Past Undergraduates – Welcome to the Harrington Lab

Corben Wong is a senior majoring in Human Biology in the College of Human Ecology with an interest in virology. He joined the Harrington Lab in the spring of 2023. After graduating, he hopes to attend medical school.

Luke Martini’s During the Summer of 2022, Luke worked under the Northeast Regional Center for Excellence in Vector Borne Diseases and assisted Suffolk County Vector Control with tick surveillance and pesticide testing. As a Global and Public Health Sciences Major (‘25) and prospective Entomology major, he is interested in the intersection between vector-borne diseases and population health. Luke joined the Harrington lab in the spring of 2023. After graduation, Luke aspires to attend medical school and pursue pediatrics.
Nicole Blattman graduated in December 2023 after completing her honors thesis in the lab entitled “Age and Blood Feeding Status Alter CDC Insecticide Resistance Monitoring Outcomes for Medically Relevant Mosquitoes”. Nicole earned her degree in Biology & Society with a minor in Infectious Disease Biology. Nicole plans to continue working on vector biology research over a gap year and then attend medical school.
Brady Dolan graduated in May 2023 after completing an honors thesis assessing the sexual transmission of dengue virus in Ae. aegypti. He joined the Harrington Lab in January 2021 when he collaborated on vector-borne disease communication research with three other undergraduates and the CDC Northeast Regional Center for Excellence in Vector Borne Diseases. Brady’s interest in vector-borne diseases was sparked while learning about ticks on Long Island and having conversations about the burden of mosquito-borne illness in Peru while completing bat biodiversity research there. He is currently working on his After graduating, Brady plans on pursuing an MD program with the goal of one day being able to dedicate his time to pediatric patients afflicted by vector-borne diseases.
Sean Lee graduated in May 2023. He joined the Harrington Lab in January 2020 as a Hunter Rawlings Cornell Presidential Research Scholar Sean plans on pursuing an MD/PH.D. program, focusing on infectious disease and biodiversity research.
Peter Deckerman graduated in May 2022 with a degree in Global and Public Health Sciences with an Honors in Research. While in the lab Peter worked on on sugar feeding patterns of Aedes albopictus and host seeking.
Consuelo (Connie) Le graduated in May 2022. She joined the Harrington Lab in the fall of 2019. She is currently a research assistant at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
Priscilla Cruz graduated with honors in the Fall of 2020. She majored in Biological Sciences, Chemistry and Chemical Biology, and French. Coming from an immigrant family, her interest in vector-borne diseases developed from her own experiences seeing the effects of diseases such as Dengue and chikungunya in Nicaragua. After graduation, Priscilla hopes to attend medical school to pursue a career in either neurosurgery or infectious disease. Outside the lab, she enjoys playing piano, traveling, reading, and spending time with her family.
Raksha S Krishnan joined the lab in the Fall of 2019. She is currently majoring in Neurobiology and Behavior, with minors in Global Health and Music. Raksha will be continuing her research journey not only in mosquito biology and mating here at the lab but also will be pursuing global health research in Mysore, India this summer, at the Swami Vivekananda Youth Scholars Program in collaboration with Cornell University. After graduating, Raksha plans on pursuing an MD/Ph.D. program, focusing on oncology, and hopes to help in using her knowledge in vector transmission to help those around the world in the prevention of vector-borne diseases.
Bailey Willett graduated in May 2020 with a double major in Microbiology and Entomology with a minor in Infectious Disease Biology. She joined the Harrington Lab in January of 2019 following her work in the Fall of 2018 as a lab technician. While working in the lab she investigated the Aedes albopictus virome composition across all life stages. Bailey plans to pursue a Ph.D in entomology specifically in vector-pathogen interactions and arboviruses. In the meantime she acquired a position working for Dr. Flaminia Cattaruccia at Harvard School of Public Health.
Henry Goldsmith graduated in May 2020. He joined the Harrington Lab in the fall of 2018 after completing an exciting summer of field research. Henry received his degree in Global and Public Health Sciences. Henry hopes to pursue a career in healthcare or public health.
