People

Jim was born and raised in Little Rock, Arkansas. After completing undergraduate studies and medical school at the University of Arkansas, Jim moved onto Music City for a residency in Pediatrics at Vanderbilt, followed by a fellowship in Pediatric Infectious Diseases. Jim joined Vanderbilt faculty in July 2014.

Jacob is a Biochemistry and Molecular Biology graduate from Belmont University in Nashville, TN. During his undergraduate years, his research experiences covered antioxidant degradation and organic synthesis of amino acid analogs. Jacob joined the lab as Research Assistant in the Summer of 2016 and then left to pursue his master's degree from the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic medicine in 2019. He returned to the lab in 2022 and now serves as our fearless Lab Manager! 

Kara is from Whitehall, PA and earned a B.S. in Biology from Susquehanna University. She received her Ph.D. in Microbiology and Immunology working in the laboratory of Dr. William Goldman at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she studied Yersinia pestis interactions with host cells during primary pneumonic plague. Kara joined the Cassat lab in 2020 as a postdoctoral research fellow in the Division of Pediatric Infectious Disease. Her project seeks to understand the consequences of co-infection on osteomyelitis disease progression. In her free time, Kara enjoys running, reading, and watching UNC basketball (go Heels!!). 

Nico is from Oak Ridge, TN and is an undergraduate student at Vanderbilt studying Biomedical Engineering. His first exposure to research was at ORNL, where he studied the evolution of oral microbes as well as the genomics of the actinomycosis-causing bacterium Schaalia odontolytica. In the Cassat Lab, he works on understanding the genetic mechanisms of Staphylococcus aureus virulence enhancement by Candida albicans during co-infection. In his free time, Nico enjoys cooking, rock climbing, and playing the piano. 

Chris is a Nashville native and graduated Davidson College in 2015 where he focused his research on RSV replication and attachment. He came back to Nashville for the Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP) and switched gears from virology to bacteriology. His project focused on the role of inflammatory signaling in IBD mediated bone loss, as well as the impact of osteo-immunologic crosstalk during intestinal infection. Chris graduated with the M.D. and Ph.D. degrees in 2023 and is currently a Pediatric Resident at Baylor College of Medicine. 

Caleb is from St. Louis, MO, and attended Washington University in St. Louis as a biomedical engineering student. During his time as an undergraduate, his primary research focused on the role of mechanical force in development of the hip joint in a murine model of paralysis. In March 2021, he completed the research portion of Vanderbilt's Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP). His research project focused on HIF signaling in osteomyelitis a nanoparticle drug delivery. Caleb is currently an Orthopedic Surgery Resident at Washington University in St. Louis. 

Aimee completed her B.S. in Biology at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with minors in Chemistry and History. Aimee joined the Cassat lab with an interest in studying oxygen regulated mediators of virulence in Staphylococcus aureus. She completed an undergraduate honors thesis studying S. aureus in the Richardson lab at Chapel Hill, so she has followed her love of the bug into graduate school! Aimee graduated from the Microbiology and Immunology program in August of 2019, and is pursuing a career in academia with a post doc in the laboratory of Alison Criss at the University of Virginia. 

Niki is originally from Wisconsin and received her B.S. from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. She then earned her Sc.M. in Molecular Microbiology and Immunology from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She joined the lab in 2015 and her research focus is on osteoimmunology in the context of S. aureus osteomyelitis. Niki defended her thesis in the summer of 2019 and then completed a fellowship in clinical microbiology at the NIH. She is currently an Assistant Professor of Pathology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, where she also serves as the Assistant Director of the Clinical Microbiology Lab. 

Tom hails from Indianapolis, IN and received his bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from the University of Notre Dame. During his time as an undergraduate, his primary research was focused on polymeric thin film membranes for water filtration using size exclusion chromatography. Tom received his PhD in the Chemical Engineering at Vanderbilt and was co-mentored by Dr. Cassat. His project focused on novel delivery strategies to combat bone-dwelling biofilm infections. Tom now works as a research engineer at a small materials company that focuses on the development of innovative materials that eliminate microbes from high-touch surfaces. He works with a team of engineers, physicists, and chemists to improve, implement, and develop light-activated nano-engineered products. 

Andrew hails from Cincinnati, Ohio, and is a Science Pre-Professional graduate of the University of Notre Dame. His laboratory background includes medical bacteriology and breast cancer cell research. He was also a scholarship quarterback for the Fighting Irish football team, and attended rookie mini-camp with the Cincinnati Bengals. Andrew joined the lab in the Fall of 2015, as a research assistant I and lab manager extraordinaire. He went on to graduate from medical school and is currently an Internal Medicine Resident at the University of Cincinnati.

Daniel grew up in the Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C. and attended Bucknell University as a biomedical engineer. During his undergraduate years, his research included development of nanoparticle dispersion protocols for the National Institute of Standards and Technology as well as biosensor development for markers of traumatic brain injury. He is now a third-year medical student pursuing his interest in research. Outside of academics, Daniel enjoys writing songs, discovering up-and-coming Nashville musicians, and track and field.

Ian is from St. Louis, MO, and was an undergraduate researcher in the Cassat lab during his time at Vanderbilt University. After graduation, he began work full-time as a research assistant. His research focuses on the role of several key genes in the bone cell response to the hypoxic osteomyelitic environment. In his free time, Ian likes to exercise, eat good food, and daydream about future travels.

Laura is from Lexington, NC and received a B.A. in Biology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. As an undergraduate student, she studied SIR2 involvement in the recruitment of condensin to sites of tension in the chromatin in the Bloom lab. After graduation, she worked as a Research Technician II in the lab of Janelle Arthur at UNC-CH investigating how the yersiniabactin high-pathogenicity island of resident E. coli modulates the host response in the context of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Laura joined the Cassat lab to study osteoimmunology and host-pathogen interactions in S. aureus osteomyelitis. She has since pursued a career at Covance as a Study Start Up Associate.

Virginia was born in LA, CA but spent most of her life in Nashville. She went to Union College in New York where she received her B.S. in Neuroscience. Her future plans include earning her M.D. and using it to do volunteer work abroad. Outside of the lab, Virginia enjoys camping, hiking, reading, and traveling.