People

Please contact Sumali if you are interested in joining our team. We are always looking for talented, focused, and motivated students.

Lab PI: Sumali Pandey, PhD
Associate Professor,
Biosciences Department
Minnesota State University Moorhead
1104, 7th Avenue South,
Moorhead, Minnesota – 56563
Phone (office): 218-477-5009
e-mail: sumali.pandey@mnstate.edu, sumalipandey111@gmail.com

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Life at work: Professionally, I am a teacher, a researcher, a mentor, and an advisor in the Biosciences department at MSUM. I mentor students involved in undergraduate research. I was recently selected to serve as an editor for the Journal of Microbiology and Biology Education (JMBE). I am the Principal Investigator for a Research Coordination Network called ImmunoReach

Life outside of work: I am a wife, a mother, a daughter, a sister, and a friend. I juggle all of these roles, and my career, as priorities dictate. My 3 kids (a 13-year-old boy, a 9-year-old girl, and a 10-year-old Black lab) keep me on my toes. Other than that, cooking and painting with acrylics brings me peace.

Fall 2024 MP Lab Fellows:

Paige Ackerson (2023-present)

Jayden Taylor (2024-present)

Hadiya Farrahmand (2024-present)

Hadiya is currently a sophomore at MSUM, majoring in Biology with an emphasis in Medical and Cellular Biology (Pre-Med) and minoring in Psychology. She developed a passion for immunology and public health through her experiences in academic research and her role at Sanford Hospital as a Sterile Processing Technician, where she ensures the safety of surgical instruments used in patient care. Hadiya joined Dr. Pandey’s lab in March 2024 and has been actively involved in immunology research, focusing on measuring BAL immune cells across different sexes in mice. Through this work, she has gained experience in cell counting techniques and statistical analysis, contributing valuable data to the field. Beyond research, Hadiya serves as the vice president of the Microbiology Club, where she helps organize events and promote scientific engagement among students. After completing her undergraduate degree, she plans to attend medical school and become the second-generation doctor in her family, following in the footsteps of her father, an ophthalmologist. Her long-term goal is to provide free medical care in underserved communities around the globe. Hadiya and her research project was recently in the news – see here and here.

Tapash Dahal (2024-present)

I am a senior at MSUM and will be graduating in the spring of 2025 with a degree in biology. My goal is to work in a laboratory setting in the future and Dr. Pandey has allowed me to get the experience. I began working with her over the summer, focusing on leukocyte counts to investigate how mouse sex and strain influence immune responses to inhaled Aspergillus fumigatus. I look forward to continuing my work with Dr. Pandey, and further expanding my expertise.

Past lab members:

Derek Hanson(2020-2024)

Derek is a class of 2024 MSUM alumni and has a Bachelor of Science in Biology: Health and Medical Sciences and minors in Chemistry and Public Health. In his time at MSUM, Derek lead a public-health and pedagogic-focused research project—which investigated the origins of various (potentially harmful) scientific misconceptions among MSUM undergraduates and preventative techniques aimed at eliminating these from propagating. He also assisted with an in-vivo study which investigated TLR-7 knockout status in mice to their subsequent immune response to Aspergillus fumigatus inhalation. Derek has also extended his passion for research into his profession. He has worked his way up from a clinical assistant to a clinical research coordinator in Fort Myers, where he currently resides. This clinical research center specializes in FDA Phase 3 & 4 psychiatric and mental health clinical trials—integrating his passion for research, physiology, and strong aspiration of helping others together into one role. Since living in Florida, Derek has taken a liking to the challenging, yet extremely rewarding task of learning Spanish—where he now is intensely studying in his free time and saving/planning a trip to Spain in the Spring of 2024. Specifically, he plans to spend a full year abroad at a language school in Madrid, where he will be immersed in a new culture, language, and location. He is hoping to write a bit about his experience through the lens of an American who is passionate about healthcare and public health, so stay posted for this!

Kyler Bordwell (2022-2024)

Kyler graduated from MSUM in May 2024 with a degree in Biochemistry. Currently he is working as a microbiology lab tech at Minnesota Valley Testing Lab (MVTL). He is planning to attend grad school hopefully next fall for a PhD in Microbiology or Immunology. He joined Dr. Pandey’s lab in the spring of 2022 working on a CRISPR project with Dennis Maina. His most recent project was looking at discovering an unknown antimicrobial from an environmental isolate. He is currently in the process of passing this project on to Hadiya in the lab, and is helping remotely. He passed this project on in hopes that new students will build upon and grow this project.

