Daniel T. Leung, MD MSc
Associate Professor, Division of Infectious Diseases
Daniel received his BSc (’98) and MSc (’01) from the University of British Columbia, and an MD (’05) from Wake Forest University School of Medicine. He completed his residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Washington, and a fellowship in Infectious Diseases at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center / Harvard Medical School. From 2010 to 2014, Daniel lived in Dhaka, Bangladesh, working on diarrheal disease immunology as a joint research fellow of Massachusetts General Hospital and the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b). He currently sees patients on the Infectious Diseases consult service at the University of Utah Hospital and in the Travel Clinic. He currently focuses on the immunology, epidemiology, and clinical management of diarrheal diseases and other mucosal infections. His research is funded by the National Institutes of Health and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. In his free time, Daniel enjoys hiking, skiing, and hanging out with his family.
Ben Brintz, PhD
Research Assistant Professor
Ben received his BA (2010) in math from Grinnell College in Iowa. He received his MSc (2014) and PhD (2018) in statistics from Oregon State University where his research extended models for estimating abundances that are imperfectly detected to the application of disease surveillance. He originally joined Dr. Leung’s lab as the data scientist postdoctoral fellow, working on clinical decision rules for pediatric infectious diarrhea. He is currently a Research Assistant Professor in the Division of Epidemiology and continues to work with Daniel on projects related to clinical prediction tools. In his spare time, Ben likes to run, climb, play chess, and watch NBA basketball with his wife.
Shubhanshi Trivedi, PhD
Research Associate
Dr. Trivedi received her Bachelor of Science degree in Biotechnology (2007) from DAVV University, India. She completed her Masters of Biotechnology with Honors (2010) and PhD (2015) from the Australian National University, Canberra, Australia. Her research work has provided novel insights to factors that can play a fundamental role in modulating mucosal vaccine efficacy in the context of HIV-1. She has recently joined Dr. Leung’s laboratory as a postdoctoral research fellow. Her current work involves studying the role of MAIT cells during sepsis and the effects of intestinal infection on respiratory immunity using animal models.
Sharia Ahmed, PhD, MPH
Research Associate | Microbial Pathogenesis T32 Training Grant Recipient
Sharia received her BA in Global Studies and BA in Biology from the University of Minnesota, MPH in Global Epidemiology from Emory University, and PhD in Public Health Epidemiology from Oregon State University. In 2010 she lived in Dhaka, Bangladesh working at the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b), and has also served as an ORISE Fellow at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, GA, USA. She is currently working with the Leung Lab to develop clinical prediction rules to target molecular testing and interventions for pediatric diarrhea in low and middle-income countries. When she’s not working, you can find Sharia running, biking, backpacking, or training future Guide Dogs.
Christy Clutter, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow | Metabolism T32 Training Grant Recipient
Christy received her BS in Molecular and Cellular Biology from the University of Arizona (2011), where she also went on to earn her PhD in Immunobiology (2017). Her graduate work focused on gut autoimmunity, the microbiota, and public health. In 2018, she took a governmental postdoctoral fellowship with the New York City Public Health Laboratory, working on the laboratory side of disease surveillance and outbreak response for the city, as well as international laboratory capacity-building. In 2022, Christy joined the Leung Lab as a postdoctoral fellow, and currently blends her love of both mechanistic immunology and global health toward cholera serosurveillance projects, as well as immunometabolism studies in mucosal associated invariant T (MAIT) cells. In her spare time, Christy loves to be active outdoors in any capacity, to get lost in good nonfiction, experiment in the kitchen or garden, and spend time with her husband.
Olivia Cheng
Molecular Biology PhD Student
Olivia went to the University of California, Los Angeles and received a B.S. in Microbioloy, Immunology and Molecular Genetics. She worked as a research assistant at biotech companies for three years and was involved in projects on biofuel production and cancer vaccine development. She has joined the Leung lab and is interested in the regulation of MAIT cells cytotoxicity upon activation. Outside of the lab, she has a passion for good food and jiujitsu.
Paola Fonseca Romero
Molecular Biology PhD Student | CTSI T32 Training Grant Recipient
Paola received her B.S. in Microbiology from Universidad Ana G. Mendéz (UAGM), Carolina Campus where she was a Pfizer honor scholar in 2021. In 2019, she took part in a research fellowship with the University of Utah Department of Infectious Disease in Dr. Anne Blaschke’s lab studying complicated pneumonia in children. In 2020, she received a fellowship to work with Dr. Juan Gonzalez at UAGM studying nanoparticle properties to develop more efficient peacemakers. Now in Dr. Leung’s lab she will work in global health directed cholera prediction modeling, as well as potentially in aspects of gut immunology. In her spare time, she enjoys being in the outdoors, open water diving, cooking and spending time with her mother.
RJ Williams
Internal Medicine Resident | Utah StARR Scholar
RJ received his B.S. in Biology and Peace Studies from the University of Notre Dame in 2013 and his MD from Central Michigan University in 2020. In medical school, he spent his pre-clinical years working in a flavivirus lab studying the interaction between Zika Virus infection and neural stem cell development. He spent his clinical years analyzing the efficacy of a novel diagnostic for bacteremia. He is currently an Internal Medicine resident at the University of Utah where he is a member of Utah Starr, an NIH-funded R38 grant which provides protected research time during residency. His current research involves employing seroprevalence and climate variables to develop a clinical prediction model for Dengue Virus. He plans to pursue a career in Infectious Disease working within the realm of global health and neglected tropical diseases. In his free time, RJ enjoys ski touring, fly-fishing, gardening, and spending time with his two children.
Anna Jones, MD, MPH
Pediatrics Resident | Utah StARR Program
Anna received her BA in Biology from Brown University and her MD from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In medical school, she took an extra year to earn an MPH from the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health where she became interested in infectious disease epidemiology. She is currently a Pediatrics resident at the University of Utah and is a member of the Utah StARR program which is an NIH-funded R38 grant that provides a year of protected research during residency. She is currently working on several projects related to the epidemiology of pediatric diarrheal diseases. In her free time, Anna enjoys running, making ice cream, baking sourdough bread, and cross-country skiing.
Olivia Hanson
Research Analyist
Olivia received her BS in Biology (2022) from the University of Utah. She recently joined the Leung lab as a research analyst and works on projects focused on qualitative research and clinical decision-support tools for pediatric diarrheal diseases. She is currently applying to medical school and is interested in pursuing a career in global health. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, road biking, and camping.
Kilee Davis
Lab Technician
Kilee received her BS in biotechnology from Utah Valley University. She took part in a research fellowship with Station1 Frontiers and Gloucester Marine Genomics Institute and has recently joined the Leung Lab as a Lab Technician. She is excited to learn and work alongside the knowledgeable mentors and scientists associated with the Leung Lab. In her free time she enjoys the outdoors, playing the piano, and motorcycle rides.
Carmen Nieznanski
Lab Aide | Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP) Scholar
Carmen is the student lab assistant for the Leung Lab. She’s a premed biology major and will be graduating in 2024. She’s greatly enjoyed working alongside such brilliant scientists and students and has already learned so much. The knowledge she’s gained here will set her up to participate in research projects in the future which will prepare her to be accepted to medical school. She has an interest in someday becoming a surgeon.