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The Ho Lab

  • Principal Investigator

    Associate Professor Term; Director of Graduate Studies, Microbiology PhD Program of Biological and Biomedical Sciences

    Research Interests
    • Epigenetic Repression
    • Genetics
    • Host-Pathogen Interactions
    • Immunotherapy
    • HIV
    • Transcriptome
    • Microbiology
    Dr. Ho's research program focuses on understanding HIV-1 persistence and HIV-1-induced immune dysfunction using single-genome and single-cell approaches on clinical samples. She received MD in 2002 (Phi Tau Phi) and completed internal medicine residency and infectious disease fellowship training in Taiwan in 2007. She practiced as an infectious disease attending physician for one year (2007-2008). She received PhD at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (Phi Beta Kappa, HHMI International Student Research Fellowship, and Johns Hopkins Young Investigator Award) in 2013, mentored by Dr. Robert F. Siliciano. During PhD, she developed the first HIV-1 full-length single-genome sequencing method that became the standard measurement of the size of the HIV-1 latent reservoir (Cell 2013). As a postdoc, she profiled HIV-1 DNA and RNA landscape and identified the impact of...

Postdoctoral Fellows

Undergraduates

Alumni

  • Allie joined the Ho lab as a MPH student in January of 2021 to work on HIV persistence using clinical samples. She is pursuing an MPH in Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases at the Yale School of Public Health. She is originally from New Jersey and received a bachelor of science in Nursing from Georgetown University in 2017. After graduation she worked as a clinical research nurse at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, MD and currently works as an Infection Control Practitioner near Newark, NJ. She developed an interest in HIV while working as nurse in Swaziland, which has the highest prevalence of HIV in the world. She is interested in basic science and translational research. Outside of the lab, Allie enjoys surfing, snowboarding, skateboarding, distance running, rock climbing, and music.
  • Shuaiqi Guo
    Jack joined Ho lab in May 2018 as a Microbiology PhD student, graduated in December 2022, and continued as a postdoc until July 2023. He is now a bioinformatic scientist at Moderna.
  • Rachel joined the Ho lab as a postgraduate researcher in June 2021 to study mechanisms of HIV persistence. Originally from Utah, Rachel has received her B.A. in Biological Sciences from Cornell University. Previously, Rachel has worked in nutrition research through an independent project to better understand the effects of mitochondrial de novo dTMP complex formation (specifically TYMS) on mitochondrial DNA integrity. She has also previously worked on the clinical validation of a method to quantify long chain fatty acids using red blood cells. Outside of the lab, Rachel enjoys volunteering, figure skating, swimming, and baking.
  • Runxia Liu
    Postdoc in the Ho Lab, 2018/1-2021/7 Current position (2021): Scientist at Moderna
  • Savannah Pedersen
    Current position (2021): medical student, Cooper Medical School of Rowan University
  • Darla Quijada
    Current position (2020): Cellular and Molecular Medicine PhD Program, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
  • Anya Razmi
    Anya is a rising sophomore undergraduate who joined the lab in June 2021. She is a prospective English major on the pre-medicine track. She will be investigating whether immune markers can serve as therapeutic targets for HIV-1 eradication. Outside of the lab, Anya is the editor-in-chief of the Yale Branch of The Foundationalist, a consultant for Yale Net Impact, and is training to be an EMT. She enjoys drawing, hiking, the martial arts.
  • Kerui Yang
    Kerui is a first-year undergraduate student who joined the Ho lab in January of 2021. She is a prospective Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology and History of Science, Medicine, and Public Health double major. She is excited to get started on her project to test if the knockdown of certain cellular factors could reverse HIV latency. Outside of the lab, Kerui is involved with the YSM, YDN, HEAR, Yale Haven Free Clinic, and Movement. She also likes to take long hikes on nature trails, bake a ton of desserts, and paint.
  • Yang-Hui Jimmy Yeh
    Driven by scientific curiosity, Jimmy is committed to an academic career using molecular biology approaches to solve clinically significant problems. Jimmy received his B.S. in Public Health with research focus on single nucleotide polymorphisms in molecular cancer epidemiology. He received his M.S. in Genetics and Ph.D. in Molecular and Cell Biology at the University of Connecticut, working on the mechanisms of human IGF-I Eb-domain peptide (hEb)-mediated killing of metastatic cancer cells (Experimental Cell Research, 2017). He received his postdoctoral training at Yale University School of Medicine working on the pathogenesis of a viral sequence Sphinx (Slow progressive hidden infections of X origin) as a plausible cause of transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSE)(PNAS, 2017).Jimmy joined the Ho lab in November 2017. Using his expertise in molecular biology, viral...
  • Ryan Yucha
  • Samana Zaidi
    Current position (2019): medical student, NYIT medical school