LABORATORY OF VIROLOGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASE

Mr. Laha received his Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from Tufts University in 2010. At Tufts he conducted research for 2 years in tissue engineering and biomaterials design. There he worked on optimizing the material and biochemical environment of human mesenchymal stem cells and stem cells derived from other sources to grow 3D human bone and cartilage tissue ex vivo. He then completed a Senior Honors Thesis on the self-assembly of dipolar molecules on metal surfaces. Mr. Laha is currently working on a joint project between Dr. MacDonald and Dr. Shaham that employs C. elegans as a system to study host factors required for alpha virus replication.