Meet the Team
Don Sodora, PhD
Don Sodora, PhD, is a professor at the Center for Global Infectious Disease Research. He joined in 2007 to advance the center’s mission in the field of HIV research. Don received his PhD in microbiology from the University of Pennsylvania. He performed postdoctoral research at Stanford University and the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center in New York. Sodora has collaborators in Atlanta, Philadelphia, Oregon, Northern Ireland and Cape Town, South Africa. He is dedicated to the training of undergraduate and graduate students, including serving on the Graduate Student Advisory Committee for the Pathobiology Graduate Program at the University of Washington. Outside of the lab, he enjoys spending time with his friends and family, traveling, hiking, taking photographs and camping.
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Nina Derby, PhD
Research Scientist IV
Research Interests: HIV/SIV pathogenesis in tissues, especially liver; liver spatial immunology during health and disease; interplay of host, pathogens, and commensal microbiota in disease. Email: nina.derby@seattlechildrens.org. Hometown: Chapel Hill, NC. Education: Smith College, BA; University of Washington, PhD. Interests outside of lab: running, cooking, gardening. Fun Fact: I have three wild and lovely children.
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Zachariah Fincher
Research Technician I
Research interests: Neuroscience, immunology, microscopy. Email: Zachariah.Fincher@seattlechildrens.org. Hometown: Friday Harbor, WA. Education: University of Washington, BS in Neuroscience and Biochemistry. Interests outside of lab: Yoga, birding, DnD, and board games. Fun fact: I lost my sense of smell for 15 years.
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Brooke Johnson
Research Technician I
Research interests: infectious disease and immunology. Email: Brooke.Johnson@seattlechildrens.org. Hometown: Camano Island, WA. Education: Western Washington University, BS in Cellular and Molecular Biology. Interests outside of lab: Hiking kayaking, cycling, watching movies, and playing video games. Fun fact: When I was 15, I totaled a car five days after getting my learner’s permit – oops!
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Cris Luevano-Santos
Research Technician II
Research interests: Anything medical with the goal of developing new medicines or medical procedures, and how best to use this research to help those who need it most. Email: Cristina.luevano-santos@seattlechildrens.org. Hometown: Auburn, WA. Education: Saint Martin’s University, BS in Biology. Interests outside of lab: volunteering, my dog Goku, drawing things and painting stuff (I have this belief that I have the innate ability to do anything art related and I have yet to be proven wrong). Fun Fact: I couldn’t speak until I was 5 years old but I became bilingual by age 7.
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Kim Meyer
Research Technician II
Research interests: vaccine design, adaptive immunity, pathogenesis, host-pathogen interactions. Email: Kimberly.Meyer@seattlechildrens.org. Hometown: Anacortes, WA. Education: Gonzaga University, BS in Biology, Research Concentration. Interests outside of lab: I love to hike, bake, read, take dance classes, and explore Seattle! Fun Fact: I have three extra bones in my mouth! They’re called tori, and I didn’t know they were weird until I was in high school.