People
Janko Ž. Nikolich received his MD and PhD from Belgrade University School of Medicine in Serbia and subsequently trained with Michael Bevan at the Scripps Clinic and Research Foundation. In 1990, he joined the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York and became an Assistant Professor at both the Cornell University Graduate School of Medical Sciences and the Cornell University School of Medicine. In 2001, Janko Ž. Nikolich assumed the position of Senior Scientist at the at the Vaccine and Gene Therapy Institute of Oregon Health & Science University, along with joint appointments as a tenured Professor in the Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, and a Senior Scientist at the Oregon National Primate Research Center. In 2008, he moved to the University of Arizona to lead the Department of Immunobiology and the Arizona Center on Aging. Besides planning and discussing his research and mentoring trainees, he enjoys playing tennis year-round.
Jennifer Uhrlaub received a BA from McDaniel College and a Master's in Biotechnology from Johns Hopkins University. She has been with the Nikolich Lab since 2005 working on a diverse array of projects to understand immune determinants of increased susceptibility to acute and chronic viral infection with age. One of her favorite things about Tucson is entertaining on her patio in the middle of “winter."
Ruchika has a PhD degree from IIT Delhi in the area of Computational Biology. She joined as a postdoc in Nikolich Lab in March 2020. Her work includes applications of bioinformatics in the area of comparative RNA seq analysis on mouse model ageing and immunobiology. When she is not working, she is writing poems, sketching, reading storybooks, meditating.
Jose Padilla-Torres graduated from the UABC, Mexicali, Mexico in 1980 with a B.S. in Veterinary Medicine. He joined the Nikolich Lab in 2008 and manages the extensive transgenic mouse colony and assists in parabiosis and other surgeries, and maintains and supervises the biosafety, radiation safety and other compliance trainings and records. When not in the lab, he likes mountain biking, traveling, and enjoying the beaches of Mexico (Lets all go!!!).
Sandip A. Sonar received his master’s degree in Virology from National Institute of Virology (University of Pune), Pune, India, and Ph.D. in Biotechnology from National Centre for Cell Science (Savitribai Phule Pune University), Pune, India. In 2019, he joined the Nikolich-Zugich lab as a postdoctoral researcher, where he is currently investigating the cellular and molecular basis of an age-related physiological and immune function decline in frail syndrome. When not at work, Sandip enjoys playing music, watching Bollywood movies, exploring new places and hiking.
Christine Bradshaw received her BS in Microbiology at The University of Arizona. In 2019, she joined the Nikolich-Zugich lab as a doctoral student where she is currently investigating the role of cytokines in aging-associated diseases. Outside of the lab she enjoys hosting board game nights, reading fiction, and spending time with family.
Chris Coplen obtained his BS in Biology at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana. In 2018, he joined the Nikolich-Zugich lab as a doctoral student and began his work investigating the molecular mechanisms which underlie age-related alterations in T cell receptor repertoires. Outside of lab he enjoys spending time with his family, hiking, and playing music.