Founding Director of the Center for Cytokine Storm Treatment & Laboratory

Dr. David Fajgenbaum, MD, MBA, MSc, is an Assistant Professor of Medicine in Translational Medicine & Human Genetics at the University of Pennsylvania, Executive Director of the Castleman Disease Collaborative Network, Associate Director of Patient Impact for the Penn Orphan Disease Center, and national bestselling author of Chasing My Cure: A Doctor's Race to Turn Hope Into Action. He is also a patient battling idiopathic multicentric Castleman disease (iMCD).

Associate Director, Clinical Research

Sheila Pierson, MS, is the Associate Director for Clinical Research at the CSTL. She oversees the current clinical research projects and works on the planning and development of new projects. She leads all aspects of the ACCELERATE registry, a natural history study of Castleman disease. In addition, she oversees and executes statistical analyses for CSTL clinical and translational research. She received her MS from Columbia University.

Biobank Coordinator

Bridget Austin is the Biobank Coordinator for the Center for Cytokine Storm Treatment & Laboratory (CSTL) at the University of Pennsylvania. As such, Bridget works as a clinical liaison between the research and clinical sides of the CSTL, assists with various research projects such as the ACCELERATE Natural History Registry, and coordinates biological sample donation to the CSTL's Castlebank. Bridget earned her MS in Psychology from Villanova University.

Associate Director, Basic and Translational Research

Michael V. Gonzalez, PhD, is the Associate Director of Basic and Translational Research at the Center for Cytokine Storm Treatment and Laboratory (CSTL) within the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. He obtained his PhD in Immunology and Infectious Diseases from Washington State University and was a postdoctoral fellow and bioinformatics scientist at the Center for Applied Genomics at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia before coming to the CSTL. His research focuses on utilizing novel ’omics technologies to gain insights into the genetic and cellular architectures of Castleman Disease and other disorders involving autoimmunity.

Senior Research Investigator

Melanie Mumau, PhD, is Senior Research Investigator at the Center for Cytokine Storm Treatment & Laboratory (CSTL) at the University of Pennsylvania. Melanie is an experimental immunologist by training and oversees all research related to the translational laboratory. She is currently working on understanding the mechanisms that drive cytokine storms and developing new treatments for patients. Melanie earned her PhD in Microbiology & Immunology from Columbia University and prior to joining the CSTL, her research focused on how the immune system regulates the development of blood cells. Melanie enjoys playing soccer, skiing, and making pizza.

Executive Administrator

Amber Cohen is the Executive Administrator for the Center for Cytokine Storm Treatment & Laboratory (CSTL) at the Perelman School of Medicine. She provides direct support for the Director of the CSTL and overseas the administrative functions of the CSTL’s various projects and events. Prior to her work for the CSTL, Amber was the executive coordinator for the Department of Biostatics, Epidemiology, and Informatics and the Center for Health Behavior Research. Amber earned her BA in Psychology from the University of Richmond.

Bioinformatician

Daniel is a bioinformatician working in the field of hypotheses generation in the drug discovery space. His research interests involve natural language processing, tooling for research software, biomedical databases, and algorithmic development for knowledge graphs. He received his PhD in Computer Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill under the advising of Dr. Alexander Tropsha.

Research Specialist

Abiola Irvine is a Research Specialist in the Cytokine Storm and Treatment Laboratory at the Perelman School of Medicine. She supports the translational research team in the experimental lab by using immune-based assays and other methods to further our understanding of Castleman Disease. Prior to joining the CSTL team Abiola earned her BS in Psychology with a neuroscience minor from Haverford College and looks forward to applying to medical school in the future. Outside of the lab Abiola enjoys hiking, roller skating, and playing with her dog Hendrxx.

Associate Director, CORONA Project & RAPid Clinical Trial

Tracey Sikora is the Associate Director of the CORONA project and the RAPid clinical trial evaluating sirolimus in patients with iMCD. Tracey received a Bachelor of Science degree from Cornell University and spent several years studying inherited rare diseases before working in clinical research. In addition to her work on COVID-19 and Castleman Disease, she has previous experience in high-risk, multi-site clinical trials, gene therapy trials, and orphan disease research.

Data Analyst

Saishravan Shyamsundar is a Data Analyst for the Center for Cytokine Storm & Treatment Laboratory (CSTL) at Perelman School of Medicine. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a Master of Science in Biomedical Sciences from Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine. At CSTL, he supports the ACCELERATE Registry Team (ART) in data compilation and analysis of medical records of Castleman Disease patients. The analysis of this data could then provide further insights into understanding the mechanisms of the disease and identifying effective treatment options. He hopes that his work with this team helps lead to better prognosis for patients with Castleman Disease

Data Analyst

Mateo Sarmiento is a Data Analyst for the Center for Cytokine Storm Treatment & Laboratory (CSTL) at the Perelman School of Medicine. He synthesizes and analyzes information across a Castleman patient’s medical history to gain insight on things such as the wide spectrum of symptoms and the effectiveness of treatment regimens that Castleman patients experience. Mateo looks forward to spending his gap years at the CSTL before applying to medical school. Prior to joining the CSTL, Mateo earned his BA in Neuroscience at the University of Pennsylvania where he researched the epigenetics of drug addiction.Description goes here

Research Administration Coordinator

Criswell Lavery is the Research Administration Coordinator for the Center for Cytokine Storm Treatment & Laboratory (CSTL) at the University of Pennsylvania. She leads the front-end of the ACCELERATE natural history registry, working to compile accurate and comprehensive data on diagnosis and treatment processes for patients with Castleman Disease. Criswell earned her Bachelor of Science from the University of Rochester and is currently pursuing her MPH degree at Penn.

Research Specialist

Ira Miller is a Research Specialist in the Cytokine Storm and Treatment Laboratory at the Perelman School of Medicine. He supports the translational research team by furthering our understanding of Castleman Disease in the lab through cell culture. Prior to joining the team Ira received his BS in chemistry from Messiah University in central PA and worked as a research specialist at the Mayo Clinic. Outside of the lab Ira loves disc golf, biking, and birding.

Data Analyst

Natalie Mango is a Data Analyst for the Center for Cytokine Storm Treatment & Laboratory (CSTL) at the University of Pennsylvania. She gathers information from the medical records of patients who may have Castleman disease to help understand their experiences and responses to various treatments. Natalie received her BS in Earth, Energy and Sustainability from Leiden University College. She is excited to spend a time at the CSTL while applying to medical school.