Lab Members

Scott Evans, M.D.
Principal Investigator
SEEvans@MDAnderson.org

Yongxing Wang, Ph.D.
Instructor
YXWang@MDAnderson.org
I received my Ph.D. in genes and development in 2009 from the MD Anderson Cancer Center UTHealth Houston Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. My training is specialized in mouse genetics. My research goal is to explore Pam2/ODN-stimulated defense mechanisms by the means of genetic and genomic analysis. Currently I am investigating how innate immuno-sensing by lung epithelium initiates protection via production of reactive oxygen species and by the activation of the RIG-1/MAVS pathway.

Jezreel Pantaleon Garcia, M.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow
JPantaleon@MDAnderson.org
I am a ConTex postdoctoral fellow in Pulmonary Medicine at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. I hail from Chinantla, Mexico and moved to Monterrey to obtain my Bachelors in biosciences and later M.D. from the Tecnológico de Monterrey. Under the mentorship of Dr. Scott E. Evans at MD Anderson, I am focusing on the development of molecular cell and systems biology approaches to understand the synergistic signaling mechanisms of inducible epithelial resistance to prevent pneumonia. In addition, I am part of the MECOR Program of the American Thoracic Society and the Asociación Latinoamericana de Tórax to that aims to increase and improve the research and epidemiological capacity of Latin American scientists to treat respiratory and critical care diseases in low- and middle-income countries to address the current COVID-19 pandemic.

Shreya Bhattacharya, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow
SBhattacharya3@MDAnderson.org
After completing my master’s degree (in zoology) in India, I came to the USA in 2016 to pursue a Ph.D. in microbiology at Indiana State University-Indiana University School of Medicine, Terre Haute, Indiana. My research project aimed at characterizing the role of a novel gene in pulmonary aspergillosis. I joined the Evans Lab in 2021. My current research aims to study the mechanisms of inducible epithelial resistance to pneumonia.

Tawana Robinson, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow 
TMRobinson@MDAnderson.org

Mbaya Ntita, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow 
MNtita@MDAnderson.org

Vikram Kulkarni, M.S.   
Graduate Research Assistant
VVKulkarni@MDAnderson.org
I am a graduate student at the MD Anderson Cancer Center UTHealth Houston Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. After working in the commercial biopharma sector in India for a few years, I moved to the United States to pursue higher education and research. My broad interests lie in the fields of infectious disease prevention/ treatment and immunology. The Evans Lab has discovered that innate immune responses in the lung are highly inducible and this can be exploited therapeutically to prevent lethal pneumonias. I joined the Evans Lab in 2018 to be part of this exciting field of innate immunity. I am currently working on understanding the lung epithelial signaling events mediated by STAT3 that underlie inducible resistance to bacterial pneumonia.

Michael Longmire, B.S.
M.D./Ph.D. student
MKLongmire@MDAnderson.org
I am an M.D./Ph.D. student at the MD Anderson Cancer Center UTHealth Houston Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences and McGovern Medical School at UTHealth. I am interested in the recognition and response to modified nucleic acids and how they can be utilized in host-directed therapies to infectious diseases. I have been studying the response of TLR9 to phosphorothioate ODNs and DNAs possessing non-canonical secondary structures for almost 10 years, and I am excited to continue this work while studying inducible epithelial resistance. Clinically, I am interested in infectious diseases with a particular interest in viral infections in the immunocompromised patient population. I am originally from Alabama, but I moved to Houston in 2015 and joined the Evans Lab full time in Spring 2019.

Undergraduate students

Jack Bodnar

Keerthi Bhoda