OUR TEAM

Christian Jacome-Galarza, PhD, is an Instructor in Medicine and Orthopaedics at Harvard Medical School and Associate Scientist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA. He is a national from Mexico and received his Undergraduate degree in Pharmaceutical Sciences and his Master’s degree in Clinical Biomedicine both from the University of the Americas-Puebla, in Mexico. He then moved to the U.S., and received his PhD, in Immunology from the University of Connecticut Health Center. His doctorate studies were focused on the identification and characterization of monocyte precursors their lineage relation to osteoclasts, macrophages and dendritic cells and how osteoclasts contribute to bone resorption when influenced by parathyroid hormone and inflammatory signals. Christian then completed his postdoctoral fellowship, first at King’s College London and later at Sloan Kettering Institute, where he studied the biology of macrophages and discovered the developmental origins of osteoclasts, novel mechanisms for their maintenance, and a potential cell-based therapy to treat osteopetrosis and related bone diseases. Christian is currently investigating the biology of osteoclasts, macrophages and other myeloid cells during embryogenesis, adulthood and aging. He is particularly interested in studying developmental differences and transcriptional regulatory mechanisms that control osteoclast and macrophage functions in health, inflammation and disease.

Sijia Chen obtained her training in the Netherlands and is currently an instructor in the Gravallese lab. Sijia’s research is focused on common mechanisms underlying chronic inflammatory diseases and bone pathology.

Priyanka received her PhD from the AcSIR-CDRI, India where she studied the role of miRNAs in the regulation of bone mass. For her postdoctoral research, she joined The Johns Hopkins University to investigate the metabolic requirements of the osteoblast and osteoclast during bone formation and the mechanisms by which these cells contribute to the regulation of whole-body metabolism. In the Gravallese lab, her research work is mainly focused on the cellular and molecular aspects of inflammation in rheumatoid arthritis and bone diseases.

Megan graduated from her BSc in Biomedical, Health and Life Sciences at University College Dublin with a 1^st class honours. She then completed her PhD research at Trinity College Dublin as an Irish Research Council Postgraduate Scholar in the Molecular Rheumatology research group under the supervision of Prof Ursula Fearon and Prof Douglas Veale. In 2021 Megan was awarded funding from the Irish Research Council to undertake postdoctoral studies examining early myeloid phenotypes and bioenergetics in Rheumatoid Arthritis. She joined the Gravallese lab initially as a Visiting Research Fellow and subsequently a Postdoctoral Fellow. Her research interests include synovial tissue macrophages, immunometabolism and macrophage-driven effects on bone remodelling. She is also a passionate science communicator. She is the founder and host of the weekly scicomm podcast ‘Unravelling Science’, previous Co-Director of the Pint of Science Ireland festival and member of the SciComm Collective a group of science communicators brought together to advise the Irish Government on communicating COVID-19 information as well as the Communications Co-lead for the Irish Society for Immunology.

Lucia is an alumna of the University of Southern California (BS in Biomedical Engineering, emphasis in Molecular and Cellular Engineering). During her undergraduate years, her research focused on designing microfluidic devices that can recapitulate tumor hypoxia in vitro and investigating the effects of hypoxia on tumor metabolism, particularly glucose uptake. She is enthusiastic about gaining hands-on experience in bench work and contributing to the Gravallese lab’s ongoing research. She aspires to deepen her understanding of chronic inflammatory disease, bone pathology, and immunity.

Hannah is an alumnus of Indiana University (BA Human Biology, Chemistry) and Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine (MS in Medical Sciences). Hannah is a member of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in Rheumatology Steering Committee and her research is centered around the cellular origins and functions of synovial macrophages in inflammatory arthritis. 

Jenna is an alumna of Colgate University (BA Molecular Biology, minor in Anthropology) and the Boston University School of Medicine (MS in Medical Sciences). Prior to joining the lab, she spent her undergraduate years investigating the genetics and pathophysiology of various neurological diseases in animal models. Her current research centers around developing a mouse model of Langerhans cell histiocytosis, with a focus on bone involvement secondary to BRAF^V600E mutation expression in osteoclasts.

Que was a third-year undergrad at Northeastern University currently pursuing a Masters in Biology with a minor in Japanese. Que spent six months in the Gravallese lab working on the AIM2 project alongside Dr. Sijia Chen to investigate the correlation between the AIM2 inflammasome pathway and bone formation as it relates to rheumatoid arthritis. They worked on in-vitro studies involving the stimulation of macrophages, dermal fibroblasts, and bone marrow stromal cells by DNA to determine how the inflammasome pathway and production of cytokines differs between AIM2+/+ and AIM2-/- cells.

Ella was a second-year undergrad at Northeastern University pursuing a Bachelors in Cell and Molecular Biology and a minor in Public Health. Ella spent eight months in the Gravallese lab working on the AIM2 project with Dr. Sijia Chen to investigate the correlation between the AIM2 inflammasome pathway and bone formation in the context of rheumatoid arthritis. She worked on in-vitro studies involving cellular senescence and differentiation in bone marrow stromal cells to determine how the inflammasome pathway and production of senescence-associated factors varies between AIM2+/+ and AIM2-/- cells.

Camelia is an alumnus of University of California, Davis (BA French; BS Cell Biology) and current graduate student at the Boston University School of Medicine (MS in Medical Sciences). Her research focused on the developmental origins of macrophages and osteoclasts.

Victor is an alumnus of Swarthmore College (BA Biology). In addition to managing the mouse colony, they worked to advance the lab’s research on AIM2 and IL-17D.