Robert A. Dick
Principal Investigator
rad82@cornell.edu
- Ph.D. Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Cornell University
- M.A. Genetics, Iowa State University
- B.S. Genetics, Iowa State University
Robert is interested in retrovirus structure and assembly using single-particle cryo-EM, cryo-Electron Tomography, and subtomogram averaging. Robert is working to understand the mechanistic details of how the small cellular molecule Inositol Hexakisphosphate (IP6) promotes assembly and maturation of retroviruses like HIV-1. Also, he is studying the molecular details of viral target/drug interactions.
Clifton Ricaña
Post-Doctoral Associate
cr476@cornell.edu
- Ph.D. Molecular Pathogenesis and Theraputics, University of Missouri-Columbia
- B.S. Biology, Truman State University
While completing his Ph.D., Clif worked under Marc Johnson studying retroviral assembly including a seminal study demonstrating the critical role of the small molecule inositol hexakisphosphate (InsP6) in stabilizing the viral core of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). He also contributed to further demonstration that HIV and other primate lentiviruses have a strict requirement for InsP6 for proper assembly of infectious virus. In the Rob Dick Lab, Clif is continuing his study of retroviral assembly in the context of InsP6, and will combine his expertise in tissue culture and other virology techniques with Rob’s expertise in protein and structural biology to make new discoveries in retroviral assembly.
In the Rob Dick Lab, Clif is continuing his study of retroviral assembly in the context of InsP6, and will combine his expertise in tissue culture and other virology techniques with Rob’s expertise in protein and structural biology to make new discoveries in retroviral assembly.
Carolyn Highland
Post-Doctoral Associate
cmh358@cornell.edu
- Ph.D. Biochemistry, Cornell University
- B.S. Biology, Waynesburg University
While in graduate school, Carolyn’s research focused on PI4P signaling at the Golgi complex. She is now using cryo-ET to characterize the effects of several lead compounds on HIV capsid organization.
Volker Vogt
Senior Consultant
vmv1@cornell.edu
- Post Doctoral Fellow, Swiss Cancer Institue (ISREC) and University of Bern
- Ph.D. Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Harvard University
- B.S. Chemistry, CalTech
As a postdoc, Volker discovered that the retrovirus structural protein, later named Gag, is proteolytically processed to give rise to the mature proteins in virions. Then in Bern he showed that the genes encoding ribosomal RNA (rDNA) in the acellular slime mold Physarum exist as hundreds of linear extrachromosomal DNAs that replicate throughout the cell cycle.
Volker joined the Cornell faculty in 1976, where his lab continued work on retroviruses (funded by a single NIH grant, now in year 42). In the 1990s a BMCB grad student in the lab pioneered the study of retrovirus assembly in vitro. For some 15 years the lab also continued to work on rDNA, funded by an NSF grant, which included the characterization of a mobile group I intron inserted into the rDNA, and which a BMCB grad student in the lab showed could be tricked into transposing into the repeated rRNA genes in yeast. Although the lab space is assigned by the Department of MBG to Volker, in about 2019 he informally ceded the lab space and equipment entirely to Rob, in preparation for retirement probably in mid-2022. Volker continues to enjoy teaching and interacting with and mentoring both graduate and undergraduate students.
Savannah Brancato
Research Technician IV
sb847@cornell.edu
- B.S. Biochemistry, SUNY Cortland
Savannah is responsible for maintaining the lab’s protein, plasmid, and chemical inventories, and helping ensure all projects run smoothly. She also mentors incoming undergraduates and research assistants.
Savannah’s current research focuses on the in-vivo localization of retroviral Gag domains in the presence and absence of small molecule inositol hexakisphosphate (IP6), known to coordinate retroviral assembly.
Viraj Upadhye
Graduate Student
vu32@cornell.edu
- B.S. Biology, San Diego State University
Viraj is a student in the Biological and Biomedical Sciences Ph.D. program with an emphasis in Immunology and Infectious Disease through the College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell. His focus is on the structure and function of Paramyxoviridae viruses through biochemistry, and cell biology. He works with both Hector Aguilar-Carreno and Rob Dick towards solving the structures of Nipah Virus fusion glycoproteins through single-particle Cryo-EM and Cryo-ET.
Krisztina Ambrus
Research Technician III
ka476@cornell.edu
- B.S. Biology, Babeș-Bolyai University
- M.S. Medical Biology, Babeș-Bolyai University & University of Szeged
Krisztina’s project focuses on understanding the interface between immature and mature HIV-1 viral lattices. Her efforts will shed light on how cleavage of Gag results in the formation of the mature lattice.
She also supports other projects with protein purifications, viral assembly reactions and TEM imaging.
Fatemeh Ekbataniamiri
Research Technician III
fe72@cornell.edu
- M.S. Plant Pathology, University of Maine
Fatemeh’s research at the Rob Dick Lab focuses on the late phase of HIV‐1 replication cycle, from gene expression to the release and maturation of new virions.
She is using a variety of biochemical, tissue culture, and structural biology tools to address cellular proteins or other host factors involved in releasing infectious virus. She is investigating how these steps are orchestrated by the Gag precursor protein, which assembles to form the virus particle at the plasma membrane. This information may, in the future, be applied to the development of novel inhibitors that target these events.
Madeleine Dumas
Graduate Student
mcd98@cornell.edu
- B.S. Sustainable Plant & Soil Systems, University of Connecticuit
Madeleine is interested in utilizing techniques of biochemistry, virology, and cryo-EM to elucidate the protein structures of viruses within Paramyxoviridae to inform virion assembly. She is advised by the laboratories of both Hector Aguilar-Carreño and Rob Dick to receive PhD training. Her current training is focused on the oligomerization and lipid interactions of Nipah virus structural proteins via in vitro templating assays and TEM.
Ryan Feathers
Graduate Student
jrf296@cornell.edu
- B.S. Microbiology, Oklahoma State University
- B.S. Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Oklahoma State University
Ryan is a senior graduate student in the Fromme lab at Cornell where his main focus is understanding regulators of membrane trafficking at the Golgi. In the Dick lab, Ryan assists with cryo-EM single-particle analysis to characterize the symmetric assemblies of different retroviral Gag domains.
Rachel Peverly
Undergraduate Research Assistant
rmp246@cornell.edu
Rachel is an undergraduate majoring in Biological Sciences through Cornell’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Her research in the Dick Lab focuses on cloning, expressing, and purifying viral proteins in order to study their structure and function.
Nadia Nikulin
Graduate Student
ns646@cornell.edu
- B.S. Biological Sciences, Cornell Universeity
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Nadia is a Ph.D. student through Cornell’s Department of Microbiology. Her work with the Dick Lab focuses on determining the structures of CA and CANC lattices in betaretrovirus JSRV using Cryo-ET.
Nica Voli
Undergraduate Research Assistant
drv35@cornell.edu
Nica is a sophomore in the College of Arts & Sciences majoring in Biology & Society with a minor in Anthropology. She currently works on cloning and purifying proteins of paramyxoviruses.
Emily Rodgers
Undergraduate Research Assistant
egr46@cornell.edu
Emily is in the Biology and Society program at Cornell and will graduate as a member of the class of 2024.