Dennis Maina(2022-2024)

Grace Heying (2022-2024)

Grace will be graduating in the spring of 2024 with a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry and Biotechnology. She wants to be a Doctor of Medicine, though she is not entirely sure of what specialty. She currently works as a Patient Care Technician on the Cardiac floor of Essentia Hospital. Grace joined Dr. Pandey’s lab in the fall of 2022 interested in working with bacteria Serratia marcescens Nima. In the spring of 2023, she learned cell culturing techniques with lung epithelial cells and will continue to use those skills this fall on the CBEC Rubric Project.

Update from Grace Heying October 31, 2024: I am in my first term at Trinity School of Medicine studying to become an MD! I will be required to finish a research project before I graduate here and I am thankful to have a solid background of knowledge that I can draw from through working with Dr. Pandey!

Adrianna Emery (2023-2023) Undergraduate Student at Howard University, NSURP fellow

Dasnoor Kaur (2021-2023): Dasnoor Kaur will be entering University of British Columbia in the fall to study pharmaceutical sciences. She developed an interest in pharmacology while assisting Dr. Pandey with her research on antibiotic resistance. She joined Dr. Pandey’s lab in her grade 10 year and has since been involved in several other research projects, including child development research conducted by UBC Community Research and Engagement Lab and drug allergies at the Steiner Lab at BC Children’s Hospital. She hopes to continue with research throughout her undergraduate journey. In the future, she aspires to go to medical school and become a doctor.

Courtney Folk(2022-2023)

I graduated in the Spring of 2023 with a Bachelor of Science in Biology: Health and Medical Sciences. I am starting Fall of 2023 at Sonoran University of Health Sciences to become a Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine. I currently work as a registered nurse and have been in healthcare since high school. In my time at MSUM I worked with Sumali researching Aspergillus fumigatus. This sparked my interest in research which I will continue at Sonoran University’s Botanical Research lab

Mai Ceesay (2018-2021) – PhD student at UMass Amherst – Immunology Program

Mai graduated in the Fall of 2021 with a bachelor’s of science in Biochemistry and Molecular biology and a minor in philosophy. She developed an interest in the Biomedical Sciences and discovered a love for research through her internship at the Medical Research Council at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, The Gambia. This interest was buoyed up during her time working with Dr. Pandey on the effect of Aspergillus fumigatus on murine hosts. Mai worked at Aldevron during her Junior and senior year at MSUM, and took one gap year after graduation to work at Moderna therapeutics to further polish her research skills and techniques. Mai joined the immunology and infectious diseases PhD program at the university of Massachusetts Medical school this Fall. She has started her classes in Fall 2023, and her first lab rotation in lab studying tuberculosis.

Jenica Hancock (2020-2021)

Jenica graduated in December 2021 with a Bachelor of Science in Biology: Health and Medical Sciences with an emphasis in Public Health. Jenica joined Dr. Sumali Pandey’s lab in the spring of 2021 and focused on the effects of Aspergillus fumigatus on murine hosts. Currently, Jenica works at a biotechnology company called Aldevron here in Fargo.

Aaron Vanyo (2020) – Medical student – University of North Dakota

I graduated from MSUM in the fall of 2020 with my Bachelors of Science in Health and Medical Sciences. In my time at MSUM I developed an interest in genetics, molecular biology, cell biology, and research. This interest was strengthened in my time working with Dr. Sumali while assisting her with research into Aspergillus Fumigatus and the immune response in mouse models. After graduation I have moved up to Grand Forks, ND where my fiancé is beginning her first year of Med school. I intend on following her with beginning my first year of med school next year if everything goes according to plan. I am currently working with Dr. Amanda Haage at UND in her research lab where I helped to establish the lab. We are currently working on the interaction of different ECM binding proteins and their effect on metastasis in different breast cancer lines.

Update (08/18/2023): I am no longer a lab tech for Dr. Haage at UND and instead I am happy to say I have been accepted to UND school of medicine. We are almost at the end of our first of 8 blocks in our pre-clinical phase!

Update#2 (October 2024): A quick update on me and school. I am closing in on the end of my pre-clinical years at UND. In February I will be moving back to Fargo-Moorhead to begin clinicals at the health systems in town. I don’t know if that means Sanford, Essentia, or the VA yet. In June I will be heading to Ortonville, MN for a rural med rotation and I will be spending 6 months there as the only medical student in town. I will then return to Fargo for the remainder of my third year.

