Dr. Ian Andrew Williamson Principle Investigator
“My personal dietary journey and fascination with cell culture technologies motivate my research”
Ian Williamson grew up in Sunrise, Florida, part of the Miami metropolitan area. He earned his bachelor’s degree at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he competed in athletics and trained in Dr. Scott Magness’s lab. He stayed in the Magness lab at UNC as a lab technician and later earned his Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering developing organoid screening and co-culture technologies.
After graduate school, Dr. Williamson first joined the labs of John Rawls and Xiling Shen at Duke, as part of the Gastroenterology T32 training program led by Dr. Andrew Muir. He later joined the lab of Rodger Liddle, where he studied enteric involvement in neurodegenerative disease.
Emma Brickey, M.S.
Research Associate, Lab Manager
“It’s always a good day when I get to do cell culture”
Emma Brickey was born and raised in Virginia Beach, VA. She earned her bachelor’s degree at James Madison University, where her love of immunology began. She spent time working in dermatology before returning to graduate school at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, VA, where she earned her Master of Science in Biology, with a concentration in Microbiology and Immunology.
During graduate school, she worked in Dr. Lisa Shollenberger’s lab, which studied the interactions between HIV vaccines and the parasitic helminth Schistosoma mansoni. She gained extensive experience in cell culture and cell-based assays, such as flow cytometry and ELISA. She joined Dr. Williamson’s lab in July 2024.
Binh Duong, M.S.
Research Associate
“I think my western blot will work this time!”
Binh Duong grew up in various parts of the US with her military family upbringing, but overall spent most of her childhood/adolescence in Virginia. At University of Mary Washington, she earned her B.S. in Environmental Science, where she worked in the labs of Tyler Frankel and Ben Kisila on microplastic pollution and its toxicity to Daphnia magna.
Following undergrad, Binh moved to Clemson University to join the lab of Lisa Bain, earning her M.S. in Environmental Toxicology. Her graduate thesis explored the effects of a synthetic phenolic antioxidant on differentiation of human induced pluripotent cells (iPSCs). She also worked in the labs of Xiaoyu Liu at the EPA and Emilie Rissman at NCSU, where she gained research experience in GCMS and neuroendocrinology respectively. She joined Dr. Williamson’s lab in August 2024, specializing in cell culture, qPCR, western blotting, and mouse work. Outside of research, Binh loves to crochet, birdwatch, and hang out with her two cats and three chickens.
Our Students
Nicholas Rojas, Undergraduate
Nicholas is a senior, majoring in Microbiology with a minor in Genetics. He was born in New Jersey, and he moved to the Research Triangle in 2022.
Suhana Chakravarty, Undergraduate
Suhana is a junior, studying Neurobiology and Integrative Physiology with a minor in Biotechnology. She is interested in molecular biology and neuroscience, and she enjoys playing with dogs and hiking.
George Batshon, Undergraduate
George is a sophomore, majoring in Microbiology. He enjoys traveling and cooking.
Carolan McElwee, Undergraduate
Carolan is a senior majoring in Business Administration and Biology, with a concentration in Data Analytics and a minor in Cognitive Science. She is interested in neuroscience, chemistry, drug research/therapies, and biomedical engineering. She loves to travel and learn new languages.