Kevin Pritts graduated in May 2018 with a major in Entomology and a minor in in Plant Science and International Development. He joined the Harrington Lab senior year of high school and worked with us while a Cornell student. Kevin worked with us while he took a post-graduation break. He started a position with the CDC and Harris County Mosquito Control in June 2019.
Ella Jacobs joined the lab in January 2017 . She majored in Entomology and minored in Global Health & Infectious Diseases. Ella completed an Honors project in Entomology and graduated in 2019. Ella will start graduate school at Johns Hopkins University this fall. Here is an article about Ella and her research!
Grant Fabrizio joined the lab in June 2017. He majored in Global and Public Health Science and minored in Health Policy. He conducted independent research in the lab on Aedes egg development. Grant graduated in 2019 and plans to attend medical school.
Chinenye Ezeh joined the lab in January 2018 and graduated in May 2019 . She majored in Global and Public Health Sciences and minored in Infectious Disease Biology. Chinenye is taking a year off before starting medical or graduate school.
Tamsin Smith (Biology and Society ’17, Infectious Disease Biology minor). She joined the Harrington Lab in the summer of 2016 to study the reproductive patterns and geographical spread of the Aedes albopictus mosquito. She is interested in the biomedical causes and societal impacts of mosquito-vectored diseases. Tamsin is now pursuing her MPH degree.
Grace Winhoven (Entomology ’17). She is majoring in entomology and minoring in global health. She joined the Harrington lab January 2015. Grace is currently employed at the Darke County, Ohio Health Department where she works on a variety of health problems including mosquito monitoring and control.
Viraj Khetani (Biological Sciences with a concentration in Insect Biology ’17, Fine Arts minor). She joined the Harrington lab in the Fall of 2015. Viraj is now in medical school.
Jae Baek (Biological Engineering ’17). She joined the Harrington Lab in the Summer of 2014 and worked on mosquito acoustics combining her engineer and mosquito interests. She plans to pursue an MD/PhD in zoonotic diseases.
Brittany Hamlin (Biology and Society / Global Health minor ’15). Brittany began working in the Harrington lab in summer 2013 because of her interest in vector borne diseases, specifically in malaria and yellow fever. Brittany completed an honor’s thesis entitled “The Socioeconomic Impact of Malaria Control and Eradication in Venezuela.” She is now working at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and applying to graduate schools.
Olivia Winokur (interdisciplinary studies focusing on environmental effects on health ’15). Olivia joined the lab in the summer of 2014 She is currently applying to graduate school to study disease ecology or a related field.
Seth Moore. (Biology ’15) Seth joined the lab in summer 2014. Seth conducted field collections during the summer and mosquito identification. Seth is planning to attend medical school after a gap year.
Daniela Schmulevich (Biology and Society major, Honors ’13) Bioterror Threats Communicated: the Exacerbation of Fear by the Media and its Subsequent Effects. Dani is currently earning her MS degree in Communication Managment at USC.
Arthie Jeyakumar (Biology and Society/Asian Studies’12): Arthie became interested in malaria after taking Professor Harrington’s course “Plagues and People”. Arthie worked in the lab in 2009-2012. She now attends Albert Einstein Medical School.
Becky Johnson (Entomology/Biology ’12, Entomology Honors): Becky joined the lab in the spring of 2009 as a Hunter Rawlins Cornell Presidential Research Scholar. She conducted her research on mosquito feeding patterns and EEE virus vectors in Maine and NY. Becky is pursuing her PhD at Penn State University.
Chris Donovan (Entomology/Biology ’12): Chris worked in the lab in 2010 and 2011. Chris provided support for various projects in the lab and conducted mosquito collections in the summer. Chris is attending medical school at Case Western Reserve.
Josh Uhr (Biology ’12). Josh worked in the Harrington lab in 2011-12. He worked on mosquito learning and supported various other projects. Josh is attending Mt. Sinai Medical School.
Melissa Orteza (Biology and Society ’11, Honors, Minor in Global Health): Melissa became very interested in the biology of mosquitoes and vector-borne diseases after contracting dengue not long ago in Manila, Philippines where she is from. Melissa joined the lab in Spring of 2009 after hearing Dr. Harrington give a lecture about malaria in the Global Health class. Melissa is now an intern at ARK (Advancement for Rural Kids) in New York City and travels to the Philippines regularly as part of her work.
