Yvonne was born and raised in Hawaii. She went to school at Penn and now she's playing broomball in sub-zero degree weather and causing trouble to everyone she runs into. She is assessing the Ku70-rOmpB receptor-ligand interaction and its downstream signaling events, determining how this may be involved in mediating rickettsial uptake into the host cell during infection.

Sean is from somewhere in Illinois, and he got his PhD in Kentucky. He used to work on Lyme disease and play with ticks. He arrived in March 2008, and took his bench beside the boxes, standing in as guardian of our surplus supplies. He's a jolly fellow, so we believe he will fare well there. Judging by his FPLC expertise, he is the smartest guy we know. Sean is examining rickettsia induced cellular cytokine responses, as well as anti-apoptotic signaling.

Kenneth is from Singapore and loves to work with dangerous bacterial pathogens. He knows how to drive a tank and handle automatic weapons. He is also an excellent student. He enjoys hanging out with Barbie. To his nearest and dearest, he is known as "Kenny G." Kenneth is working on determining the role of the rickettsial outer membrane protein ScaI in infection.