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Ellen Gravallese, MD

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Theodor Bevier Bayles Professor of Medicine
Harvard Medical School
Chief, Division of Rheumatology, Inflammation, and Immunity
Brigham and Women’s Hospital

Read more about Dr. Gravallese

Cathy Manning

Senior Laboratory Manager

Cathy has been a Research Associate for over 30 years and has worked in the Gravallese laboratory for the past 20 years. She oversees animal colony maintenance and has extensive experience in mouse strain breeding and generation as well as mouse models of arthritis and inflammation.

She has a wide range of knowledge in molecular analyses including quantitative PCR, molecular cloning, and RNA work as well as primary tissue and cell culture. She is skilled at preparation and analysis of samples for microCT and has extensive expertise in all these techniques.

Susan Maclauchlan, PhD

Research Scientist

Susan is a Lecturer in Medicine.  She is an alumna of Smith College (BA Biochemistry) and Yale University (PhD Experimental Pathology).  After a Postdoctoral Fellowship in the Whitaker Cardiovascular Institute at Boston University School of Medicine, she joined the Gravallese lab at UMass and transitioned to BWH. Susan’s research focuses on understanding the shared pathology underlying rheumatoid arthritis and cardiovascular disease (CVD).  She is the recipient of K01 (NIH) and ANRF funding for her work.

Christian Jacome-Galarza, PhD

Instructor

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, MD, PhD

Instructor

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 Kushwaha, PhD

Research Fellow

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.

Tiffany Hsu, MD, PhD

BWH Rheumatology Fellow

Tiffany completed her MD and PhD at Baylor College of Medicine and Internal Medicine residency at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. She is currently a rheumatology fellow who is co-mentored by Drs. Sun Hur (at Boston Children’s Hospital) and Ellen Gravallese. Tiffany is interested in the regulation of innate immune sensors in autoimmune diseases and developing diagnostic assays to better stratify diseases such as lupus.

Megan Hanlon, PhD

Research Fellow

Megan graduated from her BSc in Biomedical, Health and Life Sciences at University College Dublin with a 1st 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 (Yao) Liu

Research Technician

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 Nelson

Research Technician

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 Taylor

Research Technician

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 BRAFV600E mutation expression in osteoclasts.

Former Lab Members

Zheni Stavre, MD

Research Fellow and Assistant Professor of Medicine, 2013-present.
Awards Received: ACR Engelmann Research Preceptorship Award (three-month fellowship), Scientist Development Award, ACR Rheumatology Research Foundation
Currently: Rheumatologist and Assistant Professor of Medicine, UMass Medical School

Shruti Sharma, PhD

Post-doctoral research fellow, 2014-2017.
Awards Received: Arthritis National Research Foundation Innovative Research Award
Curently: Assistant Professor of Immunology, Tufts University School of Medicine.

Yukiko (Garrison) Maeda, PhD

Post-doctoral research fellow and Instructor in Medicine, 2012-2019.
Awards Received:
Healey Award
Currently: Instructor of Medicine, UMass Medical School.

Rebecca Baum, MD, PhD

Medical student and PhD. candidate, 2012-2016.
Awards Received: Innate Immunity T32 Training Grant
Currently: Resident, Internal Medicine, University of Washington.

Anita Shaw, MD

Post-doctoral research fellow, 2010-2013.
Awards Received:
Arthritis Foundation Fellowship Award
Currently: Scientific Investigator, Toronto General Hospital.

Kara (Lindquist) Lowen, MD

Undergraduate student, 2009-2010.
Awards Received:
Arthritis Foundation Summer Research Fellowship (two years)
Currently: Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Vanderbilt University.

Melissa Matzelle, PhD

PhD. Candidate, 2008-2012.
Awards Received:
Abbott Bioresearch Fellowship in Translational Science
Currently: Senior Scientist, AbbVie, Inc.

Nicole Walsh, PhD

Post-doctoral research fellow, 2003-2009.
Awards Received:
Arthritis National Research Foundation Award, renewal received the Sontag Award for best application
Currently: Medical Science Manager, Rheumatology, AbbVie Inc.

Jian Fei Wang, DVM, PhD

Post-doctoral research fellow, 2003-2005.
Currently: Director and Head, Laboratory Animal Science, GlaxoSmithKline, R&D China.

Eric Lubberts, PhD

Visiting Scientist, 2002-2003.
Currently:
Associate Professor, Head, Laboratory of Rheumatology, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, Netherlands.

Allison Pettit, PhD

Post-doctoral research fellow, 1999-2003.
Awards Received:
CJ Martin Fellowship from NHMRC, Australia; Australian Arthritis Foundation Fellowship; American Arthritis Foundation Fellowship
Currently: Director of Biomedical Research, Mater Research Translational Research Institute, Australia

Lisa G. Criscione, MD

Medical student, 1995-1996.
Currently: Associate Professor of Medicine, Duke University of Medicine; Director of Rheumatology Fellowship.

Mittie Kelleher Doyle, MD

Post-doctoral research fellow, 1994-1996.
Currently: Vice President, Group Head, Immunology and Inflammation, CSL Behring.

Eric M. Ruderman, MD

Post-doctoral research fellow, 1992-1994.
Currently: Professor of Medicine, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University; Clinical Chief, Division of Rheumatology, Northwestern University.

Former Students

Hannah Nelson, Master Student and Research Technician (2022-2024)

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

Victor Le, Research Technician (2020-2023)

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.

Camelia Hacein-Bey, Master Student (2022)

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.

Alisa Savchenko, Master Student (2022)

Alisa is an alumnus of The College of Charleston (BS Biology, Minor in Russian Studies) and current graduate student at the Boston University School of Medicine (MS in Medical Sciences). Her research focused on the cellular origins and functions of macrophages and osteoclasts in inflammatory arthritis.

Que Gillach, Undergraduate Student (2021)

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 Haney, Undergraduate Student (2022)

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.

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