraduate, Class of 2025
Jordan grew up in western North Carolina and started at Duke in the fall of 2021. He is majoring in Biology with a concentration in Cell and Molecular Biology and minoring in Chemistry and History. He joined the Horner Lab in August of 2023 and works with Kate Bland studying m6A RNA modifications on viruses. He is also drum major of the Duke Marching Band and enjoys cooking, being outdoors, and trying new restaurants.
Matt Lanahan, PhD - Lab Research Analyst
Matt grew up in North Carolina and received his BS in Biology from Elon University. Matt spent two summers working in the Horner Lab before going to Dallas where he received his PhD in Microbiology from UT Southwestern in the lab of Julie Pfeiffer, PhD. After graduate school, Matt worked as a scientist at IconOVir Bio, a company in San Diego using oncolytic adenovirus to treat solid tumors. After spending seven years focused on various applications of virology, Matt returned back to the Horner Lab to learn more about posttranscriptional modifications to RNA viruses and the sequencing techniques used to detect these modifications. Outside of lab, Matt is an avid photographer, amateur pickleballer, and huge Caniac.
Gabriella Torres, BA - PRIME PREP Scholar
Gabriella grew up in Westchester, NY and received her BA in Biology from New York University. In the past, she's worked for the LIBRA lab in NYU Abu Dhabi looking at the effects of mechanotransduction on dendritic cells and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals characterizing Lupus mouse models. In the Horner lab, she studies how post translation modifications regulate the innate immune response to flavivirdae viruses. In her free time, she is an avid swimmer (having been captain of her college swim team), loves being outside, and enjoys baking.
Previous Lab Members
Postdocs
Dia Beachboard: postdoc from 2015-2020, now an assistant professor at DeSales University.
Graham Williams: postdoc from 2017-2020, now a research scientist at Eli Lilly and Company, based in Indiana.
Madhuvanthi Vijayan: postdoc from 2017-2018, was a postdoc with Aravind Asokan at Duke.
Graduate students
Matt Sacco: graduate student (Molecular Genetics and Microbiology program) from 2016-2022. Now working at KBI Biopharma.
Daltry Snider: graduate student (Molecular Genetics and Microbiology program) from 2017-2022. Now working at KBI Biopharma.
Michael McFadden: graduate student (Molecular Genetics and Microbiology program) from 2015-2020. Now a Michigan Pioneer program postdoc with Dr. Mary O’Riordan and Dr. Teresa O’Meara at U. Michigan.
Christine Vazquez: graduate student (Molecular Genetics and Microbiology program) from 2013-2019. Now a Penn Provost postdoc with Dr. Kellie Jurado at U Penn.
Nandan Gokhale: graduate student (Molecular Genetics and Microbiology program) from 2013-2019. Now a Helen Hay Whitney postdoc and K99 awardee with Dr. Ram Savan at U of Washington, Seattle.
Allison Roder: graduate student (Molecular Genetics and Microbiology program) from 2013-2018. Now a staff scientist with Dr. Elodie Ghedin at NIH.
Lab staff
Jason Willer: research technician and lab manager, 2015-2016. Currently a senior lab specialist at U Michigan.
Mounavya Aligeti: research technician and lab manager, 2013-2015. Currently a manager in business development and project development at Bharat Biotech, India.
Undergraduates
Kristen Murphy: 2020-2023. Now working at McKinsey & Co.
Michelle Kim: 2018-2021. Now a medical student at the Mayo Clinic.
Kevin Labagnara: 2016-2018. Now a medical student at Albert Einstein Medical School.
Dillon Fernando: 2016- 2017. Now working in NYC in communications/TV.
Sydney Stanley: 2017-2018. Now a PhD student at Harvard School of Public Health.
Sirena Tran: Summer, 2017. Now a PhD student at Vanderbilt.
Graham (Mawuli) Attipoe, MD, MBA: 2015-2017. After a combined MD/MBA at Vanderbilt and Wharton, now at Tekla Capital Management.
Bianca Lupan PhD: 2014-2017. After a PhD at Duke, now traveling.
Alie Fink: 2016-2017. Now doing PhD in neuroscience at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.
Matt Lanahan: Summer, 2014-15. Received PhD from UTSW; was a scientist at Iconovir. Now back at the Horner Lab!