Laura Seeholzer (Entomology/Biology ’10, Biology Honors): Sperm usage patterns of the dengue vector mosquito, Ae. aegypti. Entomology Honors: Synergistic effects of carbon dioxide and human skin volatiles in mosquito attraction: and its utility towards the development of a novel mosquito control strategy. Laura is currently a graduate student at Rockefeller University and continues to play ultimate frisbee.
Gaurvika Lal Nayyar (Human Ecology ’10, Honors): Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices of residents and doctors during an outbreak of Chikungunya in India. Gaurvika accepted a position at NIH/Fogerty working on drug resistant malaria after graduation where she published some of her work in The Lancet. She is currently pursuing her MPH degree.
Lizzy Glennon (Biology ’10, Concentration in Microbiology): Lizzy joined the Harrington lab in Fall 2008. She became interested in the relationship between parasites and their vectors after taking a course in Parasitology. Lizzy is now working on her PHD in Medical Entomology at the University of California Davis.
Cristina Munk (Entomology ’09): Host Orientation and Location Distances for the Malaria Vector, Anopheles gambiae, in Tanzania. Cristina earned a Masters in Public Health from Johns’ Hopkins University in 2012. She is currently an EEID fellow working in Ethiopia. Visit Christina’s blog.
Vanessa Scialabba (Biology ’09): Larval development, survival and pupal survival of a transgenic RIDL dengue vector strain compared to a wild-type Mexico strain of Aedes aegypti . Vanessa worked in industry after graduation. She is now pursuing a PhD.
Bianca Chang (Biology ’08): Honors Thesis Title: “The Effect of the ACE Inhibitor Captopril on Male Fertility and Female Fecundity in the Yellow Fever Mosquito (Aedes aegypti)”. Bianca currently attends medical school.
Peter Hashim (History ’08): Potential climate change effects on competition between two mosquito vectors, Aedes albopictus and Culex p. pipiens, in New York State. Peter is in medical school
Nishant Soni (Biology and Society ’07): Temperature dependent development of Ae. aegypti under fluctuating temperatures. Nishant is in medical school.
Beth Meccariello (Biology ’06, Howard Hughes Student): Effect of climate change on range expansion of the Asian Tiger mosquito, Aedes albopictus, in the United States. She worked for the CDC after graduation. Beth is currently pursing her DVM/PhD at Cornell.
Roxanna Garcia (Animal Science ’06): Population genetics of Oc. j. japonicus, an invasive mosquito vector in North America. Roxy earned her medical degree and an MS from UC Berkeley/San Francisco in 2012. She is currently completing a residency in neurosurgery.
Chantal Spencer (Biology & Society major ’04): Nectar feeding by the yellow fever mosquito, Aedes aegypti.Completed May 2004. Chantal is a physician.
Krystle Brown (Biology & Society ’04): Host-dependent feeding success of Culex mosquito vectors on chickens and house sparrows. Completed May 2004. Krystal is a physician.
Benjamin Briggs (Biology ’04): DYO program in Thailand, Summer 2003.Research on arthropod vectors of Scrub Typhus, Malaria and Dengue. Ben is earning his MD/PhD (with ticks!) at the University of Buffalo.
Sharon Weibman (Entomology ’02): Honors Thesis title: Resting ecology of putative vectors of West Nile virus in Dutchess County, New York. Completed December 2002. Sharon is a Podiatrist in New York.
Chrystal Wa (Biology major ’02): Honors Thesis title: Investigations of DNA fingerprinting techniques for mosquito feeding behavior studies. Completed in May 2003. Chrystal is a physician.
Stephanie Janeczko (Cornell DVM ’04): Host feeding patterns of the Culex quinquefasciatusmosquito, a vector of human filariasis in Thailand, completed December 2003. Stephanie is a veterinarian.
Danielle Thomas (Psychology ’05): Abundance of WNV vectors mosquitoes in NYC parks and other public spaces, completed December 2003. Danielle is a physician.