Jacob Tesch (Spring 2020): – Ph.D. student – Cellular and Molecular Biology Program – North Dakota State University (NDSU)

Jacob Tesch pioneered the mycobiome project in Dr. P’s lab, worked on and co-authored this publication, and served as an excellent Learning Assistant for Microbiology labs. After graduation, Jacob worked at Aldevron for a year, fine-tuning his microbiological skills. He recently joined North Dakota State University Dr. Sathish Venkatachalem’s lab at NDSU where he will primarily work on Alpha and Beta Estrogen receptors in airway smooth muscle cells and how an imbalance can potentially increase the likelihood of asthma.

Dani Douri (Spring 2020): Medical student – University of North Dakota

Dani worked with Dr. Pandey as an undergraduate at North Dakota State University. After completing his undergraduate studies, he pursued a master’s degree in health administration. Last year, he was accepted to medical school at the University of North Dakota. He completed my first year and did a research internship at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester. He is now pursuing his medical studies at the University of North Dakota as a second year student.

Connor Edvall (Spring 2021) –Ph.D. student- Pharmaceutical Sciences Department (NDSU)

Connor Edvall graduated in spring 2021 with a B.S. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. After graduating from MSUM he worked as a researcher in Dr. Mallik’s lab at NDSU. He worked with cell cultures, DNA extractions, and ELISA assays while doing research with Dr. Pandey. This fall he is starting his Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Sciences at NDSU working with Dr. Mallik. His research mainly focuses on hypoxia-responsive nanocarriers and working with Patient-Derived Xenograft cells.

Jacob Suomala Mehlhoff (2019 – 2021)

I am currently an undergraduate student at MSUM majoring in Cell & Molecular Biology. I plan to graduate in May of 2021. I am involved with research in Dr. Pandey’s lab studying differential gene expression in mice exposed to the green mold Aspergillus fumigatus. I am currently working on an RNA-seq experiment which involves extracting RNA from mouse lung tissue exposed to Aspergillus fumigatus and getting the RNA sequenced to compare gene expression between those exposed and unexposed as well as males and females. I am interested in going to graduate school to pursue further research but have not fully narrowed down my direction. I am very interested in a variety of research topics but am particularly interested in neuroscience, epigenetics, and the connection between physical and mental health. I currently work as a lab assistant for the biology and chemistry departments at MSUM while also assisting with agriculture research related to sugar beets and wheat.

Whitney Shegrud (2019)

Whitney is a science teacher at Moorhead High School and have been since 2020. She is currently teaching biology and earth science and is the advisor for the environmental club. See her pedagogical paper from MP lab here.

Mandi Markwardt (2016-2017)

Fanta Barrow (2016-2017)

Fanta Barrow completed her bachelor’s degree at Minnesota State University Moorhead in 2017, where she studied Biochemistry Biotechnology. During her time at MSUM, she discovered a passion for immunology research under the mentorship of Dr Sumali Pandey. After graduation, she worked as a Biotechnologist in industry before pursuing post-baccalaureate research at the University of Minnesota. There, she investigated the role of adaptive and innate immunity in driving the progression of Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease. With a keen interest in the field of immunometabolism, she chose the Integrative Biology & Physiology Ph.D. program at the University of Minnesota to further her training. Her research focuses on elucidating the mechanisms supporting B cell pathogenicity during Metabolic Dysfunction-associated Steatohepatitis. She has received multiple awards for her research including an American Heart Association Predoctoral fellowship, and an Early Career Investigator award from the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases. Check out her latest video here.

Andrea Schaefer (2017-2020)

Andrea Schaefer graduated in the spring of 2020 with a Bachelors of Science in Biology: Health and Medical Sciences with a Public Health Emphasis from Minnesota State University Moorhead. She developed an interest in immunology and rural health and discovered a love for medicine through being a CNA at both a long-term care facility and intensive care unit. She plans to attend graduate school, in hopes of pursuing a career as a Physician Assistant so she can continue to explore her passions for getting to know patients for who they are at their core and not the medical conditions which afflict them. Her research interests include a wide variety of topics in Aspergillus fumigatus and DNA methylation patterns. She is especially interested in investigating the effects of A. fumigatus as her sister growing up was highly allergic to the fungus and was a common spore where she grew up, as she grew up in a rural community. In addition, she developed an interest in the IMPACT program which was sponsored by the Mayo Clinic. The IMPACT program allowed her to become more of an independent learner while also collaborating with other students on the potential answers to real medical mysteries. She further explains that joining the microbial pathogenesis lab in the freshman year became a pivotal point in her educational career and blessed her with more opportunities than she could have ever imagined. Research has pushed her to think beyond her normal boundaries in ways that she may not have achieved otherwise, and I am forever grateful for the opportunities not only MSUM and the biosciences department has brought me, but for also this lab and the guidance Sumali Pandey has given me. 

