Scientific Team

Scientific Team

Neil Grimsey, Ph.D.

Principal Investigator

My history in a nutshell

As a first-generation college attendee my route was neither typical, quick, nor easy. But I have always been driven to never stop asking questions and I believe academia gives us the opportunity to always have mysteries to solve.

I earned my doctorate from the University of Cambridge, Cambridge Institute of Medical Research (CIMR), UK, where I studied phosphorylation-dependent regulation of nuclear membrane and lipid biogenesis. These studies led to a postdoc in San Diego, CA, first at the Scripps Research Institute, followed by the University of California San Diego Department of Pharmacology. It was here that I shaped my career studying post-translational modifications and the regulation of vascular inflammation.

Our group now follows my base drive to understand the import of post-translational modification in the spatiotemporal control of cellular and physiological functions. There is so much more I can say, but I can always share that over a coffee or beer….

Fredejah (Deja) Royer B.Sc

Ph.D.Graduate Student

Sanjana Gattineni

Undergraduate Assistant

Gavin Woodman

Undergraduate Assistant

CURO - Pre-med student.

Studying Spatial signaling and Acute lung injury

I’m also passionate about scientific teaching and pedagogical techniques and I am a firm believer in peer-to-peer teaching and learning both in the classroom and in the laboratory.

IMG_3863.jpg

On a personal note, I love dogs (Zali is 13 years old and Addie is 5 years old), hiking, cooking, and Scifi..

Studying the spatiotemporal control of pathological inflammation. Using fluorescent biosensors I demonstrated a spatial bias in atypical p38 signaling.
I was awarded a TL1 translational science award, and I’m working towards a certificate in clinical and translational science at Emory University. My current focus in the Grimsey Lab is on exploring atypical p38 signaling in acute lung injury

_IMG8811.jpg

Jeremy Burton, B.Sc.

Graduate Ph.D. Candidate

Deja is a former NIH PREP Scholar & NIH RISE Scholar.  Her projects are 1) characterizing selective single-domain antibodies to inhibit virus-induced activation. 2) investigating the molecular mechanisms of atypical p38 activation during viral infection and host responses.


Studying atypical p38 signaling in retinal biology, specifically oxygen-induced retinopathy (OIR)

Sneha Ghosh

Ph.D. Graduate Student

Curo Scholar.
Studying biomolecule development to inhibit atypical p38 signaling and viral replication.

Miranda Fortunato

Undergraduate Assistant

Honors and Curo Scholar
Pre-med student
Studying vascular retinopathies and inflammation.

Sarah Thabet (PBS Undergraduate)

Jackson Woodman (PBS Undergraduate)

Ella Baldwin (Young DAWG, High School Intern)

Former Lab Members

  • Elizabeth Lane, BSc, Undergraduate researcher (Graduated Spring 2023), Research Scientist Emory School of Medicine.

  • Megan Yoder, BSc. Undergraduate researcher (Graduated Spring 2023), Genetic Counseling Assistant at Cincinnati Children's

  • Payton Lane, Bsc. Undergraduate researcher (Graduated Spring 2021) Project Manager Viva Finance

  • William Evan Conners, BSc., Undergraduate technician (Graduated Spring 2021)

  • Morgan Roos, BSc., MSc., Double DAWGS Bachelor and Masters student (Graduated Spring 2021)., Scientist 1- Emerging Applications at Illumina

  • William Antonaides, BSc., MSc., Double DAWGS Bachelor and Masters student ( Graduated Spring 2021), Research Scientist II Aruna Biosciences, Athens GA.

  • Jennifer Okáľová, BSc., Undergraduate researcher (Graduated Spring 2021) (Ph.D student Emory School of Medicine)

  • Wei Jia, Laboratory technician (Summer and Fall semesters, 2019).

  • Rebecca Buchanan, Laboratory technician (Spring and Summer

    semesters, 2019).

  • Chenming Ye, Rotational graduate student (Fall semester, 2018).

  • Benjamin Luttinen, Rotational graduate student (Fall semester, 2018).

  • Melissa Peters, undergraduate student (Fall semester, 2019).