Aimee Payne,
​MD, PhD
​Principal Investigator

Aimee trained at Stanford University, Washington University in St. Louis, and University of Pennsylvania before settling down in Philly, which has been her home since 2001. When she’s not in 1009 BRB, you can find her partaking in the Philly food scene, going to the off leash park with her dog Winston, and watching reality TV (shhh.)
Email:
aimee.payne<at>pennmedicine.upenn.edu

Eun Jung Choi, MS
Lab Manager

Eun has been the manager of the Payne lab since it started in 2006. In her spare time she likes to play tennis. Fun fact: she’s the guardian of the secret recipe for the wings with Yum Yum sauce at Sto’s Bar and Old City Beer Garden.
Email:
ejchoi<at>pennmedicine.upenn.edu

Xuming Mao, ​
​MD, PhD
​Senior Research Investigator

​Xuming joined the lab in 2007, after receiving his MD at Peking Union Medical Center and his PhD from UT–San Antonio, where he studied adiponectin receptor signaling. Xuming’s expertise is in the cell biologic effects of pemphigus autoantibodies on desmosomes and animal models for disease. On Saturday mornings, you'll find him on the basketball court.
​Email:
maox<at>pennmedicine.upenn.edu

Sangwook Oh, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow

​Sangwook completed his PhD in the lab of Prof. Rho Hyun Seong in 2016 (Seoul National University). His doctoral work examined T cell development and function using various mouse models.  Sangwook joined the Payne lab in 2017 to explore applications of CAART technology beyond pemphigus vulgaris.
Email:
swoh<at>pennmedicine.upenn.edu

Baomei Wang, MD, PhD
Senior Research Investigator

Christoph Ellebrecht, MD
​​Postdoctoral Fellow

Baomei obtained her MD from Henan Medical University and PhD from Second Military Medical University, where she studied dendritic cell biology and vaccines. After training at Washington University in St. Louis in T cell development and mucosal immunology, she joined the lab to help move CAART technology to human and canine clinical trials. On weekends, she enjoys playing tennis and swimming.
​Email:
baomei.wang<at>​pennmedicine.upenn.edu ​

Christoph received his MD at the University of Lübeck, Germany, followed by a research fellowship in the Payne lab where he invented the chimeric autoantibody receptor (CAAR) T cell concept and advanced several additional cellular immunotherapy technologies that have been licensed to industry partners. Now completing the Penn Dermatology Physician-Scientist training track, Christoph has returned to the lab to better understand the role of invariant T cell subsets and advance next generation immunotherapy programs relevant to oncology, autoimmunity, and infection. During his spare time Christoph likes to go on hikes with his wife and 2 Shih Tzu pups.
Email:
chell<at>pennmedicine.upenn.edu

Ellyssa Sherman
​Master's student

Ellyssa is a master's student at Thomas Jefferson University who is completing her thesis in the Payne lab and plans to pursue an MD/PhD following her graduation. When she's not in the lab, you can find her walking her dog, Sage, around University City or on the hunt for the best beer cheese and pretzels.
Email:
ellyssa.sherman<at>pennmedicine.upenn.edu

Silvio Manfredo Vieira, PhD
Senior Research Investigator

Silvio received his PhD at the School of Medicine of Ribeirao Preto, Sao Paulo, Brazil, followed by postdoctoral training at Harvard and Yale, where he discovered that gut bacteria translocate to distal tissues and induce autoantibodies typical of lupus and autoimmune hepatitis, indicating a critical role for intestinal microbes in initiating or perpetuating local or systemic autoimmunity. Silvio joined the Payne Lab to direct translational research necessary to move novel cell therapies developed in the lab into early phase clinical trials under an academic-industry alliance. On weekends, Silvio likes to play drums, cook, go biking and spend time with his son and wife.  
Email:
silvio.manfredo-vieira<at>pennmedicine.upenn.edu

Britt Levy, DVM
​Postdoctoral Fellow

Britt, a Philly native, graduated from PennVet in 2015. She recently completed a veterinary dermatology residency at North Carolina State University, with a research focus on pemphigus foliaceus in cats. Britt is exploring the comparative biology of human and canine pemphigus and cellular immunotherapy. While not at work, she enjoys reading, sampling all the delicious food Philly has to offer, and hanging out with her Pugs, cats and husband.
Email:
britt.levy<at>pennmedicine.upenn.edu

Damian Maseda, PhD
​Senior Research Investigator

Casey Lee,
MD, PhD
​Graduate Student

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Damian was born in Spain, where he graduated from Universidad de Malaga, and later obtained his PhD in Immunology in Germany (University of Erlangen-Nuremberg). Over the last 10 years, he has focused on immune regulation and acquired immune responses. He is especially interested in the role of T and B cells at epithelial interfaces during inflammation. In his free time, Damian practices Aikido and does fun stuff with his family, trying not to mix those two activities.
Email:
damian.maseda<at>pennmedicine.upenn.edu

Casey is an MD/PhD student at Penn who received his BS/MS from Yale University in 2017. During his time in New Haven, he studied immune tolerance checkpoints and autoantibody binding in neurologic autoimmune diseases. Driven by his passion in understanding pathogenic antibodies and their origins, he hopes to explore the mechanisms of cell therapy in antibody-mediated autoimmune disease. In his free time or when procrastinating, Casey enjoys baking and playing video games. He wears pink on Wednesdays, because “on Wednesdays, we wear pink.”
Email:
Casey.Lee<at>pennmedicine.upenn.edu

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Rotating students (2020-2021)

Emma Goodman (PhD, Immunology)
Christina Bax (MD, Penn MS4)
​Ujjayi Padimagantam (high school)

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Lab Alumni (Current Position)

Preety M. Sharma, PhD (Associate Research Scientist, Columbia University)
Takeru Funakoshi, MD, PhD (Senior Assistant Professor of Dermatology, Keio University, Japan)
Luisa Lunardon, MD (Dermatology, Milan)
Arielle Nagler, MD (Assistant Professor of Dermatology, New York University)
Sara Berg, MD (Dermatology, Lahey Hospital and Medical Center, Tufts University School of Medicine)
Courtney Rubin, MD, MBE (Instructor, Dermatology, Harvard Medical School)
Michael Jeffrey Tejada Cho, PhD (Senior Manager, Oncology Analytics, Glaxo Smith-Kline)
Eric Mukherjee, MD, PhD (Dermatology resident, Vanderbilt University)
Nina Ran, MD, MS (Dermatology resident, University of Pennsylvania)
Adam Alghalith (UCLA/Caltech MSTP)
Carolyn Kushner, MD (Dermatology resident, New York University)
Napatra Tovanabutra, MD (Dermatology faculty, Chiang Mai University, Thailand)
​Jinmin Lee, PhD (Senior Scientist, Cabaletta Bio)
Daniel Lundgren (NIH Oxford-Cambridge Scholars PhD Program)

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