And, here is a well-deserved update from Andrea: she has been accepted into the Franklin College’s PA school in Indiana. Yippie. We are very happy for her.

Update#2 (02/06/2022):  “I recently just finished up my first semester of PA school for our winter intensive! Tomorrow we start hematology, infectious disease, immunology, and medical microbiology along with the medications associated with such. I am super excited for this upcoming semester and hopefully I will have a leg up on the material. ”

Update#3 (08/18/2023): I am currently in the final 5 months of my Physician Assistant degree at Franklin College in Franklin, IN. I have completed rotations in emergency medicine, podiatry & wound care, family medicine, OBGYN, general surgery, and internal medicine. I am set to start my critical care medicine elective rotation in a couple of weeks before finishing up with pediatrics, behavioral health, and my capstone project. I am eager to move to the northern suburbs of twin cities with my boyfriend and to establish my physician assistant career at a local hospital system and continue learning in the field I love.

Update#4 (12/20/2024): I am working at Hennepin County Medical Center as a physician assistant within their inpatient neurology department. I primarily work with the stroke team but am active in other neurologic cases such as seizures, intracranial hemorrhages, and neuro-prognostication in cases following trauma, cardiac arrests, or another medical event resulting in neurologic debilitation. I evaluate patients across a broad range acuities from the ER, to observation, to critical care units. I am actively involved with residents and medical student education. I am currently pursuing an additional certification in Emergent Neurologic Life Support. Personally, I am recently engaged to my now fiancé, Nick, who is working as an ER and ICU pharmacist at Regions.

Katarina Domitrovich (2018-2019)

Katarina graduated in December 2017 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Biology from Concordia College in Moorhead, MN. She developed an interest in research and discovered a love for Public Health through Dr. Pandey and classes she had taken at MSUM post-undergrad. Katarina attended the University of North Dakota to get a Master’s in Public Health with a specialization in Population Health Research & Analytics where she graduated in August 2022. Her research interests include a wide variety of topics in microbiology and immunobiology such as antibiotic-producing bacteria found in soil research she conducted with Dr. P and her research into the Occupational Impact of COVID-19 Breakthrough Infections in North Dakota for her MPH program at UND. Katarina is especially interested in investigating emergent viruses and preparedness for past and forthcoming pandemics. Katarina participated in the state-wide pandemic response in North Dakota with the COVID-19 pandemic by becoming a COVID-19 contact tracer and then leading the University of North Dakota’s School of Medicine and Health Sciences’ Contact Tracing Team of 80 as a Lead Case Manager. That role led her to her current position in the Community Engagement Unit at the North Dakota Department of Health and Human Services. In her role as the Community Engagement Specialist, she is leading North Dakota’s efforts to address disparities left behind, or further exposed, by COVID-19, helping to address health equity issues across the state of North Dakota, and works closely with North Dakota’s Youth Health Advisory Board as the state appointed representative.

Cheyenne Perez-Bailey (2017)

Michael Reeves (2018)

I graduated in December 2018 with a bachelor’s degree in Health and Medical Lab Science from Minnesota State University Moorhead.  I developed an interest in research with Dr. Sumali in 2017 and started a project on perceptions and how they influenced antimicrobial change based usage and public demand. Then in 2018, I started working in the murine setting as a handler and general attendant. After graduation I had no desire to attend graduate school, and am currently in the process of being hired by the United States Department of Agriculture as a food inspector. While I was a student I took the class Introduction to Public Health and learned to look at many common areas of life and realized the impact that it has on the quality of life for a person and for a community. Part of why I am applying to work as a food inspector is that I directly have control over the first few quality controls to ensure that food is safe and to prevent the spread of any microbes to the masses. In the current state of affairs where meat plants are shutting down to take care of staff and prevent the outbreak, it is important to both ensure that there is enough food in general and at the same time to ensure that the staff, and animals are in a good state to continue. In general, with the war times act forcing meat plants to stay open it is important to look for every available chance to limit the spread of the virus. In many ways I would say that the many classes I took with Dr. Sumali have given me good insights into ways to help keep the plant open to keep the supply chain of food intact. 

Update (08/18/2023): I graduated from MSU-M in December of 2018. After a worldwide tour early 2019. I started working for the US Department of Agriculture as a food inspector. Over the three years I have worked for the USDA I have been promoted to Consumer Safety Inspector. Fun fact: I roughly calculate in the three years I have worked in both domestic and international import divisions I have allowed approximately 120,000,000 pounds of meat to enter US and foreign markets to be eaten by the public. I currently oversee operations in the upper East quarter of North Dakota along with parts of Minnesota. I worked through the Covid Pandemic, and saw the many ways that public health was handled at a city, state and federal level. Several of the courses I took while I was a student of Dr. Sumali have been incredibly useful in my work including in Public health, immunology, and medical microbiology. These courses have led to making many important decisions related to any disease processes that are presented for federal meat inspection. Examples included finding malignant lymphomas in cattle and aspergillomas in turkeys during the avian flu last year. I would clarify that none of those examples became food for consumers to eat.

Nellie Campbell (2017-2018) Informatics Analyst, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN

Shakiba Hajipouri (2018-2020)

Shakiba Hajipouri graduated in 2020 with a bachelor’s degree in Biology with an emphasis in Health and Medical Sciences, and minors in Psychology and Chemistry from Minnesota State University Moorhead. Her love for learning was quite apparent throughout her entire childhood, but it wasn’t until college that she became certain medicine was the career path she would follow. In middle school, she attended a day-time science summer camp at MSUM which piqued a deeper interest in science. She was further intrigued by human anatomy and psychology when she took these classes in high school. When she attended MSUM, her classes and research confirmed her interest in the field of medicine, science, and psychology. Shakiba was involved with squirrel radiotelemetry research, the antimicrobial resistance survey, and SPARQ, but it was the sleep deprivation and inflammation research on zebrafish that she most enjoyed doing and found most impactful to her. Presenting at a conference in Chicago for this research was an experience unlike any other. During her time at MSUM, she was also president of Pre-Health Professionals, a laboratory assistant/phlebotomist at a hospital, an algebra tutor at MSUM, a medical interpreter for Kurdish-English, a member of Tri-Beta, a volunteer Kurdish class tutor/mentor, and in the Honors Program at MSUM. After graduation, Shakiba has continued work at the hospital, volunteering, and online physician shadowing. Meanwhile, she has the plan to apply to medical school in 2022. Although she isn’t certain about which medical field or specialty she will choose, she moves forward with an open mind. Shakiba would like to thank Dr. Sumali Pandey and the environment at MSUM for helping guide her towards her passion and for being a large part of her journey.

Alison Barkhymer (2017-2019) – Ph.D student at University of Minnesota

Alison graduated in the Spring of 2019 from Minnesota State University Moorhead with a bachelor’s degree in Cellular and Molecular Biology, and a minor in Chemistry. She discovered her love of research when she joined the lab of Dr. Brian Wisenden in 2014, where she studied stress in zebrafish. In 2017 she joined the Microbial Pathogenesis lab in order to research the effect of sleep deprivation and melatonin on the immune system of zebrafish. She eventually developed an interest in virology and will be starting graduate school this Fall at the University of Minnesota, where she’ll be pursuing a PhD in their Microbiology, Immunology, and Cancer Biology Program. Alison is currently working on her Post-Bac at Mayo Clinic in the lab of Dr. Roberto Cattaneo. When she began her tenure there, her project was focused on the cell-to-cell transmission of measles, but she has recently switched to investigating the molecular virology of SARS-CoV-2. Her research interests include emerging viruses, molecular virology, and viral immunology. She hopes to build a career around studying these things, and eventually work in the field of biodefense or science policy. 

Update (2021): As of April, Alison is a member of the Langlois Lab (https://www.langloislab.umn.edu/). She is currently working on a project evaluating the role of the antiviral proteins ZAP, KHNYN, and TRIM25 in influenza A infection, and more broadly looking for divergences in avian and mammalian intrinsic antiviral immunity (ISGs, etc) that impact flu infection.